New Britain herald., 1918-01-15
CAPTURE GERMAN
 SPY RED-HANDED
Boy-ed Agent Arrested AS He
 Starts Rampage

Norfolk, Va. Jan. 15.--Caught red
 handed in an attempt to blow up an i army magazine, while posing as an i officer of the American Army Walter : S,oorman, d former officer of the : German Navy-the German Army, ' some reports have it--is en route to . Baltimore, where he will be turned ever to agents of the Department of Justice. In the opinion of naval au- thorities, he will face a firing squad, the first German spy caught in Amer ica to die for his crimes, says the New York Times.
 Spoorman'S arrest was made Satur- day at Newport News by an officer of chase that led to Camp Meade, Washington, Baltimore and finally to Camp Morrison, the aviation camp under construction near Newport News. It is declared that evidence obtained from the prisoner in the form of discriminating documents in- wolves a number of persons, including several women in Baltimore, Wash- ington, New York, and other cities. The nature of this evidence the off, cials decline to state, as one man wanted is missing. Others are said to be so closely watched by Secret Service men that they cannot hope to escape.
 It is authoritatively learned that the government considers this capture one Of the most important yet made in the nationwide hunt for spies. It is confidently predicted that the i man will be convicted in a few days as a German spy and that his eXecu- tion will quickly follow, an example 1 to others who may be operating in
 the United States
 1 Wore an American Uniform. Spoorman first attracted attention : in Washington by wearing the unl- 1 form of a captain of the United States army Secret Service men tralled him ! to Baltimore, where the case was placed in the hands of young Baltl-
 morean on the staff of the Bureau of
 Naval Intelligence, who speaks seV-
 cral languages. including German, in
 which he is expert. For weeks he
 kept track of Spoorman, confident ! that he was a dangerous spy.
 ! Spoorman not only visited Wash : ington and showed activity in and l about Baltimore, but also paid flying ] trips to various army and navy posts ] in the neighborhood of the two cities, ! including Camp Meade Later he 1 disappeared, and the officers feared he i had taken alarm and left the country. 1 His quarters in Baltimore were To-
 cated. There a German Heutenants ! uniform was discovered, and evidence l that leads the officers to believe that l Spoorman came to this country on 1 the submarine U-53, which called at l Newport about year ago, and later
 sank a number of merchant ships off 1 the American coast.
 1 A few nights go at Camp Morrison
 a man was seen to strike a match in
 the neighborhood of the camps am [ munition magazine. He was hreo
 upon by the guards, but managed to ] escape. Guards recognized the man
 and his arrest followed next day ! Spoorman gave as his excuse fol l striking the match that he was look 1 ing for a piece of wood out of whicf
 to whittle walking stick. He said
 he was employed near the camp 1T l civilian work. The excuse was dis l carded as flimsy
 1 l His description led the Washington | officials to believe that the man under | arrest was Spoorman, who had disap l peared from Baltimore, and the | young officer, who had lost his trail
 was rushed to Newport News. An in | tercepted letter to a woman, whose l name has been withheld, settled the l Identification. Tn this letter Spoor- l man declared he would take no more
 chances and would leave certain worl
 to others.
 The prisoner was brought to Nor [ folk for examination. The officer!
 learned that he spoke eight languages l He converses in English without { l trace of accent. He appears wei
 supplied with money. Spoorman de I clared he would rather die than be
 tray others if found guilty of beins
 a spy. He was arrogant in replying 1 to questions. When charged witt 1 trespassing on government propert.
 and as an enemy alien in restricted
 zones, his plea was ignorance of tn
 law and innocence of intention