SMUGGLING SECRET WAR MESSAGES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6731, 28 February 1900, Page 3

SMUGGLING SECRET WAR MESSAGES.

r *—- (Caasell's Saturday Jouvhal.) Amongst the manifold responsibilities of a commander in time of war, there are three which always press heavily upon him — his system of espionage, the safe despatch of orders to his suboi'dinates at a distance, and tlie gathering of news concerning the%posifcion, strength, and intentions of the enemy. Meeting an officer who has fought in unany campaigns, and more than once for a Continental Power, the writer" persuaded him to throw some light on the subject of spies and the trans- , mission of intelligence. This is what he said: — " The first thing that a man who is deputed ,to collect news concerning an opposing force ought to do, is to give the enemy credit for a certain amount of knowledge and common-sense. When he has done this he will. realise that it is of no earthly use to try to get information by means of ordinary correspondence. You may disguise your messenger as artfully as you please, but sure enough if he falls into the hands of the enemy he will be searched from top to toe. He will be stripped naked, all his clothes will be subjected to the minutest scrutiny, the heels of his boots will be ripped off and examined — even his finger nails and his ears will not escape inspection. I have lately been reading a sensational story which relates how a spy, although he was searched no fewer than five times, carried a letter from one general to another in his tooth. This is the purest moonshine. When a soldier seizes a suspect he scrutinises his teeth and LOOKS BIGHT DOWN HIS THBOAT. "To convey news you must be as cunning as a fox, and form elaborate plans beforehand. All tlie same, I believe I could carry any number of secrets through the ranks 6f the Boers without being detected. One of the most successful undertakings I was ever'concerned in was this. The efiemy was in possession of a town, and we were encamped close by. In the town in question we had our spies, one of whom was a chemist ; and this is how we obtained news of the enemy. Wherever we happened to be We got hold of some poverty-stricken man who had a sick child— a man who couldn't afford a doctor. Playing the part of humanitarians, we used to walk in upon him, call him a scoundrel for not having his child attended to, and threaten him with a sound thrashing if he didn't reform. Of course the poor wretch could only answer that he had not the wherewithal to purchase medicine. Thereupon we promptly presented him with some money and ordered him to go at once to our chemist in tie town. The man being of the same nationality as our foes aroused no. suspicion, and; having been searched, passed through their lines. Well, on his arriving at the chemist's, our worthy agent would inquire who sent him and in what way the child suffered. The man would reply that some charitable person had given him some MONEY TO BUT MEDICINE, and froth this information the chemist gathered that his visitor had' come from us. So far so good. The chemist then wrote out all that he knew about the enemy — their movements, and so forth — with a tallow pencil on the back of a label, which he fastened by the edges, to a bottle oi physic, and the poor parent retraced hi; steps. He was, of course, repeatedly challenged by the enemy, but on no occasioi was the trick discovered. They read th directions on the bottle — ' To be taken ever two hours' — and new and then had th fluid analysed, but they never kept oi; man a prisoner. On his return we ttn porarily relieved him of his bottle, strippc-t i(, of its label, and by sprinkling some fin ashes on the ground side— the ashes a-dhc ing to the tallow — we read the message When the bottle was empty we made a crw on the label to notify that, the news hs been received, and sent the man back fo more medicine and mere news. I need nc remark that the man himself had no idea c. the role he was enacting.