Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1907-01-11

his exploit. He has added new verb
to the dictiOnary-to kOepenick EX-
cept in officialdom, which he so beautl-
fully fooled, the only regret felt in con-
necton with the incident is that he has
been caught.
Now that his personality has been re-
vealed to the world, the greater grows
the admiration for the colossal audaci-
ty which enabled him to carry his plot
through successfully. 1t would be hard
to find man outwardly more i'll suit
ed to the role which he played. Low
class" is writ large all over him. 1t
is the fetish of the military uniform
which made it possible for such man
to carry out his daring coup. Nowhere
else but in Germany could he have
succeeded. That Is one of the lessons
which Germany is taking to heart.
Voigt fully realizes the fame that he
has achieved, and not even the pros
pect of spending the rest of his life in
prison lessons his satisfaction. When
the idea of his coup first came to him
Voigt frequented music halls and other
places where military officers resort
that he might study them and their
ways. The Difference with which he
observed they were everywhere treated
soon convinced him that the uniform
: counted for vastly more than the man
inside of It. He had first thought of
raiding one of the Berlin municipali-
ties, but came to the conclusion that In
a place where there are so many Of
! ficers about the risk was little too
great Then he selected Koepenick, n
thriving city of $4,000 inhabitants on
the outskirts of the capital, for his ex-
plot.
After donnlng discarded uniform of
a captain in the First Regiment of in
fantry guards, which he purchased in
second hand clothing shop, he stroll
ed calmly along a street in the east of
Berlin, awaiting the return of a detach-
ment of grenadier guards from the
drilling ground to their barracks. True
to his calculations the detachment ap-
: peared. consisting of twenty-four men,
: each carrying a rife.
"Your men must follow me-" said
Voigt, accosting the corporal. II have
the Kaiser's orders to make an impor-
tant arrest and need your assistance"
, Grimy and battered though he was,
and much too old for a captain, none
Of the soldiers thought for an instant
Of challenging the seedy uniform of the
first guards They obeyed him like
sheep. He marched them to the near
, est railway station, whence he took
, them by train to Koepenick. Arrived
at Koepenick he ordered them to fix
bayonets and march to the town hall.
Hating at the telephone exchange,
voigt ordered the official in charge to
cut off communications with the town
, hall for the next two hours under pen
, atty OF incurring the Kaiser's displeas-
ure. The uniform triumphed again.
The trembling official promised implicit
obedience.
The chief of the Koepenick police
took orders from Voigt without ques-
tion. The uniform hypnotlzed him, as
| 1t did everybody else. BY Voigt's di-
rections he placed squad of police
around the town hall to keep the crowd
back, and as proof Of his zeal, actually
arrested FIVE citizens whose curiosity
got the better of their discretion. In
! his widest extravaganzas Gilbert never
conceived anything more ludlcrous
than municipal police force helping Il
thief to loot the municipal treasury and
,arresting honest men to make things
, easier for him.
Now only red tape fettered oilieia-
dom which has been held up to ridl-
Icule feels sore over the exploit. The
l 4,