The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-01-31
! | Il
Blue priints Made If Many Pacific Ceal
Dasusss By Tben.
|. FORTS ARE SKETCaED

secrps Service Men Captured and
Foreign Experts Have Been caught
Working in Many Disguises, But
s.s cosuuntr IN J Haa No Law Whereby
They Can Be Punished.
Astounding revelations OF the e17;
tent OF the military spy system as
practiced against the United States
goyernm snt are made in g report
presented TO Congress recently by
the House committee on Judiciarj.
More than a score Of instances IN
which spies are known to have been
engaged in collecting the military
secrets of the United States are
cited. plans OF insuiar fortifcations
have apparently been spread about
as freely SIS hand. bills. Officers OF
foreign nations, disguised as wait
ers in restaurants, have been caught
in the act of delying into the secrets
OF our rational detenses..
a package Of blue prints contain
Ing the schemes Of defenses for Cor
reeidor island, in the Philippines,
{ was picked up in the streets Of Cal
cutta. Spies have swarmed in Pa
aclflc coast ports and without moles-
tation, for there was no law govern;
ing the case, have mapped and chart
& ed every bay and inlet, fort and Tor
tification along the Pacific coast.
.s Members OF the House read the
report with amazement. Inasnuch
as the facts In the report were
CLEANED from secret records OF the
Government and confidential police
reports from various large cities, no
names were mentioned, nor were the
nations.lities of the spies who have
been detected disclosed.
The report came in connection
with favorable Recommendation
FOR the passage Of the Hobson bill,
providing for the arrest and impris-.
%onment OF all persons caught In the
act Of spying. The bill carries pen
atty of "a fine OF not more than i 1000
or Imprisonment for not more than
i one year, or both, for any unauthor-
lied person who makes maps,
sketches or photographs of anything
connected with the national de-
lenses. The report in part says:
# "a gentleman in the city OF Cal
cutta picked up on the streets OF that
city small package OF blue prints
containing information with refer
,ence to the defenses Of Corresidor
island. Recosnizing their character
&he. delivered them to the American
consul at Calcutta, who forwarded
them through the State department..
in Washington. Significance sis at
tachei to the fact that these were
blue prints. The whereabouts OF. the
original trac!ngs is still unknown.
These blue prints contained COM
plete set of drawings Of the defense
of .Corregidor island, which is the
main stronghold of the United States
In the Philippines.
.'. .'In 1907 and 1908 number OF
reports were received, to the effect
that foreigners were very active in
mapping the Pacific coast and the
harbors in the vicinity Of Puget
sound and the mouth Of the Colum-
bia river, making sketches or Lhe
Notifications and seeking in the most
open manner to secure and record
military information bearing upon
the defenses OF that locality.
''In one instance, report was to
the effect that a certain officer, a
lieutenant In the engineer corps OF
foreign service, was serving In the
capacity of waiter at the CONNER
cial hotel at Seattle.
"In January, 1907, the polr,e de-
partment OF Los Angeles, Cal, re-
ported that a foreigner was sctively
engaged in copying recrods from the
land Office in the city.
'sIn 1907 also the American am
bassador at a foreign capital notified
the State department that a certain
captain belonging to the army OF the
country, to which our ambassador
had been accredited, had been de-
tailed to secretly visit the American
countries and spend three years
there ascertaining strength OF their
troops, arms, Notifications, etc.
''In. January, 1908, the police de
partment of the city OF New York
reported that military maps and in
formation Of a military character
had been found in trunk belonging
to an american whom they had reas-'
on to believe was in the employ OF a
foreign government.
"In Manila in April, 1910. an en-
listed man Of the United States Eu-
gineering corps was approached by
two officers Of foreign nation,
which it is unnecessary to- name.
He was sounded thoroughly, and
then a fiat offer of $4,000 was
made to him for complete detailed
drawings and photographs OF the de-
lenses on Corregidor island. The
prize was too big to resists and an
agreement was reached.
GAS the official photographer for
the department, the engineer had