Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1917-09-28

frequented during two years or singu-
larly quiet and unbusinesslike exist
ence chiefly by Germans who had moth
ing whatsoever to 40 with Advertising
The other was large safe. bearing the
insignia of the German imperial gov
eminent.
One morning in April. 1915. govern
ment secret service men visited this
same Wall street Office while Won IgeI
was preparing a mass of papers which
he had taken from the safe for trans
fer to the German embassy in Wash
| ington.
End Lists of Spies.
When the papers were examined by
the department of justice the reason for
Won Igels determined fight became APP
parent. Here. in the form of letters
kilograms, notations, checks, receipts
ledgers. cashbooks, cipher codes, lists
of spies. and other memoranda and rec
ords were found indications-in some
instances of the vaguest nature in
others of the most damning conclusive
ness-that the German imperial gov
eminent, through its representatives in
a then friendly nation. was concerned
with:
Violation of the laws of the United
States.
Destruction of lives and property in
| merchant vessels on the high seas.
Irish revolutionary plots against
Great Britain.
Fomenting i'll feeling against the
United States in Mexico.
Subornation of American writer's and
| lecturers.
Financing of propaganda.
Maintenance of spy system under
the guise of commercial investiga-
ton bureau
Substituting Of a bureau for the pur-
pose of stirring up labor troubles in
munition plants
The bomb industry and other related
activities.
koenIa-Von Papen Commerce Bureau
Perhaps the most illuminating single
document in the collection is a letter of
July 20, 1915, reproduced as Ii ap
peared upon the stationery of the Blu
reau of Investigation" This innocent,
pretending agency was at the outset
the secret service of the Hamburg
American Steamship company. Under
Paul Koenig. its manager. 1t became an
adjunct to the German diplomatic secret
service. Xxx" is the secret designa-
ton of Koenig, who is now under in
dictments on criminal charges in con-
nection with this diplomatic" work,
and is informed at Fort Oglethorpe.
The person represented by the figure
1000" is Captain Won Papen. former
military attarhe of the German en-
bassy and the practical executive of its
underground system. The document de-
scribes the subterfuges of XXX (Koe-
nig) so that he might not be identified
by the mysterious -- when they met.
xxx" states that money was to be
drawn for the payment of $3.50 to the
unnamed person, under peculiar precau-
tions, through Check No. 146 on the
, Riggs National bank, Washington.
dated July 16, payable to------
signed -, amount $3.50. No rea-
son was given as to why the payment
was made" says the report.
Bombs in Coal.
Several days after the payment. the
recipient called at the passenger of
Ace of the - line" and made a state
ment which is thus embodied in the
xxx report
MY name is --. ] have an office
at the -- building. but do not care
to state my local address. / intend to
cause serious damage to vessels of the
allies leaving ports of the United States
by placing bombs which l am making
myself on board. These bombs re-
semble ordinary Jumps of coal. and 1
am planning to have them concealed in
the coal to be laden on steamers OF
the allies"
Finally. XXX states that 'the caller"
brought with him a sample bomb
such as has been described to you by
the subscriber" and asks for the in
! structions.
The document is lettered at the foot
| 90 r. to 1000" indicating that the Sc
cret agent known as 20 r." had trans
mitted it to Won Papen.
Check Is Traced.
Now for the proof, direct and unes-
! capable. Check 146 on the Riggs Nation
| al bank has been traced and added to
| the secret service collection. 1t is pay
| able to Koenil: and signed by Won Papen.
| Therefore Won Papen stands convicted
h. Wiz nj NIaiu
| an official document by the Germans, of
! paying money to a plotter designing to
blow up merchant ships sailing from the
| port of New York. The person who made
this report is known to department of
| justice officials.
Compare these documents with the fol-
lowing authorized statement from Ber-
lin, transmitted by wireless for publica-
ton in the New York Times in December.
1915:
"rhe German government has, nat
urally, never knowingly accepted the sup
port of any person, group of persons, so
ciety or organization seeking to pro-
mote the cause of Germany in the United
States by Illegal acts, by counsel or VI
! olence, by contravention of law, aor by
! any means whatever that could offend
| the American people in the pride of their
| own authority"
| Destruction was not by any means
| the sole interest of Koenig's energetic
! bureau. 1t concerned itself also with
| spy enterprises, To Koenig wrote Otto
| West, an American citizen and pro-
prietor of the Hour Glass. at s03 COR
S63l Fifth avenue, recommending a rela-
! tive of his who, according to his de-
! scription, must be an interesting and
| somewhat formidable figure Mr.. Vests
| description, somewhat curtailed, follows
He Is a grandson of the late Ober-
| hofpredger Strauss of Berlin. brother
! of the present Militar Oberpfarrer Strauss
! of Potsdam, nephew OF the late Admiral
| Won Schleinitz, the late General Won Man
! tey. etc This gentleman changed his name
! some twenty odd years ago to an Amer
! lean name, and none OF his associates sus-
! poets his German birth or antecedents.
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