Mr. Hans D——, a German waiter in Boston, belonged to a German club where considerable advance news of German operations circulated. Mr. D—— said he sent money to Germany; said that Germany would win the war; drank to the health of the Kaiser on hearing that an American ship had been torpedoed. In short, Mr. D—— ran quite true to form in all ways. A photograph was found which looked like him in a German uniform—he must have been a German officer, because they found in his possession a half dozen spoons which he had stolen in New England, in default of better opportunity in Belgium. At least he was prosecuted for larceny and was fined $15.00. Later his reputation was found to be so bad as a propagandist that he was interned on a presidential warrant.
It occurred to the fertile brain of Mr. Julius Bongraber that a varied spelling of his name might prove useful to him in times of draft. Sometimes he wrote his name as Graber, sometimes as Van Graber, and sometimes as Julius V. Gaber. His classification card named him as G. V. Gaber. When interrogated as to all these matters, he admitted that the initial “G” ought to have been “Y,” because that was the way Yulius was pronounced, anyhow, in his country. At the same time he left a card over his door signed J. V. Gaber. He declared that he was a German, also an Austrian, also a neutral, but had sympathies with Russia. To others he said that his name was Von Gaber; that he was an alien, but would go where he liked. He had taken out first citizenship papers, but had registered for return with the Austria-Hungarian Consul. A. P. L. got this multifold party on the carpet, but on his statement that he intended to go to New York, the prosecution seems to have been dropped, although the dossier was forwarded to New York after him.
There was a draft evader in Boston by the name of R——, who did not file his questionnaire. He was found at his home by an agent of A. P. L. and agreed to accompany the latter. It was the intention of the operative to turn over his man to a policeman, but policemen seemed to be rare in Boston, for in two miles not one was sighted. The draft evader then evaded yet more, and was not found for several days thereafter. The man’s mother, however, when found, averred she had not seen her son for two months. A plain patriotic talk was made to her with the result that after a while, she found the said son and turned him over to the authorities for service in the army.
Boston Division in one case revoked the credentials which it had issued to an operative. The man’s name was Oscar F——, and the position seemed to go to his head. He took to borrowing money right and left, once getting as high as fifty dollars on a touch of one of the special agents. He admitted that he was probably the best secret service agent in the country, and told people he was getting $3,000 a year and expenses. After that he usually touched his listener for $5.00. Oscar was doing well until they let him out. His name ended in “ski.”
Boston, being near the Northern seaboard, heard of a good many cases of mysterious light signals. One operative in the Lynn district was sure he had seen dots and dashes coming across the bay at night in the approved fashion of mysterious night signals. They put a telegrapher on the case but he could not make out the message. At one o ’clock in the morning four tried men and true of the A. P. L. rowed out with muffled oars to an anchored yacht which seemed to be the place from which the light signals appeared. They found five pairs of feet pointing to the zenith. Calling upon the feet to surrender, they boarded the yacht and explanations followed. It appeared that the five yachtsmen had had a hard day’s sail and had decided to remain on board ship over night. The flashes of light which had so aroused the A. P. L. men were nothing more nor less than the reflection of a shore light on the glass of a porthole as the boat rolled and swayed in the ripples of the bay.
Next to mysterious signal lights, wireless stations have produced as many flivvers for the A. P. L. as anything else. Inspector T—— insisted that there was a house in his district which ought to be searched, because he was satisfied it had a wireless plant. As he had no proof, he could not obtain a search warrant. Mr. Endicott, at the office of the Food Administration, gave him a sugar warrant, stating that that would let him into the house, and that he might get some information. Inspector T—— went to the house with a club in one hand and the warrant in the other; searched the house from garret to basement, but found no wireless. While poking around in one of the corners, however, he did discover eighty pounds of sugar, which, being overweight, he promptly confiscated.
Soon after the forming of the A. P. L. in Boston, a man came in with a carrier pigeon which he was sure was a mysterious messenger of some sort. It was a beautiful white bird that had dark dots and dashes all over the inside of both wings. The chief was all wrought up about this and regretted that he had not been taught the Morse code in early life. He therefore took the man and the bird over to the office of Military Intelligence, where they unravel, decipher and decode all sorts of things. The Major in command was very cordial, and he also examined the bird carefully. In his belief the dots and dashes on the wings were of importance, but he could not quite read them all. He sent for the code expert of the Signal Corps. Who shall say that A. P. L. cannot run down any sort of clew? The code expert of the Signal Corps also examined the bird carefully, but at first could not make it out. Then he touched one of the dots with the point of his pencil. It turned out to be a perfectly good cootie, which still possessed powers of locomotion.
Throughout the war, New England was, always, one of the nerve centers of the United States. A great many munition factories were at work there day and night. The atmosphere was tense all the time; war was in the eyes and ears of the people. But let no man believe New England anything but American. Whatever her population to-day, her leadership is American and only American and always will be such. Boston and her environs, the entire state of Massachusetts, the entire section of New England, went into the war from the first word. No part of America is saner or safer; no part was better guided and guarded by local agencies of defense. A. P. L. was accepted as one of these, certainly not to the regret of any man concerned.
CHAPTER VII
THE STORY OF CLEVELAND
Astonishing Figures of A. P. L. Activities in a Great Manufacturing City—Sabotage, Bolshevism and Treason—I. W. W. and Kindred Radical Propaganda—The Saving of a City.