The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-15
VICTIMS BARE .' SPY MACHINE
 AT CAPITAL Whole System Was To Protect Friends"
 Caraway Says
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 Immediately after Wheeler introduced his resolution to investigate the depart. ment, his home in Butte. Mont. was visited by secret service men, and the United States attorneys office in Butte. in which he once served. was ran acked for something irregular.
 Shadowing and ransacking of files, however, did not complete the repertoire of Daugherty's men, apparently. One member of Congress who has criticised Daugherty stated that secret agent had lured him into a hotel room in which a nude woman had been con- cealed and snapped a flashlight photo graph of them. Being married, he was forced to relent in his criticism, or un- dergo possible embarrassing exposure
 A former member of the bureau of investigation stated that he had par ticipated in many shadowing expedi- tions and raids on private files and told of intercepting letters, opening them with steam, reading the contents, and returning them to their owners if they contained no information, and keeping them if they held any evidence"
 'Whoie System Rotten"
 After describing the work of the bureau of investigation at first hand, Caraway declared:
 Their primary purpose was not to detect crime, but to protect their friends and get something on their enemies. I believe they have succeeded in a great many cases. The whole system in the department of justice is rotten right from the bottom up."
 The star agent of the department has been Gaston B. Means, who gave the Senate committee some insight into the methods employed Friday. This unique character, who said he has been indicted for almost every crime there is and had never been convicted, is now under indictment in New York on charges of attempting to bribe Attorney General Daugherty. He was acquitted of the murder of a rich woman in North Carolina some years ago and has been secret agent for Germany, Great Britain and Mexico.
 Unlike the slim, willy Sherlock Holmes of fiction, and the dashing Nick Carter of the dime novel, Means is q bluff, hearty man, weighing more than POO pounds, whose jovial spirit calls forth confidence. He seems utterly fearless, and during the most exciting moments of his sensational testimony, he was calm, good humored and in perfect con- trol of himself. He speaks with a southern accent and has a university education.
 With equal ease he can put on a dress suit and mingle at a fashionable party, extracting secrets from the wives of prominent men about whom inf0rma- tion is desired, or he can let his beard grow a couple of days, put on an old frayed suit, and take up with a gang in the underworld.
 Agrees With Burns
 William J. Burns has said he is the greatest investigator in the United States. Means is inclined to agree.
 '1f you tell me there was a bird on certain spot yesterday" he told Sen ator Wheeler facetiously, I'll bring that bird to you tomorrow"
 Means is an expert at covering his tracks.
 I've caught lots of people trying to tap my LcIcpuOHS. put | dAN1yS u8Ne three bells on my phones. The current is just strong enough to operate three bells. Then when any one tries to tap my wire, catch them right away"
 Means said four people came to Washington recently and a certain per son desired information as to the pur- pose of their visit Means was sug- gested as the man to get the informs- tion. At 10 o'clock in the morning he set out. At z that night he appeared with photostatic copies of every letter and record the party carried with them
 Means has thousands of secrets packed away in a series of little black books small enough to go into ones hip pocket These contain an hour by hour account Eof his activities. Names Oe the nation, best known men are frequently found ir it-it is said to contain secrets whscl would make the present exposures sem flat. But these are not likely to be re vealsd. Means read from these httl' diaries in refreshing his memory befDr' the Senate Friday. They were piled il big packing case which Means place. on the table before him. This box wa never out of his sight. When he l.f the stand a Senate policeman was de tailed to stand guard over the box