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
The first suspect was a German who had changed the spelling of his
name. Outer appearances were in his favor. He resided in a good part
of Seattle, in a good bungalow, and showed all the insignia of the Red
Cross, Liberty Loans, etc., in his windows. He was unassuming in his
manner and openly talked patriotism. However, as the case proceeded,
it was found that he associated with a domestic of a citizen, and that
this domestic collected Canadian bills and sent them to Canada. Tracing
this clue, the suspect C—— was found to have come from Canada where he
had been interned. He had made his escape and come to the United States
without permission. He had a covert postoffice box in the name of Joe
M—— (his real German name was K——), and he had been an alien enemy
agent of Germany. He was arrested by an A. P. L. man, brought before
Federal officials and later was interned for the period of the war.
In the possession of this man there was found a long list of names of
Germans, all of whom were afterwards found to have served in the German
Army, but who were now corporals or privates in the American Army.
These men were stationed mostly in forts on Puget Sound. Through these
men, C—— had a well established system leading into the Navy Yard of
Puget Sound and the forts protecting the harbors. There was taken into
custody a photographer, T——, who had in his possession photographs of
nearly everything in and about Fort Worden. T——, who was associated
with C—— in some manner, was given a hearing and released on ten
thousand dollars bail. The money was immediately put up by Germans then
under suspicion at Fort Townsend. At about this time, T——’s house took
fire and burned down. One trunk was saved, of which he quickly took
charge when released on bail. There were other arrests made in this
case, regarding the final issue of which nothing can be said at this
writing. So much at least for the gentle and unassuming Mr. C——, quiet
citizen.
Seattle had another case which ended in an internment, that of Gus
S——, whose story is succinctly covered in the words of the Seattle
Chief:
Early in January, 1918, our organization was requested by the
Department of Justice to get a line on one Gus S——, generally
believed to be a German who worked along the water front
dismantling boats and storing the material, which he afterwards
sold for junk. Operatives H—— and B—— were detailed on this
case, and confirming the suspicions of the authorities, it was
established that S—— had a cache in a remote district of the Sound
where he buried the stolen articles until they had accumulated in
sufficient quantity that he could sell them wholesale.
It was found that he had four points established on the Sound as
headquarters; one of them situated about forty miles north of
Seattle where he could dodge in and out among the numerous islands
on the Sound and evade the authorities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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