Evening star., 1927-10-09

ner, and over the mantelpiece is an
Empire clock. Above Is Edcuald De.
taille's painting. "' -.-
r HAVE no doubt that such .evela.
l. tions will irritate several people
in Berlin. And yet / must admit they
are far from complete. There are
things that / am not allowed to tell.
One interesting question concerning
which / must he reticcrt is. How do
the Germans organize their map-mak.
ing service?" II l tell my German
colleagues-for l am positive they do
not know it-that the headquarters
Of this branch Of the service Is in the
room directly above the one that
have just described, perhaps they will
recognize that. once again. we are, to
say the least, quite as well informed
about such matters as they.
DO they want still! another proof?
/ have already remarked that the
palace OF the German general staff
faced the Thiergarten, and that the
most imposing entrance to the build.
ing was on that side. did not, how
ever, mention the fact that side by
side with this door is another, very
small, discreet and unimposing. At
man in all Germany who has the right
to use that door, and that man Is Gen.
Won Seeckt, commander.in.chief Of the
German army.
Formerly-that is, before the armis-
tice-the Emperor himself was the
only German who might use it. Un.
known to any one, he would use that
door when he went to the Offices of the
German general staff to give his or.
ders. 1t was after having left the
building through this door that. one
fine morning In August, 1914, he de-
clared war on France.
The German secret service. with It's
official headquarters at the Thiergar-
ten in Berlin, was the most gigantic
system for espionage imaginable. 1t
may be said without fear Of exaggera.
tion that when the Kaiser decided to
staff knew all that was to be known
about the condition Of our military
forces.
1t seems scarcely necessary to men.
ton the fact that the activity Of the
secret service since the armistice has
diminished so little that at the sign.
ing Of the famous secret treaty be-
tween the Germans and the bolshe.
viks at Rapallo it was necessary to
erect two buildings in which to house
the new agents.
The secret service, made UP out of
whole cloth and put into working order
by the spy Stieber. who died in 1892,
comprises three distinct branches: U)
The political branch; (2) the military
branch; (3) the naval branch.
Before the fall of the Kaiser. the
political branch was directly attached
to the Emperor's cabinet. At present
1t Is under the control of the minister
of foreign affairs-at least, to outward
appearances it is-and 1t comprises as
many sections as there are countries
in the world. Before the war the most
important division was the personal
section" under the direct supervision
Of the Emperor. He, however, exer-
cised his power clandestinely and al.
lowed the premier in Office to retain
nominal control. This section Of the
service is still in existence. It has
merely changed its name, now being
called the private section"
49, **
WE must admit that the German
w agents did their work thoroughly,
for the Information they turned in to
the general staff by filing out ques-
tionnaires left nothing to be desired.
A set Of these questionnaires was
found on a spy who was captured be-
hind our lines. They were on the
thinnest paper obtainable. He had
rolled them up and hidden them under
the tobacco in his pipe. This was a