The sun., 1918-03-14
INVENTOR OF BOMBS.
DR.. Scheelo Has Deen Sought for
Many Months.

Since August, 1915, the secret service
forces Of this country, Great Britain and
France have been engaged in a world
wide search for Dr. Walter Scheele. nine
of whose alleged coconspirators recently
were convicted here on Government
charges that they had placed fire bombs
Of his manufacture on board steamships
leaving this and other American ports
with ammunition and other supplies for
the Allies.
Scheele has been considered by the
Government agents perhaps the most
dangerous of all the German plotters
against whom indictments were returned
here in the crusade that was carried on
against the Kaiser'a agents before this
country entered The EAs. Since America
became belligerent. the search for him
haS been prosecuted even ffore vigor-
ously, but although secret service opera
tives and agents of the Department Of
Justice many times have been almost
within striking distance OF him he al
ways has been able to escape.
Scheele came first to the notice Of the
Federal authorities in the spring of 1915.
when ship after ship which left this
country loaded with ammunition. was
found to have fire bombs slowed away
In the cargo. Again the figure Of the
German doomed across the path OF the
Investigators when they began inquiry
into the activities of a chemical plant in
Hoboken which had been shipping sup
posed lubricants to Holland.
Their investigation proved, the Gov
ernment agents asserted, that Scheele
was the head of that concern, and that
it was nothing more than German
Government plant which had been Or
ganized to have lubrcatng oil mixed
with magnesia and other substances and
, shipped from here to Holland Getting It
! into Germany from Holland was an easy
matter
| one by one the men who worked for
Scheele were captured and indicted. In
dictments were returned against him,
but he was gone from his New Jersey
haunts when the Government agents
went to arrest him. In the trials OF the
other men admission was made by
many OF them that they had made
rSeces of lead cylinders into forms for
| bombs. but they denied they knew they
were to be used to set ships on fire, and
they denied too that they ever had
! placed explosives in any OF the contain
ers. SCheele, they swore. was an expert
| chemist. 1t was the willy doctor, they
asserted. who had discovered Il means
! OF separating the lead container into
| compartments and then filling the COM
partments with acids and other chemical
| combinations, When the partition in
the bomb was eaten through by the acids
| the mixtures OF the other contents
started a fire which blaze away IN the
ships hold until it was beyond control
of the crew.
Scheele had his bomb factory. ac
cording to the indictments against him
| in Hoboken, where he was declared I,
| have been the most able assistant o
! Lieut. Fay. the German reserve oHlc"
who came here from Germany to dc
stroy allied shipping by attaching dN ma
mite bombs to the ruddcr posts uf ships
leaving this port. Fay vas caught An,
convicted. hut he escaped from Atlauti
penit"ntiarN and, like Schcclc manage,
to cludc the Government agents win
sought HIM. He aud Schcclc We're h.
licrcd to have found haven In Mexico
Among tho men who were convlrtc,
of having been concerned in Schcele'
plots were officers on board liambur
American Line ships and other repre-
sentatives of that company and a Grou
of Hoboken Germans. All o. them wer
accused of having hecn under the direc
tion of Capt. Franz Won Rintelen, re
puted relative OF the Kaiser. VIII
, brought more than $l.O00.O00 with hil
, here from Germany and who has bee
convicted three times in the Fedora
courts and still is In prison for hi
spy activities. Scheele called his bomb
cigars"