The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-03
Reconnaissance by Aero plane Quicker, But Not
 So Reliable
EFFECTS OF DEAD
 CLOSELY SCANNED
Soldiers in Their Diaries Often Indis. erect and Give Way Morale of Comrades - Building Corps
 Out of Shoulder Strap

British Headquarters- France, Decem- ber 15.--(Correspondenoe of the Asso- ciated Press .)--Reconnaissance by eero- plane or otherwise is the most direct and probably the quickest way of ob- tainins news of the enemy, but the iise of spies is still most to be relied upon on modern warfare
 This Is the conclusion of the British eyewitness at the front, who devotes the greater part of the account he dis patched to England today to discus sion of spying. He divides the methods of obtaining information of the enemy's plans or movements into three groups They arc broadly" he says, recon na1ssance, whether it be cavalry, in fantry, or both. by motorcycle or air craft: the employment of spies pr, as they are more pleasantly called, agents, and the collection of such in- formation as can be gained from an dead or by prisoners and from the pa- pers carried by or the cross-exanlina- tion of the latter.
 The employment of agents is or occasion the most wholesale way in which intelligence can be gained and at Its best it furnishes broader basis upon which to build than the others. The work of such persons does not always depend on the accuracy of vii sion of an individual, which is a very variable quality but is often estab- lsehed on statements of facts produced with the greatest care by the enemy for his own use"
 It Is slow method, however, the account goes on to say, as it is neces- sary to transmit the information ob- tained through devious channels
 Reconnaissance" ne adds lis the most direct and probably the quickest way of obtaining news of the enemy 1t is not uniform, however, in amount or quality, because 1t generally de pends on the quickness of eye and power of appreciation of some scout or observer watching from a distance and 1t Is likely to be affected by atmos- rheric conditions.
 Effects of the Dead
 Lastly comes the third method men toned. If a prisoner gives away in formation either through stupidity or from & desire to curry favor and to better his lot a good deal may be at tained at one bound But this applies chiefly to the information given by of
 
 and are, moreover, not in the habit of impartng valuable news A soldiers knowledge of what Is going on on his own side is comparatively limited Communications from prisoners also are to be accepted with reserve In the direction of identification the ac- tivity of an intelligence section is largely confined to the examination Of the badges or equipment worn by the dead and by prisoners. The personality of the individual of course has no mill 1tary value. but the identity discs and effects of the dead are carefully guard- ed for eventual return to their govern ment. The examination of letters, diar- les and orders also claims a great deal of attention. Newspapers are rarely of value, because no sane government al- lows current details of the nature sought to be published by the press On the other hand, soldiers diaries and letters are often indiscreet in the extreme for the writers In descrip ping the physical condition of the men often unwittingly betray the state of their morale and in recording their impress sions of the effect produced by the rnemys rifle fire or the havoc wrought by his artillery quite innocently give away valuable information as to where the shoe pinches.
 "Since the composition of the larger formations of all armies is known. 1t iS poSSlpie, except III those cases where sweeping changes are made during a war, to extract vital information from the connection of even single soldier killed or captured at a certain spot FFith a certain battalion. The result of ascertaining that this battalion was at that point at a given time may lead to the first suspicion that a much larger formation to which that battalion be- longs is not somewhere else where its presence has been assumed. The pos sible significance of the results of such n discovery when corroberated is ob- Nious This explains why the identifi- cation of units with localities by means Of accourtrements badges. etc, takes so much of the time of certain bureaus in all armies. As 1t has been flippant- ly but by no means inaccurately ex- pressed, an important part of the duty of great general staff is that of constituting army corps out of sholder straps.
 Spreading False RumOrs
 During the war the air is full of ru- inors even at general headquarters, and when these rumors are concerned with the dispositions of the enemy their scope is much enlarged if the hostile army Is composed of forces of different nation alities On the other hand it is not only the connection of units with localities that is useful It often happens that the mere presence of unit being in the field betrays the fact that reinforce ments have come up or that new forma- tions are being raised. inaccurate as Knowledge Of the enemy may be, it is generally sufficient for the original ar. ganization of his army to be known.
 'As is seen, considerable part of in-