Another letter addressed to Mr Graves, at the Central Hotel, Glasgow,
dated April 9, 1912, and forwarded through Ernst, contained bank-notes
for 15 pounds--this was very nearly the last letter ever sent to Graves,
judging from the time of his arrest and trial. On March 2 a letter from
Potsdam contained a request for the prisoner to inquire whether a
certain person living near Hyde Park was a busy man, and whether he was
connected with the English Government. Then, in July of 1912, "St"
must have grown suspicious of the correspondence having been examined,
for he wrote: "There is another point that I wish to impress on you, and
that is, always to post registered letters in different post offices or
districts. But you do that probably on your own accord." Yet again, in
a letter dated September 1, from Potsdam, Steinhauer emphasised the need
for caution. "You can imagine," he wrote, "for yourself that we need in
all directions only good, sure, and trustworthy people. We must be safe
from surprises on the part of the women. Will you take another name
instead of Walters?"
Evidence of another travelling spy was afforded by letters addressed to
"F. Gould, Queen Charlotte Hotel, Rochester," and to "Charles Graham,
care of Mr Gould," at the same address. The one directly addressed
contained two five-pound notes, and the "care of" letter contained three
of these.
So far, the evidence had concerned letters addressed to Ernst, and then
the witness went on to tell of the letters sent by Ernst to Steinhauer.
Witness had from time to time opened these letters, acting under his
official instructions, and had found they were posted in London to Mrs
or Miss Reimers, care of Steinhauer, at a Potsdam address. They were
all in handwriting which he recognised as that of the prisoner, when
given the opportunity of comparing the writing, and were variously
signed "G.E.," "W. Weller," and "J. Walters." Certain extracts from
these letters were read in court by Mr Bodkin, and the following
passages may be quoted:
"Dear Mr Steinhauer,--Allow me to make a few suggestions which came
into my head while reading the case of Grosse. You will be able to see
that your agent Grosse had not the slightest consideration for your
other agents. No more could be expected from a man who has already done
ten years' penal servitude. Therefore, I beg that when you give any one
my address, you give a different name, such as W. Weller.
"I have immediately posted both letters. [To Schutte and Ireland.]
Herewith enclosed two sample letters. I should also like to mention
that the papers are making a gigantic row respecting the Stewart affair.
To-day several papers had the interview and confession which he has
made. W. Weller."
The "sample" letters referred to may be judged from the following, read
in court from one of them:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account