The Seward gateway daily edition, and the Alaska weekly post., 1918-02-14

Thomas Helmuth Ritter, who was cS+eriay sentenced to Fort Douglas, Utah, for inteTnment for the remain der of the war, for stealing certain papers pertaining to Camp Lewis, Wash, while not convicted as spy Is believed to have been in the employ of the German government. His ar- rest and the subsequent developments only show how syStematized the Ger man spy working have been lmplant- ed in the United States. At the time of Sergeant Major Ritter's arrest in Tacoma in the early part of January, ie denied that he had been acting as a spy for Germany. At that tine he made long statement which is most interesting.
 Left Germnay When l7
 "I was r when l left Germany and you know the German government doesn't send out kids of IT for spies.
 This country is suffering from the same thing that England and Germany suffered with the first year of the war the spy scare. Every place they turn they think they see spy"
 Referring to his troubles on the bo" der wher he was arrested and charg- cd with desertion August ?, 1916, in which case he was found guilty of ah- serce without leave and fined two thirds of pay for three months, Rit- ter says
 Teased Him, He Says.
 "I had fight with a fellow. He hit me with rocks and laid me out for two hours"
 What was the trouble about?" he was asked.
 They were always teasing me" TO- piled Ritter.
 "What do you mean by teasing"
 "They were always calling me a German and telling me should 20 back to Germany and join the German army. On the other hand had q let ter from my mother in Germany in which she said if l did not return to Germany and fight with the German army I was a traitor and renegade.
 Asserts His Loyalty
 "I haven't heard from my mother since then. wrote and told my moth CT never to write to me again"
 Ritter added: "If l get to go to France with this division, as l hop" 70 and get in front line trenches, will show them that I am loyal.
 of I should be captured by Ger mans 1 would be shot as traitor, and now they are accusing me here of be- ing a spy"
 In connection with his being in San Francisco where it was alleged he was cared for by the German consul gen eral, Franz Bopp, Ritter said:
 ''I lived in the Army and Navy Y. NJ. c. A. No German consul ever took care of me"
 Too Much Honor, He Says
 Ritter pulled newspaper clipping from his pocket, announcing his ar rest and called attention to the state ment that he was closely related to a German army general, Won Luhden- dorp.
 That is too much honor enti ply. You know he comes of an od aiSto- cratic family, family that dates back for 500 years. That is entirely too much honor for me.
 Another thing, the paper said that I came into possession of a military secret which the commander and the chief of staff and myself alone kncw about. Who am 1.-the assistant chief of staff? They flatter me.
 "The paper said l was m charge of the distribution of papers and cores pondence. That is not so."
 Ritter, in telling of his troubles in the army, told how he has been trans felred from one cmopany to another until he foind one that pleased.
 He could not get along With the men he said, but his promotion was rapid. From frst-class private he climbed to sergeant major, when he wanted to transfer back to the command of Lieut.. Col. Smith, of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth depot brigade.
 Asked About Working Evenings
 He was arrested on December IA and after arrest and while in the guard house, lieutenant of military police said:
 Ritter, you are an educated nan. Now you sit down and think real hard and see if you can't tell who you sus- pect."
 That's putting it up to man