“Through Adams’ efforts Ruroede and four Germans, one of them an
officer in the German reserves, were arrested on January 2, on the
Scandinavian-American liner _Bergensfjord_ outward bound to Bergen,
Norway. They had passports issued through Adams at Ruroede’s request
under the American names of Howard Paul Wright, Herbert S. Wilson,
Peter Hanson and Stanley F. Martin.
“Von Wedell himself was a passenger on the _Bergensfjord_, but when he
was lined up with the other passengers, the Federal agents, who did
not have a description of him, missed him and left the vessel. He was
later (January 11) taken off the ship by the British, however, and
transferred to another vessel for removal to a prison camp. She struck
a German mine and sank, and von Wedell is supposed to have drowned.”
An explicit letter from von Wedell to von Bernstorff dispelled any
possibility of doubt that the German Ambassador was fully cognizant of
the false passport frauds.
“Ruroede was sentenced to three years in Atlanta prison. The four
reservists, pleading guilty, protested they had taken the passports out
of patriotism and were fined $200 each.
“The arrest of Ruroede exposed the New York bureau, and made it
necessary for the Germans to shift their base of operations, but did
not put an end to the fraudulent passport conspiracy. Capt. Boy-Ed
assumed the burden, and hired men to secure passports for him.”
But the increased vigilance and thoroughness of the British reduced
this service to a negligible quantity before the entrance of the United
States into the war squelched it entirely.
[Illustration:
© _Underwood and Underwood._