New-York tribune., 1909-09-12
SPYING ON FRONTIER
The French Ministry of Var Causes
SIR Arrests.
Paris. August "a.

by the engineer officers at Nancy i'm copying
plans Of frontier forts. TWO others young
women Of the demi-mondaine class, and three
are youths of Austrian. Belgian and Swiss ma
tionality II appears that very important papers
and plar relating to the French scheme of mo-
bilization, operations of the troops of "couver-
ture" whose mission is Immediately after decIa-
ration of war 10 assume TIE offensive. thereby
protecting the concentration Of the main forces
Of the army; detailed information concerning
the armaments and supplies Of ammunition at
Charlevile. Verdun. Saint-Mihie Toul Nancy.
Frouart RemireT~Ont and other frontier forts:
secret mechanism OF the Galgin turrets and of
the mysterious Mougin towers have been OBJ
tained during the last three months and deliv-
cred TO the German general staff. An eyewit-
thus describes the arrest Of a soldier at .
O'Clock on Monday at the cafe of the railway
station at Mars-le-Tour. The. culprit. in uni
form, and three comrades Of his regiment. the
Goth Infantry. We're seated at a table in the
middle of the room. Three civilians entered and
seated themselves at table next to the soldiers.
One Of the civilians had wooden flute, or
'mirliton.' wrapped in red, white and blue rib
bons. He played boisJerously on this little in
strument and slipped glasses of white wine OF
the country with his two companions. who had
the appearance of tourists. They nevertheless
stealthily and adroitly watched their neighbors
man with blue eyes and blond hair and mus
tsche. was engaged I'm writing an address on
an illustrated postal card While doing so he
referred to small piece of paper, apparently
torn from notebook. Just as the little blond
soldier was about TO finish addressing his postal
caro- the man who had been playing the mirIiton
reached forward and said to him: Pardon my
good friend. would you mind lending me for a
moment the pencil with which you write so
nlcelY?' AZ fha H.,
ADDRESS written by the soldier and remarked:
why. how singular: YOU are writing to 4 pe~-
son living I'm Germany With Quick move
ment the speaker. who was an agent of the
french secret police snatched up the scrap of
paper and the two other civilians spproached
IHe soIoier -urned deathly pale. began to cry
anu S@lu But am not n spy" The secret
Iohcemen took him into the garden Ubere !,
the presence OF a staff officer he was ouestionad
and examined. The postal card was sdaras.oI
10 prominent lady Of the de1ni- monde AZ NJ
ana related an conventional language to a rem
Ne%NouS uhat was to take place at Nancy ~,
me same afternoon five additional arrests 7rara
maze or persons implicated in the Same b,si,o,
according to the Information obtained b,, ,1e
french secret police. the German niIttar,, 90
plohage In France has been recently reorga,gzo,
upon more extensive basis than hitherto 7vba
'''' ''iniprlses very large proportion ~
i'' alii""S Wfom are several who ara
IN the smart cosmopolitan society, of
mere 'hey entertain lavishly and take
part ID fashionable functions. and give r,,7,sioo,
I'''o'IS at which the best singers and per
FORMERS may be heard. Upward Of two bund-ed
professional beauties Of . ,,,,,cL 49, -
grace are actively engaged in the frontier +,,,,.
"here they form acquaintance with non-com-
IIiSsloned officers and soldiers A considerable
Auinoer or women in the pay Of the German
HecreI service, according to the Information oh
'a-hed by the French police. have succeeded in
'"'erlhs the FAMILIES of French officers in the
oapacitles Of governesses- nurses or servants
The arrest at Nancy of Taffn. the soldier
who on account of his special talents az
craftsman was employed by the engineer stets
IN copying plans of forts and the mechanism
OF me mysterious Galgin turrets. throws new,
'sh' upon the methods employed by the German
secret service. One day the wife Of drafts
man Of the engineer corps at Nancy died after
a painful and costly maIady shortly aftor-
ward burglars broke into his house and stole
all the ready money and Jewels that bo nos
sessed By and by the craftsman recai,,ed
mysterious offers of money for executing draw
lngs OF simple and innocent objects, such as
churches or chateaus Of picturesque or histori-
cal Interest These were literally paid for and
the craftsman always pressed for want of
money and fond of an easy and luxurious life
was only too glad to execute them After a
while sketches Of railway stations and an
proaches to forts We're asked for Sums equiv
alent to 500 We're offered for them The
craftsman was thus compromised by having re-
ceived these payments. At last he was asked n
supply important documents and plans con-
oerning the national defence. When he refused
To comply, the threat Of exposure suf1iced 10
insure obedience, and the poor wretch. unable to
resist, became involved in the rneshes of the
German secret service. and was at last arrested
AS spy by the French police This in sub
stance is the story of the spy Taffin. whose ar.
rest has brought to light the large scale ulon
which the German secret service in France is
me arrest OF Paumy, q German. At Arna-
vile. neaf Nancy is the result of a long series
OF adventures Of the Sherlock Holmes order
during which three sergeants Of the Goth IN
fantry set traps for Paumy and urged him on
by pretending to be his dupes. while the SER
geants kept the colonel of their regiment ap-
prised Of every step taken by the spy. one Of
the sergeants crossed the frontier at night in
company with Paumy and met the Bavarian
major who is intrusted with the secret intelli-
gence service at Nancy. Pauny was captured
With a complete dossier Of technical information
concerning the frontier forts, and he will be
tried at Rheims In short, the spying and coun-
ter spying on both sides e the Franco German
frontier is1 q active than ever. c. l. r.
WOULD WED RESCUED GIRL