Evening star., 1928-09-23
officer Who Was a Traitor Had to Die by Own Hand

dOOr. WlLnOuL I1NitaIIOIl IOul OluCclS III
full uniform entered.
Col. Redl. white-faced immaculate,
holding himself very straight, rose as
they entered.
"I know why you come" he said
slowly. II have written it all in these
letters"
ANY accomplices?"
None
"Your activities, how long and to
what extent?"
"In my apartment in Prague you
will find all the proofs"
Colonel, have you a revolver"
MAY I borrow yours, major?"
He was handed a revolver.
sThank you.'' Redl said. Good
night, gentlemen"
The officers left without a word.
One of them posted himself across
the street from the hotel. The others
went to the Central Cafe and waited.
At 5 in the morning one of the two
secret service men who had shadowed
Col Redl was summoned to the cafe.
"Go to Col. Redl's room at the
Klomser with this letter" Gen. Ur-
bansN ordered IF his door is locked
Use this pass key No matter what
has happened in his room you are to
raise no alarm. Report back here"
The secret service man went to the
hotel and showed the night porter his
badge of office. "Col. Redl expects me
to deliver this letter in person" he told
him.
But there was no reply to his knock
on the colonel's door. The detective
found it unlocked and entering, closed
the door behind him.
The lights were on. The silk shades
of two of them were so tilted that
strong illumination must have fallen
on the face of the man who had stood
up before the ceiling-high mirror in the
room.
1t was by this light that Col Redl
had put the muzzle of the revolver to
his right temple. He lay now at the
foot of the mirror, dead.
The secret service man left the hotel
quietly and reported to his superiors in
the cafe.
A quarter of an hour later the tele-
phone bell at the reception desk Of the
Hotel KlomSer rang. The night porter
answered it.
Request COL Redl to come to the
instrument you are using" a voice said
over the wire.
"He is sleeping" protested the porter
who are you?",
do as you're told!"
The porter recognized the voice OF
authority and obeyed 1t. It was thus
that the ''regrettable suicide" of Col.
Redl was made known to the world.
But the small group which knew the
real circumstances was now cloSeted
with Gen. Won Hoetzendorff.
Gentlemen he said sternly, IT
shall require of every one Of you
spcfi,i VOW of absolute silence in the
r'"--,r of Col. Redls treasonl Not
cur Emperor must know of it,"
The world was informed that "fol-
ewing a long period of melancholia
Fol. Alfred Redl, chief of staff of the
eth Army Corps, committed suicide last
night"
The newspapers of Austria Hungary
rave top space to the announcement,
but made no comment First, because
they knew of no comment to make
other than obituary praise. Second,
he newspapers of Austria Hungary in
those days were under the heel of the
military.
A SPECIAL train took Gen. Won
Hoetzendorff, Gen. Urbanski and
Capt Ronge to Prague, where they
went at once to Col Redl's apartment.
Strong, specially constructed locks on
: the door halted them.
Capt. Ronge went in search of a
locksmith and found a young fellow by
the name of Wagner. Come with mel"
! he ordered
But I don't work on SUNDAYS"
Wagner protested "And I'm fullback
on my foot ball team which plays
Union v. this morning!'
Then the young man found that he
mad no choice; he was drafted for
temporary military service
He broke open the locks on Col Redl'S
doors and others in various strong boxes
and desks. The three military men
pounced on the contents Wagner
caught gltmpSes of maps, sketches. pho
tographs, blue prints. reports of all
! kinds. He heard the oldest of the group
exclaim with horror
How was it poSsible!"
And he caught several times the muir
muir OF the word Russia
Wagner was good locksmith and as
good fullback but lacked curiosity or
imagination. What he had seen i'm
pressed him but little.
Because of his absence his team lost
that day. His captain, who during the
! nSNAN "eAS e@oo4obehO 0ROA tAIlS COllOI OIL
the Prayer Tageblatt, lectured him next
, day for not showing up to play
II couldn't" Wagner explained. "The
military made me break open some locks
for them. 1t was Col. Redl's apartment
They must have been looking for his
will.
And he told his captain as much as
he knew of what had happened.
The assistant sporting editor was no
fool. Putting together the official ac-
count Of Col. Redl's suicide with what
Wagner told him the captain realized
that he had sensation in his possess
sion.
He took it to his editorial chief. There
was no mistake, they decided. Col. Redl
must have been unearthed as a spy for
Russia.
But it was a dangerous bomb for a
newspaper in Austria Hungary to
handle; truth would not protect the pa
per from the explosion that was sure to
| follow. And yet the story was too big
to let go. So this is what appeared in
the Prayer Tageblatt on Tuesday morn
ing:
I'VE are asked by high authority to
contradict rumors which have been
spread, particularly in army circles,
about the chief of staff of the Prague
Army Corps, Col. A. Redl. who as al,
ready reported. committed suicide in
Vienna on Sunday morning. The ru-
mors are to the effect that the colonel
had been guilty of betraying military
secrets to foreign power. believed to
be Russia. As a matter of fact, the
commission of high officers who came to
Prague to carry out search in the dead
colonel's house were investigating quite
another matter"
An uproar followed: for Of course
every one read between the lines. Re-
porters mobbed news sources of the
story. In Parliament there was commo-
ton. And telegraph wires and cables
| fairly burned as the story spread