The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-01
UNCLE SAM'S 4'b.I." HAS VERY LONG ARM How Rich MalefactOrs Are Brought to Justice WORKING IN SECRET Some of the Cleverest Young Men in the Country Are Engaged in
 This Work For the
 Government
WORKING IN SECRET
By WALTER HARPER


 Washington. August 31.-(Special)-Jnst as l started to write my own name on the register of one of the large hotels in an eastern city a few weeks ago I noticed another, the tracing of which was still damp on the page. This name was strangely familiar. It was that of a young fellow had known in the south.
 l hunted up his room. A knock on the door brought the grating of key and the cheery Come in, that confirmed my suspicion that I had really found an old friend in a strange city.
 This is delightful" I exclaimed q did not dream that I knew soul in a hun dred miles,
 His welcome was just enthusiastic.
 What in the world are you doing here?" I asked after we had exchanged the usual greeting.
 Your question is not a foolish one, but I will have to tgive you foolish answer. I am not here. I am down on the Fiori- da coast seining for polar bears. No, I will tell you, but you must not breathe a word of 1t to any soul. l am special agent in the bureau of investigation of the department of justice at Washington. Now. that is all. run along and be good. Then we talked about other things, about our mutual friends in the south, about the weather, about the special ses- sion of Congress, about my work, but never a word about his.
 And he was not ashamed of his business. It is one of the most honorable and at the same time one of the most impor tant in the administration of the affairs of this great government. But it is a branch of the government that cannot be advertised. The agents themselves know but little of its ramificatons. The agents do not know each other The chief of the bureau is the only man in it that knows how many men there are in the service and that knows the men.
 My curiosity was so much aroused that I determined tot know all that it was pos sible for me to know about the B. l., as it is known to the few people who know anything about it at all.
 By way of preliminary explanation l will say that the bureau of investigation is the greatest and most effective detec- tive organization in the world And this in spite of the fact that it is but three years old. The results of it's wonderful work is played up on the first pages of the big newspapers almost every day, but the bureau and it's agents are hardly ever mentioned.
 The bureau and its shrewd young spe- cial agents have sent millionaires to the in justice and those same special agents who ordinarily should receive some mark of special honor drop back into their mys- terious reserve on the trail of some other offender of the public peace and safety.
 The thousand arms of the powerful B. l. are forever reaching out across the land, even across the seas and seldom fail in drawing back to punishment those who dare to offend the dignity and peace of this nation. Yet those arms are never seen to be recognized
 One day one of the special agents of the bureau on the trail of a criminal, a swindler in fact, followed couple. man and a woman, into restaurant in one of the large eastern cities. He had an inkling that these two persons knew something of the case upon which he was working He took a seat not far from 
 could commnd a view of both faces in profile He had been a stenographer be- fore he was taken into the service of the B. |. and was expert in lip reading. He took stenographic notes of the con versation between the man and woman and never one word of it reached his ears. The informa tion he got from the conver- sation led to the discovery of lost papers and books of great value in the famous Heinze case, involving the sum of ESQ., 600, 0OO
 That agent to all appearances was sim ply a man about town without occupa- ton. His dress is always simple and un- obtrusive. He would attract no attention whatever on the street. That is. one of the great secrets of the B. l. Most of the special agents are small young. clean shaven men who wear no spectacles and dress simply.
 Walking along Twentieth street in Bir