The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-05-20
LONDON CORRESPONDENT HAS
100 PLANS OF FRENCH
FoRTIFICATIoNs.
MAY RIVAL DREYFUS .-.".
CASE IN IMPORTANCE
Hunger Induces Guide Of Two Men
Selling War Secrets to Give Up
Documents Which Are Declared
to Be Genuine. &c.

IarlS, May Ia Ao MaIAA' . AoAuSAAA
correspondent having obtained nearly
100 authentic plans OF the fortif1catlons
at Doulon, besides numerous other COM
promising documents, that. paper Mon
day morning begins the publication Oh
the history of treason affair which
seems likely to exceed in importance the
offenses with which Capt. Dreyfus was
charged.
On April FL the correspondent re-
ceived q letter written in queer SEMI
French semi-Italian jargon, and signed
''Fragola, Pietro;" telling him that the
writer, who was employed at a hotel, had
been acting as q guide to two persons
who had come to London to sell a large
parcel of documents of the highest i'm
portance concerning French naval de-
lenses. The letter stated that the men
had gone to Brussels; leaving the writer
penniless. He, therefore, wanted to
negotiate for the transfer of certain
documents, but was unwilling to treat
direct with the French government, pre-
ferring to deal with the Matin or some
other newspaper.
Fragola Tells His Story.
The correspondent thought the letter
was probably begging trick, but re-
piled, addressing his answer to the post
Office, to be called for, and making an ap-
pointment, which Fragola duly kept.
The mans desperate state Of hunger evl-
denced his sincerity. FragOla told the
following story:
He was formerly, he said, employed,
at the war ministry in Rome, but be-
came compromised in case of espionage
and was sentenced to six months i'm
Subsequently he came to
living from hand to mouth.
Secondly he had acted as guide and Sec
rotary to two men of Italian origin, with
one of whom-a naturalized French citi-
zen-he had formerly been acquainted
at the war ministry in Rome. Both OF
these men, Fragola said, worked for for
eign governments and had sometimes.
sold important secrets to Germany at
high prices. The Italians name was
Cesare Colo, and that of the naturalized
Jeremie Mesqui. The lat
ter had long been a contractor on public
works at Toulon. They had gone to-
Brussels five days ago, leaving him en-
tirely without means of living. He
found after their departure that Colo
had left documents behind him and these
he wanted to sell. s.,@e>
Fragola thereupon produced IS plans
of the Toulon forts, some Of them the
French originals and other accurate
copies, made to the Italian war ministry
He also had in his possession list OF
plans of Cherbourg, Brest and Toulo
with typewriter instructions, alleged
by Fragola to have emanated from the
German staff, concerning the marking
of batteries of artillery. There was also,
q letter appointing rendezvous at the :
Thuringer Hof, Berlin, for November -,
signed *" To this was attached
card inscribed Felix Friedrich Scholtz."
The Mathis correspondent gave Fra
COLA few shillings and persuaded him
to leave the documents, in his hands in
order that an examination of them
might be made. The next morning he
took them to the Fre;7ch embassy, where
the naval attache declared them to be
absolutely genuine.
Little Stock Taken in Story.
Paris: May 1.-THE French embassy
in London not having reported the al
legged efforts made in London to sell the
plans of the Notifications at TOulon,
France, to foreign agents, as reported by
The Matin Monday, the officials here do
not attach seriousness to the alleged
revelations. =