The Savannah morning news., 1904-02-28

one by one, until only two were on
guard, some little distance off. Then
Fail Beg rolled over to the fire, pick
ed up a glowing stick with his teeth
and burned through the ropes which
bound his hands and feet.
Silently he stole toward the sentry
who was guarding the horses and
camels, gripped him by the throat from
the back, drew the mans own dagger
from his girdle, and stabbed him to
the heart. Then he cut loose the
heel-rope of the horse and fled across
the desert. The other sentry fired at
him. but he was only slightly wound
ed. The Turcomans gave chase in
vain, for he had got long start be-
fore they rubbed the sleep out of their
eyes, and in few hours he was safe
within the Russian lines.
GOspOdin Lessar's DISCUSSES.
The Russian secret agent sometimes
has a strlkingly varied career. Cos
podin Lessar is a case in point. He
started ae a railway surveyor, but
showed such marked ability that he
was soon employed as a secret agent.
His special line of work was exploring
untraVeled parts of Central Asia, but
the impelling motive of all his ex-
plorations was the making of military
surveys. No risk appalled, him. He
dwelt for years among tribes bitterly
hostile to the Russians and was never
detected.
When the Russian advance to Herat
enraged England and war seemed
probable, Lessar went to London in
the capacity of a famous explorer to
write up the Russian side of the case.
With the aid of Nine. Novikoff, he
gained admittance to the columns of
the best English newspapers and
threw dust in the eyes of the British
public most cleVerly. He posed as a
disinterested scientific man who hap
pened to know that Russia had not
really made any material advances in
Central Asia. His numerous articles
were accepted as gospel, and had a
powerful effect in calming the British
mind. Not until long afterwards was
it realized that he was an agent of the
Russian government.
This versatile man was subsequently
employed in the diplomatic service,
and he is now minister to China-per
haps the most difficult position Rus
sian diplomatist can fill.
japanese ms Detectives.
During the Chinese-Japanese War,
the Japanese showed that they pos
sessed an excellent secret service; and
in the Pekin Relief Campaign the al
lied forces depended almost entirely
upon the intelligence procured by Jap
anese spies. There is every reason to
suppose that in the present war their
system of espionage is even more
finely developed. Their immense adj
vantage in being able to look like Chi
namen is too obvious to need dwelling
upon.
After Japan was forced by Russia,
Germany and France to give up Port
Arthur and some of the other fruits
of her victory over China" said a
japanese resident in New York, sit is
we'll known that she set to work to
become a great military and naval
power, able to fight Russia if need
arose. All the world knows how she
created her battalions and warships,
but few people are aware that imme-
diately after the treaty of peace with
China she sent hundreds of spies to
Korea, Manchuria and Siberia to
gather every scrap of information that
would be needed in time of war.
Those men did not work like the
ordinary spy of other nations, who
does his appointed task and then re-
turns and throws off his disguise. They
made a life work of it. They married
Chinese women, brought up Chinese
families, and went into business as
Cinnamon, often becoming men of
weight and standing in the community
in which they lived. To-day they are
solid citizens whom everybody in the
locality has known for years, AMI
whom nobody would dream of sus-
pecting to be Japanese spies. But their
reports go regularly to Toxic, and
they must contain a marvellous
amount of detailed information about
the Russians.
Japan's Secret Service.
THE Mikado's government has
spent large sums on its secret service.
1t is quite content to finance a man
for years until he settles down IN the
way have rescribed, and is in a posi-
ton to earn things Many thousands
of yen may be spent on him before he
does anything at all, but the game
pays in the end. You may depend
upon it that some of the men whom
Viceroy Alexieff is employing at Port
Arthur in the belief that they are Chi
nese are in reality Japanese spies.
Many Japanese of high military
rank and noble birth engage in this
work. Some of them have labored as
coolies on the Russian forts. They
do not mind the rough work and harsh
treatment usually melted out TO coolies.
so long as they can learn what they
want TO know. But IL must be hard
for japanese nobleman, used to be-
ing treated with ceremonious respect,
to be bullied by a Russian sergeant
and have to take the bullying meekly."
,(,..,v~io,tt 100A Nv william, rrha,..N