The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-21
CONSPIRACY CHARGE IS HELD AGAINST HAMBURG OFFICIALS Charged With Obtaining Clearance Papers Under
 False Pretenses
SUPPLIES FURNISHED
 TO TEUTON WARSHIPS
German Officials Admit Sending Sup- plies, But Claim Precautionary Measures Were to Insure
 Secrecy From Allies

New York, November 20.-One hundred officials of the Hamburg American Steam ship line at their trial on charges of con- spiraoy, which begins Monday, have bee, summoned by the government, it was an- nounced today. The trial probably will last week. Four of the five defendants have pleaded not guilty and the fifth has penalty for the crime charged is two years Imprisonment and s10.OO0 fine, on each of the two indictments
 The defendants are Karl Buenz, man. aging director of the line, in control of a great fleet of German merchantmen and liners which sailed under the Hamburg American house flag; Adolph Hochmeis- ter, purchasing agent of the line; Joseph Poppenhaus, a second officer in the line $ employ; George Kotter. superintendent of the line, and Felix Zeffner, alleged super cargo on one of the vessels which sailed with supplies to the aid of German crui- sers. Zeffner has not been found.
 A charge unique in American jurispru- 6ence faces them-conspiracy to defraud and deceive the government by obtaining clearance papers on false representations. To facilitate the trial counsel for the de- fense admits the defendants chartered certain ships and sent them with sup plies to the German cruisers Karlsruhe, Kaiser Wilhelm and other German men O aCtiVp in Atlantic 1afa in as charged, but denied that these acts constitute a conspiracy to defraud or de- ceive the United States The intent, it s claimed, was to deceive the allies in- stead.
 WAR ANTICIPATED
 So well did the German agents know that war was inevitable, the government charges, that some of the 15 ships were chartered weeks before the war began and several actually sailed on their alleged errands before war had been declared. To support these and other charges numer- ous affidavits have been taken by the government. One relates to an occur lance aboard the Maria Quesada, steam CT sailing from Newport News, Va, in October 1914, ostensibly for Valparaiso.
 This steamer, the government charges had aboard a German super-cargo, as did all the OIner vessels lnNOlVeQ. when the steamer failed to find the German cruiser she was seeking, the affidavit recites, she rut in at Pernambuco The Brazilian au- thorities sought her papers. These, the affidavit continues, the captain refused to surrender, but placed in a bag and threw overheard. He then notified the Brazilian authorities that he had lost his papers.
 Several days later, the affidavit says the papers, bag and all, were found ill @f ,l,r,,I lao, captured and drawn ashore.
 In another instance, according to Roger B. Wood, the assistant district attorney in charge of the prosecution, the gov- ernment is prepared to prove that the Hamhurg-American line paid $SS000O t? the owners of an American vessel sold under British prize court order. The ves- sel was the Lorenzo, which sailed Au- gust 6, 1914, from New York, with sup plies, it is charged, for German cruisers in the West Indies and the amount rep resented her full value.