The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-17

ionable and renowned watering place, Biarritz. One might forego a visit to Nice. or even Deauville, but. even if the family ewels have to be pawned the vacation at Biarritz must be had. And the French are right, for Biarritz is charming place. There the mountains and the sea meet, and the surf from the Bay of Biscay pounds on the rocky shores of Gascony. Most of the French shore-line on the Bay of Biscay is stretch after stretch of sand dunes; but at Biarritz the coast is rugged and picturesque.
 The surrounding hills are dotted with some of the most beautiful villas to be found in France. These local villas run the gamut from the low1y Basque farm house to the mag nificent pile of white stone nick named the Turks Harem" because it t,was built by a wealthy Turk for his summer home. Swept by both the cool breezes from off the Bay of Bscay as well as from the Pyrenees, Biarritz is unmistakably well blessed as a climate.
 While the city was an ideal place for an American to spend leave, un- fortunately it's location was so near the Spanish frontier brought 1t un- der the suspicion of the Allied Intelli- genee staffs and it was "off limits" Eighteen miles from the boundary, it was easy of access to the Ger man secret service operating in Spain. A German spy could cross the line after dark and be safely shell tered in a friednly home in Biarritz before daylight. Bolo Pasha, that clever, audacious French renegade, made his summer home in Barritz; and here doubtless, were formulated many of the plans and schemes that finally landed this picturesque Frenchman before the firing squad.
 Shortly after Bolo's execution the American Red Cross hired one of the most modern of the larger hotels, to be used as convalscent hospital and home for the American officeds. The hotel was situated Cn what was called the Northern Heights, and was directly adjacent to Bolo's former summer home. While the hotel and the climate made it an ideal place for wounded or sick officers, neverthe- less the spy menace. in the minds of our intelligence staff, mtre than offset the advantages, and pro- test was made against the hospital
 tick,
 The news that the Americans had hired the hotel and were coming to Biarritz in large numbers traveled fast; nor did it take the German secret service in San Sebastian very long to prepare to reap a golden har- vest of information from our men. Some cf their best spies were sent into the town to operate, and both the French and the American secret service had their work cut out for them in eliminating these people. Many strangers were rounded up, and those who could not show a clear record were quietly deported or sent back to where they had come from. Stringent orders were issued to all the officers who came to this city that under no circumstances were they to enter into conversation with strangers, and above all they were not to discuss anything pertaining to our armies.
 It was not natural. however, for our men, SC far away from their homes and women kind, to resist talking to somebody. especially If that somebody were feminine and. ap- peared sympathetic and interested in hearing all about the battle and how the wound was received. This was particularly true when the listener happened to be a charming woman whose husband was at that moment lighting in Flanders.
 Surely no one of our men would ever think of telliHg their experi ences to a stranger; but was not this particular woman one of our allies, and also a leader in the entertain ments given for our benefit, and did she not join US in our swims and keep open house" on the beach where we cCuld get cigarettes anu drink?
 "A spy? Most certainly not" Such is the reply you would have received, no doubt, had you attempted to ques- tion the wisdom of talking with this woman. Some of our officers were so sure of her good faith that they would even have gone so far as to offer to fight you for questioning her loyalty.
 Such was the condition of affairs in Biarritz in the early summer of 1918. Then things gegan to occur. On the front, our intelligence of- ficers were suddenly confronted with the fact that Germany appeared to have some definite and detailed in- formation about number of our di- visions and regiments and where they were located. Throughout the war the Germans seemed to take partic- ular delight in belittling the Ameri- can intelligence service. They nat urally believed that we were anna