SYDNEY GIRL'S EXPERIENCES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 262, 24 July 1918, Page 3

SYDNEY GIRL'S EXPERIENCES

SECRET SERVICE WORK. 'Hies Alberta l'earce, who has just returned to by«uuy aiter nearly t«o }euis iS wrk. Ims l»a the unique experience of doin K *orlt tor tUe A mencan Secret Serv.ce, states the bjaiioy "Sunday Timee." Tlu> Austrahaii gul was eninged, in one of New Xorks Bij, stores, gleaning clrese designing oxpericuco, and numuered among Jier womng companions a French girl with a big circle of tends. Ainoiiß them was an ■Unerican-Gerinan family prolcssing. great loyalty to the Allied cause, ihis lamily ovinced a great interest in the. Australian girl, aud was persistent in its invitations and'lavish hospitality. "I took an instinctive disliko to th«n| all/ , said Miss Pearce; "they were.all intensely inquisitive about a lew MBlist officer friends I had in the \\ai Mission, and they would persist in talking war, although j( it is a prohibited topic in New York." War talk is forbidden because America is overrun with Germans, who, in listening to casual conversation, gather information of troopships and food transports leaving for Europe. They signal horn the toast, it is supposed, to a raider, which it is alleged, came trom Germany with the Wolf. This raider m supposed to supply the submarines with information, and to keep them supplied with petrol and food. German sympathisers in U.S.A. aro accredited with a system of maintaining the fowl and iuel supply from lonely parts of the Atlantic coast. . , '.

Adverting to Miss Pearce's spy experience, the mother of the family professed to be wholly American, and to possess mostly French friends. Miss Pearce noticed that the French friends and her hostess had a peculiar trick of inpsmg into Gcrmm conversation. Her suspicions were aroused and by dint of listenins she heard such sentimcnte on the war that her British blood boiled. Sue decided to drop thom, and communicated her intention to an English ofiicer He, however, advised her to acquaint the Secret Service with her suspicions. J.no service, after investigating Miss learces credentials, asked her to place he'' s ™ in their hauds. Tins she consented to do, and was required to cultivate the German family. The father and mother were apprehended at a card party in their own home two months later, and the two sons, who wero ofheerc in tiie aviation corps, were taken at cainp. _ In the camp tlieTe had been a series of inexplicable accidents to tho an machines, which had accounted ior the untimely death of many trainees. After the young German-Americans were removed thev ceased. In consequence of this experience, Miss Pearce had the disagreeable experience of being" shadowed by beiman sympathisers, and until her departure, she was always under the protective observation of agents of the Seciet Service. , „ According to Miss Pearce, the Germans have been responsible for the untimely end of many promising young aviators. Among others, Lieutenant Itesnati, a voting Italian who was _. demonstrating With the famous Caproai machine, rose to tho height of 100 feet from the camp, when the machine collapsed, and he wa; killed. The Americans have found it un fiafo to use a machine withoiu mining investigation before each flight. Miss Pearce tells with great _ pride or the Australian soldiers' triumph ant march through New 'iork. So popular was evervthing Australian at that moment, that while watching the procession from Manhattan steps, a little Australian flag Miss Pearco possessed was auctioned for '1000 dollars for patriotic funds.