Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1916 — Page 2

Would You Spy for Your Country ?

HERE is another class of heroes in I | S-\ this war besides those in the actu--fM-l \ al fighting zone, of whom the pub--11 I}c knows nothing unless an offiJ cial announcement is made of the i execution of some man or woman ptgJT'y “convicted of espionage.” Thousands of men and women, on both ' ✓—"N sides, are risking their lives every J hour, every minute of the day, in ~r/ ’ the secret service. And they are doing it for their country. There is no reward for them in the

shape of decorations or public commendation. Their stern duty is laid out before them. It is for them to fulfill it. That is all. They can hope for no reward except the satisfaction of doing their duty. At the best they live through the conflict. At the worst they are captured by the enemy and meet an ignominious death. It takes as much courage to perform a duty like this as to lie in the trenches day after day and participate in charges against the enemy or defend the trench from the enemy’s assault and to be at all times subject to a terrific artillery bombardment or the more dreaded assault with asphyxiating gases. The man who meets his death in the trenches has at least the consolation of dying amid his comrades and friends—of dying a glorious death. * But the spy has not this consolation. Every, secret-service agent feels that his death is certain, and that when it comes it will not be a glorious one. For he will die alone, with none of his friends about him. His people back home will not know his fate. He will die alone in a foreign country, not as a hero, but as a spy. And yet if the annals of the secret service bureaus of the various countries were made public, it would tell of wonderful deeds of daring, of strength, fearlessness and of physical and mental heroism. With the arrival of the°flrst German submarines in Constantinople, after the inauguration of the British Dardanelles campaign, there became known a story of the heroism of one of these secret-service agents. His name was not given, and the exact locality where he performed his Anal act of duty was not told, but an officer of the German II boat related the story to a personal friend. We will call the secret-service agent Johann. He was a youngster, hardly twenty years old, and a university man, a student at Heidelberg. He always had been weak and delicate, and at the beginning of the war he was not'allowed to go to the front. He belonged to a wealthy family, had traveled extensively through Europe, and was an accomplished linguist. He made application to the secret-service bureau and his application was accepted. He was sent to England. There he passed as an American He "had an American passport and was connected with the English branch of an American concern. How did he do it? The history of the Qerman secret-service will -new be written, and »got more than a dozen living persons will ever know Its extraordinary scope. The passport proposition and the connection with thf London branch of the American concern were mere matters of detail with which Johann had nothing to do. It was after Jus was established to London that his real wcyk

- But at any rate he had worked in the French capital several months, still posing as an Jll6l- - who knew but a few words of Fren 9 h ’ though he was thoroughly familiar with the French language, when he was ordered to la e certain orders to a fishing village and .deliver them to the commander of a submarine boat which was due there about a certain date on its way to the Dardanelles. The submarine commander had orders to wait off the coast for two nights for the messenger, and if no sign came to proceed on his way to the Dardanelles. How the secret-service agent did it is not known, but early one morning he was found on the beach tied to a deck chair, and apparently half dead from exposure and exhaustion. Two aged fisherman found him ami carried him into a hut. When partially revived, he murmured a few words in English and then in broken French, from which his rescuers gathered that he had been in some accident at sea. Also that he was an American on hiS way from Naples to the United States. As stated, the village was isolated. The nearest city was Marseilles, and it would take several days for news to travel between the two points, war time. Johann remained in bed the greater part of the day, tended by a fisherman and his aged wife. Toward dusk he insisted on arising and walking out on the edge of the cliff. He still appeared partially stunned, but he explained in his broken French that he though the fresh air would help to clear his mind. “You are too weak to walk,” exclaimed the old woman. “You must not exert yourself. Tomorrow, perhaps, yes, but not now." And she gently took him by the arm to lead him back to the cottage. “Sacre bleu!” suddenly exclaimed her, husband and pointed out to sea. A trail of sparks rose from the black surface of the water, and, ascending high into the air, burst into a white glare. Then darkness. More cries and exclamations were heard, for other fishermen had seen the rocket. Then silence, while everyone waited. In a few moments rope another trail of fire, and a brilliant green rocket exploded high In the air. “Some of the boats of the fleet are nigh,” cried a woman. "It Is a part of the war. It has reached us here.” Hour after hour passed. T'he secret-service agent lay, tense and rigid, with his ear to a crack in the thin partition between his room and - that-of-his- bests. —After awhtteheheard them both snoring. Then very gently he rose, dressed himself, and opened a door, which let him out into the open at the rear of the house. It was a rather dark night, but there were some stars shining, and, after standing in the' night a few moments, his eyes became accustomed to

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

began. He spoke perfect English, but he used an American accent and affected American clothes and mannerisms, for he knew both well enough to affect either successfully.

WORK that ( calls for the finest sort of heroism—how one lad German cause®

the gloom. Then he started toward the little har bor at the foot of the cliffs. Skirting about the-fleet, he reached a small skiff, with its oars in It.' tied to % a stake. Quick y the lad untied the rope, and, shoving the "boat far out, sprang into It. He waited until the force of the shove had spent itself, then, cautiously, began rowing along the beach. He was not strong, however, and it was an effort. But he kept It up for a quarter of a mile. -His eyes had grown accustomed to tire darkness by now, and he narrowly watched the shore. At a certain point he rowed inshore and pulled his boat after him up on the sandy beach. Then he approached the Cliff, and after a search found what he was looking for—a bundle containing a precious rocket. Farther on, in a fissure of a rock hidden under a large stone, he found his Packet of instructions. He had left both bundles hidden there early in the morning after he had been landed y a fishing smack from Spain. He planted the rocket in the sand and touched it off. Instantly there was a flash of fire and a trail of sparks as the rocket soared upward and burst into a white light. . Johann, with his precious packet in the bosom of his shirt, sprang into the boat Just as an answering signal, a white rocket, soared U P from the surface of the water, nearly a half mile The tide had gone out and was almost on the turn, but there,was ft heavy swell and it was hard work rowing. But scarcely had the lad gotten a hundred yards from the shore when there was a flash of light from the cliffs near the village. It crept out over the whter and close to the shore, sweeping and reaching out over the expanse of sea. Far out It caught a narrow black hull and held it a moment. Then it swept closer to shore and in a few moments was focused on the tiny boat beating its way out to sea. Shots were fired from the shore, but the lad, In the midst of the glare, bent far over his oars, straining every effort of his feeble body to fulfill his tstsk Somewhere, farther along the coast, the signals of the early evening had been observed, and a coast patrol had been sent to Investigate. From the top of the cliff came the sputter of a* machine gun, and off to one side the lad, rowing desperately, saw the bullets drop. The submarine was corning closer Inshore and, turning his head, he saw several men with rifles on the tiny deck of the monster. From the cliffs there was another sputter and suddenly a sharp pain struck him in the right breast and he felt the hot flow of blood. But it appeared to give him more strength, and with apparently no effort he drove his boat through the water. There were answering shots from the submarine. They were firing aUtha searchlight on the cliff and at the Spurts of flame. But the dark red spot on the front of the lad s shirt was growing larger. And there were holes In the bottom of the boat, through which the water was spurting in thin Jets. Another bullet struck him in the right arm. He gasped, then continued his rowing. A hail from behind him and he suddenly stopped rowing. He had reached the submarine. A rope was £hrown to him and the skiff pulled up close to the undersea craft. Kindly hands helped him aboard while the machine gun continued its sputtering and a hail of bullets struck the water npar by. The whole thing had scarcely taken five minutes. T£e agent was quickly taken below ana ns handed his packet to the commander. The boat was slowly submerged and disappeared beneath the dark waters. a “My work is done," gasped the lhd, trying to choke back the blood that up- from hi* lungs. “We did not dare rise to the surface until the next night," continued the officer, in relating the story. "And then we buried him In the sea, where thousands of other heroes have found their resting place in the last |ew months.”

HANDICRAFT FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

By A. NEELY HALL and DOROTHY PERKINS

BIRD BATHS. *Flg. 1 illustrates a battery of four pan tubs. Get four saucepans five or six inches in diameter, and make a frame for each of Just the right size so the rim will rest upon the upper edges (Fig. 2). By lapping the strips as indicated. A, B and C can be cut of equal length. Strip D must be enough longer to provide for nailing the frame to the post support. Fig. 1 shows the homemade filling device, and Fig* 3, 4 and 5, details of its construction. Side strips A of the framework are 11 inches long, 1

Inch thick and 2 inches wide; and’ the cross blocks B and C are inches long—B of the width and thickness of strips A, and C a piece of 2 by 4. This framework is to be slipped over the end of a clothespole; therefore, in assembling its parts, fasten strip B at the right distance from C so a clothespole will fit snugly between them. Cut blocks D (Fig. 5) of the proper size to make the opening of the right width for the pole. Fig. 5 shows how a can Is flattened on Its sides to form a spout,, for the filling receptacle, and how holes are pierced through opposite sides for a carriage bolt, by which to mount the can. Bore holes of the diameter of

the bolt, through strips A near their open ends, and through two blocks E. Blocks E form washers to keep the narrow top of the can centered, so the bottom will. not strike strips A when being Inverted. Tig. 4 shows how the cord for inverting the can Is attached Jto the spout, passed beneath, and down through a screw-eye screwed Into block B. The duplex bath in Figs. 6 and 7 has a pulley arrangement for raising and lowering it. Fig. 8 shows the framework for holding the pans. The lengths of the strips A and B will be determined by the size of the pans;

and the length of blocks C by the Bize of the post support, which must fit loosely in the center opening formed by them. Screw a screw-eye into the center of the top edge of strips C. • ■ After slipping the framework over the post support, staple a pair ol clothesline pulleys to opposite sides of the post, near to the top, on the ■gsatfe nrtder~«xr the screw-eyesin strips C; then tie ropes to the screweyes in stripe C, run them over the pulleys, and drive nails into the post near the base to faßten the rope ends to when the framework has been raised.

1 (Copyright, by A. Neely HalL)

HARMLESS PRANKS FOR APRIL FIRBT.' Nobody objects to being fooled on April first, providing the prank is free from every element of danger that might result in personal injury ot damage of some sort During the early morning, the clock J 9 probably the most looked upon obect in the house, Therefore, if it develops an extra pair of hands overnight, the abnormality is not likely to escape anyone. Figure 1 shows a four-handed clock, and Fig. 2 how the extra minute hand

and hour hand are cut out of black paper. Paste the hands In place. One of the most surprising and annoying things for father or mother to discover is a fresh crack across the corner of one of the large panes of window glass. You can make a perfect imitation of a broken window pane by gluing a piece of cotton wrap-ping-twine to the glass in the manner indicated In Fig.-3. Put only a touch of glue here and there, where you make a turn with the string. I have never known this deception to fall, even when the person examining the window has stood but three feet away. Quite as startling as the "broken" window pane is the sight of an overturned ink bottle upon one’s writingdesk. The ink bottle used in this

prank must be empty, of course, and the spilt Ink must be represented by a piece of black paper placed so as to extend up to the mouth of the bottle. You will have the Job of cleaning up after playing the paper-shower win-dow-shade pi'ank, but never mind the work, you will have had your fun. Take down the window-shade roller from Its fixtures, unroll the shade, scatter paper over the unrolled portion (Fig. 6), then roll it up again, and replace the roller In Its fixtures. Father or brother may be greatly excited upon seeing a stick apparently running right through the crown of his every-day hat (Fig. 7), but this prank does no damage in the least, because the upper end of the stick is sawed off (Fig. 8), and only a needle runs through the hat crown, to join the two pieces. The flutterer shown In Figs. 9, 10 and 11 may be mailed in due time to

be received on April, first. By having it come by mail no suspicion will be aroused. The flutterer consists of two ’rolled-up pieces of paper, folded over, and connected by a rubber-band. Letter "April Fool!” upon the pieces. Twist the papers in opposite directions, until the rubber-band is twisted very tight Then place between the folds of a sheet of note paper, slip the paper into an envelope, and seal, Upon, removing the paper from the envelope, the flutterer will Jump about very lively until the rubber-band is entirely unwound, when the person receiving it will be able to read the "message.” *