Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-05-21
ITALIANS Fooled
INTRICATE PLOT
LAID BY GERMANS

LONDON, May PA tale of German
intrigue reaching into the inner circles
of the Vatican, involving the hasty
: fight of Cardinal Gerlach from Italy
the cracking of a safe in the secret
: headquarters of the German Embassy
at Vienna, and the mysterious escape
from prison of Italy's two most motor
iOus criminals, was told for the first
time to the United Press by reliable
authority today.
Stranger than fiction, the true story
OF the inside workings of the Italian
ecret service in tracking down the pro-
German element of the Pope's court
forms dramatic chapter in the secret
history of the war
On the sixth of April, Vienna dis
patches announced the burglary of a
house, adjoining but having no con-
rection with" the German Embassy.
A large sum of money was said to have
been secured by the robbers, who es-
capped.
The same night a sensation was
caused in Rome by the flight of Card
inal Gerlach across the Swiss border.
Italian secret service agents burst in
the doors of His Emminence's house
two hours after his escape and discov-
cred the Vaccinations of score of
pro-German plots. The next day more
than three hundred arrests resulted
throughout Italy
This, for ten days, was all the world
knew concerning the workings of the
German espionage system. No one con-
nected an insignificant robbery in the
Austrian capitol with the Cardinals
disappearance and the whole sale ar
rests of German agents.
Another event which caused little
interest at the time of its occurrence,
vet which had direct bearing on the
succeeding breaking up of the Teuton
spy-nest, was the reported escape"
early in January, of two of Italy's most
notorious safe-crackers, who had been
incarcerated for life in prison at Rome.
What has never been disclosed until
today is the fact that a warrant for
their release was signed by the Project
of all the Italian police himself, and
that each of the criminals was later
given $4,000 by the Italian govern
ment. The service they rendered the
government proved well-worth the
price.
For more than two years the Italian
secret service, extending its research
over a far greater ground than one
realizes even today, had succeeded in
tracing certain pro-German plots and
intrigue in Italy to Vienna. In the Aus
trian capital, spies succeeded in mar
rowing the search down to a certain
house, adjoining, but having no con-
nection WITH" the German Embassy.
Had they acted hastily, the spies
might have burgled the house, robbed
the safe, and even laid hands on GER
tain set of precious papers the Italian
government was keenly interested in.
But that is as far as they would have
gotten. For attached to the bundle Of
documents so highly desired by three
governments was an intricate series OF
wires. With almost devilish ingenuity
the Germans had provided that If the
safe were opened and the papers NOV
ed, a cloud of poison gas, deadly in
effect, would envelop the disturber and
render the entire room in which the
safe was located uninhabitable. At
the same time a cleverly devised burgl-
ar alarm would call sufficient military
police to the scene to deal with any
number of intruders.
When every detail of the hiding
place of the papers had been learned,
the secret service agents reported in
detail to Rome. On favorable dark
right the escape" of the famous safe
crackers from the prison outside of the
Italian capital was arranged and af-
fccted. Promised their freedom, and
ten thousand dollars apiece if they sue
ceeded, the criminals had agreed to un-
dortake the dangerous mission.
How they were struggled into Vienna
lro one will ever know. but when they
did undertake the robbery of the safe,
tLey were provided with gas-masks and
every tool for safe-opening known to
the police or criminal world. Cracking
the safe and evading the certain death
Of the alarm signals was compare
lively simple matter for these Jimmy
Valentines of Italy, and the papers,
which incriminated prominent person
ages throughout Italy were soon in
the possession of the secret service.
For obvious reasons they could not
instantly communicate their knowledge