ORGANISATION CRUSHED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 154, 25 November 1914, Page 6

ORGANISATION CRUSHED.

"Espionage is now a military offeaco, punisliablo by death. At the .present moment one case i» petuling in which a,person charged witih attempting to convey information to the enemy is now awaiting his trial by court-martial; but 'in no other case has any clear trace .been discovered of any attempt to convey information to tho enemy and there is good reason to believe that the spy organisation, orjslied .at the .oiifcbreaik of the war, lias not been reestablished. "How completely that 3)' stem had been suppressed in the early days of the war is clear-from the faet—disclosed in a Gorman Army Order —that on August 21st the German military commanders were still ignorant 1 of the despatch anil movements of the English Expeditionary Force, although these had br«n ' known for many days to a large num- ! ber of people in this count"y. ''Another matted which, has engaged the closost attention of the police, has beeii tho possibility of conspiracies to 1 commit outrage. No trace has been dis- ' covered of any such conspiracy and no ' outrage of any sort has yet been com- ' mitted by any alien—not even telegraph wires having' been maliciously cut —since the beginning of the war. "Nevertheless it has ibeen necessary to bear in mind the possibility that such a secret conspiracy .might exist, or might be forced among alien enemies resident in this country. "Accordingly, immediately after the commencement! of hostilities rigorous ' search was nrade by the police in the 1 houses of Germans 'and Austrian's and in their clubs., and in all places where they were likely to be found who were in possesion or a pistol which had not been declared, and in one or two cases there were' small collections of ancient firearms, and in such cases the offenders had been prosecuted and punished, but no store of effective arms—still less any bombs or instruments of destructionhad so far been discovered. From the beginning all Germans or Austrians who were deemed by the police to be likely to be dangerous were apprehended. About SKMX) Germans and Austrians of military age have so far been arrested and are held as prisoners of war in detention camps, and among them are included those who are regarded by the police as likely in any possible event to take part in any outbreak or disorder or incendiarism."

CROWN PRINCE'S DINNER. A despatch sent by C. F. Bertelli to the Now York American gives details, hitherto unpublished, of a great feast that was prepared for the Herman Crown Prince at Sezanne, and which was abruptly stopped by an explosive shell. According to ill- Bertelli, the Herman plan was to take possesion of Sezanne, an important railway junction, and the key to the Seine valley. All was going so well on September (i that everybody was in fine fettle, and it was decided, 011 the occupation of Sezanne, to give an elaborate dinner to the Crown Prince and his generals in the Chateau de Mondement, owned by President Jacobs, of the Stock Brokers' Association in Paris. It was the Kaiser's dearest wish to have the Crown Prince make a triumphant entry into Paris, thus preparing a glorious record for his son's future reign. In anticipation of this triumphant entry, now considered assured, a wonderful dinner, says 3lr Bertelli, was prepared in the white-pannelled dining-room of the beautiful seventeenth century structure. The dinner and the carouse which followed lasted far into the night. Revelry was at its climax, when a shell burst in the pantry of the chateau. The Crown Prince and his generals were soon in the saddle, and took up a position in a small wood to resist a fierce attack made by the Allies, who were finally successful, after one of the most severe engagements in the entire campaign, in the course of which thousands OU both sides were killed.

The surprise assault took place in the early hours of the very day on which the Kaiser's son had planned to make his spectacular entry into Paris, and was the prelude to the other reverses, in which, entire German battalions were wiped out. The beautiful lawns of tho Mondemont were ploughed by shell and fire, the ancient trec3 mowed down, the iron gates broken, and the chateau left in a iieap of ruins. 111 the castle park alone there were 301) dead and buried. The chateau's aged keeper, who stuck to his post during the entire conflict, told Mr Bertelli that 3000 bottles of champagne were brought up for the dinner, and it was in the midst of this orgy of champagne that a perfectly-aimed shell of the famous French "7a" came through the outer wall, bursting finally in the pantry adjoining the banqueting room. Other shells followed, until the place became a regular inferno.

MESSAGES THAT ARE APPRECIATED Questioned as to whether the garments so tenderly made at home ever reached the wounded fighters at the front, a doctor at the chief 'use* hospital in France had several e: vnevs to relate of the value of war -iem change of clothes had been, am ■ almost painful pleasue it had alio, lod the men to read the cheery messages so;.ie thoughtful giver had attached to them. In some cases girls in the State schools in London had sent out whole bundles of all their own work with individual messages. One child in a North London school had written in childish copperplate:— "Dear Defender, —I hope you have not got any wounds yet. Please don't worry about those you have left behind, because they are all being fed well. We are all very proud of you, so please remember the text, Fight the good fight with all thy might. If you get hold of a German keep hold of him and don't let him go, like the bulldog keeps hold of a burglar, and don't go grey with worry. 'Hod save you.'—l am, your unknown friend, K. Backshaw." "The sudden unexpected link witli home and the knowledge that these dear little people had put such boautiful work into their pyjamas, handkerchiefs, socks, and other comforts sent out, brought tears to some of the Tommies'—even to some of the doctor's—eyes," the doctor ended up the interview by saying. White handkerchiefs which some have slipped into pyjama pockets have been especially appreciated by sick men who have had to make one colored one last them all through the wur.

A WIRELESS TRAP; ''l naddition, a censorship over tables And letters was established ,and aliens were prohibited, while' residing in this country, from having in their possession any wireless or signalling apparatus of any kind, or any carrier or homing pigeons. At the same time the post office„ acting undetr the powers given thorn by the Wireless Telegraphy Act, dismantled all private wirdess stations, and they have established a special system of wirelesß detection by which any station actually used for the transmission of messages from this country could be discovered. The police have co-oper-ated successfully in this matter with the post office.