Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-12-24
SHE FEELS SORRY
FOR THE GERMANS
But Has No Love For Hohenzol-
lerns
AND RIDICULEs SUSPICION
Baroness ZolIner Warmed By Her
furs in Cold Jail, Tells Of Her Re-
lations With Young Lieut..

My God. the ignominy of this af-
fair" walled Baroness Iona Zollner
in chilled cell at the county Jail.
ITO think / have done everything for
| my country, and not anything against
It. | have even fought for the United
States, and now | am being held here
a prisoner, among poor devils who cry
and moan, no doubt to keep up their
i spirits. This thing will kill me, if it
Injuries my dear boy" she continued.
4 for | have nothing to fear for nay
self"
When reporter found the baroness
she was asleep On being awakened,
| she appeared fatigued and careworn.
! The temperature of the cell was very
] chilling, and the baroness wore a
handsome set of furs closely drawn
| around her shoulders. Between inter-
| mittent sobs she talked freely of the
charges against her, Historically de-
nying any relations with the German
government.
Her interest in Lieut. Spalding was
| clearly shown, and she did not at
tempt to conceal the fact that she
cares for the young soldier. In emo
tional references to her sons, she
manifested an anxiety for the perturb-
ed minds of the young Zollners.
AS an evidence of her interest in
the lieutenant, she stated that he was
dear, sweet boy. and to safeguard
him she gave him letter in which
she asked of the Germans should he
fall into their hands, that they at least
be kind to him
The personal effects of the baron
| ess were gathered in two suit cases,
which We're open, revealing many ar
.ticles of feminine tinery On a bench
was package of cigarettes and the
prisoner smoked as she talked. II
learned to smoke while in the old
| country" she explained. Society
women smoke, and we think nothing
of indulging in it in New York. Smok-
ing is very soothing"
While the reporter was in conver-
i sation with Baroness Zollner, Lieut.
Spalding called from Fort Oglethorpe
in an effort to get the baroness over
the phone She was told of the Incl
dent and she seemed to be very much
pleased.
Don't you think it is very cruel"
she asked of the reporter, ito keep
me in this dreadful place? My God
boy. do you think if was guilty of
an discriminating act that l would
have come to this city and registered
in the name of Baroness Zollner My
boys know why | came here, and /
must admit that my coming was very
| foolish The incident at the Hotel
Patten is very humiliating to me. |
solemnly swear to you that | am not
guilty of any indiscretion. | have
| fought for my country / mean by this
that / am responsible for Lieut.
| Spalding receiving his commission.
He was in the training school with
my son at Annapolis. and | helped
| him to pass his examination by urg-
ing him to study hard and by mapping
out his studies so he could absorb the
topics easily
II have nothing against the German
people, | admit | am sorry for them,
truly sorry. 1 do hate Prussian mill.
| tarism. 1t is true that my husband,
| from whom / am attempting to get a
| divorce, is an officer in the German
army. The last time / heard from him
was after the Lusitania was sunk, and
] my boy had written him telling that
he intended to enlist in the service
of the United States. I am proud OF
| you, my son. Your country first above
| everything else came back the mes
| sage.
"It is all so ridiculous, but ! sup
| pose it is the result of my connections
with the German people. God pity
! them | am patriotic, God knows
i am. | am an American. Oh. it is
terrible that our poor boys must go to
that horrible graveyard"
Explaining the incident of the miss
ing letter, she said: "It seems the
authorities jump at everything. When
/ was arrested special delivery let
ter was handed me- In the excite
fment it disappeared. Later it was
found in my bag How it got there
I do not know. Before coming TO Ten
nessee / did not know that a bone
1 uTt law uldNc the DIlu6lH6 u Wn45-
key into the State a criminal offense.
wrote to my youngest son in New
York to send me two quarts of whis-
key Afterwards I learned that / was
violating the law, and as the letter
was from my son. / was fearful for
the discriminating of the boy, beliey-
ing that the letter contained advice in
regard to the sending of the liquor.
The letter has been found and turned
over to attorney Alternately. / have
requested him to produce it to the au-
thorities. We have our wine at home,
and whiskey has been prescribed for
me by my physician"
The baroness stated that she is
American born. She said her father
was named Picard, and that when she
married the German officer she was
living in England just at this point
she reached for a magazine, and a
roacL ran from under the cover. "Oh,
these horrible bugs she exclaimed
And TO think I must sleep here. -