The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-26
LIEUT.. WARDS EXPLOITS.
HOW HE WENT TO SPAIN AS A spy
IN 1898.

salisbury and Fooled the willy
Don Every Time.
From the New York World
Washington, March 7.-"Only man
in the navy who can get along with
Crowinshield!'
This is the way that naval officers
refer to the long continued service of
Lieut.. Henry Heber Ward, U. S. N,
under the somewhat testy Rear-Ad
miral Crowinshield. The two now quit
the navy together-Crowinshie by
retirement after forty-three years
service: Ward ten years after his
graduation from Annapolis and after
as distinguished a career as any Of
ficer of his years in the navy.
1t was Ward who risked his life to
supply the government with inforra-
ton in the Spanish War. 1t is he who
has been honored by the President
through Secretary Moody, with a re-
quest to withdraw his resignation, a
proceeding almost unheard of.
On March 20 the two officers retire
simultaneously, the Admiral and his
faithful and loyal flag lieutenant. For
the four years, too, when CROWN
shield was in charge of the Bureau
of Navigation Ward was his right
hand man. 1t was Ward who sug-
gested many of the manoeuvres which
brought America naval victories in
the war, and it was Ward who pre-
pared the case against Rear Admiral
Schley.
He's the brainest of the outfit" has
been the comment of more than one
naval officer who knows the inside of
things at Washington.
Here follows the first real story of
What Lieut.. Ward, then only an en-
sign, did for his country in the war
with Spain. Only five years out of
the age, and never under fire in his
life, he risked more than honora BILE
death in battle-he risked hanging as
a spy, in order to keep his government
informed as to the movements of the
Spanish fleet and its makeup.
While outsiders We're guessing every
where, and the newspapers were at
sea, Uncle Sam was keeping pretty
close in touch with the willy Don.
Young Ensign Ward was sending the
news regularly as he could reach a
cable Office, but not a Spaniard ever
knew.
Here Is the story for the First Time.
Soon after the Maine was blown up
and the conviction gradually settled
down upon the country that war with
Spain was inevitable, young Ward went
to Crowninshield and unfolded his plan
1t was, briefly that he be allowed to
volunteer for duty in Spain or any
where else that occasion might re-
quire.
The Navy Department grew interest
ed as the details of young Wards
Gch6n1n
early information were told, and at last
everything was arranged. Ward dis
appeared. The Army and Navy Club
and the Bureau of Navigation knew
him no more.
simultaneously there appeared in the
naval orders an obscure paragraph
Ensign H. H. Ward, detailed to light
house inspection on the Atlantic Coast"
Nobody thought anything more about
it. Not even his family knew where
ne had gone.
All they were allowed to know was
that he was on some secret mission,
Their letters to him were sent to the
Navy Department, opened, read and
forwarded in the hope of catching
Ward. His letters to them were sent
the same way through the Navy De-
partment. Only the Secretary of the
Navy and Admiral Crowninshield real
ly knew what Ward was doing.
All this time the intrepid young en-
siyl was in Montreal, convincing the
authorities there that he was Mr.. Hop
kins, British subject, who was going
to take a cruise in Southern waters
aboard his steam yacht. He needed
passports.
So in due season there was delivered
to him document emblazoned with
the British arms and setting forth in
formal verbiage how Mr.. Hopkins, the
bearer, was a loyal subject of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, and calling
upon all people to give him safe con-
duct wherever he might be. The bold
signature, Salisbury" ended the for
midable document, fully two feet long.
Wards credit at his bankers in Mon
treal was unlimited and he had money
orders for big sums good anywhere in
the world, even in Spain. The next
heard of Mr.. Hopkins was when he
was in Cadiz, Spain, and war was on
with~the United States.
Mr.. Hopkins was aboard a smart,
swift, white-painted yacht which float
ed the British ensign. There was
crew of twenty-five husky British sea-
men aboard and "a skipper who could
give even the ruler of the Queens navee
cards and spades on how to handle
yacht.
Secret Code.
Now comes the time to tell of the Sc
cret code by which Mr.. Hopkins" was
able to reach Washington, d. c., from
any port in Spain by kilograms writ
ten in plain English. OF course, with
war on people weren't allowed to send
cipher dispatches.
All this the clever ensign had pro-
Vided for In advance. With his super
iors in Washington he had arranged a
map of every port along the Mediter-
ranean and anywhere else that Span
ish fleet might go. To each port was
given a plain Anglo-Saxon name
Smith, Brown, Jones, Robinson, White,
Black, Green, Grey-the list ran up in
to the hundreds.
The great object of it all was to keep
Washington informed as to the
strength of the Spanish fleet in battle
ships and torpedoboats, and its where
abouts. So everything was arranged
upon the basis of commercial de-
spatch to a firm of Liverpool stock
brokers, ordering certain transactions
in shares.
The Spaniard, who thought himself
immensely clever when he intercepted
the governments dispatches to Minis
ter Woodford and perused them at
leisure before they were delivered,
was completely deceived.
Wards code was a simple one. To
SELF in the stock message to Liver
pool, meant ito sail" to; buy, in the
message, really meant ito arrive All
MESA ges he sent ordered the sale or
the purchase of stocks to certain in
dividuals, at certain prices.