Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 129, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1916 — GERMANS MAKE STRICT SEARCH [ARTICLE]

GERMANS MAKE STRICT SEARCH

Amazing Thoroughness With Which Travelers Are Handled at Border. SOLES RIPPED FROM SHOES Fountain Pens Emptied and Probed, Clothes Carefully Examined Under Rays of Powerful Light— Many Questions Asked. London. —There Is no miracle of German thoroughness more amazing than the search to which travelers have to submit on entering Germany. This border search is described in a London newspaper by a correspondent of the Russian paper Retch, who has just performed the feat of entering Germany at Warnemunde and staying some time in Berlin. He says: “The passengers are taken on shore in single file and directed to a shed. We enter a large compartment partitioned off by wooden bars into a series of long stalls. Our passports are taken away from us and we are admitted one by one into the next compartment through a special door. Bombarded With Questions. “I am admitted into a small room, where, behind the counter, are three German officers, a lieutenant and two subs. “At first come the usual questions: ‘Name?’ ‘Where?’ ‘Why?’ and then, ‘What is your profession?’ “I name a certain branch of business which I chose to represent. “‘You are going to Germany on business?’ “ ‘Yes.’

‘“With what firms and in what towns do you intend doing business?’ “I give the names and addresses of a few firms. “An energetic lieutenant reaches from one of the numerous shelves a directory and checks my statement. “ ‘Gut. Where have you been living recently?’ “I giye the name of a neutral country. “ ‘How long have you lived there?’ “I reply. “ ‘And whence are you proceeding from Germany?’ “I name a town in another country. “ ‘And what is your permanent address?’ “I again give a reply. “Without saying a word the lieutenant hands to the captain a few Baedekers. I recognize their red bindings. ’

“ ‘You say you have lived so many years at N? Can you tell me where you lived there?’ “I name a street and the number of a house which I know to exist in N, but where I have never lived. “ ‘You know of course the street Y? Can you tell me what the square at the end of it is called?’ ‘‘l give the necessary reply. I have to tell the whereabouts of the post office, the palace, such and such a theater, shops and statues. “ ‘Now will you follow me,’ says one of the lieutenants, and guides me to a corridor, along both sides of which run cubicles. We enter one of the cubicles.

Soles Ripped Off. ; “ ‘Will you have the goodness to undress but, first of all, please take ofT your boots.’ The lieutenant takes the boots and hands them over to a soldier. “ ‘Have no fear. We shall rip them open and take off the heels, but we will sew them up again and return in good condition.’ “All my body, right down to my feet and nails, is carefully inspected by meanß of an electric lamp. The lining of my suit is all ripped open, but is not sewn up again. The contents of my pockets are carefully examined. The lieutenant takes his glasses and looks through my passport, opens my watch, looks at its meehanism, reads the trade mark of the manufacturers, and then takes my fountain pen, pours out the ink, and probes its inside with a hatpin. “ ‘What can one hide there?’ I asked.

“ ‘Have you never seen pendants, rings and other things? You hold them up to the light, and through a tiny little point you see highly magnified views of cathedrals, of mountains, or of towns, etc. Well, you can do the same with any document —reduce it photographically and carry it at the bottom of your fountain pen.’ “My boots were brought in, and, indeed, on the soles one could see new neat stitches. “I breathe freely once more, dress and go on the platform.”