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
A St. Louis German, with the boastfulness which fortunately offsets
much of the cunning and industry of his species, bragged to his
sweetheart that he was a member of the Imperial German Secret Service.
Perhaps he showed her the card which German spies are not supposed to
show. She, very proud, confided to a friend her lover’s distinction.
The friend went to one of the local officials of the American
Protective League. She had four brothers in the service, three in the
Army and one in the Navy, and said that if there was a German spy
in the city the authorities should know it. Unfortunately, she had
forgotten the man’s name. The man’s room was raided, and evidence was
unearthed that he was not only an unregistered enemy alien, but indeed
a German spy. In his trunk were found firearms of the German army. He
was promptly interned. Perhaps no sweetheart should have a spy, and
certainly no spy should have a sweetheart.
A German who predicted the defeat of the Allies before the United
States entered the war, persisted in his harangues afterwards, until a
League operative went to the bank where he worked. The man’s dismissal
resulted. He continued at times to return to the bank, assailing some
of the young women clerks with abuse and threats because of their
loyalty to America. He was arrested for violating his zone permit,
which the United States Marshal had revoked when the bank’s notice of
his dismissal was filed. Later he was interned.
One night a party from the Naval recruiting office in St. Louis was
seeking enlistments at a West End theater. Moving pictures were thrown
on a screen and an officer made a speech, in which he declared: “The
Germans went through Belgium and France like barbarians.” A stout,
well-dressed man in the audience exploded: “That’s a damned lie!”
Two sailors with revolvers sprang for him over the footlights, but
the first to reach him were two members of the League, who, although
they had gone to the theater only for amusement, had not forgotten
their duties. After a sharp tussle the disturber was overpowered. He
protested indignantly that he was an American citizen, but refused
stubbornly to give any other information about himself. Borrowing an
automobile, the League operatives and sailors took him to a police
station and notified the Federal authorities. Search of the prisoner’s
effects showed that he was an unnaturalized German subject, though he
had lived in the United States for fourteen years. He was interned for
the duration of the war. Of such is the glorious Kingdom of Deutschland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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