The Washington herald., 1915-09-26
Neutrality of U. S. Consul
Gaffney Under Suspicion

Have you discovered that 1t is more
convenient to send letters by way Of the
| German or Austrian consufs than the
usual means Of communications!
| mo. not that ! know Of"
| Know Mr.. Gaffney?'
! Yes. / know Mr.. Gaffney."
Did you send any letters to him by
way of the Austro-Hungarian consul
\ late?'
Not that / remember"
Written While He Was Away.
| WELL" said the reporter. perhaps you
will recall sending this request to Dr.
| Kleinwaechter."
The reporter presented a copy of the
missive. Mr. Spillissy raised his eye
! brows, frowned. and then a smile lighted
| his countenance. Yes. he remembered
/ something about the communication. but
/ he thought that il had been written
| while he was away. 1t was limited that
perhaps one Of his stenographers had
| thought to send the letter to Mr.. Ganney
he would be safe in asking the Austrian
consuls office IL they could forward II
| for Mr.. Spillissy.
! And what did the letter to Mr.. Gaff
/ ney contain?"
, 1T was Just a friendly letter." an
| swered MIR. Spillissy. II recOllect that
! told him that he should not bother him
self about the newspaper comments. as
| lies were being told in all of them. espe-
cially against Germany"
was there any particular reason for
not sending the letter to an official of
| the United States government via Wash
| inetong'
well. yes: i knew that 1t would be
opened. All my letters are opened. l
know that, but it does not worry me. But
! this was a personal missive. ana did
not wish to have II read by everybody
| may have said in it that l hoped that
| the allies would be beaten. Remember
| that | might have said that. but l don't
know that I did. I have not heard from
Mr.. Gaffney since he was consul general
at Dresden, Germany. This was sym
pathetic letter to him. as l know him
to be a fellow of tremendous nerve"
Mr.. Spellissy declared he could not re-
member any particular thing about the
missive. He had known Mr.. GafYney and
he believed that Mr.. Gaffney many years
ago had been introduced to him by
Charles O'Connor Hennessy, brother of
John A. Hennessy.
But there's nothing to this. There's
no real son to make a fuss about it, sug-
gested Mr.. Spellissy. What's to show
that they received it at the consulate?"
"Oh.' said the reporter. that's all
done. Probably you do not remember
getting a note from the Austrian con-
| sul's Office telling you that the letter
would be forwarded?'
DIR. kleinwaechter's Views.
Mr.. Spellissy was not In a remember
ing mood The reporter then showed
him copy Of the letter from the Aus
trian consulate's Office. However, to Mr..
Spellissy it was just stirring up a tea
pot tempest.
The following day the reporter went
to the Austrian Consulate and Dr.
klienwlec.iter was not in. The secre-
tary made himself known and he look
ed at the letters. DR.. Kleinwaechter
Immediately appeared to look at them
himself. He did not care whether the
letters hSG been received and written,
cid no: care to say how it lad ocen
forwarded. and so far as Irish socie-
ties were concerned he knew nothing
much about them.
DR.. Kle<nwaechter, who is one of the
Austro- Hungarian vice consuls, said
his familiarity with the Irish World
and Gaelic publication Was about all
he knew about Irish organizations.
Incidentally. he declared that when the
letter was written from the Austro-
Hungarian Consulate he was away on
a vacation Mr.. Spellissy. it will he
remembered. also was away
Thereupon the reporter went to see
Mr.. Spellissy again. He was in his
office His stenographer initials are
M. s. Mr.. Spellissy was reminded
that to eliminate all mystery concern
ing the letter he wrote to Mr.. Gaffney
it might he well to look up the copy
of his letter file. Mr.. Spellissy still
was of the opinion that the letter was
but a mole hill. and he was not sure
whether he could lay his hands on the
cOpy. At any rate, he did not
Say" said Mr. Spellissy. would
you mind telling me where you got
those letters"
There was light in his eye. which
dimmed when the reporter answered.:
In ,he Herald office"
He repeated that the letter Of Mr.
Gaffney had been sent that particular
way because he did not wish it to b.
read.