The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1912-11-01
SECRET SERVICE IN SOUTH
One Of Original "Boy Scouts" RelateS
How knowledge Of Telssrsphy
Aided the Federals.

The small boy fond Of juvenile dc.
tective stories could ask for moth.
Ing better than a biography Of John
n Stewart, past vice-department com
mander OF the G. A, II. OF Illinois.
who lives at 435 West Sixty-frst
place, Chicago. ar Stewart was one
of the original boy scouts OF the
Civil war. AT the age OF fifteen he
started out from Washington on the
drst OF his many journeys as a spy in
advance Of the Union armies
81 became interested In telegraphy
when I was n boy in Cleveland" said
Mr.. Stewart, "and / soon became an
expert operator, In 1862 a place was
found for me In the military telegraph
service at Washington, and went
east From there / was sent out on
secret service. would go out in
advance OF an army, sometimes with
cavalry escort and sometimes alone.
often making a telegraph station in a
tree top, cutting into a passing wire
with my pocket instrument or quietly
and 'lnobserved getting within hear.
Ing distance Of some Confederate tel.
egraph station, usually manned by an
operator who read the Morse code
from paper only. Information thus
secured often proved valuable in 10.
eating camps and marching bodies OF
the enemy
"One OF the most interesting OF my
experiences was in connection with a
conspiracy in Indiana, engineered by
the Knights Of the Golden Circle, the
secret society OF the south that had
branches through the northern states.
A banker In Indiana had a country
place where the meetings OF the con-
spirators were held / got chummy
with the bankers son, let him learn
that | knew something about teleg-
raphy, and so got into the conspiracy.
| did not learn all their secrets, but |
learned enough. They were going |
to assassinate Gov. Morton of Indiana
and blow up the capitol buildings at |
indianapolis. They had gunpowder |
secretly stored in the building and It |
was to be put in electrical connection
With some remote point. They got me
% show them how to make the connec-
ions, after explaining and making dia-
grams of about how the thing could bo
lone. |, for my part, neglected sew
sral essential points necessary to
heir success. The night of execu-
ion arrived, but of course the thing
allied to work. Soon thereafter the
government officials jumped on the
lunch, and some of them were sent to
military prisons or through the lines
o their southern fTNpds.
Later in the war and a man by
he name Of Catlin, who said his home
Ias in or near Buffalo, N. Y, were
tarted south from Washington We
'ere to precede Sherman'5 march to
ne sea and report what ,orce he
'ould encounter on the memorable
ampaign We went dressed as ma,
YES and aroused comparatively lit
g suspicion. On the way I became
sparated from Catlin and went on
lone in Savannah. There l went to
le telegraph office as If curious, boy
-shion, to investigate the mysteries /
the telegraph. The operators re-
lived the dispatches on strips OF pa ,
sr, and only one or two Of them knew q
rem the signal (used in calling their 4
hce) by the sound of the instrument.
made myself useful thereabouts for q {
" or so as a sort OF a general lack c
> and was allowed to sleep at night t
the soft side of the office floor. 1,
'veral times the signal sounded and O
nearly betrayed myself in my de- s
70 that the operator promptly an "
'er so that might catch what the IL
her fellow bad to say. shook O
9 town as Eoon as / could safely do Il
and mRdS my way north to the fed O
al lines, then somewhere in the vi C
lity of Aiken, on the Southern rail. v
ad." VI
The military telegraph system, with a
ich Mr.. Stewart was at first con-
cted as an operator, was finely or. fc
nized in the first years Of the war d
tteries were carried with the march. n,
armies and the currents thus &C
'plied carried messages over wires tt
nporarily stretched between strateg. al
points. ce