Norwich bulletin., 1915-12-15
AFFIDAVIT MADE BY JOHANNES
 HENRYkUs VoN KooLBEReEN
Regarding an Alleged Organized Ger
 man Conspiracy.

ne9aTuin9 an ANeqed organized ter
 man Conspiracy.
 Providence, R. l., Dec. 15.-The
 Providence Journal prints this morn
 ing the text of an affidavit made by
 Johannes Henrykus Won Koolbergen l in San Francisco on August 27. This afhdav1t goes into much circumstan-
 tial evidence with regard to an alleged l organized German conspiracy on the 1 Pacific coast with the object of blow
 ing up munitions plants, on which in- dictments have been returned by a l federal grand jury in San Francisco against Baron George Wilhelm won Brincken, c. c. Crowley and Mrs. Mar garet Cornell
 The affidavit asserts that Franz | Bopp, German cOnSul-general at San l Francisco personally supervised the I activities of KooIbergen and directed | the attempt to hire him and blow up l tunnels on the Canadian Pacific rail- road in May of the present year. The affidavit also declares that Bopp ordered the money for this work, $1,500 | to be paid to Koolbergen under the | impression that the work had been 1 accomplished when as a matter of fact Bopp was misled by Canadian Pacific | officials working in conjunction with Koolbergen, who caused stories to be inserted in the Canadian papers telling | of the destruction of important tun- nels by mysterious accidents
 The affidavit also declares that | George Wilhelm von Brincken, Bopp's | assistant in the San Francisco con- sulate, worked out all the details of | the plot and that he and Bopp went over maps of the Canadian Pacific railway with KooIbergen in the con- sulate and directed the latter where to | blow up the tunnels where they would | interfere most with the transporta- l tion of munitions of war.
 The affidavit states also that Kool- bergen was instructed to steal the 1 dynamite for these plans from cer- tain construction camps on the Pan adian Pacific, the location of which was outlined to him by Bopp and Brincken
 My name is Johannes Henrykus Van Koolbergen.
 live in Mill Valley, Marion county, Cal ifornia.
 Some months ago, in 1915, I do not remember the exact date, probably five months ago. say about April, met a man named Wilhelm Won Brincken in the Heidelberg cafe in San Fran Fran cisco, Calf. His address was num- Der 303 Picadilly apartment in San Francisco and he asked me to call on him there. I told him that I intended to go on trip to Canada so that I did not think I would have occasion to do that until I came back. I spent about five weeks going up to Canada and when came back I was informed by the people at the house where I lived that Won Brincken had called me a couple of times by telephone, asking me to come up to see him.
 Not knowing what he wanted, I went to see him at the Picadilly apart ments about the beginning of April He told me that he was an officer in the Germany army and at 0T1% T-f-s1 Of the German empire and worked here under MT. Franz Bopp, the imperial German consul. He then told me that he was informed that I was in Canada and that my nationality had been in- quired into by detectives on behalf of the English authorities in Canada and said therefore I know you could do something for Us in Canada"
 l answered that I was willing to do so II 1t was for an innocent purpose l would have no objection. but he should first name his price and he said that it would be worth one thou sand dollars ($1,00O). I told him that 1 was too well known in Canada. that ne could hardly use my papers, but that Ii it were worth one thousand dollars ($1,0O0) to see a friend that I would have no objection to gom yself and act for him.
 So he said: Well, you had better come over some day to the German consulate and I will introduce you to the German consul" I went to the sjerman consulate and met Franz Bopp, the imperial German consul, and upon different questions being asked me by MT. Bopp, the German consul I be- came very pro-German in the expres- sion of my sentiments.
 l left the German consul and was admitted into one of the other offices on the fifth floor of the Royal Insur- ance building on Sansome street, cor ner of Pine street, San Francisco. and there Von Brincken came to me again and asked me if I would do something for him in Canada He said: '"You are the man; you can make good money.' Von Brincken then asked me to come to his room in the Picadilly apart ments the next day. I went in. then Von Brincken told me that they were wiling to send me up to Canada to blow up one of the railroad bridges on the Canadian Pacific railroad, or one Of the tunnels, or anything at all. he said. asked him what was in it and he said he would talk it over with the German consul. Bopp, but he wanted 10 know what l approximately wanted Tor 1t. l answered by saying that I did not know what such a thing was worth and that he had better make some proposition to me- I don't re- member now the exact amount of re- muneration that he did offer at that time, but I said I would think it over and about a week and a half after that wrote a letter to Wallace e. Orchard, who is one of the assistants of the general freight manager of the Canadian Pacific railway in Vancouver E. C.. Canada, giving substantially the same facts as hereinbefore stated. Il received a telegram from MT Orchard In reply of the following tenor: Come immediately to Vancouver; your trav- cling expenses will be paid" I wired back that I didn't have the cash at the time and asked him to arrange for a. pass to Vancouver, which he did. I received telegram from the Canadian Pacific railway office to the following effect:
 That first class passage to van- couver was waiting at their office and the ticket was delivered to me by the Southern Pacific Railway company at the Palace hotel building
 In the meantime I had accepted Von Brincken's proposition to go to Can ada and he offered me five hundred