The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 16, 1898, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOREB 16, 1898. RUNNING DOWN THE SPIES OF SPAIN. Clever Work of Our Secret Service Men in Checkmating the Plots of the Spaniards During the Late War. fa HE By John E. Wilkie, Chief of the United States Secret Service. 5 with as much ease as if we had been furnished his photograph. From the moment of his arrival every movement was watched. He was evidently fa- miliar with the city, for he asked no questions in going about. One of his trips included a call at the Navy De- partment, after which he returned to his boarding-house, 916 E street, N. W., where he remained for an hour or so, going thence to the Postoffice, where he mailed a letter. This was promptly secured and taken to headquarters. It bore the address “Frederick W. Dick- son Esq., 1248 Dorchester street, Mon- " AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK THAT NIGHT WE ARRESTED THE MAN IN H 1S Room" cojido los 2 mejores & | \ spondent, stationed in ‘Washington, sent | in his card, asking to see me on im-r portant and confidential business. | When admitted he explained that a tel- egraph operator, whom he had known for years in the West, and who had | been transferred to the capital, had in- | tercepted a cipher message from Mon- | treal the night before and believed it | was from the Spanish headquarters to | an agent here. We were particularly | interested in the Spanish messages at that time, having possession of a cipher being used in some of their 11 of us.” fn";‘tzx‘ls was quite true, for the message uestion detailed briefty, but com- Lrl‘et%ly. the capture of the Carranza let- e gave me & grateful pressure of the hand, and thehin('id':‘?t was C:fl e ropos of ciphers, there were sev- er;\lpen}-:ployed by the Spanish. There was a ‘“figure” cipher, which we were unable to translate, and there was an- other whose mystery we solved, This was rather ingenious, and as simple as it was clever. The day of the month on which the communication was written treal,” and was as follows: WASHINGTON, Saturday, May 7, 188.—A cipher message has been sent off from the Navy Department to San Francisco, directing the cruiser Charleston to proceed to Manila with 500 men and machinery for repairs for Dewey. A long cipher has been received from Dewey at department at 3:30 p. m. They are translating it now. Can- not find it out yet. Have heard s B 2 uerte, pues nos han 2 lunatic. There were stacks of anony- | that wa je O tonc. 1 the lettad . que se ahorco o lo ahorcaron, ¥ otro ante ® | mous communications threatening | sorrespondence and the newspaperman | a8 the key. Fof [nstasel, tixth letcer m‘;g‘a.:‘;',‘;‘:figr { vigilancia estremada porparte de los Amer- © | death and destruction to every knowing this had suggested to his | S0 G o opet, 7, was used in place THIRD AMEMBEH d luck, for they have captured the two best @& | nected with the ‘*‘unholy war, and | friend the operator that the suspected | ¢ iy éigs jnstead of “'b.” and so o1 f or whom they h and @ s of suggestions from demented | commupication be submitted to our of- | mhig gave a change for every day in the i 2 important news respecting move- Norfolk soon important sl SlEah & | persons who had “inspired” plans for [ fice. I sonth 2 g mo Foid R ,\.fl”,,x‘-_ the annihilation of all Spanish emis- | He had tried to transiate it, but was | " Among, the letters seized ~on the ments of colllers and cruiser New- g there was a class of | ynable to succeed, and he wondered if | steamer (Panama we found several in siksut Norfollk geve yaed, faf0 \lucinations that they | we would have better luck. The copy | which, after completing what looked L L T > d by Spanish spies and | of the mysterious message, which he | Jike an ordinary, commonplace letter, ! ad har domnmlon_fi !dmu” ‘20 19 | to 0 pe w Dece: ith nt that a con- of steps 1vice war taff of a large | but as the| ligent and re retorily the h or when pins always investigated, but in ras the author found to be a responsible pe . Not the cranks stopped at Writing to the department. Many of them called at the office and were led gently away, introduced to the guards at the s of the treasury building and thereafter refused admit- tance. One enterprising woman suc- ded in getting in to see me, how- matter w This is my plan,” she said enthusi- astically, after introducing herself. “As soon as you engage my services I shall w York and look about among that we could get at its meaning, but without explalning to the correspondent I told him that If we did succeed In | deciphering it and the contents were of | such a character as to permit of their publication he should have a *'scoop’™ on it. This satisfied him and he went away. A little later I called up the telegraph company and asked that the operator low, with plenty of color In his cheeks | and an air of suppressed excitement. I | only guessed that he felt his discovery | had been of value to the Government, the author had written the secret in- individuals in New Or- & to the purchase of sup. lies t6 be shipped to the open ports o Puba, and up to the time that the blockade was extended to include the whole island there was a large and con- stant movement of supplies from this ountry to Vera Cruz. CO¥ome of the most delicate and inter- esting work of the department was that to suspected leans, relatin it was moderately certain that within a com[_un‘uu\'e!y short time the subject of the investiga- tion could be induced to declare him- right opportunity, being carrled on in the lieutenant’s room. It lasted for an hour or more. Brooklyn. Carranza first satisfled himself that the man knew what he was talking about, and then arranged for him to 569668 in danger of assassination, while others | then produced and placed before me on | g : ; cord and we had overheard plots to blow up the|the desk, was addressed to my alias, | formation between the lines in sympa- pews. My address will be Norfoli that might 't | President and public buildings. the original, from one of my men, being | thetic ink, which developed only ‘nln bl; House.u,\xor;;(&lel\q.d\ a., bfucissea»t-.flflv 4 e | Where such letjers wer d and it | in a drawer at my side. Under the cir- | ing subjected to a l%nn(x;,un;t:xpre AT?‘E)XS‘E %urgn S a()}. 2 mph«“.m' , was po; to locate the writer the|cumstances I feit moderately certain |high epough to scorch the paper. ths s, . D., | % ‘wgre A number of these from Mexico This fully confirmed the suspicion that he was a hired spy, and warranted immediate action. As his offense was a military one I laid the fact before the Assistant Secretary of War and the judge advocate general, with the result that a military arrest was decided up- on. Captain Sage of the Eighth Artil- lery, with a corporal and one man, was ordered to report to me at the Trasury buflding, and at 11 o’clock that night we was ected to keep in con- ! ever, with a unique sche: to ascertain | in question should beJsent to the office o " suspects. | T) . o 5 e touch with Washington. In my | the idéntity of the leading Spanish |for a moment. In a few minutes he was | InVOlVing the Utestingl, of SUsUEUG o o A vienn mavy | arrested the suspected man in his room. te office at hea I had a nts in this country. ushered in—a young, bright faced fel- | GivVen e the | @ e Bl e | We rather anticipated a lively time, speak Spanish like"a native, and e | and referred to his own services on the but much to my surprise he . wilted completely when I placed him under arrest, and he was led away without resistance. A search of the apartment resulted in the seizure of partly fin- stant ‘Secratady | the forée’s glance. the theaters until I find where the most [ and he was to be rewarded in some = ew cases, how- | go to Washingto o vas to nt Secretary | ronto, New Phila wudlences gather. Then at one | way. ' In reply to my question he da. | St There were &, (o8 SO peci- | Socure cortatn tatormation and forward | 1shed letters to the same address in n ington, ws, Sa of the evening performances, when they | talled how he had recelved the mes- | o5 WNGC lomplishment of the task | it to Montreal, for which point the for- | Montreal, and documents establishing ce div sonville are all cheering for the United States, | sage and how when it occurred to him | har,and the 8con ey M Lo o o e for. | the identity of the prisoner as George I I tment. This New O , San Francisco | T shall stand up in my seat and cry, | that it might be from one Spanish | Sgioeanely encgh, the two best sples | noon. Instructions were givem In the | DOWNIng, naturalized citizen and form- and the army c: were the principal | ‘Spain forever! Hurrah for Alfonso!’ | agent to another he had surreptitiously | 1o wras Lieutenant Carranza refers In | uge of the code for telegraphing, and | €Ty yeoman of the cruiser Brooklyn. ti rnment points of actlvit e % Of course I shall be arrested and the | obtained a copy of it. The fact that it | his' more or less famous letter to his | there was much further talk in a tone| IR One corner of a bureau drawer, s Tampa was a particularly lively dis-| matter will get into the papers and I|bore no local address had made it | unele were not Spaniards. Both were|tgo low to be understood; but the | Otherwise empty, I found a scrap of trict, for in addition to the Secret Ser- | ghall be visited by the friends of Spain, | doubly suspicious, as it indicated that | SPo {rtl. and neither even spoke | str e ALY Doard ay, | letter paper, upon one side of which vice men in the field there a branch of | who will be convinced that I am a |it was to be called for. of English bitth anc 06 o« destroved!| spnomcr Was finally heard 1o 8a¥| tne. aqdress’in. Doschester. gtveet, and ere | e R AT cd b dux-m;‘; e ;:}A;I,Ln'[) l‘l\xll)lrl‘{nlrns) _\;‘(.y}]ux‘{xg.; 'fo\idc“é'fi ‘;ersntr;rte?i \';'x}:o:r}l‘;t \x;]ns addressed was | victim to deadly typhoid \\'hl!’;hincfl_l:’ Carranza assented and our agent, be- t;fle{ m’gd, send add 100; to receive sub- latter part of the war was useful in | qogncc,until T shall won.tz o e d?rszgtluns"" office with delivery | cerated in Fort McPherson. e f"; lieving the visit was at an end, opened | "R T Key to the cipher he wag \olting afier thefts of srmy stores, & [ e e Sari olonsd cumstances leading up to the fl.rreshsr. the door and stepped into the hall. He to employ, the system being one in ters and military offenders of all| “Yid chances being that it she tried 1t | “Well, if you had consulted your | LicS¢ Men are interesting in that Tae | had timed hls movements well, for Car- | which thousands of ordinary words ar- the audfence might not 1eave enough of | Company's books you woltld have o | ustrate two widely different phages 0% ranza was just bidding:his visitor fate- | 10 foq alphabetically have’ fixe don- lonally, when the pressure was | [0° 2UClen e by sh Overen tHAt F “Joh ave dis- | the work of the agents of the emer-| well. Together the secret service man | (A tEeC &0 oSy 0o ST ach. ticularly héavy, it became necessary | ICT 1o sympathize with and as she | covered that I am ‘John Ehlen’ and | gency force of the Federal secret ser-|and’the stranger walked through the |5 = (YD TRnrey taah D eCe8S%1Y | looked as If her children might need at- | that this is a Government message.” | So0c hall, the former asking a light for his| I} Preparing a telegram under the division to run out certain lines of in- | tention, she was advised to go home. | The poor fellow's face was a study | " (Gpe of the first men employed In the | cigarette as they passed down the | CIPher indicated on the slip the desired vestigation, thelr expenses at such | She departed reluctantly, thoroughly | When he realized that he had held out | ¢.ofa] fnvestigation was .. young New | stairway. At the door they separated. E::xgrlelg‘:\r"fullf;e:af-aeugge;"a‘gge]dmtboil:: than and of t nd enthusiasm. in that when tha there was not a who was there for in it,”” the pay being veling and living limited to $3 a_da exception they were under 40 ze. All of them fairly bub- vith loyalty, were determin- of the most f all. @ in 18 mber 4 in the same year. , and demolished b | | { | | | ecently built of England’s m the proud position of be- This is the Brigh- n Electric Railway, opened the great storm of Since then the havoc vrought by winds and waves has been repaired and yed from the defen Of the thousand or more something over 600 men were at one time or anothe ose surveillance varying | D mong them professors, diplo- | mats, doctors, merchants, cigar-makers, s, electrical experts, ( rn- oyes of foreign birth and un- 1es being defr fund pects” 8 required to make a detailed daily | eport covering his operations, and | there were revealed a great many inter- esting things that had nothing what- ever to do with the Spanish-American | war. | The early e blishment of a ‘‘crank” | box was necessary, hardly a day pass- | ing without a let or two from some | irresponsible visionary or out and uull convinced that the Government was making a fatal mistake in declining her services. When the “emergency men,” as the temporary employes of the division were termed, were instructed in the use of the cipher code they were told that in communicating with headquarters they should use, instead of my name, tended to protect the operatives by eliminating ‘the chance that some one might discover the message was for the secret service, identify the sender as a member of the division and destroy his usefulness in that particular local- ity, if nothing worse. Out of this arrangement grew a curi- ous incident. In the latter part of May a young Western newspaper corre- an official telegram and had turned it over to a newspaper man. He appre- clated the gravity of the offense in violating his oath as an operator, and felt that his position was as good as gone, under circumstances that would | make it impossible for him to obtain employment with any company. He sald nothing, but his eves filled with tears. ‘“Your motive was the best in the world,” I said finally, “but your meth- ods are open to criticlsm, ow, noth- ing shall be said to the company about this, but if in the future you catch any mysterious messages, just bring tham straight to me without intrusting them to any outsider. If your newspaper friend had succeeded in translating this message it might have been awkward Yorker of fine family and excellent so- clal position. A long residence abroad had given him a fluent command of modern languages. He was the pos- sessor of much natural shrewdness, and his courage was vnquestioned. He was sent to Toronto immediately after the departure of Senor Polo y Barnabe, with instructions to keep headquarters any way, and to do both without arous- ing suspicion. 4 He was fortunate in securing a room adjoining hat occupied by Lieutenant Carranza, and as there was a connect- ing.door, against which the head of his bed was placed, he was beautifully gituated for his purpose. Early on the morning of Friday, May 6, an earnest conversation, this time in English, was The suspect was shadowed to an ob- scure hotel, where it was ascertained that he had registered as *“Alexander Cree,” and that he was to leave the city that evening. That afternoon the following tele- gram in cipher was delivered to me: ‘“Young Southerner, Alexander Cree of Hillsboro, I think, leaves for Wash- somewhat shabby, evidently served on Brooklyn; has intimate knowledge of naval matters. Just had long inter- view with naval attache. He is to write to Montreal.” The next morning arrangements were made to “cover” incoming trains in ‘Washington, and by aid of the descrip- tion our man was picked out of the corresponding number, and the word opposite the higher number thus ob- tained would have been used in the cipher message. In translating the cipher, after ascertaining the number associated with the word on the mes- sage, the subtraction of a hundred would disclose the figures opposite which would be the real word desired. v who T dents, capitalists, milli- | “John Ehlen,” which I had registered “H " d of thi vements of the former | ington to-night. M i Rt An el i v 3 ave you a family ? advised of the movem: ngton to-night. My height and build, e N ifications—detec- | soclety women and | with the telegraph companies. This was | wNo, sir, but I am supporting my ol | Minister's party, to look carefully after | dark, small mustache, black Soft felt | ;o commigneed o oo eifion Srning's sy man in the service |Simply a precautionary measure in- | gorner Sy buben M those who might connect with them in | hat, ‘black sack coat, 'black sailor tle, | roumliorion aith Comection with the ter mailed to Montreal, would have been sufficient to insure conviction, and the prisoner evidently appreciated the fact, for two days later he hanged him- gelf in his cell at the barracks. It may be added that the Dorchester street house had been rented furnished by a Spanish agent the day before Senor Polo left Toronto, but it was soon after crowd at the Baltimore and Ohio depot given up. Journeys. A no less convenien: Lynton and Lynmouth mit of a particularly. t: electric one which establishés communication between Those two tiny towns are situated, one on the sum- other on the beach below. The rallway climbs up this cliff almost perpendicularly. GU one of an hour. t than curious railway is the on the coast of North Devon. all cliff 700 feet high, and the If, however, the pace {s not exciting the scenery on the way is; for, half-way up, the little train of an engine and one carriage passes a windy shoulder of the mountain between two sheer preciplces. The gauge of this line is 2 feet 7% inches, and some of the gradients are 1 in 5%. From the highest railway in England to the high- its own length. above and below from the traln, no fewer than seven tracks being visible at one place. are at a place well named “Agony Point,” where the train on two occasions almost describes a circle in One of the most striking features of a journey up the Darjeeling-Himalayan Raflway is the sharp transition from the burning heat of the lains to the cold air and the snows of this great The sharpest curves LAR RAILWAYS OF THE WORLD. » = there is one intermediate station—that of Lisselton. The system on which this railway s worked is called the Lartigue Single Rail Elevated Railway, and was the invention of a French engineer. This single-rail line, it should be explained at once, is not a single-track rallway, but actually has oniy one rail for trains to run on. on iron trestle work at a height of three feet three This rail is supported resume Do you know which is the highest rallway { resumed. & Of 4 g] y in est in Europe is a natural transition. This is the elght. inches from the ground, and the 1 N is of this single-track raflway are laid in lllzngl;:if]ud x:l;? nm’)’y?:“n(i“én Mountain Railway occupies gflxt‘hg{fa:l:aéhl:\m:},nc:":esbmufltsl:s to the summit The;e is a “single line railway” now working in riages are a(‘(ualfi balance: Sn mcvcomotlve &ad cax he ses ¥ e singular-look y . i SR 3 ‘eet above the sea. Ireland. There is nothing in Euro h m{,l' mrmlml?zl:;: ”f:lu,lnr IL]u‘»‘“?.gutse!:mo[n“r:oxll‘m:t?tg ccn?t‘;lfir “{sl‘ N&‘:}d“f ”}H singular line was c(lllt in De- An Tndian line, the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, The Listowel and Ballybunion Rallway sounds like extraordinary lrestgle br(dgespew;l?clsoagge xl:‘tel:"é:; N e DR TR L s et t!?o’l?»f:{ cl.ztx(te;ait(k\xvnags ootp%{";éh e ssgn&eo;f‘}}xlee;;no?:fl rfim}gfil:‘l; ::n;l}e wo;ltz, amlit is theén;'ler;’uol‘x of sorfle madthumcrlst; but such a place rajlways over the deep gullies and precipitous creeks s = e * 2 i 3 A o " nus being situ- as Ballybunion really exists. found in man arts of th n: ¥ i urrent, this car, which represents the tains at Llanberis and goes to the summit, a distance ated on a giddy eminence 8000 feet above the level of It is a_very popular seaside resort in the south- of rough umng construcueox}:' s‘}mfieg::sflsfigeyt:r: whole locomotive and rolling stock, pro- s at a slow and stately glide on its four-mile of four miles. There are eix stations in all and the time taken on the journey is the mot very thrilling height of 150 feet, and form a most complicated maze of timbers. west of Ireland. The distance between this point and the other terminus at Listowel is ten miles, and the plains. At many points it is possible to see the curves R T m%vm\‘;ww : e st § T .