The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-01

| Paris, March 31.-(5.1o a. m. .)-Ray-
 mond Swoboda, one of the passengers
 aboard the French line steamship La I Touraine. which was imperiled by a | fire at sea on March G. has been ar
 rested, charged with setting fire to
 the vessel. according to the Matin.
 swoboda, the paper asserts. is sus-
 pected of having close relations with
 the enemy and correspondence found in his rooms is said to indicate he had
 been charged with the task of blowing up the Touraine He has been taken to | Havre.
 | investigation by experts appointed | by Admiral Charlier, who is conduct ing the inquiry into the steamship | fire, has established it is said, that
 the blaze aboard the Touraine must have been caused by the explosion oi some detonating device. Statements
 made by passengers and members oi
 the crew support this theory. The ex-
 plosion was sufficiently violent to wrench loose the doors of cabins near est. The authorities believe the ex- plosive had been placed with unpar- i donable criminal intent in trunk stored with the baggage of first class l passengers in No. hold. Passengers examined by the state at torney at Hayre are said to have tes- | tified that they had been amazed at 3 | statement made one night during tht voyage by fellow passenger when
 they were discussing German threats
 to torpedo ships in the war zone. This passenger is quoted as having re- marked:
 "Ah, that is not the only war zone 1 that would be dangerous. Germany is
 strong enough to do what she wants This ship herself, even before she reaches the war zone, might be obliged | to have recourse to the doctors and
 nurses aboard to care for the passen- | gers
 Little Heed Paid 1 Only passing heed was given this as. | sertion. but in view of susequent events | it appeared to have considerable i'm portance. The passenger quoted as boosting of Germany's power was list ed on the ships records as "Ramond Swoboda. 3S years old, an American
 subject; profession, financier; destina- l tion, Paris"
 Commissary Dubert, attached to the secret service, undertook the task of | tracing Swoboda. He found the man fairly we'll known in Paris financial circles and had been connected with 1 several more or less important busi- ness transactions. He was supposed to 1 be a Russian. for he often spoke of his | family connections at Moscow and Pet l rograd
 l He has served as foreign represen- | tative for broker named Morrison. | who conducts one of the largest brok craze houses in Paris. None of l Swoboda's commercial associates had seen him after the arrival of the Tour | aine at Havre March s, but M. Dubert l traced him to hotel in the Avenue 1 Kleber. only to find that he had left | 10 days before after brief stay. He registered there as Raymond Swoboda, | an American. and told the story of the 1 Touraine fire in the hotel drawing l room. His manner, however, aroused some suspicion and the other guests kept aloof from him.
 l He was traced to another hotel in 1 the Place de Rivoli where he was ar rested When his room was searched l the police declare a number of letters | written In German were found which ! seemed to point strongly to his guilt He was turned over to the Havre po- | lice by the Paris authorities. | MT. Morrison, the broker, when told of Swoboda's arrest, expressed amaze | ment.
 q had business relations with Swo- boda," he said, but he always was perfectly honorable in his dealings with me. knew that he formerly was employed in a large Paris bank and was not astonished at his wide knowledge of finance. I knew also that his business brought him large in- come"
 Born In California Swoboda. who is said to be of Swed- ish extraction, but born at Fresno, Cal, was for a number of years en- gagged in the banking and brokerage business in Paris with a Frenchman as a partner. Several of his friends to- day. declared that Swoboda at various i, times, discussing Franco German po- litical relations expressed opinions in dicating pro-German sympathy. It is said, also. that Swoboda re- gently attempted to arrange with AL fred Capus, director of the Figaro, whereby he should visit Germany as the papers representative to write a series of articles which, owing to his American citizenship, he could do with out embarrassment.
 Swoboda's wife is a Swiss and a pro- fessional singer She Is said to be in Geneva.
 Efforts were made today to inter view Swoboda's partner, M. Raguiet. but he could not be found at his place of business.