"A SPY KILLED KITCHENER!"

NZ Truth, Issue 580, 29 July 1916, Page 7

"A SPY KILLED KITCHENER!"

ENGLAND HAS TAKEN UP THE CRY

SPY SYSTEMS OF THE WARRING NATIONS

Heads of the English and German Secret Services

Professional Spiet Keep Pretty Clear of ( Danger

Though the British Admiralty announced its belief, on the evidence of the survivors, that H.M.S. Hampshire ] was blown up by a floating mine, and not torpedoed, the opinion has all along prevailed that a "spy killed Kitchener," and the London correspondent to an American newspaper asserts that, all England has taken up the cry that "a spy killed Kitchener," and a new spy hunt is on. The great newspapers are upbraiding the Government because they haye 1 not Interned all «lien Germans and'Austrians. London and the far corners of the Dominion ere scouring the. British earth for new suspects and acting against old suspects. More aliens and alleged 'aliens will be interned. ' Perhaps a few. heads Will fall from high places, as nas happened before. The public clamor must and will, be satisfied. Meantime, there sit m a few secluded offices m London sharp-eyol and keen-witted British secret service directors m whose minds is a distinct picture of how THE GREAT "K. OF K." came to his death, and who know that only by arresting every man and woman m the land could they be absolutely sure of bagging the person re■ponsible for the tragedy. And tie man who wrought the end of England's idol most probably sits m London unmolested, and without * reasonable prospect of being arrested. He may well be living at the Carlton or the Ritz, or he may be working hard and faithfully to-day m the Admiralty or the War Office— -lamenting Kitchen«r's death with the rest of England. The writer asserts that the chances are 600 to 1 against this person ever being found put. His story will remain untold. He accomplished what the Kaiser and ten million troops could not do, but he will receive no iron cross, no pour le merite; Some day he may be amply rewarded, but he alone will know why. ; . To the average man or woman, a spy is' a creature of 1 fiction; m the present war he is a tremendous factor, an institution on whose success or failure may depend the fate of nations. Besides some of his deeds of cleverness and daring the most thrillIng fiction that is written around him |b dull and tiresome. . . Against the assertion of the Admiralty that • the Hampshire was mined, the writer m question goes on to say that it is probably true that Kitchener's death was duo to a spy. There are few or no mines m the vicinity of the Orkney Islands^ The nearest mine field is the one that protects the port of Klrkwall m Scotland. The route of the Hampshire was probably the safest to be found m European waters. The course Is even THOROUGHLY SWEPT ' FOR FLOATING MINES to safeguard the great neutral traffic between and England and America. A German submarine may have chanced upon' the spot as the/ . Hampshire was passing, but this is extremely unlikely. It is much more likely that a submarine put .out from W t ilhelmshaven with orders to hide m the exact course of the Hampshire and destroy her as ' She passed. 1 Or a flotilla of submarines may have infested these waters to cover deflection from the Hampshire's natural course. And the man who gave these orders knew that Aboard the cruiser was Earl, Kitchener. In the light of the result achieved, and some of the other "jobs" that have gone before In this war, the killing of Earl Kitchener must have been comparatively easy. The knowledge that he was going to Russia was generally shared m official circles. The spy, placed to receive Just such Information, probably knew the plans. in detail. Then It became a matter of transmission to Germany. And herein is the great mystery, for, despite all precaution* which the BEST INTELLIGENCE DIVISIONS of the world can devise, Important and exceedingly private information reaches Germany from England and England from Germany. There is always the medium of personal delivery, of agents who travel the •eas In the guise of business men on faked or sound passports, but few such are loft after two years of oomblng. The cable and wireless to-day are the moet reliable moans of communication, tut regulations of always increasing stringency have made this medium difficult. To avert suspicion it is often necessary nowadays for secret service agents m belligerent territory to transmit their messages to the desired point through relays which girdle the globe, through brother 'agents who are. posted to the very outposts of civilisation tor that purpose. Let no reader imagine

that such systems do not exist . Not long ago the British Admiralty received A SECRET REPORT FROM GERMANY telling exactly on what day Sir Roger Casement might be expected to arrive off the coast of Ireland, that two other Irishmen would accompany him and that a shipload of arms would complete what was primarily a submarine expedition. This is more remarkable than the fact that Kitcheners' plans became known m Germany, because the conditions under which the alien spy must work are ten tunes more difficult m Germany than m England. And Casement's plans were guarded far more carefully than Kitchener's probably were. Many knew that Casement would attempt to reach Ireland, but when no r one knew except those who went and a few officials who arranged his going. But a spy also knew and, what is more, he got his information to England. Speaking of Casement, he was probably the most spied- upon roan m the war. Living m Germany; he was watched by both Germans and British. No German official doubted Casement's sincerity, but he was watched for safety's sake; no British official doubted Casement's insincerity and he was watched for the same reason. Change 1 hotels as often as he would-i-arid did — Casement could not evade the British spiea The writer (who, apparently, had ■ been m Germany) had seen Casement bang up his coat m a Berlin hotel and return from lunch later to find that EVERY POCKET HAD BEEN RIFLED, and every scrap of paper contained therein taken. German' spies were laid to catch' the British spies who dogged Casement, but none was caught More than a year ago the writer stood on the heights of Scarborough Castle on the east coast of England two hours after the German bombardment Less than two months ago the commander of one of the two German cruisers that took part m the bombardment described to him m detail a field gun that stood concealed on the outermost point of this cliff. A year ago the writer was captured aboard a Dutch steamer m • the North Sea by a German submarine which located us m a dense fog soon after daybreak. That submarine commander knew when and where we were going to the smallest point of his compass and knew to the lost egg and two Americans WHAT AND WHO WERE ON BOARD. Spies are to admiralties what navigators are to the ships. More than a' year ago, while Lord Fisher was still m active command of the British high sea fleet, it was said iby responsible officials that one fof Fisher's greatest difficulties was the work of German spies. At that time it was practically impossible for Fisher to issue an important order to his fleet without Berlin knowing the contents as sdon as did the ships of his own fleet THE BRAINS OF BRITISH SECRET SYSTEM There is probably no more efficient officer m, all Great Britain than the man chosen by wise Admiralty heads to combat this German system of espionage and to penetrate at the same time the German espoinage armor. He la Captain William R. Hall, at the outbreak of the war commander of the cruiser Queen Mary, destroyed m the fight off Jutland, and one of the first British commanders actually to sink a German raon-o'-war. This he did m ! his first Heligoland battle. Hall la a new fighter of the finest type, a sailor with THE SALT OF THE SEVEN SEAS m his veins and hatred for no man m his heart They made him chief of the Intelligence Division of the Navy because he. knew men as well as ships and the rest of the world as well as Britain, The writer says, "I have known his encouraging smile to batter down spy disguises where the usual third degree methods would be futile. It takes a strong man to talk an hour with Hall and not reveal himself. At a time early m the war Hall made It known to two or three women m London that he suspected them. He let them feel uncomfortable without actually frightening them. The result was what he expected it would be — they went to the Admiralty to complain becauso they seemed to be under suspicion and to justify their presence In London. Each woman had the same fate — clever women they were, but they talked too long to the smiling, spark-ling-eyed little Britisher, and finally

gave away their own game. I never think of Hall as a secret service director without recalling an incident that occurred on the bridge of the good ship Queen - Mary as she raced m to the death after SCORING *A FATAL HIT * on a German cruiser m that first tussle m Heligoland Bight. Hall is a religious man. Also, like the ablest sea fighters everywhere, he could .face death himelf with a hundredfold less feeling than would reach his heart at the sight of an enemy bound to the region of Davy Jones. Hall first found the German with a shell at seven or eight miles.. A broadside from the Queen Mary tilted the enemy and Hall rushed m at full speed. Through " his glasses he could see the German turning up on end and her men crowding aft to stay out of the water as long as possible. ''I'm a bit religious, you know," Hall said to the writer, "and I don't like to see the poor beggars going down just that way, I naturally took off my cap and said a little prayer for them. I hadn't got very far with what I had to say, though, when I sort of felt that all was not well and I cast my off eye seaward. Nothing but a torpedo coming dead on amidships! I QUIT PRAYING RIGHT THERE long enough to throw the ship's course over so as to parallel the course of the torpedo if possible. Then I took off my cap again and said a prayer for my own crew. We paralleled her all right and she went skimming by." This is Hall, the man who guards the secrets of the world's greatest fleet and seeks the secrets of the next greatest. He believes you should love your enemies — and shoot- straight. ... Asked to ■ name a prototype to' Hall, the writer points out Major Nicolli, chief of the espionage division of the German army. The two great differences between the two men are the first and obvious ones — one is a German and the other English; one is a soldier and the other a sailor. But THEY ARE EXCEEDINGLY ALIKE. Of about the same stature, each possesses a deep sense of humor and each has the faculty of tackling each separate task of .a continuing stupendous job with a smile., Nicolli concerns himself chiefly with the German armies on the Western tfront and most of his time is spent at Great Headquarters m France. There he directs the work of detecting enemy spies within, the German lines and of spying In the enemy lines. "I have known of but one man /worsting this astute German soldier and that man was a American newspaper correspondent Finding a man who could successfully evade his airtight regulations, NICOLLI REWARDED HIM," he remarked. . This correspondent had been In Berlin many months without seeing anything of Importance or of military interest when he was suddenly seized with the idea that no one had ever attempted to cut this red tape .that kept correspondents In Berlin and that it might be done. So m a "can't hang me, anyway" spirit he set out without permission from anyone for Great Headquarters. The big spectacle or nothing for him! Chorie viiie was his objective. At the first point where he had to change cars he followed some privates with whom he had become friendly on the train and remained with them till the next train came along. They lolled about on the grass together, exchanged cigarettes, shared lunch and did the brotherly act all round. When the train arrived the correspondent fished out of his pocket an ancient military pass, fashioned it to resemble the pass possessed by. his comrades, took good note of how they held theirs In their hands and then placed himself m the midst of the Jam surging toward the gates and the inspection which everyone had to pass before boarding the train. Ostensibly struggling to keep his feet, and joking with his soldier friends betimes, the correspondent . SUCCEEDED IN GETTING THROUGH. So far so good, but at the next junction the correspondent learned that his train would arrl\le immediately and there would be barely time for inspection. So, instead of following the troops through the gates only to have to undergo another inspection, the correspondent made himself at home on a pile of baggage on the platform until his train came along and then quickly hopped aboard. Joining his friends again, he went on to Chorlevillo. , At Charlevllle one of the first persons he met was Major Nicolli, an amazed officer indeed. He exclaimed that no man could reach headquarters without a pass from his division. The correspondent said he didn't believe it and opined that he offered fairly visible proof that the impossible was 1 possible. There was no train leaving Charlevllle that night, but the major invited the correspondent to leave by the first train the next morning. Having been seen with THE CHIEF OF ALL THE SPIES, the correspondent was not furthor molested and was able to find lodgings m a building directly across tho street from the chateau occupied by the Emperor. PROLONGED VIEW OF THE BATTLE FRONT. All went well till the next morning, when the correspondent overslept and missed the train. Again he met tho again-amazed major m the street, The major tried hard to be stern, but

■he could not conceal his amusement at finding a man who took such a serious order of eviction so lightly as to oversleep. The col-respondent finally left headquarters the next morning, having m the meantime had a close and prolonged view of the place and its most distinguished inhabitant. Back m Berlin a week later the major called the correspondent to his office and said : "Now, how m the devil did you get to headquarters? Please tell me." This the correspondent did and the next week accompanied the major on a fruitful trip to eastern headquarters. ENGLAND'S ESPIONAGE SYSTEM now is probably triple Its peace footing m efficiency and numbers. Espionage, repulsive as it may be m the abstract, is a military necessity. Assign a true British soldier to espionage and he will do his work with a cleverness and tenacity that Japs or Russians, supposedly past masters m the art, could not excel. Here is an example: A German officer, whom I have met and known as a friend both m the field and m Berlin, believed for six months that m his company fought the best individual soldier that ever lived. He was awarded an iron cross for his bravery and soon afterward given the greater distinction of being ordered back to Germany to study and be examined to become a commissioned officer. He" finally took the examination and passed. Two weeks later the captain was notified officially that .the man had suddenly come under the suspicion of his instructors and ultimately confessed being a British spy. He was shot, but to this day his German captain will swear he. was the best sol- ( dler he has ever seen. ■ • i One of the most aggravating and sometimes most heroic species of spies m the patriotic civilian inhabiting conquered territory. The Germans have had ample proof of French pat- , riotlsm m this respect. One experience of the venerable General von Baesler is a case m point. , This General, dubbed "bullet-proof m the German army by reason of the miraculous manner m which he avoids injury, was sitting under a tree recently, calmly observing the ARTILLERY PRACTICE BEFORE VERDUN. He had ■ not been theire long when a French shell arched the tree and burst 400 yards m the rear. When a second shell burst a hundred yards closer, the General remarked to his aides that it was getting warmer. When a third shell burst only 200 yards behind him, the General moved his chair to another tree several yards to his left He had no more than done so when a shell split the first tree. Von Baesler immediately ordered a search of the neighborhood. Soldiers turned up everything above earth and under it m vain until' they came upon the remains of a house. Kicking m the chimney m this house they disclosed a French peasant, with a telephone. He was arrested and tried. He confessed and was sentenced to death.Impressed by the man's frankness and daring, the General sought him out that night and talked long with him. The General told the old peasant that ho need not die. The Germans meant him no harm, von Baealer declared, and offered to spare the old man's life if only he would promise not to interfere m military matters, but attend strictly to his little farm, m which work, von Baesler would see that he had ample help. To all of which THE AGED PEASANT REPLIED, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a soldier .and a noble one. Buttl am a«soldier, too. I fought for France m 1870. Now would I again fight for France, but I am too old, as you see. That I arn^od old to fight has caused me deep Hn and sorrow. But I discovered a wffy m which I could direct the French battery beyond. I wanted them to kill you, sire, because it would have helped France. Asraln I must thank you, but I cannot promise. Free, I would do the same again if the opportunity came. I have failed this time, but I could not help trying again — for France." The- old General walked away, too deeply affected for words. The peasant • died the next morning, but not before a grizzled German commander had stepped m front of the firing line and wrung his hand. It is this kind of patriotism that, makes heroic spies. There la no greater j fallacy than the supposition that spies are chiefly professionals who make j war. their business. Professionals do i not usually" take chances m enemy ar- { mles, nor do they care to dare death In jany other form. »The professionals j usually

KEEP PRETTY CLEAR OF DANGER.

Their names have no rightful place alongside that of the man who would swab a gun with his body if ordered to do it. In the present war this spy work is done chiefly by traitors and neutrals. Among the neutrals is the "free lance." He sells his soul most freely but takes exceedingly good care of his body. Ocean liners are a fertile field for these men. Many Americans may be found among the neutrals now doing the work. It is an easy life. They make a good living, live on shipboard with persons whose acquaintance they could not hope to make ashore, and there is nd danger Involved except a possible punch m the jaw from an Irate compatriot.