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 young woman owned the _Agassiz_, but had not been able to make much
money out of it, and so sold it to one Fritz B——, once a German naval
reservist and for a time chief officer on a German ship interned at
Santa Rosalia. At another period in his career he had been interned
at Angel Island as an alien enemy. At any rate, he made his way to
Santa Rosalia, and thence to Matzatlan, where he got in touch with the
German Consul. B—— was sent to Mexico City for a conference with the
German Ambassador there. There were Germans from all parts of Mexico
who appeared at that meeting. When B—— came back, he sought out the
acquaintance of the young woman who owned the boat and induced her to
sell it to him. The boat then was hauled out and thoroughly overhauled
by German sailors who had arrived from the fleet of German ships
at Santa Rosalia. The hull was calked, new sails were bent on, the
machinery was overhauled, and in general the boat was made ready for
her career as a raider.
In the meantime B—— obtained full armament and instruments for his
ship. He had some of his arms on an island seven miles northwest
of Matzatlan, but the rest of the equipment was taken aboard the
_Agassiz_. This was carried on openly and the news got out to the
American Patrol Fleet. A cruiser put in an appearance off the mouth of
Matzatlan Harbor. Hence, instead of sailing out with a crew of twenty
Germans, only five Germans were put aboard the _Agassiz_, with two
American women and six Mexicans. B—— figured that the boat would be
taken as a harmless trader and allowed to go out. He guessed wrong. The
_Agassiz_ made a dash for the open sea. But by this time wireless had
brought up two other American warships. They closed in on the incipient
raider and signaled her to heave to. Not being obeyed, they planted a
shell in front of the raider’s bow, which brought her up.
Before the naval men could get aboard the _Agassiz_, her crew worked as
hard as they could to throw overboard everything of an incriminating
nature. They also tried to wreck the engine and destroy the bearings
in the magneto. The blue-jackets found some rifles and revolvers, some
German flags and a secret cipher. From the papers it was learned that
B—— was in hiding at Venados Island. This was on Mexican soil, so he
could not be seized.
It was learned that the German Consul at Matzatlan had forced all the
crew to take the oath of allegiance to the Kaiser. He had instructed
B—— to capture speedier boats, and after raiding Pacific shipping to
work the Southern Pacific, thence to go by the west coast of Africa
and north on a dash for some German port, so that he might send to
Wilhelmstrasse—Germany’s Scotland Yard—the package of papers entrusted
to him by the Mexican German ambassador.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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