The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-01
SENTENCED TO DIE,
SHE FOILS GERMANS
American Wife of TeutOn
Forced Into Military Ser
vice During War.
SPY CHARGE TRUMPED UP
Betrayal Halted Chance Of
Escape and She Is Tortured
in Prison.

Perhaps the worldwide horror at the
fate OF Edith Cavell impressed even the
Prussian military authorities, or per-
hsps. as she thinks, the sentence OF
death which had been passed on Mrs.
Margaret Cent? was commuted to i'm
prisonment because she was able to In
volve Germans of rank in her exploit
AZ any rate after a triai by court
martial on the charge OF aiding Amer
leans to escape German prison camps
and week under sentence of death,
Mrs. Cent?, who Is a native born Amer
lean then married to a German subject,
was sent to q women's penitentiary,
where she remained for five months at
hard labor under conditions which would
have meant death or insanity to any but
the strongest constitution.
Mrs Cent? reached New York yester-
day on the French liner Lorraine, hav-
ing left Berlin on June IL. and It was
at the apartment of her sister in the
Hotel Wolcott that she told her story.
ITO begin at the beginning" she said.
1T was In 1907 that first went to Ger
many to study art. In Munich 1 made
the acquaintance of Richard Thurman,
an artist of some prominence and an
Instructor In the schools in Munich. In
1903 we were married. / visited my
family In the States several times, the
last occasion being in 1914, when I re-
turned to Germany Just two weeks be-
fore the outbreak Of the war.
Held IN Germany by War.
Meantime differences had arisen be-
tween my husband and myself and when
n IL ~ N.N- II
arranging q separation and removing to
America. The outbreak OF the war. how
ever. put an end to that plan for time.
partly due TO the fact that I had no
wish to leave my husband at such a
time. and afterward when our diff
ferences had become more acute because
Of our lack of sympathy as to the war,
n was impossible to obtain the neces-
sary legal sanction. So 1 remained in
Germany and was technically a German
subject.
"My husband was drafted and though
he was not sent to the front. our means
Of livelihood was ended and l began to
do war work. In spite of the fact that
the authorities were thoroughly familiar
With my history. for 1 had given II to
the police and to the military half a
dozen times. they sent me to the great
prison camp at Doebritx, near Berlin.
10 handle the mail for the English pris.
oners there. In this way I made a num-
ber of friends among the British prison.
ors. partly because many Of them were
Americans and partly because. after !
arrived, they received their mail
promptly. The German interpreters and
mail censors at the camp were mostly
mon of education and family who had
managed TO get assigned to the soft jobs
~ y.
ting about the poor prisoners mail. II
they felt disinelined to examine 1t they
simply took a bag of 1t home and
burned It.
"All the time OF course I was plan
ming to get out OF Germany and finally
the widow of a German officer told me
of an agent who could get four people
across the frontier into Denmark for
5000 marks. The others were two Brit
fish prisoners, B. V. Spicer and Cecil A.
Tooke. the former an American. who
had lived In New York and whose
sisters had once known. and the latter
an English artist. The fourth was q
German civilian who had lived in Amer
tea for six years and was anxious to
get back
Four Betrayed by Agent.
we TcdCntu f1hIilDuTB ShItly anu were
actually on the docks there when the
agent betrayed us. The German inter-
prefer had previously lost his nerve and
left us and 1t was through him that the
police learned Of our address and finally
arrested US after We had spent nine days
In Hamburg without credentials Of any
sort not even ration tickets.
Five German officers came TO arrest
me and they made a great show over
the ceremony. First two appeared with
drawn revolvers and commanded me to
throw up my hands. Then another came
and repeated the performance and then
two more. had to explain 10 the last
pair that 1t was all over.
Then / was taken from one military
prison to another: first to the one at
Hamburg, ethen to Doebritz. then to
Spandau. / was tried by a court-rnar-
tial. where had no counsel, was allowed
to produce no witnesses or to hear the
accusations against me. / was finally
condemned to death on the pretext that
] was a spy and had been communicate
ing with an enemy country through the
prisoners. They found a letter from my
father In reply to one which I sent him
through a prisoner who lived in America
1t was very easy to do that. as GEN.
sored the English prisoners mail, and II
friends in the allied countries to COM
municate with them in that way.
when 1 made 1t clear that a number
of the censors. including the nephew OF
the General commanding the camp, had
been doing the same thing. they took a
less serious view OF my offence and re-
duced my sentence to a years imprison-
ment at hard labor.
Women Prisoners III Used.
"Then was sent to a women's peni-
Tertiary at Cotbus. and at that place my
treatment by the military authorities
seemed kind in comparison. was
thrown in with the vilest women prison.
ers. murderers and criminals of the
worst type During the five months II
was there didn't even have a cell to my
self until the last few weeks. The ward
ers were women. and they were devils,
driving the prisoners mad with petty
prosecutions and annoyances. Some
times for days and nights at a time l
have heard women scream and moan
Many OF them went insane.
THE food was unspeakably bad. For
breakfast we had forty grammes of black
bread, for dinner cup Of thin soup or
sometimes salt fish alive with maggots
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