PRECAUTIONS AGAINST SPIES.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7750, 18 July 1916, Page 4

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST SPIES.

THOROUGH METHODS OF SUSPICIOUS GERMANS. A Russian newspaper correspondent tells in the “Retch” the story of his experiences in securing admission to Gennany, a translation of which appears in the London “Daily Chronicle. ’ ’ The extraordinary thoroughness of German methods is illustrated. Having undergone a preliminary examination, he was ordered into a second search room to empty his luggage: — I clear out everything up to the last dirty handkerchief. The projector on a stand flares up with a hiss, and under its piercing rays my clothes are passed one after the other. Each double collar is opened; every tie is searched and the socks turned inside out. In a third room:— At first came the usual questions: ‘ 1 Name ? ” “ Where ? ” “ Why ?’ ’ and then: “What is your profession?” 1 name a certain branch of business which I chose to represent. “You are going to Germany on business?” “Yes.” “With what firms and in what towns do you intend doing business?” . I give the names and addresses of a few firms. An energetic lieutenant reaches from one of the numerous shelves u directory and checks my statement. “Gut. Where have you been living recently?” I give the name of a neutral country. “llow long have you lived there?” I reply. “And whence are you proceeding from Germany?” 1 name a town in another country. “And what is your permanent address?” I again give a reply, but of course I do not mention Moscow or any other Russian town. Without saying a word the lieutenant hands to the captain a few Baedekers. I recognise their red bindings. “You say you have lived so many years at N ? Can you tell me where you lived there?” I name a street and the number of a house which I know to exist in N, but where I have never lived. “You know, of course, the street Y? You can tell me how the square at the end of it is called?” I give the necessary reply, and submit to a further string of such questions. I have to tell the whereabouts of the post-office, the palace, such and such a theatre, shops, statues, etc.,* etc. In short, I had to give such information as the captain could easily check by his Baedeker. 1 passed the examination with honors. in a fourth room his boots were removed, and their heels ripped off, examined, and sewn on again. His body was carefully inspected by means of an electric lamp. The lining of his suit was all ripped open. His watch was examined internally. Even his fountain pen was probed with., a hatpin. Ultimately, in a fifth room, after a haggle about the time he should spend in Germany, he was allowed ten days in Berlin and four in Dresden.