The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-09-05

aoopteo rs q means of communication
between the TWO countries ~ s1s
Oh. no." replied Mr.. Benthein. -'Sev
sral times i received documents of thi
kind in the regular United States con
sular envelopes. / remember It dis
tinctly. 1t was a large white envelope
with the usual Official Business Only
and something about a penalty on il
and sealed on the back with whit,
paper seal about the size Of a half-dol
lar. and had a serrated border on it
The eagle was the center figure, anC
above it IN a senli-ciTcie were the word.
) United States Consulate On TIL.
other half of the circle and below tn.
eagle was the single word 'Sonneburg
There was, of course, considerable,
correspondence going on between thoss
few people regarding the war Office
traffic. and this was always done OF
the ietterheacs bearing the one-line in,
scription United States Consulate
Sonneburg-' Nearly all the description.
Of war vessels, new inventions, armol
plate, underground mines, fortified.
tons. cite. were on letterheads bearing
the inscription Ministre de la Marine
Paris. or Ministre de la Guerre
Paris
whenever Frigate Captain Sigl. who
was IN charge of this work at Berlin
went out on a scouting trip by himself
ne FdfI1eu d supply 1Blttu OldlrS
stationery. and j have seen informa-
ton of this kind from the French wal
office come into the staff headquarters
IN an envelope bearing the consulate
seal Of The United States government.
Was Safeguard.
fThis, you will know, was safe
guard, as nobody would open letter
with this seal on it. Florschuetz, how
ever, did more travelling from Germany
into France than either Sigl or Franz
and ne always had some of this paper
in his satchel. He would not go into
France direct, as that would bring
upon him too close scrutiny at the from
tier He would go first to Bremen and
from there to Southampton. Here he
would board q. steamer, either from
Cherbourg or Toulon, and land without
any trouble.
II will tell you how Florschuetz got
the plans of the new submarine boat
Goul5et while it was being built at Tou-
Ion. This Florschuetz told me himself
at theatre in Berlin a week or two
after he returned from the expedition.
He landed at Toulon and went to a
hotel. Here he sent a note to Madame
Jansen. telling her what he wanted,
and then proceeded to Monte Carlo for
a day or two at the tables 1t was ar
ranged, of course, that il there was
any trouble over the work, word would
be sent him.
MADAME Jansen is the wife of a
naval officer and had the entree to the
information desired and it was handed
to Herr F'lorschuetZ on his return to
Toulon in less than one week. Infor-
mafior, regarding the construction of
the war vessel Gymnote. at that time
building at Cherbourg, was obtained in
the same manner.
Was Easy to Obtain.
81 will cite another case to show how
easily anything that Germany wanted
could be obtained A sergeant in the
naval arsenal al Toulon. Thomas by
name. at the request of one of the five
or six women skirmishing around there
at the time, purloined a drawing which
gave clearly the inside of the fortress.
with the location of the submarine
mines in the harbor. This information
/ know went to Esterhazy. but il took
a half-dozen women to get it to him.
This drawing was copied at the home
OF one Of Prince Pless' sweethearts in
Paris and the original drawing returned
two days later to Toulon. Thomas was
found out in this matter, however, and
is now in prison. The espionage sys-
TEN was such that Germany was ed
vised of the meeting of all boards con-
nected with any arsenal or fertilization.
For instance, if a new gun We're to
be tried, a German agent would be
lettering near the testing place, and
remember that on one occasion, when
an experiment of this kind was con-
cluded. a rough sketch of the results
was handed the German agent before
the officers left the grounds. This was
sent post haste to Germany.
Never Heard of Dreyfus.
soften a report on the test of a new
invention would be in the hands of the
German government before it reached
the ministry of war in Paris. This
caused many laughs in the Office at
staff headquarters. During all this
and did not know there was such a.
person until / heard of his arrest
Mr.. Bentheim was asked who han
died the money for the maintenance of
this information bureau. His reply
was:
Captain Sigl handed all money for
this merchandise. as they termed il, to
Herr FIorschuetz. Emperor William
did not, OF course, have any direct
dealings with those who did the work,
but knew where the money was selit
The money, as / have said, was paid
from the secret service fund of the
ministry of marine. and / can recol-
lect now that $4,000 or its equivalent
ilas German money passed into tie hands
of Elorschuetz and Franz, and some
money was paid them personally III The
war office in Berlin. This money wenr
into the hands of the workers through
a postoffice in the American quarter of
Paris.
Every six months remittancas are
made anonymously to the Baroness de
Delden through the Credit Lyonaise in
Paris. The bank is entirely innocent of
the purpose for which the monAy is
used, and the record will corroborate
this statement. Baroness de Daiien
was the sweetheart of Prince Henry
Pless, but later transferred her aifec-
items TO Esterhazy. She is the yelled
lady of the Rennes courtmarcial."
Why He Left Germany.
Mr.. Bentheim was questioned as to
his reason for leaving Germany, and
his reply was to the effect that a quar-
rel with the emperor over another mat
Ter caused it. He was arrested and
placed in the fortress at Potsdam.
Al that time" he continued, Il did
not have my passports on my person,
but sent word to Mr.. Chapman Cole.
man. then secretary of the embassy at
Berlin, who came quickly to my as
sistance. and. il being proven that /
WAS an American citizen, l was re-
leased and soon after left the country.
Mr. Coleman will confirm what | have
said
Mr. Beniheim said he arrived in New
York from Berlin late in April. 1898
There was plenty of war talk then and
he enlisted on Aug. of that year m
the Two Hundred and Second New
York regiment.