The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-04-20
PARTISAN SECRET POLICE
Most of Them Are Old Sol
dierS, Honorable Men.
INVESTIGATING BRIGADE
Strangers in the City Constantly
Watched and Acts Recorded SO
Close Are the Meshes of This
Police-Not Even a Casual Wis.
itor Slips Through.

itor Slips Through
About the words the secret police"
here is pretty air of mystery. They
ummon up pictures of cloaked fig
res, OF men waiting in dark Railways
md of stealthy steps behind curtains
corridors They are woven into
ne-tenths of popular French fiction.
,he woman concierge, summing herself
Il what Partisan doorway you please,
feeds her Imagination on tales of
multiple disguises. As a matter of
fact, this branch of the police, though
disguised in plain clothes. is not at all
occult. 1t has to do with plain and
simple crimes. Most of the agents
of the surete are old soldiers, hon
orable men. They are supplemented,
however, by a band of quasi-police,
known as Indicators. These people,
who are permanent auXiliaries of the
service, are recruited among the
street fakirs and and masterless
rogues who foregather in Paris.
But behind these humdrum agents
and these gloomy outcasts. theirs aids.
there is mighty secret police"
about which not one Partisan in a
hundred has definite knowledge The
real secret police-today. as under
the empire--is that which is known
rs the brigade des recherches-that
is, the brigade of investigation. The
members of this force are recruited
in a far higher rank of society than
the fellows of the surete. Indeed,
there is no class-from the old noDil-
ity to the new feuda1ity of finance
which does not contribute this occult
system Of espionage. II is not my
purpose here to describe in detail the
many ramifcations of this ancient and
potent order of spies.
A foreigner in France. If he asso-
ciates frequently with people OF i'm
portance, comes in time to know them
we'll They follow him in his comirGs
and goings, report upon his acts and
opinions, and sift his life with a care
unknown in our careless republic.
One of those who was sent out on my
trail came to know very we'll What
was suspected of know not, though
during the troublous days Of the
Dreyfus case fraternized with many
men-one of whom. the Comte du
Temple, an eX-deputy, was an ag-
gressive royalist. Anyway my spy
rd came to know each other very
I'll. He played a good game of bill
ards and was a companionable gen.
eman.
A little later Dr. w. J. O'Sullivan,
listed me in Paris. He was great.
ly interested in the secret police
could hardly persuade him that from
the moment we met and shook hands
in the Care du Nord until his de-
parture from the Care St Lazare
every act of his had been noted. I
got the evidence from my friend
(my own pet spy in the brigade des
recherches. The doctors record was
singularly complete. He had not
spoken with a man, he had not chat
ted with a woman. he had not dined
out or breakfasted in my garden he
had not bought pair of yellow gloves
unseen by some ubiquitous spy. The
amazed gentleman, when he learned
how close had been the watch upon
him. shuddered as If he had walked
in peril, and went back to New York
wondering. So close are the meshes
of this police net that not even a
casual visitor slips through Success.