Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1899-01-18
ADIPLOMATIC A TRICK.
AN INCIDENT THAT PROVED THE GUN
 MING OF BISMARCK

The Roundabout Manner In Which
 He secured the Safe Transmission
 of His omeiaI Correspondence Go
 the Foreign 0face-
 Stepping to the counter, Herr von Bismarck asked a grinning young shop boy in shirt sleeves. blue linen apron, nu, of maiden freshness. and blessed with pair of large red, greasy paws engaged in weighing some Dutch cheese, to oblige him with a sheet of writing paper. some scaling wax and a pen to direct letter.
 On the boy producing tho needfui with the traditional What else, sir ~ Bismarck said: My hands are rather cold. You had better do 1t for me. And be handed the boy a couple of letters wrapped in the sheet of bluish paper forming an envelope, for in those days made mp envelopes were still unknown in Germany. Evidently fattered by the request of such an imposing looking client, for Herr von Bisnarck's tall hat was almost touching the ceiling of the squalid little shop, the greasy handed youth took the parcel, and, having closed it skillfully with some brown sealing wax and indorsed it with the initials of the firm, he returned 1t to its owner to write the address.
 Sorry. my friend, to give you more trouble, " said the future chancellor ID his jovial way. but can't manage to write with my gloves on, so just ad- dress il for me" And he handed him a penciled slip with the name of Herr Fritz Fiepenhrink or some such name, oil and colonial warebouseman, No 900 Friedrichs strasse. Berlin
 "Thank you, young man; thatll do capitaIJy." and paying for the paper, etc, with a small tip to the oily boy with the stereotyped grin, be pocketed bis letter, and we left the placs to con tinue oar walk
 "I dare say you are wondering why l treat my correspondents Co such greasy, evil smelling missives." And he showed me the cheesy finger marks of the boy ! on both sides of the improvised envel- ! ope- "TIl tell you a secret. and teach ! you a useful lesson for future times. | You may some day thank me for the hint, " exclaimed Herr von Bismarck. laughing heartily
 "You know we are blessed here in | Frankfurt, as throughout all south Ger many, with the Thurn and Taxis postal administration, a mine of wealth to i that fortunate family, but the most | wretchedly managed concern under the sun. As you may imagine, it Is under ' the thumb of Austria. hence slow and ] the triumph of red tape with a pro ] nounced weakness for diving into other ! peoples business and skimmiBg. of : course, the correspondence of all Ger man and foreign envOys, accredited to ! the diet, with a preference for mine, the ever suspected Prussian culprit and | traitor.
 They have established regular black ca oinet in the prinoely poStoffice, where specially trained imperial and royal wiseacrss peruse our prose with ! critical eye, transmitting copies of ex- ' tracts of all 'treasonable' matter, or ! particularly interesting reports, to the august Hallplatz, where Gentand and after him Klindworth have established lynx eyed system of political espionage 1. (politisches schnuffeln) extending all over Europe. and comprising co ipso all ! German courts and ohaneelleries
 Not being particularly anxious to ] gratify the morbid curiosity of our Aus trian ally, 1 have thought it advisable to send important reports to the Berlin foreign office, as well as all my letters to the king. 10 Herr von Manteufel. and to my sister and some particular Friends, under cover to some mercantile firm in Berlin, changing frequently and usually asking a counter jumper Tn a oheesemo1ger' or Oilman's shop to ad- dress them for me-and you can easily understand that the imperial and royal
 miffers (schnufler) don't manage to guess the correspondent of the Prussian representative under a greasy, i'll smell ing cover, such as you have seen. ''It stands to reason that the smell oi cheese or herring and the sCTiobling of a shopboy must deceive sharper men than the Thurn and Taxis post officials and the specially delegated Austrian Iiostoffice clerks The only pre- caution l nave tO take is to go to differ ent shops in quarters of the town where am not known and to vary the Berlin address from time to time Thus I'm perfectly safe.
 ''Le tour est ioue, and snap my fin gers at the Ballplatz It is simple enough. as you have seen, yet il wouldn't co to send everything through that channel, as they would otherwise get suspicious, so treat my Austrian friends at least once a week to some Oi my diplomatic prose - unimpOrtant stuff, and occasionally something 1 want them to know--or to believe, and be indulged iU boisterous laugh. Baron dc Malortit in Cornhill Magazine