THE DANCER AND THE TANKS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11752, 1 February 1918, Page 2

THE DANCER AND THE TANKS

MATA.HAR.FS TIH\ACHKHY. REMARKABLE SPY STORY. The i\ew Ytirk World publishes a fr.seinat'ng account <v' the manner in which tho .secret of t-li' 1 i«nlc> amis given to tho Germans by 'dlie famous Dutch dancer, Malsi-Hsii-i who j>ji:<l the death penalty in Paris on if>lh . October. That she was shot, anVl for worming out tlw?, secret.' 0 f fch" tanks, and thus ouabl'ng the enemy to counter them on the occasion of their first appearances by anti-tank gun«, lends 'i,ho appearance •of truth to tho account given in tin.': World. \Yhetil ir correct in all its details or :! tiot, the story makes most InteroshingH-ead-ing. Maiia.H ir[ is a Japanese pot name which me,ana "Eye of the Moirning,'' and it was appropriated by Mar. gue-r'te Gertrude Zello Macleod as a stag 1 . 1 name. This famous dancer, « beautiful and fascinat'ng woman, was born near Rotterdam, but went, to tluj Dutch East Indies as a child. There she learned Javanese and Japanese, in addition to the Gorman,' French,,' and English, which almost ali Educated I)ut."h children are tanghV. It \va« in Paris thai Mata-Hari appears to have obta'ned hor first 'inkling about | the buicling of the form'iiiabie land j sh'ps. As with any-'inno-valuon, tin-, success of the tank depended very largely on the clement of surprsp at, tending its debut; consequently the stv'c'.'icst secrecy markdi the planning the construction and the shipment of these modern elephants to tho front in France. "It 'took a. good' many months to construct tilie first fleet, and a good innny weuks to train tho first crews to standi 'die j«rky, rolling, pitching, lumbering gait of tho mobile forts. During that period the Wrcl© of people "in the know" .increased , and Muta-Hari. was one of those who' beard about 'the curious- land-ships. "W,here Mata.Hairi obtained. her first tip on the* tanks has not yet been disclosed. It ,is rumoured that a. deputy inadvertently gave her the first informal,'on about tanks. "In any event. Mata-Hari. earned vaguely of tanks 'in 191G, when tho Krnpp guiiH of the Crown Prince warns dully booming nearer and nearer to Verdun. She also learned that the ■banks •wore being constructed .in Eng. kind, and would be slipped to France via Certain jwrts —and she go.t ibfc i.ames of the ports- too." - It was at this time Mat MataHni'i decided that she wantrtl to return to her nuitivo (.•ountty, Holland, 'bu 1 :- sluo went via- England, -and was next heard of 'in the t-own where the tanks were being built. "Evidently Mata.Ha.r;i d'ndn't fiiV-d out much about '(.'he tanks there, as not a man connected with their construction eveir passed through the gates of the high brick waiL which stjmnintled tho factory during the six 'months that the first "fleer 1 ' was 'building. The men were boarded, entertained, and employed there continually. Every letter they sent-out ■or received was subjected to the mosU rigorous c-'Misoi'sli ip. "Sown Mata-Hari rctturnrtj to Paris. -S|he was seen at tliia Cafe de P-a'nis and at Maxim's, and at Armenonvillo in the Bos wj ! ;'h an English-' offieei who wore on the feipel of his collar an in&igmn- denoting his branch of service, a little twisted brass dragon. Months later, when more of th-es© badges were ieeii 011 British officers passing 'chroii,gh Paris, it became • known, that the dragon was of the official dnsignia denoting service with the tanks. '"Mata-Hara .sported a new bauble soon after 'taking up with the Englishman —a jcwol'Ud replica, of his goid ins'gnia—her dragon had real emeralds lor eyes and a carrot-shaped ruby for a tongue dartn:g frott: Xs opened fangs. "In May. 1916, a little more than a month before the Somme offensive opened and tanks were fin&i us 'd, Mata-Ha-Pi a.|»p<wcU before the police magistrate of her district and requested a safe conduct# to visit a cor-

tain port in .Kra»c<\ Tlic reason she gave u'iis 1:11:tj IK!r fiancee, an I'higI'isli oil cor, wn,s seriously wounded in ho«|iirul thoro. He had .sent tor lioi to <and see Ihiim. Pd'ha-ps tlie.v v/eul<l I'ili ma.fried at ln's dewth-bed if lio von Id not recover, she volunteered, dabbing her eyes w.th a lat-e bandi kcrcln"!. Tim safe conduct., was nuido i out, aii d.Maia Harj an-ivu'.l at a. cer- > ta ii i''i • n -Ii port ;illno ■. simultati- > consiy wlWi I lie tir. i cous'giunent of ' iaiiks sh'ijip'.i over from 'Kngia.nd." Arrived at MWk seaporl. the fasfjusr.nig dancer strolled about. generally sit light explaining to the hotel pcopi ■ that she iiover < ou'd sleep fili after .midnight .ancl had to havo a good deal of exercise before miring, otherwise site. would ie. awake all ilight. Afllter ji work's stay she re. turitdi ta Paris, and jinmalinie y appl;ed for a. passport to go to Spam. "Snti St'bast, an was .Ik; pkiw sho mentioned. as she explained she wished to attend the horse ra<v« there. Her papers wore- stahipod and, seared, and she ioft almost immediately for tlic fashionable winter resort in the SOlltll. ' "Matlrd, Spaiin, and Nation, Germany, are in constant wireless cotn- , mmiicatou. There are other radio stations privately owned, in Spain, wh'eh can Hash messages to Germany, acxiicKrtg Ut Ai! e-1 int. li.igcuee officeis who have u'nvetf.'i gated. And, of course, there are 'ynunicirablw German agents, disseminators m testing tlx?- land of j the Doris. "Secret serviw reports w;s"losci "tlio fact rhat Mata-Har was seen much ia company at San Sebastian .race track W'th a. man mug looked upon with suspicion by the Wrench Government. "Soon Mata-Haria came bavk to Paris and the apartment near the Bois do Boulogne And once mora the limousine owned by the individual wlwm rumour has branded a. IDiputy began roiling up to her door tw'ee a week, »rti soTiieiimesi nl tenor. "Then came the simultaneous Fran. c'j-Brittlsh ofl'eas ve a... the Somme. Tanks went into aet'on I'or the. first time, and, according to- General Haig's off olal. communique, his 'land ships achieved satisfactory results.' " lr. was now known, hiAverar that several of the- tanks were put out of act : oo ) and it was' fohwl tliat- they had been, disabled !>y smaJi-caitei shells unlike anything -.n-er thrown by a moi 4 .ar. They had rvSdenty been fired fro mspecialiy-made guns, "Instantly it became evident, that the emunv ,had boennm aware <of what was in store for hiim, and had constructed an 'an l 'i-tank' gun: And wh'en the booty in the captured 13 srjium positions was cxam'naa. the British found they had sieveral go..d spec'mens of ICrupp's newest weapon Sevcrijl German officers of higher rank «»k«!n prisoner confirmed suspicions hy oxplaii'ning thiey had reCd n?d des-; 1 j ti.on ut;' the tanks sstur-. ai weeks beloro, and lad beon mK'■ xjtc! how to eontbut them.' I'll jaaUiv Ma).ia-H.afi ,vas arrittnJ, tried, as a spy. and condemned to bo shot,' which sentence 1 was carried out in October. Wlulst waltig-.death ,'iihle daiieor oc(Mipi.ed 'hers:olf with waiting her memoli's,, tlio publication of wdiich is said to be a waited w'ith Mftwj greatest apprehension by icerta'n persons. Pinne);! to tlito corsage of the Empirecut dress slib wotie 'in her narrow t;«il at St. Lnxare prison was a c:trious % gold brooch, shaped 'like a 'twisted dragon with emorald eyes.