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
Another incident of this kind involved a young man who was subject
to draft and who said he was ready to respond when called. He could
not wait the Government issue of clothes, however. He went to a tailor
and equipped himself with a suit of khaki which fitted perfectly and
further adorned himself with the insignia of the Artillery Service and
an officer’s sleeve braid. When he was summoned to headquarters, he
explained that he intended to take this uniform to camp to wear when
“he went to town.” His readiness to wear the uniform was communicated
to his draft board by telephone and brought orders for immediate
induction. Although he had sold all of his civilian clothes, one suit
was recovered from the second-hand dealer who had purchased them, and
he went to camp in it.
One Saturday night a young man of stentorian voice, wearing classical
shell-rimmed glasses, appeared at a prominent down-town corner, mounted
a soap-box and shouted, “Step closer, gentlemen. I have no bombs, no
T. N. T., no lyddite, no dynamite or powder explosives of any kind.
Step closer though and I’ll treat you to some talk-bombs.” In the
vanguard of those who stepped closer were two A. P. L. operatives.
Five minutes later the orator, Herbert Blank, alias Herbert C——,
deserter from the British army, was registered at the county jail. The
shell-rimmed glasses and his predilection to Bolsheviki oratory had
proved his downfall. They had been mentioned in a bulletin asking his
apprehension, sent out from Chicago headquarters of the Department of
Justice and received that morning in Minneapolis headquarters.
The leading man of the theatrical company which scored the biggest
hit of any troupe playing Minneapolis last winter applied his cold
cream and other theatrical embellishments for his Saturday matinee
performance under the eyes of an A. P. L. operative whilst he confessed
to the operative that it was quite possible that he should have
registered for the draft, although he had not. At the request of the
New York A. P. L. headquarters, this man was examined, and although he
carried with him a sworn statement from his father to the effect that
he had been born prior to June 5, 1886, coöperation with the Toledo
A. P. L. had developed evidence that this was not true. Before the
interview was concluded, ample evidence was secured to warrant the
arrest of the actor, but his role was so prominent and there was such
a certainty that the company would be compelled to cancel all of its
engagements with distinct losses to all its members, that mercy was
shown and he was allowed to continue the performance until such a time
as his draft status could be adjusted. For several weeks, during the
travels of the company, he was compelled to report daily at the offices
of the U. S. Department of Justice in the various cities visited.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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