"WOLF. IN THE FOLD,"

Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1916, Page 8

"WOLF. IN THE FOLD,"

i THE CARTERTON TRAITOR,. OFFICIAL ACTION BEING TAKEN, ', Wellington, August 23. The Minister for Defence was questioned yesterday concerning the case of a man who is reported to have deserted from the New Zealand ranks at the front and gone over to the enemy. Mr. Allen stated that he has cabled to the Imperial authorities for exact official information on the subject. Po far no reply has been received, but if the report current from so manv quarters is verified the man will be "gazetted as a deserter, and the Government may be called upon to take some action with respect to his parents, who are stated to be residents of the Carterton district. From reports which have reached Mr. Allen unofficially, it would appear that the supposed culprit enlisted with a letter left out of his name, so that it was made to look like an English one. His German parentage was consequently not suspected, and the case was one | that had not excited any inquiry before | the man left for the front. He seems I to have in some way got on bad terms I with the comrades of his platoon. Pro- | bably they discovered that he was of | German descent, and taunted him with I it. At any rate, his ire was. raised I against them, and his method of "paying I them out" was to desert to the enemy 'with information which caused several of his platoon to become the victims of German snipers. The case is the subject of much comment in military circles, and official news concerning the man's identity is awaited with the greatest interest