Evening star., 1918-08-18

In foreign neutral city, known for
allies. there lived German who posed
as a retired merchant. He lived in
the most expensive and exclusive ho-
tel. He conversed with very few peo-
pie publicly, and these were usually
neutrals or belligerents above sus-
picion. Sometimes he would be seen
departing In q motor car and he would
not return until early the following
morning, Except for these midnight
excursions there was nothing suspi-
cious about him. There was no evil,
dence that he was other than he rep
resented himself to be. But in all
neutral countries there are hundreds
Of men who do as he did. The busi-
ness Of every man cannot be known.
even to the police.
One evening in conversation with
an allied subject who was above
suspicion. he showed o particular In
terest IN fortifications. explaining his
"a sort of q hobby" He had retired
from business. His fortune, was made.
The var interested him, as 1t did
every one else. and. as he had read
many books. on ancient Notifications
he spent his odd hours comparing the
RaSt WIN tuS PtOStAl.
Naturally this aroused suspicion, but
suspicion is not enough to cause an
arrest and conviction. The allied po-
lice waited. For several weeks they
were OH their guard. Still there was
no evidence against him. Through
other sources they knew that certain
military information of use to the
enemy was being transmitted through
this city. They could trace the re-
ports into the. town, but the trail
would be lost. Finally they decided
to have him arrested by the secret
service of the country in which he
was residing.
When the police appeared at his
suite and announced their mission he
showed them German diplomatic
passport and claimed immunity from
arrest. The. officers, however. had
been ordered to bring him to head
quarters. He protested. He explain
ed. He asked them to telephone to
the German minister. He said 1t was
inconvenient to leave his rooms; that
he was expecting important callers
In fact he did everything he could
think of to gain time, but the police
were insistent. He was taken to
headquarters as he was. except that
he was permitted to put on his hat
and overcoat.
At the police. station he again as
serted his rights and charged the
officials with insulting friendly"
nation. Because he had diplomatic
pass he was taken before the judge.
who in friendly but firm words, stat
ed that he would be searched and
then permitted to communicate with
the German Legations: It'ls not neces-
sary to explain all the objections
which he made. He wished to tele-
phone first and be searched after
ward, but the'judge's order was final.
N his ha rn1jNa found
.eraf important military reports re-
garding the American and atiied ar
mics IN France. They found letters
auth6rizing him to- report personally
to German great headquarters. They
discovered letters from agents which
session of'this "retised busienss man"
was all the evidence needed to .es-
tablish the line ofcommunication be-
tween men and women who. were al
ready under suspicion In other Cities
His arrest was the key to a military
allied. police for many months. And
he was German diplomat"
1t is only through the arrest Of such
men as this that the lines of tho
spider web are discovered You know
how. 1t Is. when a spider begins to
spin his web. Tho web is his home
camoufaged across some abandoned
door or in, some dark corner often
you and I have. walked into those
webs without noticing them before
hand: Often we have looked for them
and found them invisible in certain
lights; perfect and secure. Again We
have seen them glisten in the sum
light and wondered why they could
not be seen at other times of The day
or night. Thus II. Is with the spider
web of the spies. Today 1t Is invis-
ible.. Tomorrow 1t. is clear to all.
Against. such nets es these.the al
lied and American secret service must
work. They encounter dragnets. ma
val and military nets. nets of decoy
and reality. They must be experts in
human nature and in the instincts Of
criminals. They must know lam
guages, customs and yeligions: These
men must pc able to Investigate and
Judge values They must distinguish
a real clue from false scent. They
have to- be verced in military and ma
and financial facts. The enemy has to
be watched at all times and in all
lines. Often months must pass before
a puzzle.is solved and even tlren some
of them cannot be disentangled.
At the beginning Of this article I
told of my experience with Williams
in the Swiss mountains. thought
that nights experience was failure.
A few we eeks afterward, when 1 saw
williams again, / twitted him about
what I called his wild goose chase"