Evening star., 1940-07-21

often more disastrous tndn results SeSuleu
by regiment of soldiers in time of war. The
explosion on Black Tom Island, New Jersey,
in 1916, is proof of this. Three men were Killed
and many others were injured in that blast.
Thirty three carloads and ten barges OF am
munition valued at over S20,OOO.OOO, were
destroyed. The explosion shook the entire
area of metropolitan New York. causing
million dollar loss in shattered glass in Man.
haitian alone.
The horrors of well-executed sabotage be-
come obvious when we consider city IN
darkness. its water supply polluted or It's
transportation system wrecked. Last summer
the nation was shocked by news of the wreck
age of crack streamliner in the West Ere
ouent similar disasters could be expected once
the experienced saboteur moved into action
Sabotage has none of the romance often
associated with espionage. 1t is grim, sordld
thing Waste and horror follow in its wake.
1t is carried on by the espionage agent or the
traitorous individual who works with him.
The spy is very often the advance agent OF
the saboteur, who, with torch and bomb and
destructive weapons, may spread desolatlon
throughout the country, cripple the nations
industrial plants. make it difficult to feed and
supply troops destroy the morale OF the civil
population and undermine national-de
programs,
The saboteur invariably attacks the source
of supply. He strikes at the fountainhead of
our power 1t is not practical. OF course, to
draw definite line of demarcation between
the efforts of spies seeking to discover secrets
of our military and naval defense and offense,
and that part of the army of spies and asso-
ciated saboteurs that strikes at our industries.
Aims at Supplies
OBv1oUsLY, our military and naval secrets
would be of little avail to us if supplies and
materials could not be promptly transmitted
to our military and naval forces. An army
in the field possessing the most modern,
effective arms is useless without an ample
supply of ammunition The saboteur strikes
at this flow of ammunition. Our Army and
NAVY cannot defend us unless they are fed.
They cannot engage the enemy unless the
supply of steel from our steel plants is suffl-
cient to provide the implements of defense.
1t is the saboteur's goal to hamper the man.
ufacture and delivery of these supplies
The saboteur operates in as many ways as
there are methods of disabling plants, DAM
aging material and supplies Gripping power
and interfering with the manufacture of every
tvpe of product in a modern industrial COM
munity
Fire is a favorite weapon of this enemy
agent The damage done by disastrous fires in
industrial plants is difficult to estimate. The
saboteyr in his work seeks to veil his activi-
ties 50 that fires and explosions will appear to
be accidental This is fundamental. He en-
deavors in every possible manner to make
these disasters appear to have been caused by
human frailty on the part of plant employees
or by defects in the operation of machinery.
HIS methods have vastly improved with
the advance of science. Explosions and fires,
the favorite weapons of these agents, may be
arranged so that the saboteur may be many
miles away from the scene when the disaster
occurs. For instance, a small vial may be
placed in a supply of coal destined for the
engines of a transport or merchant vessel
carrying goods of vital value to our armed
forces. Chemicals inside the vial slowly eat
their way through the container. This process
can be timed so that the vessel will be miles
Copyright. 1910, United Newspapers Magazine Corpor