Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-06-11

in-revenge" brand; yet II Is more than
likely that he never did take the pose
seriously.
The world at large took notice of
I. T. Il. Lincoln first when he, In
January, 1910, was elected Liberal
member Of parliament In the Darling
ton by-election, defeating his Con-
servatiye opponent by a substantial
majority.
For q foreigner Hungarian Jew
at that-te break into parliament was
an unheard-of achievement, and peo-
pie began to ask who Lincoln was.
II appeared that he had a powerful
protector In Mr.. Seebohm Rowntree,
the well-known cocoa magnate and
millionaire philanthropist. II also APP
peared that he had been a Protestant
clergyman, and that he had dealings on
the stock exchange. A month after
his entry he made his maiden speech
on the floor of the commons; but aft
er that his parliamentary career at
tracted no attention.
When, at the years close, parlla.
ment was dissolved he did not try for.
reelection and was soon forgotten. A
year later he had trouble with his
creditors, with whom he arranged a
composition Of shillings in the pound.
Tells Bitter Stories.
His next appearance before the bar
of publicity was early In 1915, when
he suddenly emerged In the lobby OF
. Fifth avenue hotel In New York,
telling bitter stories to people he met
about the treatment he, and with him
all naturalized British subjects of Ger
man, Austrian or Hungarian birth, was
subjected to by the British authori-
ties. Otherwise, he behaved quietly,
and nobody either knew or cared what
he was up to. Then, on May %, 1915,
out of the proverbial clear sky came
the proverbial thunderbolt.
On that day New York Sunday
newspaper published an article signed
by I. L. t. Lincoln, former member of
parliament. After a brief sketch Of
his previous career the author told
how he, aroused by the Ubiquitous at
titude Of the British government to-
ward subjects of enemy origin, had
sought to betray his adopted country
to Germany. The gist of the story was
that Lincoln, by aid of series Of
clever ruses, insinuated himself into
the confidence of the British military
and naval intelligence service and
then used his position to receive val
liable information for the benefit Of
the German admiralty.
The next Sunday the revelations
continued, Lincoln telling in detail
how he trapped" certain officers of
the British war Office and admiralty.
The story was written, like the first
installment, in an extremely sugges-
tive style, full Of technical terms, al
lusions to secret pass words, high
standing. but usually unnamed off,.
Gals, secrets of state of the utmost
significance which "for the time be-
Ing" however, could not be revealed.
He Learned Nothing.
The truth of the matter, breaking
through the layers Of stylistic mystic
cation, was that Lincoln, after several
weeks game Of hide-and-seek in which
he pretended to lead the British au-
thorities by the nose, learned exactly
nothing Of the secrets he was after,
and was, In fact, himself led on by |
his supposed victims. When In the
end he found things were growing too |
hot for him he boarded steamer and |
left for New York. Indeed, to the I'M |
biased reader his escape from arrest |
seems to be his only really successful |
exploit.
These articles, revealing Lincoln not
so much as a really dangerous spy, but
rather as a public nuisance and vain.
glorious egotist. aroused considerable
interest In this country, as well as in
and two weeks later the
London Daily Mail published what
to be Lincolns record.
From this II appeared that he was
born In Paks, q little Hungarian town
south Of Budapest, in 1879, Of poor,
but honest Jewish parents. His orig
lnal name was Isaac Trebitsch.
In 1895, after having passed through
a perfunctory schooling, he disap-
oeared from the country, much to the
sorrow = according to the English
the Hungarian police.
In 1897 he was discovered In White
chapel. the famous slum quarters Of
East London, where he was helped by
a missionary whom he rewarded by
stealing his wife's jewelry. He took
the passport Of another inmate, Neu-
mann, of the house where he was stay
ng, and fed to the Continent, where
he committed fraud under the name
Of Neumann.
Ordained In Canada.
In 1890 he studied theology In Ger
many, and In that year was married
N Hamburg. In the following year