The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-03
A WOMAN SPY.
Miss IN allanikof. a Young Russian
Lady Of Bigh Birth,

r.&t.
Lady of Bigh Birth,
+.--
LEARNS Many Of the German Empe
ror's Military Secrets. She Is
Caught and Imprisoned.
A dispatch from B Rim, Germany
says the sensational career Of a spy
Miss q MAZDA Smolianiuoff, a Russian
spy, has been cut short by a sente c
nf fifteen months imprisonment al
Lsips!c Her. case demonstrates tc
what methods the European govern.
nents resort in order to ferret cut
each others military secrets.
Miss Smolianinof vas q typical
twentieth century spy, pretty, dash
Ing, of high birth and good education.
In St. Petersburg Miss SmolianiCf
was fett during one Of two seasons
as a society beauty. Suddenly, when
she had attained her twentieth birth
day, her father lost all bis money and
committed suicide. Her mother died
.hortly afterward and Miss Smoliani.
q Fl was left alone In the world with
out a cent. She became a governess.
The life, however, vas irksome and
numiliatlng to her.
After a year of drudgery Miss Smo.
lianir off met by chance q young tf1
Q of the Russian heae quarters sta Fl,
who had formerly been I'M OF her ad.
m,rers and was genuinely distressed
at her unhappiness. he suggested to
her a career which would enable her
to live In luxury-that she become q
spy in the service Of the Russian gov.
eminent. He promised to use his III.
tiuencs at the war ofte, to obtain EN-.
ployment for her. MISS Smolianinof
c ,nsented and was shortly afterward
engaged as a spy.
She was dispatched to Germany to
learn as many military secrets. as pcs
sible. S Re arrived at Bsrlin provided
with exceptional letters Of 'recommen.
dation, which, combined with her ap
pearance and manners, ena bleo hereto
achieve q great social success In the
German capital. She appeared to
have unlimited funds and drove abcu'
Ia her carriage and pair with liveriec
domestics, and maintained a gorgeous
a, q tment in priI C ly style In tie
most fashihionable street OF B5rlin.
Her social connections gave her ex
cellent opportunities. She b: with d
state officials an army officers into
telling secrets which they ought to
have guarded as jealously as their own
lives. She was 80 adroit that her
victims had not the slightest idea Of
how they were being duped. She con;
tinued her operations unch cked for
fur wears. During this period she
ascertained plans for the defense OF
Germany's eastern frontier against .
possible Russian invasion, as well as
the scheme OF mobilization If Ger.
many De came involved in q war With
Russia. She obtained sketches Of i'm.
portant Notifications and copies OF
weighty military documents. Pre-.
cisely how the achieved all this has
not been revealed.
Suspicion was first directed toward
her by the suicide Of q young tfac +
Of brilliant prospects, out OF whom
Miss Smolianicf had wormed q most
important military secret. BE LETT a
letter giving this as the cause OF bis
self. destruction. The German au.
thorities closely watched Miss Smolt
aninoff from that day. After several
months they had sufficient evidence to
justify her arrest. q;
The trial at Lsipsic was behind
closed doors, owing to the nature OF
the military secrets discussed. 1t
has transpired that Miss Smolianinof
received a salary Of s15 600 a year and
bad communicated to Russia. over
fifty important military secrets. HAD
1t zen possible to prov. this legally
she would hardly have escaped with a
smaller penalty thai twenty years
penal servitude. She had ensnared
over 100 state fl Mals and army Off.
GERS and exploited them for her pur.
poses. When she energies from pris.
on In Is months she will be expelled
frt m Germany and prohibited from
ever again entering the country. Ger.
man milit ny authorities regard her
as the most dangerous and successful
soy Of recent times.