GERMAN OUTRAGE AGENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1918, Page 3

GERMAN OUTRAGE AGENT.

INSANE BOER'S DEEDS. M • - •!' DESTRUCTION OF VESSELS. An astounding story of German spy methods has been brought to Jighi jn ail investigation .into ti'e i.. v use <-f aii explosion on a steamer three days a.tb>i abp iiad Jeff, a Sxmth American fort for New iorlr, says tlie Daily Chrot*iel-e. Three lives were lost, awi only by stronnous labor by iJie captain aud crow was tlie ■ essel taken into port. Included in the .-srgo we;-« 15 casws of "minerals' and one case 'if ''eirifTj.''.;oprapii fibtw," spo.:'e for which had -b»im applied for by a licensed Custom House dispatcher. 'Aeso cases must have coiltamed bomlvs. The next iink in the :-jjrin of evidento was a document scut to Berlin by way of a, nc-i'ltal country. In this it was stated that a vJcrman cmployed at tho port bad iniforiai'd tho German Vice-Consul immediate).}" after the departure of the sSap that a South African Boer liad given him tho bomb which had caused the* explosion, and that ho 'iiad seen to its shipment. The Vice-Consul gave the Boer, who had several times boon to tho Consulate, jnoiiey to escape. Subsequently a clerk confessed 'his complicity in the crime, and papers were discovered rovwJto" an elaborate plot. From a sale the p-jUce seized, a number of documents ami a suro. of over £I2OO in American bills, which weit. found in an envelope marked "On His Majesty's Service,'' bearing a name w&icb, it is believed was one of tlie many used by the man who actually brought the caw of "'cinematograph films," to the ship. Then there is a break in the story, and t'lo thread is taken. irp in Ncv York, where, after a lapse of nearly two years, ft man was arrested. Ho had made a claim against an insurance company in ripest of the 18 cases, and it was for attempted fraud in. connection with this claim that he was arrested. It was proved that he wjis of unsound mind, and tie was detained in a crimiMl lunatic asylum,. APPALLING LIST OF CHIMES Whan arrested ho was passing as a captain of the Australian Light Horse. He \va3 in uniform and wearing ribbons of the South African, Matabele, arid Long Service Medals and the Croix do Guerre with palm. Among tho papers found upon him was a cutting describing tho career of tih-e man who was thought to be tho chief instigator of the outrage. In this it was stated that when the man's crime was" published iti Soutiii- America it caused a shock in allied circles, for he had always cultivated their society in every possible way. He was ever leud in his denunciation of the fermans. The extract concluded: It is believed that he and his confederates escaped in a powerful motor-boat, of which 'he was tho owner. A list of the crimes committed by these men staggers belief. Since their operations in South America the steamer Salvador was completely destroyed by fire, the steamer Vauban was barely saved from complete destruction by the same cause, the coaling station In Bahia was burned, tlie magnificent Pembrokeshire was destroyed in the Atlantic, l-ha boilers of the liner Liger burst through dynamite being mixed with the coal, the steamer Tennyson was dynamited, an illicit wireless station was built north of Pernambuco, four shbs have left Soutih American porta acd have never again Seen heard of. INCRIMINATING DOCUMENTS FOUND. The story is then taken 'back to tho days of the South African war, when tho correspondent, of a paper in Brussels was arrested, proof Slaving been secured that he was engaged in hostilitiefl against lingland. He was sent as a prisoner of war to Bermuda, whence he escaped. There is reason to believe that bo was later employed as aai intelligence officer oJ tho German Government. IFoscd on the man detained in New York was a letter referring k< tho arrest of. tihe correspondent in Gupe-tawm during tits Boer war. Naturally the question was asked. Went- th«j one ana lie nomaman?

An interesting letter in iiis- possession was from an Austrian Vice-Consul, and in tho following terms: "It is a pleasare to me to commend in ths highest manner to my countrymen Mr , captain, of Engineers! in the Boer Army, w!ho has in many circumstances rendered notable service to our good Gc-rman cause.—Ueliersazig, Imperial Yice-Con-eul." This was accompanied by a card, 'lmperial Captain up on Service Carl-Ue-bersezig, Imperial Vice-Consul" Nor were these tho only documents found which aroused suspicion, for he had also a photograph, of t'iie original bill of Ming for ths 10-swtvs, and a rccfJnt given by the dispatcher for "payliwut "for gc-rvicHtf'