The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-13
SECRET SERVICE IN ENGLAND FINDS HOW
 HUNS WERE WARNED
Unique Methods Employed Early in War to Get In-
 formation to Submarines
By Assoeiated Press

London, December 12-Secrets of the
 war work of the British secret service
 now revealed show that German spies
 or agents of the German government
 were making active prepara tions. even
 before the beginning of hostilities, to
 use the Isle of Wight as landing place
 Tor German forces and for the bonn
 bardment of Portsmouth. One of the
 first precautions taken in August, 1914.
 was. to place close restrictions on per
 sohs trying to land upon or leave the
 island. From Harwich to Hampshire,
 along the south and southeast coasts
 or England, nests of German spies and
 agents were engaged in desperate mis-
 slons in the early days of the war. One
 or the urgent tasks of the British se-
 cret service was to stamp out the op-
 erations of these men.
 Foi long time the authorities were
 unable to discover the origin of Morse
 signals that were being flashed out
 of German submarines from the sea
 front at Pevensey. Special watch was
 kept on certain cottage and. although
 no lights were shown, the patient ob-
 servers finally solved the mystery, They learned that after dusk several persons
 near an upper window manipulated what appeared to be the dial of an or dinary clock. A raid on the cottage disclosed that the clock dial was fitted With dark prism. Byl focusing the prism on the strong headlight of a fish ing smack anchored off short it was possible to send forth signal flashes These flashes were not visible to a per- son standing on the beach, but out in the channel they could be read easily. Between the. coast and Tunbridge Wells, which was the headquarters of
 British army corps. a band of gypsies made the rounds of villages l undisturbed until an officer made the signal discovery that none of them could converse in Romany, the gypsy tongue. Investigation by secret serv- ice men proved conclusively that the | masqueraders while pretending to trade with the country folk and tell for as the movement of troops in the south
 ern command. Prompt and drastic ac- tion followed these revelations
 At the beginning of the war numer- ous instances came to light of aliens attempting to enlist under false pre- lenses. If the recruiting officers were dissatisfied with mans appearance or accent, he was taken aside and the oath was administered to him separate ly. It is practically impossible for a foreigner to repeat the unusual phras- ing of, the oath without betraying his origin, and in that way many danger ous spies were captured
 About Christnas, 1914, a foreign dip lomat in London received an anony- nous gift of pate de foie gras. Sus- picion was aroused and analysis showed the presence of deadly poison. Secret service agents were called in and they | proceeded to work on the theoery that the pate de foie gras had come from one of three aliens then under survei1- Ia ~tx was sent an anonymously can of fote gras exactly similar in appearance to the can containing the poisoned stuff. | The landlady of one of the trio open l ed and served it for his supper and 1 it was not until late in the evening ! that she told him that the can had been ] addressed to him. Thinking that he 1 had eaten his own poison, the man ] actually became Ill. He was promptly arrested.