The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-10-28
Who Have Been Operating
For Years.
EVIDENCE OF WORK NOW seen
France Didn't Realize Their
Presence Until the War
Revealed II.
HAD A WORKING ORGANIZATION


the Germans distributed war fines
and acquisitions in the towns they
occupied I'm Belgium and Northern
France. and the precision with which
they chose the most solvent citizens
as hostages has been a surprise, but
when the details became known the
facts carried their explanation with
them.
NFor instance. the first detachment
of Uhlans that entered the city of
Lille was guided by man who had
left his place as superintendent of
an important factory in the city to
rejoin his regiment
At Scissors when objections were
raised to the exacting proportions of
the acquisitions the commanding Of
ficer called his aid, who turned out
to be a well-known business man of
the town who knew it's resources
thoroughly. You see," said the Of
ficer, pointing to the aid, I'VE are
posted by some one who knows"
Similar instances were reported
from Belgium, showing that every
| inch of the ground had been studied
carefully, the ready money in every
town estimated every suitable horse
and every ton of hay located and the
plans of every bridge drawn. In
France their statistics went so far
as to show how many bottles of wine
might be exactcd in each locality.
Bismarck knew two years before
the war of 1870 all that was going
on in France. and among his in
| formers was no less parsonage
than the present German chief of
staff, Won Moltke. 1t is doubtful
whether his information was so COM
plete as that possessed by the Ger
man general staff to-day. Probably
no army ever had the benefit of so
vice as that which the Germans have
developed in France.
There is nothing particularly new
in the stratagems employed by the
German spies, but the patience.
thOrOughness and hardihood with
which they have worked are worthy
of note. The reports of the siege of
Maubeuge have demonstrated how
the great German mortars could i'm
mediately be put into action on ar
rival, thanks to the macadam foun-
dations prepared months. if not
years. in advance, in the yards of
German factory. The land on which
this factory was built was purchas-
ed by the Krupps through a go-be-
tween. The sale caused talk at the
time, but the matter was forgotten
until the fall of Maubeuge recalled
| the circumstances.
The range of every fort was care
| fully taken in advance, and the Ger
mans had, in addition, the benefit of
a complete underground telephone
system, by which spies posted at one
end could inform the battery as to
to the exact result of every shot, In
connection with the deposits of arms
and uniforms in the establishments
of German merchants in Antwerp,
this confirms how thorough We're the
preparations.
AS long ago as 1887 the topogra-
ply of the region in which the bat
tie of the Marine was fought was
studied carefully by a company of
spies, who presented themselves
even at the Mayors offices, and at
the procedures as engineers study
ing the ground for new railway
lines They got all the information
they wanted. When it was discover
ed that the projected railway lines
We're myths it was too late.
They employed supposed artistt
to sketch Notifications and suppos-
ed fishermen to take the depths of
streams. There is probably not a
fort in France that the Germans do
not know as well as the French. and
IL is quite possible that there are
river fords indicated ON their maps
of which the French general STAFF is
ignorant.
Ii was asserted recently that the
German Foreign Office possessed
complete list of all the inhabitants
of France whose fortunes made them
eligible hostages as well as a black
list of all those who had made them
selves obnoxious by their avowed |
hostility to Germany.
Most of the men employed in the
German secret service speak good
English and frequently pass them
selves on as Americans. One tried |
it the other day, after having pene-
trated to Gen. Manobury's head
....s.. A..s n a