SCHOOL FOR SPIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2988, 27 January 1917, Page 10

SCHOOL FOR SPIES

WOMAN AT HEAD OF GERMAN ESTABLISHMENT. The discovery by the Swiss police of an elaborate German spy organisation has provoked great interest at Geneva (states the "Daily News's" special correspondent), where the chief arrests nave {Seen effected. Tho head of th organisation in Switzerland was a German non-commissioned officer named l'ipo, bait it seems clear that he was instructed by the German Foreign Intelligence Bureau, whoso headquarters are at Berlin. The documents seized by the police show that part of Pipo's duties was to obtain suitable recruits for the German spy system. Ho was allowed to offer them a substantial sum in cash payment, and to promise them, in tho event of tlieir undergoing tho necessary training at the ScEool for Spies at Antwerp ami passing tho examination there in a satisfactory manjiier, a handsome weekly salary and a : reasonable allowance for hotel and incidental expenses in the enemy countries to which they would be sent.

■ According to the revelations made to the police by some of the arrested spies, tlie spy school at Antwerp is a typical example of German thoroughness used for base ends. The head of the school,, a large building situated in one of the suburbs of the town, is a woman who among- the pupils goes , by. the sobriquets of "The Bloude_ Lady,"' from tho colour of lier complexion, and "The Lady with the Cigarette," from the fact that she is always smoking. Sho speaks English and French as fluently as Gcrmau, has travelled widely, is an admirable musician, and even in her middle age retains many of tho good looks which in her youth gave her the reputation of a beauty, She is assisted by a few retired German officers. The course of training extends from one to three months.

'file discovery of the present gang, believed to bo one of the most important operating from a neutral country, has been duo to tho smartness of a young Swiss named Hotz, who lives at Zurich. Pipo accidentally met him at, a Geneva hotel, and suggested ho should become a ineniber of the German information service. Hotz informed tho Swiss police, who . instructed him to feign acceptance. Ho again met Pipo, and after haggling over terms came to an understanding; "One of my assistants," Pipo said to the new pupil, "will meot you at Zurich, and take you direct to the spy •school at Antwerp, where you,will undergo a scientific training. You wjll then be taken to Berlin, where you will be given a list of names of French regiments, and part of your duty in France will be to find out which,, if any, of these regiments are on tho Somme front. This information is of great importance, bpcauso we are greatly interested in this front at present. After leaving Berlin you will return to Geneva, and I shall hand you a French passport absolutely in order, and bearing all the necessary vises." Hotz -went to Zurich as instructed, met the German, agent there, and the two boarded the express for Germany. The Swiss police, who had been kept informed, stopped the train near the frontier, and seized the agent. At the same time Pipo and his a-ssociates were arrested it Geneva and their houses raided. Tho bureau was discovered to be nothing less than a factory for forging passports.