Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-12-21
AN INTIMATE VIEW OF
EUROPE'S SPY SYSTEM
Recruits From Every Walk of Life, But
Criminals All-The Part That Women
Play as Secret Agents" of the Vari-
GUS Nations.
BY VANCE THOMPSON


relating proudly the crimes they claim to
have committed
He was scant of news" said the Scot
who tauld his grandfather was hangt." 1t
is not much to boast of. And the curious
part of it is that these revelations" by
illustrious spies are nine-tenths CANNON
and one-tehth plagiarism.
For instance
Last year when It was thought in every
capital in Europe that the world war could
not possibly be prevented in 1918 I spent
three months in Brussels and my chief busi-
ness was studying-as a scientist studies
Vermin-the spy system From the time OF
the Dreyfus affair down to the present have
known the leading spies Of Europe A good
deal of what learned last winter appeared
In an article which wrote. One anecdote
! L told was that of woman spy who, by pre-
tending TO be a Canadian helress, became
! engaged to a young Russian revolutionary
! in Switzerland. She gave prenuptial lunch
! con to her f1ance and got him to invite all
his friends. That unwilling young man drew
| up list of all the revolutionaries in Geneva.
Ohe ana all they came to the luncheon and
when they were gathered in the garden she
had commemorative photograph taken
Within two hours this much wanted infor-
mation-names and photographs-wa in
the hands of the Russian authorities.
4NuM tiiS adventure was IOtu Dy the
girl herself and young man who had posed
as her brother as we sat one evening in a
German beer hall in Brussels-a famous beer
hall known in all the spy world. 1 had
known the male rogue for years. He was
glad to have the story told, but 1t was de-
cided best not to use the real names. So
over the beer table we invented the names
Of Charles and Therese Provost. Those are
the names I printed in my article. Now in
the last few months that story has been
printed in two of the books by famous spies
false names and all. Each of the spy au-
thors claimed to have had a hand in It,
You may take that as a fair indication
of the trustworthiness of these spy con- |
fesslons which are making such noise in |
the world. Any one ut all familiar with the |
spy system carried in Europe was per- |
fectly aware of the fact that such a book |
as that of "Dr. Arngaard Karl Graves" was |
sheer CANNON. He had no need of the as
surance of the German Ambassador to the |
United States that It has mo value
than Nick Carter novel,"
The Heroic FalIacy
Under the circumstances 1t might not be
out of the way to state-at no great length
just what the spy system is.
In the first place discard once for all the
idea that the spy is in any way heroic.
spy-the spy in time of peace; and calmly,
refectivelY with extreme precision and
scrupulous exactitude l state
The spy is always a criminal.
The raw material out of which he is made
is thief, robber embezzler forger gambler
picllpocket, rogue, white slaver-always and
without exception. I could name score of
the most famous spies in Europe-men at
the top of their dirty trade-and show you
the precise truth Of my statement.
Take, for example, the German spy system.
The great clearing house was until war
broke out in Brussels. Here the work against
England was centred. That against France
and Italy had its headquarters in st. Lud-
wig, a suburb of Basel in Switzerland but
lying just across the frontier. Here Leopold
Paul Won Liebroch, major in the Bavarian
army was in charge He was there on July
30 of the present year and saw him.
Here one thing should be said:
do not rank Major Won Liebroch with the
He is an army officer His duty
in time of peace was the wretched duty OF
acting as general manager Of the spy system
1t is not to be supposed he was proud of the
position, though after rolling in the dirt for
years 1t is probable that one acquires no love
for cleanliness. Under him was Schultz, a
captain in the engineers who lives in Treye-
until the war broke out his address was No.
Saint Helen street. The odd thing about
schultz is that his WIFE under the name of
Milou, acted as his assistant.
The Long Chance I
These officers and their like are detailed to
10 this work. And it is honorable, per- l
laps as any other part of a soldiers busl- q
less. At all events it carries with it no /
,bloquy Under them are the spies. These /
nen and women are recruited from all ranks, c
or In all ranks OF life in Europe criminals are
o be found. Many Of them have been officers 4
n the army. AS an illustration take the case
Il Vessel who is one Of the most successful
pies of the last two decades. He was a lieu
enant Of engineers in the German army
He fell into the hands of a German adven- !
uress and spy named Mathilde Baumler.
Who was then working for a French agent I
His first crime was forgery. With this as a :
Weapon he was forced into stealing military =
.ans. He managed 10 cross the frontier be- Z
ore he was caught, With Mathilde ne set
ID business as a spy for France. Like ali | d
hese spies he has In the years worked for a
iermany as well as France. for not one OF u
hese men is ever true 70 one employer. OF | II
CURSE Germany could imprison Vessel II a
he wanted to do so-for that old forgery Il
Or treason, for a more recent forgery; but h
he prefers TO keep the sentence hanging over a
Is head. When she wants him she whistles. t'
What IS true Of Vessel is true OF the others. a
When an onicer or sub-ofiicer IN the German b
rmy Is caught in crime he is given a
hanes-if he Is ut for the work-of entering Il
be spy service. II he is caught Il means n
rison IN France or Italy or England; but II 3