AMERICAMERICAN SPIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 17

AMERICAMERICAN SPIES

SERVICE OF JAPAN

TWO LAID BY THE HEELS

(From "The Post's" Representative.) NEW. YORK, May 11.

Since the .days, of John' Paul Jones there has been, hoicase of L an American sailor being convicted in his own country as a;spy. In recent months there have been two cases which have drawn from the authorities an indication that espionage by foreign countries is more active in the United States today than at any time in its history.' The two recent cases were similar, in that both men had been in the" navy, and both' were,paid by Japanese, agents in this country. . .:

. 'Henry' Thomas Thompson . : resigned four years ago from the navy,, in which his rating was that of Yeoman. He continued to live at San Diego, the Pacific base of the fleet, sharing a room with a young Texan, who did not understand the source of his income. At every; opportunity Thomp^ son went aboard the ships and fraternised with his:, former Jmates. On« day. he returned- with a. pamphlet, which he mailed—the,-schedule of, tha operations of the.fleet for the next three months. ■ . /

Later, Thompson moved to San Pedro, following the flei-t. Here his association with Japan became evident. One day Thompson: and the Texan halted at a street corner. A car stopped at the kerb, containing a Japanese. Thompson and his companion .got -in. The Japanese, introduced as "Tanny," gave Thompson a-sum of money, ahd said more, would be forthcoming. Thompson later told1 his room-mate that he was being paid 200 dollars a mghth, with a bonus. When Thompson was arrested by the .Navy, Secret Service, the Japanese escaped to Tokio. He was later identified as a.Commander of the Japanese Navy, who had been an honour student at Stanford University.' before his country's service. TERM. OF; FOURTEEN TEARS. Thompson received a call,in his cell from; a pretty Japanese * waitress, who described herself as his friend. ' At his request she went to the Japanese Consulate in..Los Angeles to ask for aid on "his behalf. At his trial, the Japanese naval officer, Miyazaki, wa3 indicted, in his absence, by' the Government as the head of his country's espionage force in the United States. Letters written by him to Thompson asked for "the. schedule1 6f force tactics, commencing in December." Through the Yokohama .Specie Banls in San Francisco, , moneys paid; by Miyazaki to Thompson were , traced. He was sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment.1: John Semer Farnsworth was • graduate of Annapolis Naval Academy who hada brilliant career as a junior officer in the navy. He served during the Great War, and was on the Asiatic station. He had remarkable success as a navy aviator. He was dismissed from the service in 1927 for borrowing money from an enlisted man : and committing perjury in denying the loan. Five years later, desperately in need of funds, he applied to the Governments of Russia, China, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina for a post as aviation instructor. Unsuccessful, he sought out a Japanese newspaper correspondent in : Washington, and ■ -tasked for 50,000 dollars andi^ >&nftf;,of Commander of the Japanese Navy. / TOO PERSISTENT INQUIRER. .-: The Japanese asked for proof that Farnsworth could "produce, the goods." Farnsworth submitted a large, number, of photographs: he had taken: of guns and naval apparatus. Within three years,, he was paid 23,000 dollars and furnished material, to high Japanese naval officers said to be known to the United States Government. Going into society in Washington/ he gradually revived his navy associations. Hi? persistent inquiries after information eventually led to : his'arrest. He was charged with -having, •supi&ed to ... a \ Japanese officer a naval Handbook, "The Service of Information^.^.Security," which contained plans foe battle formation and tactics,, gathered Aom actual fleet movements. Two' Japanese naval officers were named in the iK* dictment. They were back.in Tokio when Farnsworth came io trial; _ The Japanese Government refused his request, forwarded .through the; Secretary of State, for the two officers to testify. The Minister to the Navy commented:—"ln America, as in othefc countries, there' are a few worthless individuals who try to obtain money from foreigners <for supposedly: valuable secret informatibn, but we cannot believe; that any Japanese officer attempted to use ■ such persons." Farnsworth was also sentenced t« fourteen years' imprisonment.