Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-13
Clever British Woman Spy
Kept Boche Secret Service
Dancing for Many Months

tured and Rad shot two French Sc
cret service men who had stolen
some important documents from
him. Weissmann was rather proud
of his success in getting these pa
pers back and in having the two
spies executed.
He could not help Boosting about
his success to the lady and he even
showed her the papers. She ap-
peared greatly interested in them
and lost in admiration for the re-
sources and skill of her companion.
1t was only when he reached his
own lodgings that the major found
the papers missing.
His theory was that they had been
taken from him in the streets, and
likely culprits were searched for in
every direction but the real one.
A member of the Belgian military
secret service, on a short visit to
London, told a Universal Service
correspondent recently how he man
aged to get information.
A Pretended Dutchman.
Speaking the Dutch language and
also German as a Dutchman would
speak it, he went into Germany as
a Dutchman, obtaining his passports
under an assumed name. He adopt
ed no disguise beyond shaving his
mustache, which so altered his ap-
pearance that he was never recog-
nized in Germany, though he saw
his photographs placarded at the
military headquarters of various
towns with the announcement that
$4,000 would be given to whoever
effected his capture.
1t was only at The Hague that he
was once recognized by a German.
After that it was thought advisable
for him not to return to Germany.
He was arrested and brought before |
a Dutch general, but after a few
hours we was allowed to 60, the |
general remarking, Il admire you
for what you have done for your
country, | should be happy to do the |
same for mine"
Ny work was concerned" he said, |
with obtaining information of the |
of German troops from |
the eastern to the western front and |
from the west to the east, and chief |
Nv at the railway stations | learned |
what l wanted to know.
No Written Reports.
"But could only listen and look. /
I never dared speak to soldier nor |
could l write any reports, for it was
to secrete any papers, as
| was constantly subjected to ex-
animation. Even in the middle of /
the night at my hotel thorough |
search would often be made among |
my belongings and the bed on which |
| was sleeping would not be for
gotten. / suppose it was only due
to my extraordinary luck that | was
never captured.
Il found that visiting German res
taurants was often very useful, he |
continued, because of certain Ger
man habit. If, in crowded German |
restaurant, l went up to table al
ready occupied and asked the Ger
man in possession if 1 might take a
seat, he would follow up his acqui- |
escence by a Standardization. AS |
the allies knew the names of the Of
hcers belonging to different regl- |
ments. an officer thus disclosing his |
name would give sufficient indication |
of the regiments or divisions in the
town"
Beat Berlin with News.
So clever was this secret service
work that news of the transport OF |
troops was often transmitted to
Paris and London before it was
known in Berlin.
Working in Belgium and spiriting |
young men of military age out of |
the country was a particularly dan
gerous part of the secret service |
work, but, thus aided, about $4,000 |
young Belgians managed to make |
their escape during the war. The |
chief of the many difficulties in the |
way was the live electric wires which |
the Germans erected at the Belgian |
frontier. When it was thought too |
risky to cut this, tunnels were bored |
underneath or casks or ladders by |
which to get through or over the |
wire were used.