Evening star., 1939-09-21
From the
Press Box
Cincinnati Spy Scare
Laid to Yunk SIeuths
BY JOHN LARDNER,
special Correspondent of The Star.

oeIcCtNe AStllCy \ulo6 uIScS opc-
cialty), announced in a hoarse whis-
per that he was sending a secret
operative west to scout the Reds.
Along the Ohio River the citi-
zens lock their doors at night and
look under the bed before retiring
Every nook and Granny of the Reds
ball park has been searched for
concealed speech-recording devices
and this week the police arrested an
eavesdropper outside the clubhouse
door just as he was dropping his
. caves He turned out to be a
harmless local character who has
dropped caves in the neighborhood
Tor 20 years, man and boy He
can't seem to keep hold of them
The cops dismissed him with a
warning
1t is futile to attempt to detect
a Mccarthy spy in action, for Mr.
McCarthy's system of disguise
would battle Sherlock Holmes. A
good example is the case of Lefty
Gomez, the intrepid Castillian
sleuth who was sent by McCar-
thy to scout the Giants for the
World Series on his day off a few
years ago.
Chapter on Sinister GIonces
Is Rereod by Gomez.
Known in shadowing circles as
Operative X-l6, Gomez is a mas
ter of disguise. In this emergency
he put on pair of blue glasses
and set forth with his well-thumbed
copy of Steinfeldt's Rules OF Spy
ing; or What the Young Opera
tive Should Know" under his arm
Lefty had been reading the chap
ter on How to Shoot Sinister
Chances that morning, and he was
impressed deeply by what Stein
feldt,. a specialist on this subject
had to say. You probably remem-
ber the passage:
To shoot a sinister glance at
long range the naked eye is enough.
A bushy eyebrow helps the effect
Steinfeldt sold bushy eyebrows on
the side-"and the young spy soon
will learn to shoot sinister glances
in two different directions at once
For close-range work a pair of dark
glasses, blue or green, is indis-
pensable."
Steinfeldt did a small retail bus
mess in dark glasses. He goes on
to say:
Il get great results myself by a
sudden sharp look over the right
shoulder. If the young secret agent
gets stiff neck at first from this
device. because of lack of training,
I recommend Steinfeldts soothing
neck liniment. in the small 25-cent
bottle or the 50-cent jar. If spy
does not look sinister. what good
is hep" asks Steinfeldt, and goes
on to answer his own question as
follows: mo good st-all."
Discovered, x-lei Believes His
Deteetor Is BIufMe.
Selecting a sak back of third base
Operative G hez shot a sudden
swift glance at Frank Snyder
coaching k6r the Giants, to try to
steal signal. Snyder promptly
walked over to Gomez's seat, and
X-16 pulled up his coat collar and
huddled back to escape detection
His disguise was impenetrable.
Hello, Lefty" said Mr. Snyder
affabiy. Been having trouble with
your eyes?"
''He doesn't know me-" whispered
Gomez hoarsely to himself. 81 think
he's guessing"
whats the matter?" pursued Mr.
Snyder. Have you got cold?"
mo speak English" said Operative
Gomez, as recommended by Stein
feldt in Chapter VIII, 1O3-1O5, and
107-108, Ibid.
Not very good, I admit" said
Coach Snyder reassuringly, but, if
you polished up on your grammar
you probably would improve quite
a bit"
Mr.. Gomez made no comment,
and the Giant coach returned to
his post, saying, $50 long, Lefty.
See you in the series" There is
absolutely no doubt in X-16s mind
that Snyder made game but use
less bluff and had no idea he really
was Gomez. No student of Stein
feldt ever has been detected in the
act Of espionage.
Beautiful One Eyed Women
Is Reported TO Be Spv