The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective LeagueHough, Emerson
History
The Web : $b The Authorized History of the American Protective League
Hough, Emerson
American Protective League; Propaganda, German; World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- United States
An old man and his wife, both German, were reported to the A. P. L.
one day last summer as being pro-German and Lieutenant No. 177 was
assigned to the case. He called on the old couple and found them very
German indeed—so much so, in fact, that their niece was produced to act
as interpreter. The old man, when he realized the object of the visit,
became greatly agitated, and trembling like an aspen leaf, he hurriedly
produced his naturalization papers and protested that three times had
he foresworn the Kaiser. At last, as final proof of loyalty to his
adopted land, the old man displayed some sheets of manuscript—gospel
songs, which he himself had written in his mother tongue! At this point
his wife, who had been as distressed as her husband over the interview,
could restrain herself no longer.
“Ach no!” she spluttered. “No! Ve are not Chermans. Ve are not
Chermans! Ve are Christians! Ve are Christians!”
Operative No. 113 reports the details of a case which has in it endless
possibilities of mischief:
There was held in Dayton, Ohio, during the summer of 1918, the
national meeting of Automotive Engineers, and at the A. P. L.
luncheon that day it was reported that a German from a nearby
city, who was an associate member of the Automotive Engineers,
was registered in Dayton and would attend the meetings of the
convention. From the history we had of this gentleman from the
files of the A. P. L., he was undoubtedly a dangerous citizen
and one who should not have the opportunity of inspecting and
carefully examining the Liberty Motors and many other new ideas
which were being shown at the convention. I offered to investigate
the situation, took the information which was in our hands, got
in touch with the head of the Aircraft Production Board here
and was immediately sent to the convention, where I conferred
with the Secretary, explaining to him in detail the facts. We
found that our man was not registered at the convention, and we
made arrangements with the registrar that as soon as he made his
appearance, some one should shadow him and see that he did not
have access to any information or special displays, and that
he should be kept under surveillance during his entire time
in our city. I knew where he was stopping and kept him under
surveillance. We frustrated any plan he might have had to gain
confidential information. All this was done without his having any
idea that anyone knew his history or his reason for coming to the
convention.
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