New Haven, Connecticut, might very well have been a seat of trouble, but appears to have pursued the usually even tenor of her way, sending her young men out in hundreds to fight the country’s battles, and making very little fuss about it. The division took part in five minor slacker raids, in which the men gave satisfactory account of themselves, working closely in touch with the Department of Justice and the Military Intelligence, especially in the matter of protection of the large munition factories against sabotage. New Haven is one of the great American centers for the making of firearms, and that there has been no serious trouble there is a matter of congratulation. There were 226 investigations made for the War Department, each investigation necessitating interviews with at least three persons. The organization at New Haven was quiet, even tempered, and strictly efficient, a fine example in a state which was very strong in its A. P. L. organizations.
New London, Connecticut, besides routine activities, had one case which involved the trailing of a count, a princess, a Russian banker, a Greek candy manufacturer, and a prize-fighter, besides a person described as a “male,” but who proved to be a young lady in a well-known local family. With these ingredients as preliminary, it might almost be sufficient to tell any reader to write his own ticket—and indeed the case is not yet closed. It will probably turn out to be one of American Bolshevism. The Chief says there is enough in this for a good movie scenario. As much might be said for another pro-German case in which the beautiful and accomplished suspect was followed by D. J. men, who installed a dictograph in her hotel apartments. This case also had to do with a draft of $14,000 traced from Montreal to a New York bank, through which British Secret Service men discovered a paymaster of German spies in this country. This woman met several Army and Navy officers in the course of her travels along three-fourths of the Atlantic Coast. It is most disappointing to have the Chief add: “We are unable to disclose for publication any further facts at this date.”
New London had a number of special investigations, some of them interesting, others ludicrous. One of the latter was Case No. 245, Subject “Mysterious Flashes.” A woman residing on the shore reported mysterious flashlights, intermittent, but long continued. She was sure of nothing less than a German invasion. An operative was put on the case and worked five hours one night. He found a mysterious man walking up and down the beach. He had an electric torch which he flashed here and there, muttering to himself the while, and now and then putting something in his pocket. Summoning all his nerve, the operative cried: “Halt! Who goes there?” Inquiry proved that the man was in sailor garb. When questioned as to the nature of his mysterious actions, he replied: “I am catching nightcrawlers for fishing. I want to get some eels for my breakfast.”
Mystic Village, Connecticut, furnished another scare of the same variety. Near the village is a hill, known as Lantern Hill since Colonial days, because it is a convenient signal post. Stories got out about mysterious lights on Lantern Hill. On one clear night the investigators saw what seemed to be unmistakable signalling. The light was brilliant and changed in color from green to red. State and Naval authorities resolved to look into the matter, and it was arranged that on a given night patrols of naval reservists from the submarine base and detachments of the Home Guard should surround the hill, while forces of the Guard were to patrol the shores of the sound to catch sight of any answering signals from the sea. The patrols were duly set, and, sure enough, the light began to show as brilliant and mysterious as could be asked. It seemed to swing at an altitude of about two hundred feet above the woods. It occurred to one of the naval officers on watch that with the aid of his powerful night glass and a convenient perpendicular presented by the side of the barn, he might triangulate the position of the light. He had not been at this very long when he broke out into laughter and announced that what they had taken to be a mysterious light was only a star rendered abnormally brilliant by the refractive effect of the damp night air. Its later disappearances were accounted for by the later rise in altitude, when of course the light would cease to be distinguishable from others of like altitude. Taking it all in all, this about finished the cases of the many mystic lights which were reported from time to time.
Litchfield, Connecticut, up near the stern and rockbound coast, offers a good example of sober-going loyalty. There were only fifty-one cases of seditious talk and twenty of propaganda, whereas the selective service regulation involved 734 cases.
Ansonia, Connecticut, was honored by the presence of a Russian Soviet Society called the “Society Lunch,” which had regular meetings and was organizing other societies in nearby towns. Sometimes this society would get a speaker from the outside, such as the editor of the Russian Voice, published in New York. The city of Ansonia did not like these things, inasmuch as they tended to promote anarchy and foster revolution. The division had one of its operatives among the membership, he having joined the society for the purpose of reporting on its activities. What the society did became henceforth a matter of interest not only to its membership, but also to the local body of A. P. L. vigilantes.
The Chief of Norwalk, Connecticut, worked in close touch with the police of his city and was on the lookout for the various alien enemies reported from headquarters. He says: “No alien enemy actually apprehended in my district. The only way we can account for it is that they were afraid to come here.”
Essex, Connecticut, says something which will meet general agreement: “We firmly believe that the A. P. L. has done an inestimable work in the protection of our country. Every man in this division is glad of the opportunity afforded to be enrolled as an A. P. L. member.”
MASSACHUSETTS
Springfield, Mass., had only nineteen members in its division. That we may know the nature of the League membership as a whole, let us look at the qualifications of these nineteen men. They included a lawyer, a physician, a broker, a private secretary, a social service worker, an advertising manager, a college president, a bank president, a furniture buyer, a merchant, a superintendent of the Bradstreet Company, a traveling salesman, a life insurance agent, a masseur, a surgeon, a musician, a shipping foreman, a bank teller and a high school teacher. The work of the Springfield division had to do largely with character and loyalty investigations, which ran all the way from nobody at all to a bishop in the Episcopal Church. Some male and female applicants for Y. M. C. A., K. of C. and Red Cross were found unfit “either because of immoralities or bad habits.” Once in a while a case of disloyalty and sedition came up which would cause a smile. An applicant for a commission whose father was a Belgian and whose mother was a German was investigated and was found to be a loyal American. When questioned, he said he was for the United States of America, but that “father would never forgive mother for the invasion of Belgium.”