Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-04-21

W9fk0u from = m0eUu9 OF inc wal
press bureau to the Adlon. Congei
and stopped in the lobby to talk
about the censorship. Both Of W were
having difficulty In getting our dis
patches past the foreign offiies CEN
sorship and We discussed means Of
protesting against the stupidity OF the
officials. No other subject was dis
cussed, although at the time Berlin
was aroused over the possibility of &
break with the United States.
A few hours afterward saw Joseph
G. Grew OF Boston, first secretary Of
the embassy. Ambassador Gerard was
at the time in New York. Grew said
Count Montgelas, chief of the Ameri-
can division of the foreign office, had
asked him whether the United States
was about to break diplomatic rela-
lions, because "Mr. Conger and Mr..
that they were packing their trunks
to be ready for the break"
STREET ONLY SAFE PLACE.
Some one Of the numerous agents at
the Adlon had reported his version Of
our conversation. After this incident
whenever Conger and / met to talk
about anything we selected the middle
Of the street!
In Berlin lived on the top floor Of
an apartment house in wilmersdorf, a
quiet suburb of Berlin. When I moved
in the apartment underneath was oc-
cupied by . German family. which
moved out very suddenly after the
Sussex was torpedoed. A few days
later read on the name plate Of the
apartment the card Of the new occu-
pant His name was German, but
the card was his former business card,
which he used in Petrograd.
One evening returned from the Of
flee and was dining on the balcony,
such as are built on all Berlin apart
ments. After / was there q few min
utes talking to my wife, a 1o-year- old
boy, son Of the couple living under
meath our apartment, ran into his faith
er's study and shouted: "Oh, daddy,
that mans home upstairs"
In a few seconds the whole family
was sitting On the balcony under
meath. found out afterward that they
knew English as well as did.
One day Ambassador Gerard re-
ceived through the mail a letter adj
dressed in plain envelop containing
a spy's report on Gerard addressed to
the ministry Of war. The report COW
cred several typewriter pages and
narrated about everything the ambas-
sador had done and said during the
previous week. 1t was so accurate that
the ambassador thought he might have
dictated 1t himself. What Mr.. Gerard
did with the letter finally I do not
know. but he said at the time that he
believed the report was sent to him
although there were evil
dences that 1t might have been placed
In the wrong envelope by the writer.
WORK OF CODE EXPERTS.
The code experts in the foreign Of
flee and military bureaus were con-
experts in any code in the
world. Although the United States
used three codes it was known that at
lease two were known to the German
government, but tho state department
In sending dispatches usually mixed
the codes so that any one knowing
two of them or even the third, could
not decipher the telegram. That was,
however, the intention Of the state de-
but frequently dispatches
were sent to the embassy from WASH
lngton and then made public verbatim
as they were sent.
Because this had happened several
times the ambassador feared the gov
eminent could read all his kilograms,
so he adopted the policy of sending all
important confidential communica-
lions through the United States gov
ernments private mail pouches, which
were sent to the United States weekly
by courier. President Wilson, Colonel
House and Secretary Lansing were
thus in confidential communication
despite the vigilance of the German
government.
When the Berlin code experts sue
ceeded in deciphering dispatches these
were compared with other information
from the United States and in this
way the government spy system had a
check on all important re-
ports.