The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-06
Has Notifications Covering the
 Whole World
SOME NOTABLE EXAMPLES
High Officers of the Army Frequently Undertake Most Menial Service To Learn Secrets-Differenc
 In Oriental Standards.
BY FREDERIC j. HAsklN.

! ToSio.-The Japanese government main
 talns secret service system which for thorough organization and effectiveness i is marvel. Every few days the news-
 paper dispatches give accounts of some
 new exploit of the members of this corps. 1 Even if all of these reports cannot be
 substantiated, their frequency and the Wide territory covered would make it
 seem that the activities of these spies
 extend to the furthermost ends of the
 earth. One day they are heard from in some remote province of China and the next in far off Chile. American army
 officers assert that the system of espion- age In the Philippines has been so ex- tenslVe that the officials in Tokio know
 more about the islands than the war de- | partment in Washington. It has even
 been stated that agents of the Japanese ] war onice in the guise of railroad sec
 ton laborers or servants in families re-
 siding in the locality, are stationed at
 every large railroad bridge on the Pa
 ciffc coast. While this may be mere ru-
 nor, the damage such an organized force | could do to transportation in the event
 of hostilites breaking out is easy to comprehend.
 mat the Japanese are not new at this game was shown by an incident which
 occurred recently in China. An ,Ameri- | can physician attached to one of the
 missionary hospitals located in an inac-
 cessible province was aroused late one
 night by two Japanese men who request
 ed that he accompany them to the bed
 side of man who was dangerously i'll. 1 The doctor rapidly donned his clothes and hurried away with them The patient 1 proved to be Japanese dressed in Chi 1 nese clothing, and at first glance the 1 professional man saw that the sufferer
 was beyond recovery. The Japanese re- | quested the physician to revive the dying
 man if possible and they immediately
 set about taking a long statement from | him. The physician could not under l stand anything that was said except the
 names of towns, rivers and of prominent
 Chinese citizens. The reiteration of these | Chinese names. as well as the anxiety of
 the Japanese to secure a complete state
 ment, made it plain to the American that
 the doomed man was a spy. The re-
 markable part of the affair was that the dying Japanese had a full-growna queue
 and, when speaking to the doctor or the
 servants, spoke perfect Chinese. The fact
 that this man had been a spy long enough 1 to grow a queue indicates that the Jap-
 anese secret service is not new branch 1 of government work.
 Innumerable incidents have occurred
 which show that high-class Japanese will ] ingly do the most menial work in order |
 desires. The foreigners have fine club
 in Yokohama to which no native can be- l long. During the war with Russia this 1 place was the rendezvous for business
 men of various nationalities, many of whom had important transactions with ! one or both of the beligerent powers. | There was naturally good deal of in- l terestng gossip exchanged there, and
 later it was found that none of this had
 been lost on the ears of the Japanese | authorities. The manager of the club | had number of Japanese boys about | the place as servants, and during the 1 progress of the war several of these were | drafted for service at the front.
 As they left for Manchura, where the | climate is cold, the manager presented each of them with heavy, warm sweat l CT. Toward the end of the campaign,
 a servant to whom he was particularly l attached on account of his aptness and reliability, served notice that he had been | summoned to the front Whereupon the
 manager purchased a particularly fine | sweater as a present for his favorlte. | Imagine the consternation around the 1 club next morning when the servant ap- 1 peared in the uniform of a Japanese naval | officer. In order to hear what was being
 said around the place he had worked
 there for months in the capacity or a 1 menial. He thanked the manager for his | kindness in presenting the nice sweater, left his compliments for various clup members who had been generous with tips, and went down to sea in ms shlp' A similar incident happened In Homo Iulu. A prominent native lady employed
 good looking young Japanese as ! servant He claimed to be cook but if was soon apparent that he had little | or no experience in that line of work. Although he was failure as cook, he | seemed so agreeable and anxious to please that the lady determined 70 keep him in her employ, and give him l something to do. One day While the lady was in Honolulu she had occasion to 20 into a large Japanese bank. AS she entered one door her servant, Wno did not know she was there, came ia from another entrance. He was in- stantly surrounded by the bank of- dcials. who treated him with such fu'- some respect and deferrence that 1t did not take the surprised woman long 10 understand why her servant could not l cook. She was harboring high-class | spy under her roof. AS soon as tns | make believe servant saw his mistress. | he curtly dismissed those who sur | rounded him and left the bank. Being | curious to know what the fellows mis- | sion was. the lady did not dismiss inn | immediately He seemed anxious 10 | cultivate the good graces of the na- | tives, and it was suspected that tc might have been commissioned to sourG | local feeling on the prospect of Japan l ese rule in Hawaii. The fact that he 1 turned the conversation to this subject
 many times gave ground for this | opinion
 | An American hemp buyer in the | Ph Philippines began to get reports frora | lis assistants in various parts of the islands, first in one locality and then | in another, of two Japanese candy ped dlers who acted in suspicious man ner One was a man of advanced years and the other [. youth. Upon entering a town hey immediately opened shop | and attracted many customers by or | fering good candy at lower price than it could be sold at profit. Only ore of them stayed in the store at time the other mixing with the people on the outside. Finally they came to the place where the hemp buyer had his head quarters. He watched them closely and found that they could each speak sev- md af rn-