New-York tribune., 1918-02-09
Naturalized A m erican
Brought In Code Message
on Nieuw Amsterdam
Roundup of Agents
Here Will Result
Agriculture Experts Ana
lying Plant Bulb Cargo
for Poison Pollen


Iand-America liner Nieuw Amsterdam
in Hoboken yesterday one German spy
broke down and confessed his guilt
and seventeen men and four women
we're ordered detained on the boat In
telligence men from the army, navy.
Department of Justice and immigration
service took part in the investigation.
The spy is naturalized American
of German parentage. The antecedcnts
Of the twenty-one persons ordered de-
tanned had not been completely ascer-
tanned last night, but presumably all
we're American either by birth or adop-
ton.
Had Code Messages
The spy was caught trying to Snug
gle ashore a dozen or more sheets OF
German code messages sent from Ger
man military and naval authorities to
agents in this country, and after pro-
testing for an hour that they were in
nocent price lists of commercial goods
he was cornered and forced to confess
that the figures and letters were Ger
man governmental information, des-
tined for its agents in this country.
The man was not spared. He was put
through the third degree" and in des-
peraton admitted that he had brought
the code information to this country
on instructions from Berlin and had
been paid several thousand Dutch
gulders to carry out his commission.
1t was not revealed how this Ger
man-American had concealed his code
information, but it is said that it was
taken from under his collar when nc
was stripped of his clothing among
other suspected persons who were de-
tained on board the vessel over night.
he fact that the code was concealed
was strong indication that the fig
ures and letters were not commercial
price lists, and this in itself caused
the intelligence men to put the spy
through the severest of tests.
1t is said that he protested for a
long while that he feared rival bust
ness agents might hold him up and
take from him his precious lists for
trade information, and for that rea-
son he determined to hide it where it
was not likely to be discovered.
Representatives of the various in
telligence departments declined to tell
the nature of the code papers taken
from the man, but it is said they con-
sisted of more than a dozen sheets OF
fnely printed numbers and letters ar
ranged in strips, similar to the fashion
IN which words are listed in a dictiou-
ary.
Shields Agents Here
The newest of German spies, realiz-
ing that he was caught, made a bold
stand to protect the persons for whom
the code messages were intended
Eventually he confessed his mission
and the price that was paid to him fo,
the hazardous enterprise, but he pro
tested he did not know the persons to
whom he was to deliver the informa.
ton.
He maintained innocence of this
phase of the contract, but his induisi~
tors are confident he had been in Ger
many and was instructed before en-
barking as to the person or persons
TO whom he was to deliver his secret
information. Reports were current that
through persistent Interrogation on
board the vessel last night confes-
sion had been wrung from him and
that the spies in this country who were
expecting him would be arrested in
TINS city and elsewhere in the United
states within forty-eight hours.
Experts have already been set to
work to decipher the code, and it is
likely that when the work is completed
there will be disclosed to the govern
ment a complete revelation Of Ger
many's latest plots to impede the
United States in its efforts to prosecute
the war
Liner Waited For
Long before the Nieuw Amsterdam
left Rotterdam the intelligence depert-
ment of the United States gave spe-
cial attention to the possibility Of ap-
pretending code messages in the bag
gage and on the persons of the vessel :,
Passengers. The Tribunc's expose Of
Werner K. R. w. Sturzel, the confessed
German spy who was brought here re-
Gently from Porto Rico and Inferred
at Fort Oglethorpe, aroused the in.er-
est OF the various intelligence depart
many to get code information out of
,hls country. They were prepared to
look Tor the sort of information that
vas seized upon the person Of the spy
upon the Nieuw Amsterdam.
Inc line and wash drawing, teeming
Mith code messages, that Sturzel drew
lor the puerto Rico Ilustrado," unt.
winch appeared on the cover of tina.
society weekly in recent issue at San
IIuan, was taken up by the intelligenc !,
bureaus and instructions We're given
mat searchers on all incoming and out
ecihg steamships should be on the
"a.ch ~, for just such matter
~ me search Of the baggage on the
Nieuw Amsterdam was resumed at 8
d. m; yesterday and was practically
completed last night at o'clock.
Four Passengers Given Liberty
ABOUT 20 per cent of the first aud
sVeohd class passengers who were per
nll.led to leave the pier last night to
se. meals and spend the night ashore
old not go back to the Holland America
p'er Yesterday to open their trunks for
examination. 1t is expected that they
;M''i return to-day and that the entire
investigation of the vessel will have
'een completed tonight
four OF the 263 steerage passengers
VINO were examined yesterday proved