Evening star., 1921-05-30
GERMAN PRE-WAR
|cANAL PLOT FO|LED
Sought by U-Boat Raid to
Block Waterway Before
U. S. Became Foe.
BY HERBERT COREY.

II there should be another "ar-n
the incredible were to take place.
for example. and we were to go to
war with Japan-the Panama canal
would be the enemy's first point Of
attack. With the west coast cut on
from the east coast, cxrtT< by the
long and dangerous voyage around
the canA. the United States would be
he":.iy handicapped at the beginning.
That is what almost happened in
1917. according TO story which has
been kept quiet until now.
With the Panama canal closed. not
only would the two halves of the
American battleship fleet, as at pres
cnt separated. be kept permanently
divided. but. in effect. the battleship
fleet would be destroyed. One OF the
naval lessons of the war is that the
against the greater The half of the
fleet on the side of the continent ex-
posed to enemy attack might be de-
stroyed almost at will.
Indians Startling story.
The moral seems t. be either that
the fleet be not divided or that the
canal be perfectly guarded. That
leads up to the story.
Just before the United States en-
tered the war" said the government
official who told the. story. "a San
Bias Indian approached certain
American official in Panama,
senior. said he, what kind of
steamboat have no sail, no stack, but
ALA time go like hello'
The American official told him that
there was no such boat of that sort in
Central American waters. He tried
to hammer the folly out of the poor.
ignorant Indians head. but it would
n a m 10 In n n a q Of
he had seen a boat that carried no
sails and no smokestack, but never
thelesS traversed the waters at high
speed. So convincing was the tale
that the official finally organized a
look-see expedition of a few men in
an old tugboat.
Searchers Make Discovery.
They rambled about the almost
unknown and uninhabited islands
that fringe the coast about the juno
ture of the Panama and Colombia
lines said the man who told the
story. without success until one day
one of the small boats. idly examin-
inhabited islands. noticed the en-
trance to a small and hidden cove.
The boat was taken up the narrow
passage, which was almost hidden by
the jungle growth. and at the end
OF human activity"
There were huge packing cases
hlled with machinery there and a
tran had been hacked into the jun
gle. While they were cautiously ex-
amining there came a cry. One of
the Indian boatmen had been attacked
by German, but the cry came from
the German. The Indian had almost
Dashed in the top of his head with a
small ak he carried. The white man
in command determined to retreat
from vicinity that might prove dan
eerous and come back with reinforce
ments. They carried the wounded
German with them.
Pannmanian Flag in Recitation.
"A little later" said my informant,
AN expedition was organized under
the Panaman flag to makt a fur
ther examination. The United States
had not declared war at the time, so
that our acts were probably as in
defensible and illegal as were all of
the German acts toward US through
out the hrst three years OF the war
At any rate. We searched the island
and the jungle that, filed it,"
The parts OF seventeen submarines
were found hidden in the jungle In
other words, If the discovery had been
delayed very short time; seventeen
submarines would have been fet loose
to attack the Panama canal. But for
the inquisitive San Bias Indian, the
first act of the Germans would un-
doubtedly have been to blow. UP the
canal locks. No matter what brave
words may be spoken now. the fact
remains that a submarine force could
Of commission for the remainder of
the war. Only a few Germans were
found. Whether the others had taken
the alarm and fed, or whether the
main force had not come. no one in
Washington seems to know.
Further Disclosures.
Further inquiry disclosed the fact
been made in Swedish factories" said
the man who told the story. and
had been brought to the Panama
Colombia coast in Swedish vessels.
labeled washing machines or corn
planters. or what-not. A little later
we learned-for we began to make
inquiries then-that so-called Swed-
ish officer had been preparing to buy
and operate a huge ranch on the other
side of the isthmus. We have no
marine base. but we know that its
broken coast would have been an
ideal base for submarine operations.
This officer was caught and interned
for the balance OF the war on one of
the British islands"
The story is sketchy one, for on j.
cial quarters have suppressed all
mention of it, The fact that the
Panama canal was endangered has
not been regarded as a rose in any Of :
fetal wreath. With the canal out of
commission the Chilean nitrates would
have stopped coming, and nitrates
mean INT and gunpowder.
Canal Practically Unguarded.
1t is likewise the fact that at this
time the canal was practically unde-
Tended against an alert and daring
foe. Seventeen submarines. operat-
ing from a nearby base, could have
blown the canal gates higher than
Popocatapetl.
The same condition exists today
The canal gates are not properly de-
Tended now. There are defenses of
course. but not sufficient defenses. No
one considers it possible that We
might be forced into a war with
Japan. but IL such a wildly impossible
thing were TO happen. one daring raid
could drive wall between our At
lantic and Pacific defenses.