New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-30

Paris. Dec. -. a gay OF WV
Paris papers contained briei para
graph telling Of young gin. nun
rer. in the neighborhoOd Of Grenooie'
who had been caught playing the spy TOT
the Germans and sentenced 10 '0"s
term Of Imprisonment
we don't shoot women spies any
more" said soldier friend OF NINE
on permission from the Somme front
20 whom spoke Of the story. "lhere
have been no women shot for long
time. They generally get shout twelve
years at hard labor
Are you as much troubled as ever
IS spies 90 asked.
He laughed. As long as there IS
war there will be spies" he replied.
"Y'ou cant stamp them out. The only
thing that you can do is 10 try 20 eaten
them. II was only few weeks ago
that we caught woman spy on the
Somme.
you remember when We took Bou-
chavesnes, Long enough ago. II was
Well. there was not much left OF the
village when we got IT. Our artillery
had knocked it pretty well TO pieces
Tut we found an old woman there. she
lad remained ali through the German
occupation. and had even managed TO
de and stay behind when all the res'
of the civil population had evacuated.
She was IN cellar during our pom
bardueuf. and when We went into me
town she came out 20 welcome Us. the
orly one Of the original French innabl-
tants o. the village remaining. AS II
was French again. she insisted on re-
naming. 10 was her home and she had
succeeded IN clinging on all the time
the Germans were there. She saw no
reason why she should 20 when the
French came back into occupation.
The Old Washerwoman
"She STAYED and did our washing
for MS She was busy all the time,
and every morning she would take the
wet clothes out and spread them on
tho ground 20 dry. You could see
around the cellar where she lived. and
hanging on all the posts and pieces
OF wall.
THE old woman pottered around and
worked most industriously at her tubs.
She always came out when there were
troops going through the village. and
she would talk 20 the men. find out
where they were going, where they
came from and how long they expect
ed 10 be there. And whenever she
came out from her tubs she would 60
10 her wash. lying out 10 dry, examine
L. turn it over. rearrange II. She
was p wonderful vashwoman. IL was
mania with her. having everything
lust right for the French soldiers who
had won back her home for her in
France.
Germans Knew Concentrations
But the Germans seemed 20 know
every concentration OF troops we made
in that region. Their shells received
US every time We could not make
move that they did not know all about.
We set three men 10 the special duty
Of finding out how the Germans got
their information. The first thing
they found out was that there were
more air fights over Bouchsvesnes
than at any other part Of the line.
There seemed TO be always a Boche
seroplsne lowering over the ruins.
They decided that there must be
something about Bouchavesnes which
made il a particularly good observa-
ton point. As the old woman was the
only thing that distinguished the place
from any other ruined village, they
arrested her
AT first she denied everything. but
the German accuracy in bombarding
our concentrations ceased with her
arrest. IL does not take q long argu-
ment 70 convince drumhead court
martial, and the old woman saw that
the game vas up She then claimed
20 be French, and said that she had
consented 10 spy for the Germans
partly under threats. partly because
her life had been spared by them. and
partly because they had paid her well
and she had no other way OF getting
any money to live. Finally, she ac-
knowledged that she was German and
had been purposely left behind TO SPY
when the Germans got out
"She got twelve years At hard la
Dor"
The Three Plough Horses
Spies work all kinds of tricks" nv
friend continued. There was the old
fellow who came back to his farm Just
behind the lines and started TO do his
fall ploughing with three horses, a red,
a white and a black. He did his signal
ling by changing the position OF the
white horse in the team lie was easy
20 catch. as team. especially a plough
team, always works in the same order.
Some Of our men who were farmers
noticed how he WAS constantly chang
ing his horses about. They talked
about II among themselves a bit and
az last one Of them spoke OF IL 70 an