The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-31
TAPPING OF THE
 EX-KAISER'S WIRE


 Of al the amazing stories told of the war, none is more sensational than the story of Ludivk Ocenasek, who before the war was an electrical en- gineer having a small electrical works in the city of Prague.
 Ocenasek is today one of the great heroes of the new Czecho-Slovak Re public, and he is a national hero of the Czecho-Slovaks for the single req constant direct telephonic communica- tion with the Kaiser and with the Emperor Karl!
 Of course, neither the Kaiser nor the Emperor Karl knew iti But Ocen- asek knew it, and has kept a complete shorthand note of all the private con versations of the two emperors over the period during which he listened to their conversations.
 The telephone line between Vienna and Berlin was systematically tapped by Ocenasek, who for the purpose bought a small cottage at Demartinka, in the province of Smichow, which Is just a short distance from Prague.
 Round this small cottage centres one of the most dramatic stories of the great war.
 Secret Society.
 It Is well known to all the world that the Austrian Government from the beginning of hostilities in 1914 per secuted the Slav people, and were es- pectally merciless to the Czechs. At one time. indeed. the Austrians were not able to build gallows fast enough to hang the Czechs they condemned to death.
 Prisons were filled to overfowing, and every effort was made to root out any spirit of independence or resist tho CzoOb spirit of the Czech people, however, was not very easily killed
 Indeed, the greater the danger be- came the greater seemed to be the courage of the Czechs; and so in the very heart of Bohemia there grew up a. secret society called the Mafie, which had members all over Austria charged with the most dangerous es- pionage duties. Ocenasek was one of the first members of the Mafic League.
 The story of the League itself would make a great epic, but doubt if there is any chapter in it's brief and bril- liant history which outshines the story of Ocenasek himself
 The Private Wire.
 Something over two years ago Ocen- asek was invited by a friend, a mem Der of the Mafie Secret Society, to a confidential scientific conference, at which he was informed that between the Courts at Vienna and Berlin di- rect telephonic communication was arranged
 The feature of this private wire' fror Vienna to Berlin was that it avoided all cities en route and that apart from conversations between the Kaiser and Karl. it was used only for the conveyance of urgent messages of military importance.
 After Ocenasek was certain that he had struck the right wire he tramp ed for fifteen miles on either side of his contact before he found a suitable place to make a permanent "lead' from the Berlin Vienna wire
 At the end of this search he land ed upon a small house and garden at -Demattinka: which, with the help of q friend, he purchased, telling the oc- cupants that he intended to take up market gardening and giving sem blance to his statement by immediate ly starting to dig in the garden
 Ocenasek, however, planted very few potatoes. What he did plant was silver wire leading from one of the rooms in the house, through the gar-I den. underground to a big tree just outside the telephone wires.
 The length of the wire which Oc- enasek had to lay was four hundred yards and 1t was a very laborious business indeed. It took him 43 weeks before the whole thing was complete.
 One great danger which he had to face was the possibility of police coming round, as they did perio dical- Il, and finding the "leads' on the wall of the house.
 To camouflage this Ocenasek went to the trouble of putting in a com plete electrical lighting installation, and was easily able to explain away his telephone '1ead' by saying it was part of the electrical installation for the house!
 Confidential Reports.
 The coAtact made, Ocenasek's next move was to establish a small tele- phone station in one of the rooms of the house; and this done, all he had to do was to sit in his room with his telephone at his ear and quite comfortably listen to the conversa- tions between Berlin and Vienna, and of all these conversations he made complete shorthand note.
 Every day he made a report of all that he heard to the Czech revolu- tionary leaders, and according to the report gathered from the Berlin Vienna wire, the Czechs planned all their actions with regard to the best time for setting up the Republic.
 It was because of the reports gath cred by Ocenasek that the Czech rev. olution was bloodless. The leaders of the revolution were able to follow events from the inside, and to know exactly when was the time to strike. The telephone was in constant opera ton until October 2S, 1918, the day of the revolution, and remained wholly undetected by the police au- thorities. It is of great interest to know that the Emperor Karl when using the telephone was accustomed to an- nounce himself as Captain Kraus"; but occasionally he would forget himself and simply announce himself as Karl" Dramatic End. The end of these Berlin-Vienna conversations was dramatic indeed. On October 28, last year, at 10:30 in