The Washington herald., 1916-11-12
ARRESTED ON CHARGE
OF BLACKMAH PLOT
Former German and British Spy Ae-
eu.ed by Countess Won Bernstorf.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

ture of Graves notified the United States
District Attorney in Washington.
Prince Won Hatsfeldt arranged with
Graves, Mr.. Bislaski stated. for the de-
livery Of the letters on Friday night at
the home Of the prince, I71s H street. and
detectives and police officers. acting at
the instance Of the Department Of JUS
tice. gathered near the princes home.
Graves did not appear. however. until
yesterday morning. shortly before 1870
o'clock. He brought the letters with
him, but the money for them did not
pass. as the prince ushered Graves out
Of the house and into the arms of the
police
Mr.. Bielaski asserted that Graves
obtained the letters from one or more
persons who had smuggled them past
the British censor and brought them
from Germany on the Scandinavian
liner Oscar II, which arrived in New
York November 1.
Graves was taken from the police
authorities early yesterday afternoon
and delivered to the Department of
Justice. where he remained several
hours. supposedly under close exami-
nation.
when he was searched a unique
weapon was found on him. 1t looked
like q silver penknife in q leather
case, but closer examination revealed
the fact that it was a pistol charged
with a .32-caliber bullet. At s:46
o'clock he was taken to the office Of
United States Commissioner Anson s.
Taylor. where the formal charges were
preferred; Graves bail being fxed at
,aeeo.
Released on Bail.
Bail was furnished by George W. Ray.
a professional bondsman. Graves an
n6unced that he was going to New York
tonight and that he would retain Samual
Untermeyer as counsel He professed to
have influential friends who would be able
to aid him in his fight for liberty.
Commissioner Taylor read the charges
against Graves, which were:
l. Violation Of Section Ss of the Dis
trict code, having "unlawfully threatened
to publish and expose letters addressed to
the Countess Won Bernstorff and extort
from her the sum OF 5000
. Violation of Section s27 Of the Dis
trtct code. in that he brought here let
ters addressed to the Countess Won Bern
storff. which had been stolen in Ho-
boken N j.. and which is against the
laws of the District.
Graves. when asked If he was guilty or
not guilty. replied in the negative. He
asked that lie be given as early a trial
as possible. and was promised 1t as early
this week as he wished.
In his announcement at o'clock Chief
BieIaski indicated that there was an un-
Outstanding between Graves and the per
son who had brought the letters to
Countess Won Bernstorff from Germany.
The name of this person was not dis
closed.
Graves himself attempted to make a
great mystery out Of his arrest, claiming
the letters were diplomatic documents.
He made a cryptic charge against the
German Ambassador. refusing to explain
what the charge meant, in these words:
Makes CrytIc Charge.
L am using exactly the same methods
the German Ambassador has used for
the past two years.
Nothing could move the prisoner to eI-
plain what he meant. although, he did
say:
= object to the charge of bIackmail
against me. I don't know anything at all
about any letters to the Countess Won
Bernstorff about the contents Of let
; tiers to her. / came here to see the
Prince Won HatZfeldt.
Il have never attempted and never
would attempt to get into communication
with Countess Won Bernstorff. 1 do not
deal with the woman. These letters are
of diplomatic character.
Il have been wronged. as It will later
appear. ! will not talk now; I may
never be able to talk. There are some
things that cannot be discussed. Big
matters are involved in this
Graves told newspaper men that he
had applied for his first citizenship pa
pers, intending to become an American
citizen. Describing himself he said:
Il am a writer and lecturer. and lately
have gone into the moving picture busi-
ness. writing scenarios and having my
books produced under the title of The
Master Spy"
Gives New York Address.
He gave his address as IS West Sixty
ninth street, New York City. He said
he had been in thte United States without
leaving this country in the interim, two
years and nine months. He came, he
said. from England, where he had been
arrested and held in custody as a British
spy. He secured his liberty, he said, by
foreign office. but came as soon there
after as he could to the United States
ito escape 1t ALL =
lie fntimated that the German govern
ment framed up persons who knew too
much,' and that he feared the German
suthOfities were attempting to do somc-
thing tof that sort now.
"Thkre are such high matters involved 80
Gravel declared after his commitment.
that may be stopped from talking at
ALL I would like to say more. and may
later. but IL Is possible that sofne con-
sideratlons may prevent me-. This relates
to more, than mere letters. The trial may
or may not bring cut the facts. You
must excuse me. I must not say more %
Graves. although admitting he brought
letters to Washington for delivery to
Prince Won HatzfeldI. refused to state
how they came into his possession. He
denied stoutly that he had stolen them.
Il once was a spy" was all he would
say on that point.
Graves denied he was in the employ
ment OF the British foreign of1ce at the
present time. insisting that he quit it
Immediately upon his arrival In the Unit
ed States.
II had enough of II and wanted to get
out of it, he declared. ~
Graves asserts that the name by which
he is known in the United States Is not
his real name, and that for Sufficient
reasons" he refused to make known his
true name. He refused even to state
what country he was born in or to say
whether ne had parents or other relatives
living.
Author of several Volumes.
Early In the war Graves wrote. In COL