The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-10
FULL OF SPIES.
Startling Evidence of PernicjOus
Activity of Foreigners.
IN Obtaining Secrets of the u.
s. War Department.
BLUE PRINTS FOUND
Ut the FertificatiOns at COrreg.
idOr, in Calcutta.
Drawings and Notes of Pacific
Coast Defense Captured.
BLUE PRINTS FOUND

washington, Aug. 50.-Startling evil
uence OF the pernicious activity OF for
elsh spies Is in the possession of the
army general staff. which accounts for
the serious consideration that is ~~w
oelng given to the most trifIing report
OF attempts to discover the military
secists OF the country. Some of ths.s,
incIuehts are of comparative recent
uate and 1t was on the subnnission Of
s1ciI Information M to a secret session of
the judicial committee of the bo,,ss
that legislation was secured AZ az 80
session of congress providino for 49,
PuhIs nn1ent of spies in time Of peace.
All Enghshman in Calcutta Dicxad i'm
II the streetS small package of blue
prlll's showing every detail Of the. de-
AenSes OF Corregidor Island the ma.
stronghold of the United States in f1a
hpplnes. The prints were not comics
u any drawings or charts Drepared for
use OF the United States but were evil
uSHuy the result of careful and de-
% Llperale investigation of the official
ana confiC entail records of the United
states The existence of the blue prints
maze It evident that there were other
copies in existence. The Englishman
sent the papers to the war department
IieLe e pdt ne most careful investigation
Ialled to discover the means by which
the information had been obtained.
A waiter in a Seattle hotel was found
to be a foreign officer in disguise
possessing many drawings and notes
he had made of the Pacific coast de-
fenses.
An American ambassador notified
the state department that a certain
captain belonging to the army Of the
country where he was stationed had
oeen detailed to spend three years Sc
cretly investigating the American
countries and studying their military
conditions.
Even the Panama canal has not
escaped; one of the engineers found
torelgn officer, and attache to one of
the American countries, secretly stn7S-
ing the canal from a strategic stand
point and he understood that there
We're six or seven other officers of f1e
| same nationality in the United States
gathering military information.
New York policeman arrested an
! American for a trivial offense and
| round in his trunk military mans and
information which convinced the on
Gals that he was in the employ of a
| foreign government
! But the incident that convinced the
| Judiciary committee of the necessity
for the protective law occurred less
/ than a year ago in the Philippines. An
enlisted man in the engineers was Of
! fered $25.000 by two foreign officers
for the plans of the defenses of Cor
regidor Island. Being the official
| photographer he had ample opDor-
tunity to get all the necessary pic
lures. having first informed his super
ior officer of the attempt. A tran was
4 laid and the two foreign spies were
captured. But habeas corpus pro-
ceedfngs were obtained and they were
released. as there was then no law in
! the Philippines or the United States
under which they could be prosecuted.