TRIED FOR HIGH TREASON.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13975, 12 September 1917, Page 7

TRIED FOR HIGH TREASON.

ACLEEICMiPLOTTIpr" : 'j

A cotii't-'mai'Jial for : high treason; against Monsignor "Bodonfo Von Go?lacli (ex-ofiicer of the Bavarian army, and Private Chanib'criaiir to' the Popo) and "of his live spy accomplices tcrhiiiitjted in'Rome"ou JunV2tl.-,;aitcV's(l"ses-sions of the Court,'in tho coritlenmation of all those implicated.-'' , ■',' '. ; j Gcrlach, who on scenting imminent arrest had .fled' from.'-the 'Vatican'to Switzerland, was sentenced to'- porpctu-, .'ill confinement; Mario'Pomaricij a Neapolitan, and Cerlach'sj'cliief agent; wis. sentenced to"bc,shot through: the'back; Arciiine Valdnte' Mawj*cV,'il'ailin'g;from' Arc!iangcl,Jikewise received Vlifp'septence; Francesco Baspagliosi, "an infantry trooper, will serve five years; : while Garcia Vitaliaiii,' editor nud' proprietor of the Clerical '.illustrated jVcckly 1 ' "II Bastone," '.and' Giuseppe'' Ambfogctti, traveller for,, a Roman'"■.ecclesiastical' art firm, were each coil'deiHiie ; d v to tljree years' imprisonment. ■ ' • "' . ■

. Military Defence Secrets. , All tho aiicused'wero found guilty .of trafficking with the /Cncnijy and transmitting secrets of the military defence to the Austro-Gertiian espionage centre at Lucerne, with which 'they • were in close and constant connection. Even the Vatican diplomatic valise had been prostituted for Italy's undoing by" the infamous Gcrlach, who had- abused for these ends the sp'ccial favor and confidence which he enjoyed'at the Papal Court. Gcrlach paid a" bribe,of_ £1,500 to Vitaliaiii for the support of his paper against Italian interests/and other.sums, exceeding £4,000 were paid to'the Roman political daily "La l A'itt'oria"'on behalf of Germany. Though all Gorla'ch's tools posed as journalists,'it should be mentioned I hat evjpjx/ohc' o'f'tliciii had been refused adinision to \ any recognised Italian' Press syndicate.' The trial was conducted with closed doors; Maiiy startling facts about this intrigue, elicited during its course, will'be available for publication only after the war is over. The public, however, wero'admitted to the reading of the sentence,' which occupied upwards of two '■hours. Ciphers and Safo Burglary.

Behind the few facts .indicated above lies a great romance. Histroic sequences of events, then scorning as remote as Vienna is from Rome (says "Lloyd's News"), are now revealed as parts of a connected romance in connection with the trial:—,

January 17, 1917. Rome.—ltaly's two most motorious offenders against the rights of property—two expert burglars—undergoing life sentences, were reported to have escaped from gaol. April 6, 1917. Vienna,—A house next door to the German-.Embassy, but not supposed to be otlienvisc connected with it, was broken into by expert burglars. Viennese authorities reported that a great sum of money has been stolen,

The burglars who "escaped" were, in fact, released by the' Government, and promised full' freedom and £2,000 apiece if they could break into a certain house in Vienna, "next dobr to the German Embassy, but not- known to be connected with it," and bring away the contents of a certain safe. In that house were papers containing-secrets of'the greatest importance to the three. Great Powers of Mid-Europe. With tlcvilish ingenuity, the Germans, had provided that if the safe were opened and the papers moved a cloud of deathly poison gas would envelope the disturber and alarms would rouse the city, Hence the necessity of employing the "crack cracksmen" of Italy. 'Promised their freedom and £2,000 apiece if they succeeded, these two great rascals agreed to undertake.the dangerous mission. How-they were smuggled iuto Vienna. no one will ever know, but when they did undertake the robbery of the safe tlicy were provided with gas masks and every tool for safo-opening known to the police or criminal world. They found the secret documents, which revealed all the ramifications of the great Austro-German treason plot' in Italy, and the great round-up of highly-placed traitors was the sequel.