The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-03-18

about TO SEND me.
"Can You Speak Portuguese"
On reaching the Secret Service Bu-
reau of the Foreign Office I was di-
rected to the office of Won Holstein.
My first intimation that it was intend
ed to send me to Brazil came to me
from Baron Won Holstein, who was
in charge of the sub bureau that look
ed after Latin American affairs. The
first question he asked me on enter
ing his office was: Can you speak
Portuguese, Countess?"
"A good instructor and four weeks,
and then, yes" 1 answered. The Bar
on laughed approvingly, and within
half an hour 1 was provided with a
thorough instructor attached to the
Secree Service Department.
By asking a question here and
there I learned that Portuguese is
also the language spoken in Brazil
and then I was able to make a good
guess at the reason of Won Holstein' s
question.
From early morning till late al
night 1 was hard at work learning
to speak Portuguese. Later they add
ed another instructor to my staff
whose task was to teach me Portu-
guese and Brazilian manners and Gus
toms. This last instructor was sup
piled to me from the bureau of Stein
hauser, the man who was known
throughout our fatherland as the mas
ter international spy, having seen SER
vice in every land.
After many sittings with my two in
structors I reported once more to vor
Holstein who turned me over to Herr
Dernburg for further instructions, anG
a very long lecture on the commercial
disabilities of Brazil followed. Herr
Dernburg is a thorough expert or
| these questions. I was surprised tt
| learn how much this man knew abou
| his country. The gist Of what ht
said was that Germans had done more
| than any other race to develop thu
almost unlimited resources of Brazil
and that I would find some town!
and settlements so entirely German
| that in the schools German is laugh
in the place of the national language
Steinhauer Makes Things Clear
| Herr Dernburg was very clear abou
| German influences in Brazil but no
very precise as to the exact reason O
my hasty mission to that distant coun
try and why. should be sent so ia:
| to see it.
After having attended three lectures
by Herr Dernburg I was again turnet
over to Steinhauer who made thing
| clear to me, and being very gruff, h
| made these plain to me in a very few
words But when he began to speal
about the new President of Brazil h
became fluent and expressed himsel
in no polite terms. He said that tn
new President was in the pay of tn
English and that he was violentl
against every German.
He was very antagonistic agains
our people in Brazil, and looked O.
the growth of German influences wit
distrust and envy. He regarded GU
power in Brazil as menacing and wa
working day and night to ,expel a
Germans from his country. Prompte
no doubt by the English, the ne7
President of Brazil was actually inter
fering with the import of weapons t
the German colony in the soutI
which had just been begun on a sys
tematic scale; and he also forbad
the teaching of German instead c
Portuguese in the schools of the stat,
Arms for Germans in Brazil
There were more than 100000 Gel
man reservists in Southern Brazil, an
a great majority of these men wer
assisted by the government to settl
in that locality. There was no dout
. regarding their loyalty to the father
land whenever their country demand
, ed their services. But the serioJ
, matter was the importation of weaI
? ons. Several of our patriotic Germa
l | engineers and engineering firms
> America had secured franchises {
8 build railroads in this section, an
s by these means. in the process of in
!, | porting rails and other building m;
. terials they had planned to cmugg
guns and munitions for the colony. /
first everything went as desired, sa
Steinhauer, but suddenly the ne
president cancelled the franchis
that his predecessor had given
r the German companies and handt
i these over to a British concern. Y
had arranged for depots and 9th
2. secret places to store these munitio
in all the southern states of Brazil.
d had been planned to store rifles al
IL machine guns, with their ammunitio
t sufficient to arm all the Germans
n Brazil against any possible eventua
It ity. Steinhauer was intensely nervo
II about the situation. He feared tn
st as soon as the new British compa,
IL took over the property that former
'e belonged to the German compani
"a they would learn what Germany HI
~ so far accomplished in the way
ID arming the Germans in southern Br
y zil. He was certain that sooner
- later this would come about. In tn
- case he wished to see these Germ
- colonies well armed SO that tn
~ could defy the small mob that t
Brazilian authorities might Sc
Il against them for the purpose of d
. handing them. So he urged that
s. should make haste and start oper
tons at once without losing one m
ment.