The Washington times., 1919-01-30

He sat down and penned this letter
in a fit OF dependency and inds-
cision, when the vision Of Peace
seemed fatrer to him than the
spectre Of War. God knows what
violent emotion impel1ed him to
write this extraordinary appeal to
his English friend, an appeal which.
IL published, would convict him Of
the deepest treachery to his ally.
but he wrote the letter and forth
with dispatched Il TO London. He
did not make use Of the regular
courier: he sent the letter by a
man OF his own choosing, who had
special Instructions to hand the
letter in. person 10 Prince Lch-
Dowskl, the German ambassador,
Lichhowski was to deliver the mis-
sive personally to its destined re-
eiplent.
almost as soon as the letter
was away, the Kaiser seems to
have repented OF his action. At
tempts TO stop the messenger be-
fore he reached the coast appear to
have failed. At any rate, we know
that all through July 81 and Au-
gust Llehnowski, in London. was
bombarded with dispatches order
ing him to send the messenger with
the letter back to Berlin as soon as
he reached the. embassy.
The courier never got as far as
Carlton House Terrace. Someone
In the War party at the Court Of
Berlin got wind OF the fateful let
ter and sent word to someone in
the German embassy in London -
the Prussian jingoes were well rep
resented there by Kuhlmann and
others OF his ilk-to intercept the
letter.
''The letter was intercepted. How
It was done and by whom we have
never found out. but Lichnowski
never saw that letter. Nor did the
courier leave London. With the
Imperial letter still in possession,
apparently, he went to q house at
Dalston, where he was arrested on
the day after we declared war on
Germany.
"This courier went by the name
OF Schultz. We. did not know him
at the time to be travelling on the
Emperor's business, but we knew
him very well as one Of the most
daring and successful spies that
Germany had ever employed IN this
country. One OF our people picked
him up quite by chance on his ar
rival in London, and shadowed him
to Dalston, where we promptly
laid him by the heels when the war
Schultz was internsd. You have
heard how one Of his letters, stop
ped by the camp censor, put US on
the track OF the intercepted let
ter. and you know the steps we
took to obtain possession Of the
document. But We were misled
not by Schultz, but through
the treachery Of q man in whom
he confided, the interpreter at the
internment camp.
ITO this man Schultz entrusted
the famous letter, telling him to
send II by an underground route to
a certain address at Cleves, and
promising him in. return q COM
mission of 25 per cent on the price
to be paid for the letter. The in
terpreter took the letter, but did
not do as he was bid. On the con-
trary, he wrote to the go-between,
with whom Schultz had been in
correspondence (probably Clubfoot),
and announced that he knew where
the letter was and was prepared
to sell 1t, only the purchaser would
have to come to England and fetch
IL.
"Wen, to make . long story
short, the interpreter made a deal
with the Huns. and this DR.. Semlin
was sent to England, from Wash
ington, where he had been working
for Bernstorff, to fetch the letter
at the address in London indicated
by the interpreter. In the mean
time, we had got after the inter
prefer, who, like Schultz, had been
in the espionage business all his
life. and he was arrested
I'VE know what Semlin found
when he reached London. The willy
interpreter had sliced the letter in
two, so as to make sure OF his
money, meaning, no doubt, to hand
over the other portion as soon as
the price had been. paid. But by
the time Semlin got to London the
interpreter was jugged and Semlin
had to report that he had only got
half the letter. The rest you know
how Grundt was sent for,
how he came to this country and
retrieved the other portion. Don't
ask me how ne set about II: don't
know, and we never found out
even where the interpreter de-
posted the second half or how
Grundt discovered its hiding place.
But he executed his mission and
got clear away with the goods. The
rest of the tale you know better
than 1 dO.'
But Clubfoot," asked, who is
he?"
There are many who have asked
that question:" Red Tabs replied
sraveIy, "and some have not waited
long for their answer. The man
was known by name and reputation
10 very few, by sight to even feWer
vet 1 doubt if any man OF his time
welded greater power in secret
than he. Officially. he was nothing
he didn't exist: but in the dark
places. where his ways were laid,
he watched and plotted and sPied
for his master, the tool OF the I'M
periaI spite as he was the instru-
ment OF the Imperial vengeance.
No one may catalogue ne
said, "the crimes that Ciuotoot
committed. the infamies he had to
his account. Not even the Kaiser
himself, 1 dare say, knows the man
ner in which his orders TO TINS
blackguard were eXecuted-orders
raped out often enough, 1 swear
in a fit of petulance, a gust or pas
ion and forpoften the next mo-