The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-30
STOLEN J {. CODE
 BARED AT TRIAL
Stokes Case Witness Chilled Over Document Missed
 Several Years Ago

NEW YORK, Oct. 29.-Horace G. Knowles, former United States diplo- mat and witness for w. E. D, Stokes in the retrial of his divorce suit, today admitted on the stand that a secret United States diplomatic code had been lost several years ago when he was minister to Bulgaria. It was charged, it had been offered the Japanese government for $40,000 and had been bought back for $20,000 by Elihu Foot, then secretary of state.
 MT. Knowles made the admission, declaring that the code was stolen by a member of his staff in Bucharest while under cross examination by Samuel Untermyer, counsel for Mrs. Helen Elwood Stokes, who was mak- ing a strenuous effort to shake his testimony. He denied emphatically that he had been dismissed from the diplomatic service because of the in cident.
 Denies Dismissal Charge. Were you in the diplomatic serv- ice when a secret United States code was lost?" asked MT. Untermyer.
 Yes. it was stolen while l was in Bucharest" was the reply.
 Never mind whether it was stolen or not, was it later offered to the JdPdHCoC 4OE S1OsOVOs asked MT. Untermyer.
 Yes, sir
 And Secretary Root bought 1t back in St. Petersburg for S20,O00?"
 T don't know" was the answer.
 And dismissed you from the serv- ice," continued Mir. Untermyer.
 "No," was the answer.
 "Who was the thief?" MT. Unter- meyer asked.
 "A secretary in the legation" Knowles replied.
 What was his name?"
 "I can't remember"
 Mir. Knowles had testified for Mir. Stokes earlier in the trial and had said that he had seen MT. Stokes near correspondent He said he had gone there to meet Dr. l.. M. Benson.
 O O O
 shown His Signature.
 Knowles was subponaed by the de- fense today. It was brought out in the testimony that Knowles had met MT. Stokes at the home or Henry Woodhouse, who was then interested in the Chester concessions in the Near East. Under a lengthy -eXamina- tion Knowles admitted that he was interested in similar concessions in thS Near East, but was not interested in the Ottoman development com pany's concessions.
 In reply to question he said he did not know that MT. Stokes claimed q 10 per cent interest In the Ottoman company. At this point MT. Unter- myer presented him with bulky document which contained his sigma ture.
 Knowles admitted the signature was his but said that he merely had signed 1t as a witness to Mir. Stokes signature.
 After he had denied ever having heard that MT. Root had stated pub licly that he was not fit person to represent the United States any where, Mir. Knowles obtained per mission to tell his story of the stolen code. The theft, he said. occurred shortly after he reached Bucharest where he found no safe in the em- bassy.
 Knowles said his predecessor had kept the code in a drawer, but he de- cded this was unsafe and slept at night with 1t under his mattress. TWO weeks after his arrival it disappeared in the daytime. A week later an em- bassy messenger left suddenly. Knowles declined to name him. Refused To Buy It.
 Knowles said that at some time later 1t was offered for sale to the United States embassy in St. Peters burg, but embassy officials refused to but it. Next, he said, 1t appeared d the Japanese embassy in the Rus sian capital and was returned to the United States through the good offices of the Japanese embassy which refused eithsr to buy it or even look at 1t.
 Under examination by MT. Steurer Knowles denied that he had been admonished by the state department mecause of the incident and added that Mir Root himself had signed q paper transferring him from Bucha : aest to an important post in Nicarau- qua at a time when relations between that country and the United States Nara tSu@s-
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