Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-21
Hliseellaasuus Readins.
WORK OF THE MILITARY SPY.
Must Take His Medicine Himself if
Captured.


cy about the officers arrest and trial.
His government repudiates his activi-
ty, and If he is sentenced to a term
of Imprisonment he receives no support
or aid from his government.
Within the last few months two
British officers, Capt. Brandon and
Capt. Trench, have been arrested, tried
and imprisoned in Germany for gather
ing military information in that coun-
try which might be valuable to Great
Britain in case of hostilities. A Ger
man officer Lieut.. Helm, was arrested
in England for sketching and photo
graphing British fortifications. In
the Philippines two Japanese officers
were arrested while attempting to
bribe a private to furnish them with
photographs Of the Notifications of
Corregidor, Manila Bay.
These incidents are only indications
of a general system of secret military
espionage which is in progress in all
parts of the world. Although they will
not officially admit it practically ev-
cry government has a secret service
of army and navy officers whose only
duty is to travel in foreign countries
to gather information which might be
useful in time of war Because of the
shortage of officers the United States
has only engaged in this practice in
time of actual hostilities.
Military espionage is, of course. a
delicate subject, and 1t would be a
gross violation of international pro-
priety for any government to admit
that it had secret agents spying on it's
neighbors. However, 1t Is we'll
known fact that this system exists.
Not long ago officers of the war de-
partment had an experience which Is
still a mystery. One of the most i'm
portant secrets of the army in recent
years has been the details of the for
tifications of the island of Corregidor,
which is situated at the mouth Of Ma
Mia Bay. A British subject in the city
of Calcutta found on the streets of
that city a small packet of blueprints
containing information of the defences
of Corregidor. Recognizing the char
acter of the documents he turned them
over to the American consul general
there, who in turn forwarded them to
the state department at Washington.
Finally they found their way to the
war department, where the blueprints
MI fnol H
GERS of the department were amazed
when they found that the blueprints
contained all the important details of
the defences Of Corregidor. They were
duplicates of original plans, the where
abouts of which have never been es-
certained. They were on a small
scale evidently made with the idea Of
carrying them in a pocket, and were
very finely and accurately drawn. On
some Of the blueprints were tabula-
tions giving the heights of the guns
above the sea level, the location of
searchlights, fire control stations and
other highly confidential information.
The blueprints were not copied from
any drawings or charts prepared by
the United States, but were evidently
made from careful and painstaking
research from the official and conf
dental records Of the government.
The maker of the blueprints was
never identified. Officers of the war
department are confident that the
| blueprints were based upon informa-
| tion which had been distracted and
deliberately sold to a foreign govern
ment. But the most careful and COM
prehensive investigation which was
made by the department failed to dis
| close the identity of the supposed
| traitor.
About a year ago two Japanese off,
GERS attempted to obtain photographs
of the Corregidor fortitications by
bribing an enlisted man of the Ameri-
can army. To the private, who was
| in the engineer corps, was offered
| $4,000 if he would agree to supply
| the officers with the photographs
| they desired. He agreed to do this
| and as he was the official photographer
of the corps no suspicion was aroused
| when he made the photographs. He
revealed his knowledge to the military
authorities in Manila, however, who
| instructed him to proceed with the
deal A trap was laid and the two
Japanese officers were captured when
| they were about to receive the photo
graphs from the private. There was
no law under which they could be
prosecuted and they were released
from custody. Since then, however
congress has passed a law covering
such cases.
Early in 1908 the police department
of New York city reported to the war
department that maps and military
information Of a confidential character
had been found in a trunk belonging
to an American who, the police be-
| lieved, had been employed by for
| eign government. His arrest had been
| made in connection with another Of
fense and the discovery of these pa
pers was accidental.
| In 1907 an American ambassador al
a foreign capital reported to the state
department that an army officer of the
country to which he was accredited
had been detailed to visit the Ameri-
can countries secretly to ascertain
the strength of their forces. His mis-
sion was thwarted, however, by the in
| formation furnished by the ambassa-
/ dor.
| The military authorities Of every
| first class power are constantly pre-
pairing for war. Naturally they are
anxious to know what their neighbors
are accomplishing in military science
Here develops the function of the
modern military spy. Fiction writers
clothe the spy with a veil of mystery
| ana a supernatural CItNellleSS NHiSh
enables him to get out of all danger
Gus pitfalls into which he falls. But
the real flesh and blood spy is diff
ferent person. In these days of mod
ern and scientific warfare tine spy has
| become technical expert in every
branch of his art. He must be tact
| ful and above all close mouthed.
The procedure in sending out spy
is something like this: If the Ger
man government wishes information
which it cannot get in the regular
channels of information some officer
is sent for. He is summoned to the
war office to receive his instructions
In case of confidential work abroad
| he receives oral orders so that he Will
not have any documentary evidence
on his person to disclose his identity
in case he gets into trouble. Having
received his instructions he starts out
sometimes so secretly that even his
| family do not know where he is 60
ing. Usually he speaks the language
| of the country to which he is bound
| His real identity for the time being
is forgotten, and he travels under an
assumed name. If necessary he uses