Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1916-01-28
WOMAN SUICIDE
BELIEVED SPY
WiIkes-Barre Police Probe AC-
tiOn Of HRS. Marie Leahnl
SHOT HERSELF IN HOME
A Code Book With Messages in Ger
man is found-Flusband Says she
Handled Large Sums of Money.

MIS. MdiIt I<Cd.iAI, oSSu - -
native of Germany, and said 10 De
the wife OF August Leahm, mil
w.rKer. is believed b. the au.hoil
ties N Wilkes Barre, Pa, to ka'e
been spy in the employ OF the Ger
man gcv.rnment, and through who"
large sums OF money were aid tG
spies of the Fatheriand in EI8.anl
Her self-inhictsd death broagnt tc
light evidence which Deputy Cor~ne'
Stanley Kuryolski believes vii. SUD
stantiate the theory that the mySteri
Gus woman was one OF the se~re'
agents in the great spy system OF tie
kaiser.
Mrs. Leahm was found dead in hal
home with bullet wound N the
head and revolver clutcIed Ill Le'
right hand. The only motive for the
suicide was found in a note Written
by her, in which it was stated ina
the cause CT her death would be tOdnt
on page 29 of a memorandum Dooh
which she had left.
Inspection OF this book brCu1Ht tc
light several disconnected German
sentences, which are believed to have
been a code System which the woman
employed in her work. On an op1o
site page were the names OF Ii ty pr
sons, after which appeared larSe sui:s
Of money. There was nothing ei
to shed light On the woman's act.
In the past year and a half Ms
Leahm had lived a life Of myst-ry
While her husband claims that ne GIL
not mistrust his wife, he is puZz.e
now to explain what she did with large
sums of money she frequently had II
her possession. He declared she often
had large bundles OF currency IN nj
home and neighbors have infcrmed
the coroner that Mrs. Leanm often
displayed big b1ndlei of paper money
Leahm said his wife hal been max
ing weekly visits to New York in the
past year. She tcld him taht Sc was
the AGENT fcr property in New fora
CITY whic. was owned by reop-e /"
ing in England and that because OF
the war they were not able to me
here and transact their bus '@es
Leahm admitted that his wife toll HIN
that she raised large sums by mr.:
gage on the New Ycrk property. Thl
money, she said, was Converted intt
gold and at regular intervals wa
placed in a suitcase and gwen to the
captain of a certain STEAMSHIP CT
certain line.
This captain, the woman once de
clared, was under secret orders tt
carry the money to England AMI g-ve
it to people who met his ship at It;
port of destination.
Leahm said the woman was the wife
of Karl Flicker, who live5 in BroC L y
N. Y. Eight years ago Leahm an
the woman came here and not rn.1
her death was the fact revealed thai
they were not marriel.
1 Killed, z Dying in Church Riot.
One man was killed; two, including
a state trooper. are dying; s.v<n, ii
cluding Captain Pitcher, Corpora.
Carlson and Trooper Stevenson, OF
the state constabula"y, wee iaju e
seriously, and scores c. others batter
ed and bruised in a cas;, At Dupont
near Pittston, Pa, between tie
troopers and mob o. over a tl,us tnd
persons, members of the Polish CAth'
die church.
The dead: George G. Ell er. aged fl
ty; died five hours aiterward with Dul
let wounds in the thigh ana abdomen
The injured: Rolf Hu1er, OF Car!is
state trooper, unconscious, d;ins ol
a compound fracture OF the skull. 10
seph Pisch, married, wife and SIN
drcn; in critical condition with bul
let wound in his arm. Capt>in Pi c!l'
er, of state cons;abulary; face badly
battered and heal cut. Corporal Carl
son, of Kingston, state trooper, arm
I broken. Ira Stevenson, Of B tl-r
state trooper; fractured sh~ ~uldel
blade. Robert Picton, Robert Met
calfe, Albert Heath and Thomas Bett'
ner, cut and bruised about the face
| and arms.
The riot grew out of sectional strife
at the Dupont Polish Catholic church,
one faction CT which fighting Bis op
! Hoban's appointment of Rev. Frances
Sowsnows..i, IS pastor about month
ago.
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