The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-01-09
GERMANY'S RUBBER
SlNUGGLERSCAUGHT
Woman to Sail from New York
with Crude Article as
Personal Baggage.

VIII vi UuC NJ UOlC 40
Personal Baggage
NEW YORK, Jan. S.-A plot to
smuggle crude rubber from this coun-
try to Germany in the trunks of wom-
en- who were engaged by Germans to
travel to and from Rotterdam with
ton or so Of the contrahsnd classed
as personal baggage" has bee,. dis
covered by agents nj the department
of justice and the neutrality squad Of
the customs service.
One Of the women and two men, in
GLIDING the alleged principal, have
made complete statement 20 !ederal
officials, and the case has been laid
before United States Attorney Mar
shall. There have been no arrests.
1t is limited that the three persons in
question may supply the information
that will help the government to even
more important disclosures.
The woman is Miss Anna Dekkers.
She was about to sail for Rotterdam
on the Holland-American liner Ryn-
dam on November q when from four
to eight packing cases containing
about 3,400 pounds of crude rubber"
which she was about to ship as bag
gage without manifest were seized
on the steamship pier in Hoboken.
1t was part Of 10000 pounds of rub
Der that had been bought from a
dealer in this city. 1t had been kept
for time in Vetermanns hotel In the
Bronx.
Naturalized American Accused.
The man who is said to have ar
ranged Miss Dekker's trips and the
purchase of the rubber is Max Jae-
ger, who came to this country from
Germany in 1902 and is naturalized
American. This second man, who did
the actual purchasing, is Richard
Wohlberg, a manufacturer OF rubber
cement. The story as revealed after
being carefully guarded for nearly a
month runs as follows:
Max Jaeger, mechanical engineer,
graduate of the Karlsruhe technical
school, has visited Germany frequent
ly in the course Of his thirteen years
residence in this country He went to
Germany with his family in March
last and was employed in an automo-
bile factory at Beierfeld. Returning
here in July he collected from man.
ufacturers lot OF sample automo-
bile accessories and took them back
to Germany. thinking that they might
be profitably manufactured there.
The head Of his company told him
that it wasn't good time to start new
enterprises, and suggested that as the
German government badly needed ruiz
Der, money could be made by import
ing it on large scale. Jaeger's boss
then took him to the Deutsches Bank
in Berlin. The head of the rubber de-
partment Of that bank gave Jaeger a
letter Of introduction to his nephew,
who is with New York rubber firm,
but whose name is not disclosed.
Told to Hire Agents.
Jaeger was instructed to employ
agents who would travel from New
York to Rotterdam with crude rubber
as personal effects" At Rotterdam
these agents were to be met by a GER
tain man who, according to the story
told, "had been in military service
under the German war department"
This man was to wear white chry-
santhemum as he stood on the pier
at Rotterdam, so that the disembark-
ing rubber smuggler might the more
easily recognize him. The trunks
were to be shipped to addresses in
Germany given to Jaeger by the head
Of the Deutsches Banks rubber de-
partment.
Loaded with these instructions Jae-
ger arrived here on the Ryndam on Oc-
tober 81 and went to work. He pre-
sented his letter of introduction to
the nephew of the Deutsches Bank Of
ficer, but the members Of the rubber
firm by whom the nephew was en-
ployed told Jaeger they would get
into trouble with the Rubber Manu-
facturers' Association IL they sold to
him directly. They suggested that he
find an intermediary.
So Jaeger went to his friend, Wohl-
berg the maker of rubber cement.
Wohlberg was reluctant to enter the
scheme, protesting that II detected he
couldn't buy any more rubber for his
business. But upon the assurance
from the rubber firm that had sug-
gested the employment Of middle
man, that he was safe, he bought, Tor
Jaeger, 10000 pounds of rubber from
this firm. OF this, $500 pounds were
sent to Vetterman's hotel, Later, In
trunks and boxes, this batch ofsnearly
two tons landed on the Holland-Amer-
lean pier as the personal baggage of
Miss Anna Decker.
Frequent Trips to Holland.
Miss Decker came to America about
eight years ago, but frequently visited
her parents In Rotterdam, On one OF
these trips, in August last, she met
Jaeger, and it was arranged that she
would take a lot Of rubber with her
when she went to Holland again. Re-
turning to New York on November IA
on the Ryndam she was met by Jaeger.
He arranged for her departure for
Rotterdam on the same ship on No
vember 81. The government agents
suspect that at least one officer of the
Ryndam was paid for helping the
scheme along. They have informa-
ton that Miss Dekker was only one
of several women employed by Jaeger
as rubber carriers, and that in at
least one case he sent money abroad
to bring a woman here.
According to his own statement, he
intended, as soon as his secret ex-
portations Of rubber were flowing
smoothly, to turn the management
over to an agent In this country and