The original Mr. S——, who had acted as a voucher for P——, had stated that he could get money to the enemy, through the War Department. His father had stock in a concern which was taken over by our Alien Enemy Custodian. The not very mysterious Mr. P—— removed during June, 1918, leaving New York without notifying the Chief of Police, as is required. He was located doing business in an office in down-town New York City as a broker, although his name was not listed in the telephone directory. He was apparently trading under the name of L. P. & Company. The A. P. L. has found that his mother is living in Germany and is reported to be wealthy. P—— has pretended that he was a traveling salesman, which he was not. He endeavored to avoid meeting people whom he knew while residing in northern New Jersey. His residence was located in another state.

This case also shows how much sometimes may be discovered by way of a tangled skein, even if no one is shot at sunrise. Mr. S—— was visited at his office by an A. P. L. man, who did not make himself known. He was very much exercised over the fact that the place of his business was known. He requested that his personal and business relations should not be linked up together. Mr. P—— is still in business in New York, no doubt waiting for the next war.

Northern New Jersey was the field for many reports of mysterious signal lights along the seacoast. Most of these stories had small foundation, but at least one of these would have come to something had not the Armistice cut off the investigation. In this case, operators were sometimes out for hours watching for the flashlights, and once a squad of military reserves lay on watch practically all night around a suspect’s house. They discovered night signaling with a search-light and calcium-light at different places over the Northeastern part of Bergen County, and there seemed to be evidence of a system of signaling extending from the Hudson River in New Jersey, across Bergen County up into the Ramapo Mountains and the Greenwood Lake district in New York. The observers used surveying transits for spotting the lights, and by means of this instrument, were able to obtain the angles of the lights. These angles were then plotted, and the intersection points gave approximately the location of the light. This work resulted in the location of three individuals, but at about this time the Armistice ended the signals and the apparent necessity for watching them. There had been discovered, however, some real foundation for a signal light scare in this district.

Ridgewood had another strange case—a German who claimed to be so sick that he could not live long—who wanted to go back home in order to die in the dear old Fatherland. Medical examination showed that he probably would die sometime, but the A. P. L. examination led to the refusal of his passports, it being believed that he might carry something to Germany besides fatal disease.

Newark, the capital of Northern New Jersey Division, had a very baffling pro-German case where it was difficult to find anything on which a legal prosecution could be brought. The facts were such as resulted in the social ostracism of the family, so that their disloyalty, after all, had a certain punishment, although it did not fit the crime. H—— and his wife were members of a Presbyterian Church, and were so openly pro-German that everybody ceased to have anything to do with them. At a luncheon given at the H—— household the favors distributed to a dozen ladies consisted of nice pictures of Kaiser Wilhelm. One of the guests then suggested that it would be a nice thing to sing the Star Spangled Banner, which did not please Mrs. H—— at all. The head of this household was educated in Germany, and married a German woman whose relatives were high in the German army. They had a daughter who was engaged to an American, but the latter broke off the engagement on account of the pro-Germanism of the H—— family. The social ostracism really amounted to isolation, so that it was impossible to hear of any disloyal utterances which would warrant governmental action, nor indeed any utterances at all. The town was through with them.

Northern New Jersey probably has the laziest slacker in the world. His name is M——, and at one time he resided in New York. He had an Emergency Fleet classification card, but only worked two or three days out of the week and spent most of his time at home in bed. He thought he would rather go South where the climate was better. He was rated as so lazy that he was shifted from one government job to another—and that certainly is going some, in view of what is sometimes done in government service. He was so lazy that he used to go to bed with his shoes on, and would leave his light burning all night because he was too tired to put it out. This champion rester carried a registration card, but he had been given limited service on account of calloused feet. From the description of him, it is difficult to see how his feet got calloused; but at least that is what the report says.

New Jersey had a very blood-curdling citizen who dwelt in Newark under the name of H. B——. He carried an American name although he was born in Italy about forty-two years ago. He came to America thirty years ago, when he was a small boy, in order to escape punishment for having killed a priest. He never dared to return to Italy, but remained an alien in this country and an enemy to about everything going. He was a very ardent I. W. W. man, and declared that there were enough I. W. W. men in the Army and outside to blow up the country if they liked,—a very good example of the flourishing Bolshevik element in America. Mr. B—— claimed that he had stabbed a detective in Providence, R. I., a year or so ago during an I. W. W. celebration; hence he did not like to visit Providence either. He told how in another place he had cut out a man’s intestines, and when asked if the man died, remarked: “What in hell do you suppose I am here for?” This pleasant gentleman often went to Paterson and New York to attend I. W. W. meetings there. He hoped that “every —— —— soldier the U. S. sent over would be blown up by submarines and drowned like rats, and that if any did get across, he hoped the Germans would choke or shoot them to death.” He said he would like to get his fingers on President Wilson’s throat. It was his pleasant practice to tear American flags from the coats of persons wearing them. His home was searched, and some clock-works were found without any dials and hands, such as have been known to be used with bombs. It seems that nothing was done with the bloodthirsty Mr. B—— after all, and he is still at large.

In so complex an office as that of the Northern New Jersey Division, which much resembles that of New York City, Newark alone cleared over 9,013 cases, of which twenty-five per cent were for the War Department, forty-five per cent for the Department of Justice, other divisions of A. P. L. work fifteen per cent, and original cases with New Jersey A. P. L. fifteen per cent. Most of this work was for D. J., but there was much coöperation with officers from Naval and Military Intelligence, not to mention the local boards. This great division has a tangible record of 4,563 cases of the second class, those handled entirely in local units, making a total of 13,576 cases sufficiently definite in character to warrant a record. As to the actual investigations, recorded and unrecorded, they would without question bring up the total of northern New Jersey cases above 30,000. They were from every point of the compass and of every color of the rainbow.

CHAPTER V
THE STORY OF PITTSBURGH

Another Storm Center—Greatest Concentration of War Work in the United States—The Tower of Babel and How it was Held Safe—No I. W. W. Need Apply.