A Ruthless Tool of German Duplicity Fails Only Because He Trusted the
Wrong Man with His Secret
One of the most nefarious of the schemes formulated in Germany and
financed by the German government for operation in this country in
the period of our neutrality, and of which von Papen was aware, was
that which one Robert Fay undertook to carry out in 1915. This man had
invented an infernal machine, the purpose of which was to blow up ships
at sea to prevent the transportation of munitions and food supplies
from this country to France and England. The story was well told in the
_World’s Work_ after Fay and his accomplices had been jailed.
The device was a box containing forty pounds of trinitrotoluol, to
be fastened to the rudder post of a vessel, and so geared to the
rudder itself that its oscillations would slowly release the catch
of a spring, which would then drive home the firing pin and cause
an explosion that would instantly tear off the whole stern of the
ship, sinking it in midocean in a few minutes. Experts in mechanics
and experts in explosives and experts in shipbuilding all tested the
machine, and all agreed that it was perfect for the work which Fay had
planned that it should do.
[Illustration: The Hand-to-Hand Fight on Board the Destroyer _Broke_]
Fay had three of these machines completed, he had others in course
of construction, he had bought and tested the explosive to go into
them, he had cruised New York harbor in a motor boat and proved by
experience that he could attach them undetected where he wished, and
he had the names and sailing dates of the vessels that he meant to
sink without a trace. Only one little link that broke—and the quick
and thorough work of American justice—robbed him of another Iron Cross
besides the one he wore.