SPIES AND THEIR FATE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2378, 6 February 1915, Page 8

SPIES AND THEIR FATE

THE DEATH OF A GERMAN SCHOOLMISTRESS PUNISHMENT FOR LOOTERS , Paris, December 14. One of the greatest sources of annoyance, if riot of more serious trouble, to the French armies operating along the central part of tho battle line in l'rauco is the widespread spy system, organised by tho Germane long beforo the war and now operating in . most baffling fashion. There was a time when many people used to deprecate R'liat was called the spy mania, and witty writers and caricaturists used their pens to ridicule it. How far the information culled from tho most insignificant sources, but grouped and catalogued, has proved useful to the German strategists is now fairly obvious, but to illustrate the .actual working of the active spy the following specific case, which camo before my notice, speaks for itself. A wretched man and his wife, both Irench to. their shame, were .taken by the soldiers in St. Brice, a suburb of Reims, in tho very act of signalling to the enemy. They were nondescript people of the lower class, occupying a small detacbcd houso with a garden. Near the house two French batteries were opera-ting, and in the upper part of it a held telephone had been installed, over which, apart from tho viva voce orders issued to the gunners, precise indications as to the range, elevation, and general working of the guns wore communicated to other places. Down in the cellar there was another telephone, which communicated with tho German lines, by means of which the woman passed these indications to tho'enemy, so that the work of the batteries was rendered absolutely ineffective. The Spy's Method's. _The man had a system of signalling j- V a handkerchief from his garden, which was the eventual cause of his 'mi.' doing, and which rapidly conveyed subsiaiary information to German emissaries who wero on the. outlook for it, and a German officer-, who for many years had worked in Reims as a foreman in. ono of the. champagne bouses came in regularly each day disguised as a.i'rench sergeant of artillery to obtain fuller reports. To complete the system, the man was supplied with small rockets, red and blue, which he set off from a sheltered corner of an adjacent wood at night. The red one indicated that an ammunition convoy was arriving and the blue one that the wench defenders were being changed, both operations being kept secret for obvious reasons, and always carried out atinight. As a result of the.spy's activities both were regularly peppered, no- matter how the hour might be changed, and many lives were thus being lost, -while the whole operations in that section .were being nullified from a cause which for long remained mysterious. J Both, the wretched creatures have now been , shot, but a friend' of mine had a 'conversation with the man, chained hand and foot as he was. The actual sum they .had been paid for their trachery' was-450fr., but it is true theynaa hopes oft future prosperity. . The man was by nature a liar, but my'friend was able to- arrive at his ultimate exhad been in trouble ■' vT xl 5, ollce / k ,!t found employment with tho German champagne firm as a casual messenger. His employment was developing, and the rascal was iled to lie-might soon bo able to set up a horse-and'-cart, and so work up a nice httte transport business, for he had been imbued witii the idea that' the Germans, were into France to stay. Thus,'spies are made out of the base cupidity ,of small people. My friend has seen other spies 'shot. Perhaps the most impressive case was tliat_ of _a "German schoolmistress and her husband, who were, shot in a field at Romigny. The woman exhibited great courage. From the day of her arrest she had had no illusions as to her fate, and she faced the flying party with a smile, holding her husband's hand the while: He was hangdog, but fairly composed. The most painful feature was that they had to wait: thus-for nearly a quarter of an hour while; the gendarmes were struggling with a German soldier, one, of. two who were also being executed at the same time. Punishment tor Looters. These men were'members of a party of some fifty prisoners, who, on being searched,. were fo.und to have watches and rings concealed, in their boots, Still in the jeweller's cases, as they had looted them from the shop in Rethel. An officer taken with them had endeavoured to defend his men, for -most of the party wero in possession of considerable sums of French: money, but the evidence against these two was altogether too damning. The party of prisoners was halted in the Toadway ky the field to witness the executions. Although prepared for punishment for theft, the two men were far from expecting death until they saw the .firing party awaiting them. ■■' One of them, a big, powerful fellow, fought hard for a while before ho could be lined up, and in. the meanwhile the schoolmistress waited bravely. But probably the most extraordinary case of unlookedrfor death arriving upon a person was that of a ■ large fat man, a- Frenchman, who for weeks had been hanging about tho armies, and who on being searched was found to have taken quantities of compromising niotcs. He was being marched with a gang of prisoners to the rear for trial, but refused to walk, having a notion vhat.he could compel the guards to let him ride in a wagon. Tho first step was- to chain him to a wagon-tail and drag him along, but as he was large and made considerable disturbance he was warned that if ho would not march he would be shot. Ho took this to be bluff, and defied them to do it, and even to tho last, wheu he faced the, firing party by the roadside, my friend was convinced that tho ■ man remained firmly of : that opinion and that he died surprise! But the remainder of the prisoner:- .many of whom had begun to show a ndenc.v to lag, stepped out Ithereafti the most vigorous swing possible. •' All along the front this 6py troublo is experienced, and brigade and divisional commanders havo bitter complaints '•) make. Out of tho cast towards S- ippes my friond came into contact with this trouble. Tho commanding officer told him that from a certain small wood -near by he had tho conviction that night signals were being made, but in spite of all his efforts, even tho igh he had tho wood surrounded and thoroughly searched, nothing could be found. That night my friend accompanied the search party, and certainly that wood was well beaten without result, but in tho early hours of ■■the .dawn tho party was attacked and •very nearly cut off by the German outpost much superior in numbers, which, from the nature of their approach, wero obviously well aware of the French doings. In 6hort, it is the opinion of most of the commanders .that it would havo been better far to compel the entire evacuation of the zono of operations by all civilians without distinction, and especially to have completely cleared the city cf Reims of its population, regardless of all .other considerations than I those of the-war. —-"Morning Post."