Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1921, Page 59

] { ‘vlflit.d 1Y 4 FICTION w Part 4—8 Pages Remarkable Story BY LIEUT. EDWARD CANTWELL, U. & N. R. F. never before been told. HIS story h ful of persons, all pledged to It is known to but a hand- secrecy. Even as it appears in these pages, permission was secured for its publication only on con- dition that all names, nificant dates, latitudes, longitudes, ctc., should be veiled, the authorities presumably thinking that the fate of "ohnson, as he is here called, shoul Id not be revealed. Evidently they old that to die as he did, unmourned, unhonored and unsung, would rob him of that posthumous distinc tion in the fatherland which might have established a precedent in future wars and even encouraged others to emulate his example in the one lately ended. On the other hand, the episode is well worthy of record for the light it_thtows on the for a warning to our splendid naval officers of what, some day, may encounter when engaged in hos! psycholuogy and methods of the foreign spy and they tilities with an unscrupulous encmy. And here it may be timely to suggest that “when the guns begin to play” it is the part of prudence always to assume that the enemy is unscrupulous. . While still ‘in didactic mood the narrator hopes that two other @oints in this brief history will not be overlooked. The first is that the mere smattering of a foreign ton; espionage, despite the advocacy by gue will be of little avail in counter- the uncnlightened of the teaching of German in our schools to the end that the student may understand what Germans say to each other—a way, but useful propaganda for the The second is that the cvents herein recounted show the nece sclosing inadvisedly the possession of thorough familiarity with not 4 wildly preposterous notion, by the German sympathizers in pur midst. ty of an alien tongue, else might its usefulness in time of war be wholly lost. After this preamble the relator adopts the first person singular, for 2 it is of his own experiences that he “ere speaks, and for the first time HEN 1 was elght years of age my father was sent to Berlin as the representative of a certain Amer- ican business corporation. He took the family with him, for the length of his stay in Germany was indefinite. «He put me in a gsod German school and insisted on my learning that language perfectly. “You must," he told me, “learn to read. write, speak and, above all, think in German. As soon as I grew big enough he sent me every summer with my Ger- man boy friends on long walking trips. These wanderjahre, or “travel- years,” were only varied by short oruises in the Baltic, on board his small s’oop yacht. He had a summer heme on the Island of Rugen, off which the Hildegarde rode peacefully at her mooringa when not under way. In this manner I acquired an intimate acquaintance with the speech of the 11de 's German crew, as well as a fondness for the sea. When T was about fifteen years old he had a talk with me, in which he commended my perfect command over German, adding: “You seem to have a taste for a nautical lify ing craft and another in a steamer As this preposition chimed in with my fancy I eagerly embraced it—so part of that summer's vacation was spent on a brig plying between Lu- | beck and Helsingfors, the rest on a | ateamer of the Hamburg-America line | to the North cape—in both cases as a | deckhand. All this was incidental to | my preparation for college and the law course we had agreed that I should take later. * k * ¥ HE following spring T was sent home to enter Princeton Uni- versity. Before starting my father expjained to me his reasons for my “I hope, I am wrong. ! 1 cannot Hélp séeing indications of an intent on Germany’s part before many When the Government Tried to Raise' Camels years to wage & new War of aggres- sion. It is in the air and everybody talks about it. If this war breaks out 1t is possible that we shall be involved, in which case our Navy will have a large share in the cam- paign. I know that Germany leans heavily on her spy system and 1 feel confident she will endeavor to place trusted men on board our ships to disable or destroy them and other- wise thwart cur plans. I want you, therefore, when you settle in New York to join the naval militia. But ‘be careful nat to let strangers become aware of your linguistic ~acquire- ments.” % - g Of coursg;$his is rerely the gist of several ential talks—not so much bet! father and son as man to man. I did not agree with him, 1 felt "that “Deutchland Uber Die Wacht am Rhein” and were merely the out- muduhle patriotic senti-| g oft of superfluous m, 80 to. speak. Neyertheless, T knew him to be wise and farseeing UCKED away in an obsure I corner of the Army bill for 1836 there is to be found an appropriation of $30,000 to be used in bringing camels to the United States for use on the western Qzins. This surprising act on the part of Congress reflects an idea of those times that the western part of the United States was a vast desert as wild and barren as the Sahara it- 1f. From -Missouri to California ched a region of sand and deso- lation, thought many Americans, thera there could never be settlement r-habitation. On the other side of i was the lure of California, and - one of the chief problems of the period ‘wxs how to get across the “desert” to the western state. There came to-the War Depart- ‘ment, in 1833, a vigorous young man with & broad imagination—Jefferson Davis. He was greatly interested in the idea of using camels on our west- erp -desert, both for carrying trade +ma for the chusing of Indians. His enthusiastic recommendation of the project to Congress brought the ap- propriation in 1855. Davis planned to bring his camels from Persia and to start a camel colony in western Texas under the supervision of the government. “He promptly proceeded to. carry out his ideas by appointing Maj. H. C. Wayne and Capt. D. D. Porter on a mission to the east to secure the camels. This D. D. Porter was the naval officer ‘who later won fame in the civil war. Neither Davis nor Porter nor ’ayno knew anything about camels eyond the fact that they ran large- ly to humped backs and lack of thirst. Wayne felt it necessary to inspect the camels in the English and French zoological gardens before he went on east. All he gained from his inspection, he summed up in a letter to Davis. was that there were cam- is in Europe and that they were ving. He and Porter went on to Tunis with the intention of buying a camel of their own for examina- tion purposes. They bought one, but ‘when the minister of state heard of it he insisted on giving them two from his own herd as a mark of his affection for . America. ~When the imals came on board ship they i found to be the manglest and most diseased specimens possible, but they had to be accepted for fear of offending . the minister. From Tunis the agents went to Tuscany to in- spect the berd of the grand duke, which they found in a very poor con- dition, owing, said Wayne, to the fact that the grand duke refrained from feeding them. = From . Tuscany they sailed to Smyrns, in Asia Minor, and after a brief investigation of the camel market there they went on to Con- tantinople. ‘It” was their plan to approach Persia by way of the Black sea, landing at Erzroum and going overland fo Teheran. The wily Turks assured them. that getting into Persia ‘was the easiest matter. ssible, but that under no circum ices would they -ever get out again. Since a re- turn home wak an essential part of their plans,_ agents straightway gave up thejr Persian trip and de- clded to go b to Africa for their camels. Befor? turning back they the British camp in the Cfimea (the Crimean war was in progress) “and " inspected the Bac- teian camels, which. the army was using. Tim Bactrian camel possessed- the great ral advantage of two humps onihis back and was con- frequently 2 mjuch more comfortable ridfng apparatus-than the other kind. kX ¥ | they would never ask for | then the vicer y | insisted on giving them four from his | private stock. He selected such disrep- used as a food. ate too much baled hay. Befor: summer was over six were dead an vis, in alarm, sent Porter back to Smyrna. after another forty-one to Indianola as a result of this second trip and they were added ta'the colony at Camp Verde. = £ bring ton of California proj caravan route from the Atlantic to the Pacific if he were given flve sections ef lapd for his trouble. made a similar offer to Texas: One agency actually tried the experiment:of transporting camels from Smyrna to Baltimore and then marching them overland to the west. the way, some of them at Hagerstown, nies in the west are not only interesting in themselves, but even more interest- | ing in the light they throw upon the tflen idea of American geography. the west passes they did so believed it Going back to Constantinople, they sold their Tunis camels for $i4 and set sail for Alexandria. More difficulties met them in Egypt. They asked for permission to export twenty camels, but the viceroy would let them take only two. They finally secured a permit for ten on condition ny more, and in a fit of generosity. utable animals that the Americans re- fused to accept them. He then gave | them better ones. From Alexundria the agents went back to Smyr loaded up with Asiatic cam- els, and finally set out for home with thirty-three camels on. board. They bought the camels for'an average of $75 a head and sailed home with half of their money unexpended. The animals were landed at Indian- ola, on the Texas coast. Wayne wrote to Davis that when they felt solid ground beneath their feet the camels seemed as joyous as schoolboys, running and playing and fighting for hours. They might well feel joytul, for much of the time on the voyage they had been slung up on canvas during the storms or tied down on the decks to such an ex- tent as. to lose the use of their le Davis had followed the course of expedition with great interest and now sent Wayne a message counseling him not to begin his experiments too soon, inasmuch as camels, like mules, needed a rest after a sea trip. Wayne gave them a month of rest and then marched them overland to San Antomo, while the poets of the land gave vent to the na- tional ‘interest in lyric outburst in the magazines. After a short stay at San Antoniq, Wayne decided thmt cactus and prickly pears were affecting the disposi- tion of his charges, so lwe..gelected a camp some sixty miles from the city for his experiment. At Camp Verde grew up, flourished and died the, only camel colony ever attempted in ‘the United States. * ok kX TTHE camels obstinately refused to live." Wayne had brought back from Smyrna several camel M. D.’s, but though they used the branding iron without ceusing and used up thousands of feathers in tickling the noses of the camels and applied all the arts known to camel doctors from tithe immemorial, the camels continued to die. | Wayne thought they died from eating .cactus, which is certainly calculated to kil if Later he thought they Porter brought A change of administration in 1857 brought a change of policy in the War Department and no further effort was made to provide camels for our One by one the camels died, unti 1861 there were only a few left. With the coming of the civil war all hope of establishing camel caravans in the ;west had- to be given up. ever used for the pursuing of Indians. rt. by Nor _were they There were attempts made by jndi- viduals as well as by the government to A Mr. Wai- establish a| camels to America. A Texas min They all died on d. The attempts to establish camel colo- t mass of Americans could ever believe, WASHINGTO s, GGk, SUNDAY MAGAZINE SECTION Sy St MORNING, JULY 381, 1921, FEATURES of the Escape of U. S. S. Ponticu the Deal. I CASE Was Reported in Full in Two Documents to the War Department. and It | Is Now Told for the First Time—Did the Cyclops Meet With Disaster at Sea | | Similar to That Planned for the Ponticus?—Young Lieutenant, Student of the Ger- ['man Spy System, Uncovered Plot to Turn _Ship Laden With TNT and Valuable Vanadium Ore Over to the Germans—Fate of German Spy Who Was Engineering i discussion, we determined to take the wireless operators into our con- fidence. They were good, loyal Yankees, who would at once com- municate to us any suspicious mes- sage sent or received. The next few days were far from pleasant.. We felt that we were on and that no harm could come from following his advice. Then ensued four delightful years of, Princeton. After receiving my degree of B. A. 1 entered the Colum- bia Law School and at the sume time joined the New York Naval Militia, 3pending at least two evenings every week on board the, battleship New ! the brink of a volcano. and an active Hampshire, rechristencd Granite | one at that. Physieally, too, we were State. 2 most uncomfortable, for we were.in the clutches of a howling northeast gale, with a tremendous sea running. The «kies also were unfriendly; neither sun nor star showed itelf — It wase here that I met him whom [ am compelled to call, not by his -ight name, but “Charles Johnson.” He joined up during my last year in "he organization. His \was an engag- [ so that we navigated by dead reck- ng personality. Well educated and |oning alone. One morning, at about "%ip top sallor. he forged rapidly to |daybreak, Stedman, who was in charge of the deck, sent for me to _he frent. He professed to have served on board several vessels of the Amer- |ican line. before quitting the sea and |! mporting house in the l he was_exceptionally idor, or whether it was that his bear- |ing’ belied his words (for he carried himself with an erectness and pre- cision of movement rarely to be found lin a sailor and suggesting a military | rather than a naval education), which aroused my disirust. I cannot say, but I could not escape the feeling that he was playing a part and was not really what he purported to be. Whatever the reason or the instinct. I could not bring myself to fraternize cordially with him, as did my ship- mates. Something kept us apart. al- though our relations were always pleasant enough. In brief, I was not drawn to him, popular as he was with the others. All during this time I had scrupulously observed my father's injpnctions, so that mot.a soul on }h rd the Granife Btate was aware of my familiarity -with ihe German language. It was due to this reti- lcence on my part that I was able, subsequently, 10 be of some service 1o my country * ¥ k. ¥ NHEN Congress declared that a state of war existed between the United States and the German Em- pire, practically all of us of the Gran- ite State volunteered for duty afloat. I enlisted at once, soon was rated a lquurtfrmuler. second class, and as- ned to a battleship. Here 1 was fortunate enough to win the appro- bation of my officers! who procured for me admission to the intensive {course of instruction at Annapoli whence 1 emerged as an ensign in the Naval Reserve. Passing rapidly over'my various em- ployments | come to the day in the spring of 1916 when [ received orders to the fuel and store ship Ponticus. On re- porting 1 found that her commanding officer was the same Charles Johnson whom 1 had met previously on board the Granite State. He was now a lieu- tenant-commander and I only a lieu- tenant. He received me with over- flowing expressions of welcome,: 50 that,l felt justified-in looking forward to a very agreeable assetiation. My position was that of executive and se- nior watch officer. The latter duty was shared by two-fine fellows—one a Yale graduate, the other.a Cornell man. The ship, which’ already had on {board a quantity of .’;?IT and vana- . come up as quickly as I could. I tumbled out of my bunk, jumped intd my uniform, threw on my peajucket and burried to the bridge. * 1 asked. to pay and no pitch replied Stedman. “What is the matter. Stedman. You know. Cantwell, that we are going by dead reckoning? Well. the captain passed an order last eve ! that, as the weather “was so bad and the sea so heavy, he would excuse the officers from taking sights, but that he should be called it an oppor- tunity offered for. getting the sun or a star. 1 thought this very queer., because in weather like this you have to shoot on the wing. So to speak, or you'll get no observation whatever. ~ Half an hour ago the clouds broke away for a moment or two., and, in spite of the captain's kind_permission, I got sights of the North Star and Arcturus. Unless my work is all wrong, we are much to the southward and eastward of our dead reckoning position—moreover, the compass is in error by at least a point to the eastward. Looks though Johnson were getting in his fine work.” Not_ wishing to give rise to any talk, I replied loudl “Thanks, Stedman, I think you had better put extra lashings around those boats, the ship is rolling so deeply, and tell the coxswains to see that the plugs are out and the oars secured in place.” Then—sotto voce —“keep dark, but take a good look inside and around the binnacle— you'll find a hidden magnet or a dis. Dlaced quadrantal sphere. ‘but for goodness's sake leave things as they are” Again loudly, “Better see that the hatches are weil battened down. Call me if it gets worse.” dium ore, the_latter Jnetal an im- rtant ingredfent.in lilgh speed tool eel and worth.almos}:its weight in gold, was ordered to a gulf port to fill up with oil and then to proceed to Queenstown, the base of our oil-burn- ing destroyers. some twenty:in num- er. i The first few weeks of the voyage were devoid' of interest.: But on ofr way north after leaving the gulf, we encountered off Cape Hatteras thick weather, fresh gales and heivy seas. Coming up on; deck one evening after dark, I went to the wWather side to have a look about, hoping_ for signs of improved conditions. None could be noticed. In fact. the night was so black that nothing could be seen. I then came back amidships and, hold- ing onto the hand rail at the side of the deckhouse, to which I clung to steady myself against the deep roll- * ok kK ing of the ship, I worked aft to the end of the house, where I turned and | [)OWN to my room I went to, mull followed it almost all the way across. (At this point, to my utter aston- ment, my ears, which' are excep- tionally’ keen, caught the sound of fluent German in an undertone and 1 recognized the voice of our captain in conversation with a man, 1 identified as a quartermaster, named ISmith. They were to leeward of the | | deckhouse and just around the corner from me—as quiet a place as could found on board under tne circum- stances, and one where, in the dark- [code is a new one to me.” ness they would never have been seen.| “Ponticus ® * * Bargelona, puri- e noise of the wind whistling [tanic, excelsior, congeries.”" through the rigging and upper works | .1 copied it and told him to take it of the Ponticus had so drowned the | to the captain in the usual way, and fall of my footsteps thet -my ap-|not to let him know that any other proach was not perceived by them.|person had seen it. Naturally, my- suspicions were The plot was thickening, I per- aroused to the fullest, and I had no |ceived. However, it would not do to hesitation . in eavesdropping. Al- |Spring the trap too quickly; we must though T listened intently, I could |Dbe sure of our quarry first. So I lay make out but a word heré.and there; | down again on my bunk pretending still 1.did catch the expression mede | tO Sleep. At six bells my morning famous by Von Papen “diese blod- [Coffee was brought me and 1 sent selike Amerikaner” - (thdse idiotic | Word to Baker to come in and share Americans), also allusidns to a|the cheering cup with me: quite & D hoat, Which they seemed. to_ex- | common practice on the Ponticus and peot to meet, and some Rhrgpes as to | Ong not likely to occasion temaric Bossto) b en e e Txing . ihe Cster s lin told him in & low voice what had happened and asked his advice. After HIS was enough to convince me T going into the matter in all its-bear- that Johnson was a Germpan emis- ings we, agreed upon the course to pursue, but to make no move till- that sary, doubtless bent ' on/mischief. | evening, when the necessary steps Once the fact became clear to me, 1|cOuld be taken with all secrecy and : Iljeas chance of a miscarriage in our slipped back unnoticed to_map out & |plans, or of open scandal. We went plan of campaign. Quickly summon- {over and over again the detalls of ing my colleagues, Baker and Sted- man, I held with them = confererce on the bridge of the ship, gt which over the situation. Something had to be done and that without de- lay. While pondering, my head in my hands, “Sparks,” the wireless op- erator entered the room with his finger to his lips. “This message came just now, sir. It's for us all right, but I can’'t make it out. It must be in code, but the our procedure, viewing them: from every angle. it was agreed to keep our‘eyes and Also we tried to see ourselves in jears wide open, but to nothing the true light. One moment we were heroes, the next hysterical and - inex- Luntil something should ogEur to call for prompt action or unti the cap- perienced youngsters, face to in_had committed himablf beyond emerge beaten and discredited. Pos- sibly_ the: conversation I had over- heard was susceptible of a satisf . with & orisis out of which we might 3 L ning | interpretation was rejected as soon as suggested and we swung around the circle of our discussion back to the starting point. We were con- fronted with an emergency which de- manded ‘immediate action at all cos registered” that the through his gag w after the well kno terror and we muffled Should we be wrong, we must ac- b cept the responsibility for our error ou . ! - el o abide. by the consequences. AS JUBTLESS, had we not been two Raker safd. t is better to lose our to one, with the advantage on our side of weapons loaded and he might have made commissions for doing too much than ciakan for letting a Hun run away with this ship.” T hope never again to spend such|ance. As it was, nothing was left 10 | gerver overboard. It was in tuntly a l»d;oun.lh'::rtbrr‘aklnzldxy. Time | him but to xubmit and to pray that|followed by Johnson. \;‘:1:1 jumll"‘d !ho moved on leaden wings. It seemed as s iould e iors. o .. | the rail and with a wild yeli: “Hoch. e "the aiwht. would never fall.|Pis captors would be moare COMDAS- 4o yaigert hurled himself after it§ Yet, aventually, fall it did. “Were we |sionate than he or any of-his foul | jpio the boiling waters. German fashion. | strenuous resist- | s During W | Moreover, in spite-of the gag, faded away, his|! worse off than before?” we asked our- breed would have shown themselves “I OPENED ON 'HIM IN MY CHOICEST GERM "IVQF‘. We rnulld not lnlwer" ;;‘Ild the situation been reversed. In question, but at least it was a rélef | p; A S & s relaniral strainror, walTag | 1o e was mistaken, for 1e our 345 to Tealize that the time had comeé for | Picions were now joined a thorough action. Go forward we must; there | loathing and a determination to do unto him even as he would have done | could- be no turning back. i ¥ % %' |to us. Doubtless additional evidence \ HEN the fateful hour did arrive, |of his intended treachery might exist, events began to happen with |aithough not absolutely required. 1f startling rapidity. Armed ‘with 3nso, it would probably be somewhere automatic, “Sparks” called the ‘Ger- |in his apartment or on his person, to man quartermaster into the wireless search for it was our next move. operating room, tapped him on the| .Baker now stood by him with an head to insensibility, bound him hand | automatic pressed against his chest. and. foot, gagged him and then held |while 1 searched his pockets for the him prisoner with a pistol at his head | keys to his desk ard private safe. fo keep him absolutely quiet. We These secured. 1 wernt through his be- would return later, We told “Sparks” | longings, finding a mumber of letters and finish up Smith’s case. . th German, which were of a personal Leaving "Svlrk;‘;klo l‘:fl“l guard | nature and not important; but tucked ver the traitor, er and I start : the inner pocket of a waist- E R iah s o madges| A2 in the v operation, dealing with the captain. It should be remembered that the night was pitch black and that every from the German spy headquarters, Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin, directing iccnnect the wires leading to the cap- uch - tory, -explanation? But, no, this last. light discernible from outside the ship was thoroughly screened. This' was a hecessary and obligatory precaution, nce we were in the war zone, where an enemy raid or submarine might be encountered at any moment. The vessel's rolling and pitching in the storm were so violent that we had to make our way by holding on to hand rails and stanchions at every Btsp. Stopping for a few minutes in | the wheel house, we managed to dis- | Johnson, or as he was therein named, Kapitan-Lieutenant K— B—, Kai- serliche Marine, to bring the Ponticus to a stated rendezvous, of which the latitude and longitude were given, at noon of the second day after his re- ceipt of a radiogram beginning with the word “Barcelona”—all ~ other words having no _significance. There he was to surrender her to a subma- rine which would be in waiting. Holding this up. 1 opened on him in ry choicest German billingsgate. My sea trips had provided me with a fair- ly workable vocabulary of objurgation for special emergencies, and that thoroughly enjoyed pouring into his ears some of its fairest gems can be easily imagined. I told him that he was a “schmutziger schweinhund dirty German spy, who had been de- tected before he could carry out his and that his fate immediately by sitting_on | his case as a drumhead court-martial. ‘His amazement at learning that I new his language as well as he did flled him with impotent rage. ‘was a development which he had not oreseen. His fury at being thus fool- ed by me was shortlived, however, be- ing quickly replaced by blind horror ‘as the significance’ of his situation grew upon him. ¥ Stedman was now called in from the pridge through the voice pipe over the captain’s bunk. 3 A few brief sentences made the case clear to him. We then drew away to tain's bell without being perceived by the quartermaster on watch. Then, well armed and ready to shoot if necessary, we reachéd the captain's door just’ abaft the wheel house, on the upper deck. It opened into a large office, furnished, among other things, with a safe for confidential documents, & writing desk and the large table on which was spread the chart by which the Ponticus was being navigated. Adjoining the office was the captain's bedroom. > earing our knock Jol - phied cheeril s Come in e entered to find him reclining on nis berth, reading by an electric Hght, of which the thick green shade pre- vented the rays from illuminating the apartment other than very dimly. eyening, Cantwell. you wish> gt y. answer’ was hardly in_ acc with this polite greeting. v “Hands up,” I sald, as we covered him with our pistols. “Don’t budge :'_é"‘h or cry out, or-you are a dead | g corner of the room and conferred in - hispers. Up went his hands, naturally; but| ¥ - im? 1 quite as natorally he asked indignant- Lmhfiy':‘ownxe:o kst 1y: “What does this outrage mearr?" “You'll find out soon enough,” I{™. el it ;::I;:d.mfle:t\to gnker. ':l‘le hl"w up. | {T was agreed that he must pay with e and gag m. see L ot e foeums mave ok snoat, unlesa) -, his life the penaity for his crime, e wants to die. Hut “how” was the question. Sted- Struggling and .protesting. he was promptly gagged and then his hands were _firmly las \ i 4 g, P8 oeck] tat a regujar trial before a court- mpartial woufd only give undue public- redit on the Navy and possibly ¥ T| oat was what 1 neded, a document | man made the happy .suggestion te jow him to commit suicide, urging ity to a regrettable affair reflecting to .the. scoundrel & certain amount of glory in hix own country the administration Washington, in all poxsibility, would | let him off with a paternal warning, | or at most a short term of imprison- | ment. This aid not appear 1o us #n adequate punishment for his hideous | crime. so, rightly or wrongly, we took | matters into our own hands; notified Johnson that he had §een condemned 1o death and offered him the alterna- tive to be shot where he was or to| jump overboard, a free man. In the latter event we would toss a lifebuoy | after him and within his reach. Unhesitatingly he chose the second | | horn of the dilemma. His feet and hands were then unbound. We three | led him out through the door and to side of the xhip, where. and not| until then, the gag was removed from | his mouth May God forgive you for what you 1t to do.” said 1. “You have stak | our life on the game you trieu to} ¥ and you have lost. Nevertheless, | you one chance to save deserve consideration. ros.” he answered in a lof tone “One. two, thre 1 counted. At the word three Stedman tossed a life, pre The cry of “Man overboard:” was at; orld WZ‘ it would seem, was a very difterent meeting from the one punned by Johnson und his felluw schemers in Beriin. Hud it_been ¢hrrird out s intended, the Ponticus' would hav been added to the list of \jhe count. less vessels which huve met txeir end in “the port of missing shiph’ & this story would never have becd old. (Capyright, 1921.) History of Wesi By Glacial Records N the hope of finding glacial records which will enable scientists to read the history of the West in much more ancient days than they have been able to do hitherto, F. K. Matthes of the United States geological surdy left Yosemite, ‘alif., recently, equipped with a large pack train, to explore the crest of the Sierra Nevada as far outh as Kings River Canyon. o far scientists have been able o {determine only that the Rocky moun- tain and Sierra Nevada country Was invaded twice by ive. In the Missiz- <ippi valley, the Hastern states and Canada there are distinet records of at least five glacial floods. One re- sult of Dr. Matthes' trip may be the discovery of data which will prove that the earlier i invasion in the west in reality was two or more in- vasions, thereby establishing the cotemporaneousn of the glacial epochs over the entire North Ameri- can continent. ’ Few men are better equipped for isuch study than the geologist who started from Yosemite. He mapped Yosemite valley for the geological survey and did much work on Grand Canyon, Rainfer au lacier national parks, When Albert of Belgium vik- ited Yosemite with his q Pr. Matthes was chosen to a them and explain the geological his- tory of this park. which is recog nized ax one of the most fascinating riddles ever solved by science. e semade a chevalier of the Order wopold 1T by King Albert. He is best known. however, for formu- Jating the accepted theory of the for mation of Yosemite valley, whirh he is going to test by his observationx on this trip, and which is expressed in_the non-technical language of the official government guide book as fol- lows: 3 “After the visitor has recoverrd ! from his first shock of astonishment— for it is no less—at the beauty of the valley, inevitably he wonders how nature made it. How did it happen that walls S0 enormous rose 50 near- 1y perpendicularly from so level a floor? “It will not lessen wonder to learn that it was water which cut in_the solid granite most of this deep valley. Originully the Merced flowed prac tically at the level of the canyon top. How long it took its waters, enormous in volume then, no doubt. and rushing swiftly down a steep-pitched course to scrape out this canyon with ¥ tools of sand and rock, no man can guess. And. as it cut the vallex it left the. tributary streams sloping even more -sharply from their level: BILLING B once raised by Baker; Stedman and 1 ran to the bridge. As officer of the deck, he stopped the ship and manned the lifeboat. In a loud voice, however. 1 ordered him not to risk the lives of seven men by lowering the lifeboat in £uch a sea, but to stand by the unfor- tunate sailor, getting the ship as near him as possible and to leeward. In this way the traditions of the service were observed. Ostensibly we did all that could be done to save a drown- |ing shipmate, but every one on board realized that no human being could survive in such a seething cauldron. After an hcal spent in the seeming attempt to rescue a man who had “gone mad and committed suicide,” as we informed the crew, with all the apparent reluctance in the world, the ship resumed her course and Johnson was left to his fate—far more kindly | than his deserts warranted. Our last sight of him was for a brief moment affer he jumped overboard. He was struggling to seize the lifebuoy, which appeared to evade him as the huge combers carried it out of his reach. Then the darkness swallowed him up, never again to be seen of mortal men. * % ok K TH: E rest of the cruise may be pass- ed over briefly. ' The third degree was applied by Baker and me to his confederate, the quartermaster. “Smith.” From ‘him we ascertained the ‘“hocussing” ‘of the compasses by mesns of tiny mag- pets, glued underneath the compass cards; also such details of the plot as the captain dared entrust to a sea- man. That he was the captain's only accomplice ‘was reasonably well es- tablished. We kept him in close con- fnement until we recached Queens- town, where, between Admiral 8ims and the Brit- isk authorities, he was turned over to the tender mercles of the latter, who were notatly less disposed than our iown to condone fo black a villany. I believe that he was first discharged as an enlisted man In the American avy and then tried as a German spy for plotting against the delivery of the war materials which the Pon- ticus was bringing over for the Brit- ish munitions department. quite sure, but I labor under the strong conviction that he joined Karl Lody, omre of the first of these persons to suffer for his work. The case was reported in full to the Navy Department in .two documents, one stating with deep regret the tem- porary insanity and suicide of Lieut R. F.; the Charles Johnson, U. 8. N. other a confidential count of the whole affalr. I am given to understand, was sup. pressed “for the public good.” Not only was the Ponticus thus saved from falling into the hands of the enemy., but our code radiogram to the commander-in-chief, inform- ing him of the discovered plot, bat giving no further vetalls other tha the location and hour of the pro- posed rendezvous, was. instrumental in hig sending three destroyers-to the spot. In the most complete and .‘fi!\: the Germau submarine U-—,. This, isfactory manner they “accounted St by mutual agreement 1 am not and exact ac- ‘The latter, until -eventually they \;_ouud over {brinks as great waterfalls. “But” geologists have determined. by unerring fact. that the river did by far the-most of the work,. and that the great giacier which followed the water ages afterward did little more than square its corners and steepen its cliffs. It may have increased the depth from several hundred to a thousand feet. not more.” It is to test out this theory that Dr Matthea is elimbing the crest of the jagged. Sierra Nevada range, reading the story- of the rocks as he goes. “T want to make a comparative mite, Hetch Hetchy river canyon.” are Yosemites in form character and mode of origin. A secondary object which it is more diffifficult to expiain to the public, is that T want to siudy the San Joacuin and Kings river | basins to verify my conclusions as ‘o ithe successive stages of erosion in jthe Merced -and Tuolumne canyons and Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy val leys prior-to the advent of the ice " ““The southern nart of the Sierra Nevada is the highest part. Conse- {quently the streams there have cut much deeper than tkey have in the northern: part. and it should be pos- sible to read the erosial record on the stream, walia_on a magnified scale. tHousands of feet, perhaps, where the record here covers only hundreds. 1so. I wish to look for evidence of still earlier ice invasions in the west than have been determined by to now. We know of two invasiens. The later one left a record which is plain and unmistakable. The autograph of the earlier one is mixed. confuged, It may be that the firkt record i8 thé work of two glaciers instead of one. perhaps more than two. and that they were ' cotem poraneous with the glactal invasions of the other portions of the conti- nent, of which we know of five. The last glacial invasion was compara- tively recent,.only about 25,000 years a T don't know what records we are (going to find, of course. but if we n establish tBe existence of more than two glaciat floods in the west, it opens many possibllities for read- ng, the geological history of this pgrt of ihe world. nstance, it might i enable s 'to determine the ¥pproxi- mate epoch when the last upward thrust of the Sierra- Nevada range gave us the magnificent peaks in Yosemite #hd along the Muir trail.” Dr. Matthes and his partv headed for the little used Fernandez. pase. in the moutheast cornes of Yosemite National Park. from where they will swing northward to theeDevil’ Pile. thenee southeastward along the famous John Muir trail on the crest of the range. Returning ip late Sen- tember. the party will uls a lower route .via Tehepite valley dnd Hunt- not following,_a’ trail, ¢ virgin ington lake. but fighting their way 'ovi country. ¢ Modérn Carthage: For the firat’ time In many feen- turies sopething modegn has ap- peared on the site of the ancient city of Carthage. There, where once flogr- ished -the arts of war and peace, Is a vast, lonely plain. Of the streets through which the conguering Han- nibal marched in trlumph nothing now remains:but the shadeless wheat fields. Thére ‘may, however, be’ seen the “stalking camel plodding along. drawing the modern American plow or cultivator. The sofl #} day when ¢ ¥ Phoenecians foun: the city, andsthe American and /h Industries have found their way. to the historic spot whers the Romans wrought _ such devastation -in " théir conquests. Americans, in thurge of native workmen, may be seen direct- {mplementsiw-harvesting and tilling the soll. These mach nes are a source of wonder to the natives, who for generations employed only the crud- est of farm implements. . The place is on the northérn coast of Africa, about ten miles from the R:‘.M city of ‘Tunmis. 'Americans ve found ithe market there for thelr ‘one, inveations g jycrativ v s Fich as it was on the, Ing the use of the modern farming |