The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-10
GERMANY KEEPING
 AN EYE ON SPIES  English and Americans Are
 Closely Watched SOME NEW EXAMPLES Amusing Anecdote Told of One of the Kaiser's Promenade Along
 the Sea Coast During
 Rifle Practice
SOME NEW EXAMPLES
By MALCOLM CLARKE

many is spy mad, especially so since the
 Morocco situation developed Foreigners, especially English and Americans are watched closely from the time they enter Germany until they leave.
 | For a foreigner to show any unusual 1 interest in the military or naval affairs
 of the empire is to make himself a sus-
 pect and the most innocent inquiries are
 liable to lead to serious results. re-
 cent incident which occurred fairly H.
 lustrates the point.
 A clerk in the postoffice at Gmunden, named Courtain, who has served the his family spending his holidays at the
 house of a friend, who is also In the i public service at Viseck in the upper | Palatinate. At the suggestion of his host the two of them made an excursion to the neighborhood of the artillery range | of Grafenwohr. There they heard that | on the following day important practice l with siege guns was tos take place. AS an old artillerest Courtain was much in | terested in this. He decided to remain | overnight, and obtained at the military | headquarters a card of admission to the range, though his request for permission
 
 Sitting the same evening over his glass | of beer at the inn. he got into conver- | sation with two artillery non-commis- stoned officers to whom he confessed his desire to obtain a few mementoes of his | visit in the shape of fragments of splin- | tered shels. He was told that these
 were formerly to be purchased at head quarters, but were not disposed of whole sale to dealer in old iron. At the same | tt In the position of his interocutors there were other ways of getting hold of such ! things. With his senses sharpened by 30 years service as a public official, Cour- tain scented danger here and hastily de- | clined the suggestion. He retired to rest suspecting nothing, but between and o'clock in the morning he was wakened | by loud and preemptory knocking at the door. He opened and was rudely shak- en into waxefulness by the sight of cou- pie of artillery officers and body of gen. darmes. His clothes and luggage were seized and subjected to thorough searching. Special and persistent inqui- ries were made after camera" which had been seen near him on the previous evening. The instrument ultimately turn ed out to be a pocket electric lantern belonging to the landlord of the inn. Courtain was able to establish his iden- ty by means of a passport and a number of letters and in due time was left to his own resources. At midday he returned to Viseck.
 On tlfe following day. however, two gendarmes appeared in the house and assidously ransacked both his luggage, and that of his family. A couple of days later this process was repeated at o'clock in the morning.
 By this time Courtain had begun to find holiday making in the Pala tinate a little too much for his nereves, and, hastily packing up his traps he fled with his family, to what he trusted would be the calmer climate of Nuremberg But alas. as they stepped out of the train at their harbor of refuge they were confronted by party of detectives who insisted escorting them to the Rathaus. Here they again were thoroughly searched, and though the wife and child were allowed to go. Courtain himself was detained Next morning he was conveyed in prison van with cartload of criminals 10 the examining goal where he spent five days in a filthy cell. and as many nights in a dirty bed, where he con- tracted a skin disease
 At the end of his period he was at last informed that one of the non-coms with whom he had spoken had informed against him, stating that he had asked the soldier to procure him unused fuse of Shrapnel c, and that he had also said that he kept up correspondence
 with friends in France, and was in pe- cuniary difficulties.
 These facts show how dangerous it must be for foreigners to show in this country even the most innocent interest in military matters.
 An amusing anecdote is told of the Kaiser's promenades. His majesty was walking with couple of adjutants, all in naval uniform along a quiet road not far from the sea: he was respectfully sa- luted by soldier on duty, who did not recognize him. The man said he had orders to allow nobody to pass, as shoot ing practice was going on and there was danger to pedestrians.
 l The kaiser thanked him for the warn | ing and retraced his steps. Going to | little distance, however. his majesty sat down on the sands and watched the practice. After it was over he asked the officer in charge to give the sentry, in
 his name, a five mark piece.
 | The crown prince and princess, with their little sons, have been visiting Gel l bensande, tine residence of the Grand
 Duchess Apastasia, the princess moth- ar. l was at that pretty little Daltic re-
 scrt that the young people made love. l
 grounds the crown prince popped the all- | important question. So both of them
 being happy a couple as ever existed,
 and still genuinely in love with each
 other always like paying a visit to the I old scenes. The prince went later and
 the princess did not take a special train.
 but used the ordinary express. The small
 princess ran up and down the corridor
 of the train and talked to the conductor | inst like other little bOyS and wore tha
 simple Russian "kittels' that they al- ways do.
 very amusing story Is going the | round at Kiel. The imperial family are l very fond of travelling incognito when 1 ever possible. The crown prince goes
 under the name of Count Ravensoerg and
 Prince Eitel takes the name of Count | von Berg.
 One day not long ago he called upon a very old admiral at Kiel and sent in the
 card with his incognito on. To his roy | al highness's surprise, and not a little
 amusement. the servant returned with his card which he handed back with the
 words, His excellency regretted. but
 he did not know any Count von Berg, and
 he never receives strangers" Prince
 Adalbert went away and when he saw
 the old gentleman some days afterwards
 at a garden party at the castle, he went
 up and asked the eccentric old seadog
 why he had treated him so unkindly. Then the story came out and everyone
 has had a good laugh.
 | It is said the old admiral was not at 1 all discomfited but on the contrary,
 was rather testy about nom de guerre
 being used on visit to him.
 | Dr. Theodore Leasing. one of the most | I t;t,o trI,a tcte nf