New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 3, 1929, Page 15

Uigantic ! rtime ‘& Governments and Big Business and Recounts Thrilling Untoid Stories of “Girl Agents. Mata Hari, Most Romantic Spy of the Great War. Firing Squad After It Was Proved She Was in the Pay of Germany. ILLIONS of Americans, contem- plating the spirit of peace which is abroad in the land, will be surprised to learn that below the ap- parently tranquil surface of interna- tional relations there is being waged a fierce conflict. The struggle is one of espionage — governmental and indus- trial. The mysterious movements of in dustrial espionage systems do not pre age the propinquity of armed interna- tional conflict, but every powerful Gov- ernment of today is keeping a close watch on the industrial spy systems of its nationals. The average layman, very properly concerned with “li liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” never dreams of the fascinating drama which enacted every day. So important is it, ibe the es ramifications is given by Richard Wil- mer Rowan, author and student of espionage. Mr. Rowan was connected with the United States Intelligence Service dur- ing the World War. He has devoted a large part of his life to a study of spies and spying, and he has incorporated much of the data which he colected in “Spy and Counter-Spy,” a book which he completed recently. Much of the material for this article has been taken from this volume and a subse- quent interview which the writer had with Mr. Rowan. In times of peace there are approxi- mately one thousand bona fide spies and espionage agents operating in the United States. For the most part they are “resident agents” who pass as au- thentic American citizens and are not suspected of spying even by their most trusted friends. Those who operate for foreign gov. ernments, on military service, overlook no opportunity to view military demon strations in America. Faced with the task of securing important govern mental secrets, such as the chemical composition of new guses, they are ready to invade even the sacred con fines of the Army and Navy Building at Washington, and so exact are their operations that fragments of gas shells, fired during tests in America, are known to have appeared in foreign military headquarters within a week after the tests! Certain firms in the United States are subsidized by foreign governments i for purposes of espionage, and as an example of this Mr. Rowan cites one firm which manufactured ventilators for By virtue of its foreign sub- sidy firm was able to underbid American firms on Navy contracts, was awarded the contract to install ventilating sys- tems on many American ships of war. Shortly after this work was under- taken the foreign power was supplied, through its firm in America, with com- plete interior plans of every ship in which it installed a ventilator! But America is far from tected in this “war” on the sinister frontier. There are approximately five thousand American spies operat ing in foreign lands, and although they are not all military spies this great em would, in case of war, consti tute one of America's chief arms of defense Industrial spies are Ameri recourse on the “sinister ntier.” Experts declare that several large American banking firms and manufac turers have more espionage agents on their payrolls than many governments. The reasons for this can be easily ex plained. With millions of dollars in lho balance every day it is often of the greatest importance for a great indus- trialist to know, even a few hours ahead of his rival, of a contemplated action on the part of a foreign power. He must know immediately of any foreign situation which might threaten his industrial holdings or interests abroad. 1In case of war private espion- age systems are taken over by the Government. The Government espionage agent operates alone His Governmert may train him and try to give him confi dence, but once he takes the field he is absolutely on his own. If he is caught his Government must repudiate him It must declare that it never heard of him So much for the spy during peace times. But when the clarion call to war rings through a land his difficulties are multiplied a million times. He im- mediately leaps into a place of the first importance. The suicide of a spy postponed the World War for one year. As Mr. Rowan tells it: “One afternoon of early Spring in Vienna in the year 1913 four Aus trian staff officers stood at the door of an anteroom listening and waiting with tragic intensity. They were lis- tening for a revolver shot, and when they heard it their tension diminished. unpro- chiet She Met Death Before a French any The Above Interesting Document Is a Model Plan for Spy Operations Used by One European Country Against Another. Inter-related Branches of the Services. iz Pes, Note the Complicated Details of the The Name, Ruritania, Stands for One of the Great European Powers. Their gravity of expressien did not. The senior, a colonel, opened the door and the others filed in after him. Hud dled in an armchair by the window they found the man who had fired the shot. His uniform bore the insignia of the general staff. An army service revolver lay at his feet. He was dead, and by suicide had averted for one year, precious to the Austro-Hungarian command, a declaration of war against Russia. “The officer who committed suicide was Colonel Redl, attached in an im- portant capacity to the military secret service of the Austro-Hungarian em- i He had been in charge of coun- ionage and had betrayed his Colonel Zubowitz, the Ru tary attache, had been bribing him over a period of years, and if Redl were tried by court-martial and the evidence 1n the case published, war with Russia appeared inevitable. Zubo- witz was given six hours to the frontier. The staff offi upon Redl to see that he thoroughly understood the situation his treachery had provoked. One of them. a crack pistol shot, had been chosen to dis patch him if his own courage ebbed prematurely ! One woman spy, Mata Hari, is credited by the French with causing them to lose sixteen transports and sup- ply ships during the war, and another female spy, known only as Made- moiselle le Docteur, organized one of the most important branches of Ger- man espionage. Le Docteur was, per- haps, the coldest and most effective of all espionage heads during the World War. One of her subordinates, receiving a report from one of her spies. failed to act upon the information. He have thought it spurious. or he ma simply have been careless. event, his failure to act cost Germany a victory. Upon learning of this Made- moiselle le Docteur simply sent for her subordinate When he reached her Berlin headquarters she calmly pre- sented to him an army service revolver —on a tray! The implication was plain and he followed her suggestion, killing himself Something of this woman’s ruthless- ness is seen in her method of ridding her gervice of ineffective or treacher- ous agents. If she suspected that one of her spies was false she immediately sent him instructions in such a way that the officials of the country in which Newspaper he was working would discover them. This, of course, put the en- emy on the v's trail —he w r- rested, and even- tually shot. Thus Mademoiselle le Doc- teur dealt with in- competents. She her- self was never caught by the Entcnte Allies, although numbers of their clev- erest agents were assigned to the task. Only a few members of the German general staff knew her true identity. So far as is known she is still alive. Mata Ha not so succe on the other sful as was Madamoise Richard Wilmer Rowan, an American Intelligence Agent and Student of Espionage, Who Explains International Spy Systems in the Article on This Page. wy esp sent for him, calm! tray: The implication was present tain Madeline Frisch, the Beautiful Polish Spy in the Pay of the Russian Government. She Was Caught in "¢ Rumania and C\:{? Rilled P ard was ed portance from high F secrets to Be part this precious and war most blocked a huge bou heads 3 One of her subordinates failed her and to hiin an army service revolver- He killed himsel found a place in the Mata Hari wa in the pa a during the offered his services to Jovernment, offer was ac- cepted. Madeline went largely to tion f = nded together and } they ed photos minatng | ng quietly, v persistence, e Wrangel fi r down and kidnaped. She was bound and gagged and tak to a cave i enemies took not be > cavern lder The hing p i her and And ¢ r hand ead and a They convicted me with- \