Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-07-10
SPIES BUSY IN EVERY COUNTRY
Each Nation Has Agents Learning Sc.
crets of Other Powers,

admiralty In permitting foreigners TO
compete at the sale Of old warships,
held periodically in the various dock
yards Of Britain.
At ordinary times the alien is kept
at good distance from the yards, but
when a sale takes place he is practi-
cally given a free run Of them.
The main endeavors of foreign spies
to obtain valuable secrets are devoted
to British naval stations and dock
yards, and yet the admiralty has al
ways been guilty Of a good deal Of
carelessnes in matters which concern
the efficiency Of the national defenses.
1t was not so very many years ago
when American students were permit
ted to attend British schools of naval
architecture, but this privilege is now
denied them owing to the fact that the
enterprising Yankees do not hesitate
to furnish Uncle Sans naval depart
ment with items Of naval architecture
and details concerning vessels under
construction. At the Royal Naval col
lege, Greenwich, the stranger to Eng
lish shores had many opportunities of
securing naval secrets.
It was only short time ago when an
eX-naval gunner named PARROT was
arrested in tobacconist's shop in the
Kings road, Chelsea, where he had had
letters addressed, on a charge of COM
municating naval secrets to a foreign
country. He was tried before Justice
Darling, who sentenced him to four
years penal servitude. At the trial it
came to light that PARROT had been the
victim Of woman spy, whom he be-
came acquainted with in a place of
amusement.
Women spies are said to haunt the
neighborhood Of naval stations and
dock-yards like so many flies on
treacle tin, and it was not so very long
back when a certain naval officer dis
covered that a pretty young lady he
was on very good terms with was the
a big power.
The girls inquisitiveness concerning
naval matters generally made him
little suspicious, and he thought it wise
to inform his superiors.
Quiet inquiries elected the fact that
she had attempted few days before
to bribe a dockyard employee to steal
certain plans for her. and that she was
possessed Of small camera with
which she had taken photographs
wholesale without any one being the
wiser
1t has been said, and probably with
a good deal Of truth, that hidden away
in safe in a government office in
Germany are fairly accurate plans OF
Gibraltar's defense works. and that
they were made from rough sketches
supplied by a German girl who some
years ago alighted at Gibraltar for the
benefit Of her health"
After she had been on the Rock for
some weeks the officers there discov-
cred that she knew too much concern
ing quick firing guns and other things.
and in the long run she was politely
but firmly advised to seek another
health resort"
It was proved that she was a spy in
the employ of Germany and it is pref
ty certain that she dispatched particu-
lars and sketches Of Gibraltar's defense
works to Berlin.
The various governments spend
of pounds every year on their
secret service, and it costs Germany
more than 100000 every twelve
months to maintain her battalion Of
spies. There is special fund for pay
ing the salaries and expenses OF the
body Of men and women who comprise
the spies Of Britain, and as rule this
secret service costs the country ESQ
600 annually.
The ministry responsible for the dis
tribution Of the money takes the fol-
lowing oath: Il swear that the money
paid to me for foreign secret service.
or for detecting, preventing and de-
feating conspiracies against the state
has been bona fide applied to the said
purposes and no other"
Spies are we'll paid, but not too well
when one considers the amazing risks
involved, and the fact that If they hap
pen to be caught by the foreign author
tiles they are more often than not dis
owned by their government.
The Germans are always bitterly
Of the British sketching
and photographing tourist, and declar-
ing that nine out Of ten men who to all
appearance are opulent and idle tour
lists travel under commissions from the
British war office. In this they are we'll
justified, for British agents exist in
France and Germany in large numbers,
and a good many Of them are women.
1t is an international law, but an un-
written one, that sovereign cannot
lawfully require a subject to serve as
a spy, except in a singular case, and
that Of the last Importance.
Nevertheless, no country will ever
lack spies, for the work that Is requir-
ed of them is so adventurous and so
we'll paid that thousands Of men would |
jump at the opportunity to become a |
secret service agent.-New York Press. |
All - tba Triad -Yea St-A German |