The Harrison times., 1916-09-30
SECRET SERVICE WATCHES
THE SPIES FROM EUROPE


came to work an old sailor who was
engaged as an attendant in his office
approached him with Il worried air
and said:
Interested in Botters.
"Sir, there is something going on
here that you ought TO know about.
You burn your papers every night but
what do you do with your blotterS|
"Why," said the officer II leave
them on the desk and you throw them
away presume
yes, throw them away" said the
old man, "but | could sell them-and
for a good price too. That's what |
thought you ought to know about
The officer turned pale.
Haze you one of those used blot
terS about?" he asked.
The seaman handed the officer
blotter he had left on his desk the
previous evening and which the faith
full fellow had saved because Of his
suspicious.
The officer snatched it and held II
before a small mirror. The inverted
signs made by the blOtting were thus
rendered legible. by heavens" he
exclaimed; tell me about this offer
for the used blotterS"
1t seems that the night before
rather shabbily dressed man had
stopped the sailor en- his way from
work and asked him If ne would ie
willing to make a few cents extra each
week by selling the waste blotting pa
per. He declared that attendants in
offices where a number Of clerks were
employed were doing the same thing.
He offered to pay 50 Il week for the
aged sailor worked This seemed too
big price for the extremely few blot
ters used, although the stranger said
he wanted them for a new process Of
making ornaments of a sort Of papier
maChe.
"What did you tell him?" asked the
officer
Secret Service on Job.
81 said l would give him an answer
sOOn" the seaman replied, "but he
seemed in a big hurry and left me a
telephone number insisting that | call
him today"
The ffiCer sent a messenger to the
secret service bureau and operatives
were at once put on the case. In a
matter of minutes a device had been
attached to the telephone wire run
ming to the number the man had CIV
en- and an operative could hear every
word that passed over the line with
out any interference with the cOnnec-
ton.
Everything being in readiness, the
attendant was sent out to telephone
the suspected man that he could have
the blotterS. Meanwhile it had been
learned that what the stranger said
about buying used blOtterS from the
clerks Offices was true, and as moth
ing of Importance could have been
learned from these it began to look
as though suspicious Of a plot were
unfOunded. Still there was pOsSibil-
ity that this had been done only as
blind.
The secret service operative at the
receiver of the overlapping device
heard the aged man cafl the suspect
and tell him he could have the blot
terS. A little while later this man
called a number and a womans voice
answered
"Any succeSsW she asked.
81 can let you have some of the very
best cid blotting paper" he replied.
DAILY deliveries G. o. d.. It's only
used slightly and you can reclaim u
fair percentage, / believe"
To the secret service operative &C.
O. D." meant code. Every best meant
navy, as the navy code is recognized
as the very best In existence, and the
remainder of the sentence meant that
as the blotters were not badly smeared
with ink they ought to yield a few