ECHO OF GERMANY'S FURTIVE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 257, 25 July 1919, Page 7

ECHO OF GERMANY'S FURTIVE WAR

WOMAN DEPORTED FROM ENGLAND DUPE OF A HUN SPY Lilian Scott Troy, an American woman woll known in England and Ireland, has been deported to her native land. Behind this incident lies one of tho great romances of (he war (states tho Sydney "Sun").. Lilian Troy was a wealthy woman of a rebellious typo of mind who for some reason conceived a violent animus ngainst Britain. Coming to Eng,lind ten years ago, flip become mixed up with the notorious Baron von Horst, the German who was recently deported on the strongest suspicion of being responsible for a great deal of tho industrial unrest which hns occurred in this country the past few years. It was not thought by the authorities that Lilinn Troy was actually a German I agent, bnt there is not the s'l'shtest doubt i" that she was very cleverly used by Baron von Horst. who enn he.regarded as the doyen of the many Germans who were domiciled in Great Britain and used theif assumed nationali'.v for German interests. Always on the look-out for discontented minds of the Troy typo, Bnron von Horst , utilised her temperament in tho subtlest fashion. Mrs. Troy and Baron von Horst between thwri first attracted the notice of c '"ntlnnd Yard bv their connection with tho more violent nhase of t-lie Puffrasrette movement in 1910 and 1911. There is no donM that between them they were directly re-snonsiblf , for vom° of the nurraees which p> β-rently disti'-rhed the country during those yean. The next division -n-hpii t'>o viiir ciutig linrter the "ofire of tlip auMioriti'"' was 'luring tlio T.ondon dock s'n'kp hi 1911. It win Airs. Trnv who visiW! tin- humeri of r'«> dockers' wives and fnimli".» whi'" the jtipi were on «triVi'. suinlvincr them with money and words of encouragement. Friend to Sinn Fein. For the next cmiple of years neither Bnrqn von Horst nor Mrs. Troy wns nnrticnlnrly noficeabln in their activi-. ties. They were certainlv responsible for row; inflammatory nolilieal articles which appeared in the Enßlish Press, hut if was not until the outbreak of the Ulster trouble in 19U that the eounle H»cnn 'tn devote their attention tn TreInnd. They were well known in Belfast during that etende, and, nlthou?'i it cannot be definitely proved, there is little cUunl that much of the trouble was pronugiled by Baron von Horst and his - om • ti accomplice. . It was loiur suspected that much of fur industrial trouble, both before and during the war, was fomented by the Baron aided by Mrs. Troy. A goodlooking woman with any amount of fij-idv money at her command, she .cxuld move in circles where a German would create nothing but suspicion. • Both she K'l'l t*.» JJnror were suspected .of -n'uplicity in the Dublin rebellion of Easter week, 1916, and it is known that Mrs. Iro.y w:is very friendly with James Connol!/, Hie Sinn Fein leader who was executed by order of a court-martial after the lbUelJwn had been crushed.

In all these activities Mrs. Troy was the tool of the clever Baron von Horst. He exploited her grievances against societv in general to the full, and the fact that he was never actually charged with espionago showed how intelligent were his methods. The baron had more than a nodding acquaintance with the Germiiu spies who infested this country in 1914 and 1915. - although he never took anv part in their work. . His mission, Was a, higher one—that 'of propagating social,and industrial unrest. In his person was represented the higher Ect'cn'of the department of the German Secret Service that made a study of the mentality of enemy countries.

Movie Propaganda. One of the • Baron's great schemes, whieh incidentally came to naught, was that of acquiring :i large.number of picture palaces to be used for insidious proMeanda. To work this scheme euccessfullv it was necessary that people should bn installed as dupes, and among those ussd was, the woman Troy. Sho had 'charge of akinenia, which she ran, indifferent to financial loss, up to the time of her deportation. Like so many of the baron's subtle schemes, the kinema caine to nothing, for the simple reason that the right type of film could not be iiCTKirted.

Mrs Trov continued to carry on her kir-cona till recently, although the internment of the Baron cut short her activities. But during all her time in England she lost no opportunity of defaming our cause, and she is unquestionably fortunate that she escaped no more severe punishment than deportation. Baron von Ilorst was deported some few days ago. leaving behind him one of two libel actions. He was never closely connected with the Germans who.spied in England or he would certainly have suffered their fate..

So far as tho authorities here are concerned, Mrs. Troy will suffer no penalties on her arrival in the States. . As an American citizen she had the right to return to her own country, and sho has Rone back with a fine appreciation nf the abilities of the special branch at Scotland Yard.

Baron von Horst spent a lot of good money in England, and flattered himself that he possessed a profound understanding of English psychology. But like many more of his fellow-Huns he could never understand that we.owned an extrenielv efficient Secret Service.