Arizona republican., 1915-03-18
SOUGHT SUBMARINE
 SHIPMENT SECRETS
It is Alleged Employe Was Offered Thousand Dol lars to Tell Whether the Knock-dOwn Craft Were Being Furnished British
ASSOCIATED PRESS DIsPATcH1

SEATTLE, March 17-Dr. William Mueller. imperial German consul of Seattle and his secretary, B. NJ. Schultz. were served notices of arrest at the consulate. They are charged with con- spiracy in attempting to corruptly in fluence John Murdock, an employe of the Seattle Construction and Drydock company by inducing him to sell sec rets of his employers. Mueller and Schultz are accused of offering Mur- dock a large cash consideration for in- formation bearing out Ambassador Won Bernstorff's allegation that the Seattle corporation is shipping knock-down submarines to the British government, via British Columbia,
 Consul Mueller says that Murdock did not state at first that he was an employe of the ship yard and when later Murdock said he would get docu- ments from the office files, all nego- tiations for the information were brok- en off.
 The information against the German representatives, filed by Prosecuting Attorney Lundin, jointly charges them and Dan Tarnatskzy, free lance de- tective, with conspiracy. Murdock and the detective were arrested last night on joint grand larceny complaint, and detained in the county jail until morn
 ing when Murdock, who will De held by
 the prosecutor as the states principal witness. was released under Sl, 900 bail ha nf Mueller and his secretary were served through their counsel. Murdock is P years old. being employed as assistant shipping clerk at the plant of the Seat tie Construction and Drydock company for the past two years. In statement
 to the prosecutor, the youth said the negotiations for the delivery of the in- formation said to have been sought by
 Mueller were still pending when Mur- dock was arrested. He had originally demanded s1,5OO for the work, it is said.
 but subsequently, agreed to accept
 s1, OOO He declared although some in formation was ready for delivery, at conference held at the consulate last evening there was a hitch when he re- fused to deliver this until the money was forthcoming. President Patterson of the drydock company says his firm is not building submarines for the British or any other government at
 war
 Nine original bills of fading were re- covered from under the mattress of
 Murdock's bed when a special agent from the prosecuting attorneys office
 arrested him at his home. A quantity of blank forms of bills of lading were
 also found there. The purport of these bills was not revealed by any of the principals in the affair Whether Mur- | dock really had anything of value to offer the German consul was not dis closed by these papers.
 The action against the imperial Ger man consul and his secretary is based on the state statute which reads: Every person who shall give offer | or promise, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity or reward to any agent, employe or servant of any person or corporation. with intent to | influence his action with relation to his principals, employers or masters busi-
 ness. shall be guilty of gross misde- i meanor.'
 ! The penalty for a gross misdemeanor
 in the state of Washington is fine of
 not more than 5000 or a year in jail 1 or both in the case of each defendant (Continued on Page Seven)