Evening star., 1922-08-27

| few dollars as an extra" You could
not tell who. was who In this motley
agRregation. In some instances II
was necessary to make special
searches of vessels, and upon these
| occasions the surveyors department
furnished dock plans so that If al
| terations had been made. the change
could be noted.
There is no doubt but that our
enemy had many agents in this coun-
try and that large. amounts OF mail
were sent by consignees Of goods,
but now that the war has passed and
several years have elapsed 1t is per-
missible to state that numerous guam
titles of loose mail were strictly
censored and also that some Of the
mail sent both from Europe to the
United States and from here to there
was, well we will say, delayed in
transit.
From time to time during the
period of the war there were numer-
Gus suspicious fires on piers. docks
instance the intelligence section got
at the bottom of these fires.
X X X X
THERE was also another phase OF
l. the ship inspection which con-
cerned the keeping out of undesirable
aliens; the passengers and crews OF
ships entering port from a neutral
country were lined up on deck, a
careful inspection was held to deter
mine whether their passports and
papers were in due form and techni-
cally correct. After this examination
had been completed the ship was ex-
amined from truck to keel to see If
there was any unauthorized German
| literature that could be used as prop'
aganda. There is no doubt that the
| strlctness Of this inspection did much
to prevent Germany from communi-
eating with agents in this country.
| Not only did the naval intelligence
system perform its functions in the
ports of the United States, but by a
cleverly laid plan they received in
1 formation from abroad as to any sus-
picious person that might be sailing
for this country. Upon the arrival OF
| tho suspect in the United States he
or she was given a rigid examination
and II there was the slightest sus-
! picion in the mind of an officfal the
man or woman was taken into Gus
tody by tho Department of Justice
and either deported or interned. In
| connection with suspicious vessels
the following typical instances which
| were discovered' may be cited: AIDE
| lfna-whole crew pro-German, to be
| watched especially when forming
part Of q convoy. Adonis-carryinE
| contraband, New York to West Indies
Adolfo-sailed from Seville Spain
| August 28, 1917, practically in ballast
| without notification Of departure te
| consulate at Seville on last trip. wal
| stopped and examined by German
| submarines and allowed to proceed
Alfonso xIII-purser refused to fur
nish passenger list to American con-
sui at Balboa.
! At the outbreak of the European
war a greater part of our foreign
| commerce was handled by person.
! who were not citizens Of the United
States. In fact, 1t was not until No.
vember, 1914, that any American
bank had a branch abroad. It was 8
matter Of common knowledge to gov.
ernment officials that the German
! had established a wonderful spy sys.
| tenn and that Berlin was thoroughly
informed OF the activities of ever,
branch of industry in this country
Government oiiicials unhesitatinglJ
say that 1t is quite probable thai
there was not a manufacturing es'
| tablishment in the United States tina
did not have. among Its employees a
least one paid agent of the German
government. These same ohiciali