AN ALLEGED SPY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19734, 31 December 1926, Page 7

AN ALLEGED SPY

ARREST IN PARIS SALE OF INFORMATION TO GERMAN SECRET SERVICE A jnisaUoti to have been caused by the arrest of a former Rritisb officer la Franca The charge against him is that he sold French military gscrets to a mysterious German, who is alleged to be the head of the German Secret Service. The result of the disclosures so far made is d-.scriried. as another attack of spy mania in England and France. Stranders. the man who is under arrest, denies the charge .gainst him and a remarkable trial is awaited. Interest is heightened by the saggastion that an undiscovered woman—a pretty blonde—hat something to do with the case.

By Talapraph—Fvr Preu AN UGLY CHARGE EX -OFFICER XSKBSTED. SALE OF MILITARY SECRETS. PARIS, Dec. 29. Vivian Stranders, alleged to be a former British officer, was arrested when leaving Paris for Gerroairy aaj accused of espionage. Though the act occurred on. December 21, the arrest was only announced afte’’ inquiries by the French counterespionage service, who state that Dr. Weber, head of the German Secret Service in France, paid Strand ers 1500 gold marks for an answer to a detailed questionnaire regarding army aviation, tanks and machine-gun improvewients. PREPARING DEFENCE STRANDERS CLAIMS VICTIMISATION. THE POLICE SUSPICIOUS. Received December 30, 8.15 p.m. PARIS, Dec. 29. | Notable industrialists are expected | to be called in defence of Strandexs, who affirms that he is the victim of A vengeance in connection with private affairs. He represented a French airtraft firm and frequently made jour•cya from France to Germany. The police contend that rh< ir.ysteriMis “Dr. Weber.’’ wilh juhom Kcraad* ers corresponded, was merely a pseudonym for the head of the German spy organisation. ‘The arrest followed the discovery of a pocketbook containing notes of’ the latest French aero engines.

Ams.— riail SPY MANIA TSE MYSTERIOUS WEBER. THE WOMAN IN THE CASE. Received Dec. 30, 9.15 pjn. LONDON, Dec. 30. Another attack of spy mania is threatened as the result of the arrest of Stranders. It is asserted that a network of spying in France and Britain on behalf of Germany has been discovered, the head of which is Weber, a man of many names and high attainments, who gives the impression of being a rich idler, but who is really a most active man. The Paris correspondent of the 1 1 Daily Express” says that Weber made two trips to England this year. He visited London, Newcastle and Portsmouth. A coincidence is that eack visit was marked by the disrance of documents relating to defence. In one case it was announced that the documents were found again, but this was only after photographs of the papers had reached Berlin. Search for Pretty Blonde. The Paris correspondent of the 1 ‘Daily Chronicle” reports that the police arc searching for a pretty blonde, who left a note in an hotel after Stranders’ departure, in which he wrote: “I love you—your Ginette. ” Stranders’ advocates stresses the fact that there is no proof that he communicated anything ,of a really secret nature. It is revealed that Scotland Yard cooperated with the French police and watched the air ports in Stranders arrived by aeroplane. He served with the Royal Flying Corps and later was attached to the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission in Germany. The “Evening News” says that Stranders admitted that he received 5000 gold marks for information supplied to Germany on a list of questions, which he learned and destroyed.