THE STORY OF ST. LOUIS
How the Pro-German Was Kept Mild—Sober and Well-Considered
Methods—A Big Secret Code Puzzle—Business As Usual.
The summaries for St. Louis tell the same story of patient and
indefatigable loyalty, resolved to hold America strictly American. The
St. Louis story is modest, straightforward and convincing. It is given
in substance as written by the Chief, Mr. G. H. Walker.
The St. Louis division was organized on April 3, 1917. The initial
organization was composed of sixteen companies, organized each under
a captain and lieutenants, divided into professional, commercial and
industrial groups, so as to embrace all fields of activity. Only
dependable and loyal men were taken into these companies, which ranged
in size numerically from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five each. The
business and financial interests of St. Louis responded generously to
the plan and made possible the marked success that always attended the
division.
Captains, lieutenants and operatives from the outset were required
only to use their eyes and ears and to send in their reports, through
their appropriate superiors, to Mr. G. H. Walker, the Chief of the
division, who in turn submitted such reports to the Special Agent in
Charge, Department of Justice, at St. Louis. It became evident in
the summer months of 1917, from the increasing number and variety of
reports sent in, that the facilities of the Bureau of Investigation
were wholly inadequate, and that the investigating forces of the Bureau
would require enlargement unless the St. Louis Division of the American
Protective League itself undertook active investigation of its reports,
thus relieving the Bureau to that extent. It was the same old story of
the breaking down of a most important branch of the Government, and the
prompt, patriotic rallying of our American citizens in support.
The decision was made, involving the opening of a suite of offices
and the enrollment of a number of competent volunteers who could give
their time to this work. Concurrently with making this decision, which
meant so much more work, the St. Louis division undertook the formation
of a geographic organization distinct from the company organizations,
members of which were not only required to report all matters of
interest through immediate superiors, but were also called upon from
time to time for auxiliary investigation work in their respective
neighborhoods. The district organization embraced twenty geographical
divisions within St. Louis proper, there being from twenty-five to
fifty operatives in each division, all of them responsible to a deputy
inspector, who in turn was responsible to an inspector presiding over
four districts. Four districts constituted a zone. St. Louis County, on
the west, was similarly organized, as were East St. Louis and adjoining
towns and villages in Illinois. In the summer of 1918, East St. Louis
and considerable adjacent territory were separated from the St. Louis
division and created into a distinct division, continuing, however, in
close coöperation with the St. Louis division.
The increasing volume of work out of St. Louis headquarters required
the active services of approximately fifty operatives, most of whom had
abandoned their personal pursuits and were giving their entire time to
the work of the League. In addition, two hundred and fifty men in the
district organization were being called upon, more or less regularly,
to undertake active investigations with respect to matters arising in
their respective neighborhoods. The personnel of the organization was
made up of loyal and self-sacrificing citizens in all walks of life.
Much excellent service was rendered in investigations made at night by
those who were unable to devote other time to the work. Each man did
what he could.
Cases of intense and varying interest were arising daily to sustain
the zeal of this large body of volunteers. One of the most interesting
involved a letter, mailed in St. Louis March 17, 1917, to “Mr. W.
Bernkong, Berlin, Germany,” which found its way into the St. Louis
headquarters and which appeared to be a code letter written in Greek
characters and words. An inspection of this, and a close following
through of the case in all the hands it reached, will give a reader
some idea of the uncanny sureness of the United States government
experts in deciphering any sort of blind communication that may come
before them.
The average unskilled person could make little out of the original
letter, which was worse than Greek. Interest in this puzzle deepened
when it was discovered that, although written in Greek characters,
Greek scholars to whom it was submitted were unable to translate it.
It was ultimately sent to the War College in Washington, that House of
Mystery, which in due time returned a German translation, revealing the
fact that Greek letters had been adapted to the formation of German
words. It might still have remained possible for the real secret of
the letter to have been concealed in an unknown code—as one may learn
by reference to the brief mention of ciphers and codes in an earlier
chapter (See “Arts of the Operatives”). Therefore, a first-class
mystery story, indeed the best detective story of all those the League
chiefs have sent in, still remains for any wise doctor who can solve
it. It is easier to write a “detective story” than it is to read a
cipher and double code, because a story-writer knows his own answer,
whereas in the other case, no one knows the real answer.
This letter had been stopped in transit in France a few days after the
entrance of the United States into the Great War. There seemed to be
some small hope of finding a clue to the author through advertising
it as an undelivered letter. While this plan was under contemplation,
however, a report reached headquarters, from an operative, to the
effect that while soliciting Y. M. C. A. subscriptions in a St. Louis
office building late at night, he had surprised a citizen of German
origin, alone in his office, who appeared to be attempting to decipher
a letter with the aid of two books, seemingly code books.
The letter was then advertised and two operatives were assigned to
watch the appropriate window at the General Post Office. After a week’s
vigil, the clerk in charge beckoned to the operatives and pointed
to the retreating figure of a woman of small stature, almost wholly
enveloped in a black shawl, and informed them that she had inquired for
the Bernkong letter. She had said that she was not the author but would
be glad to pay any additional postage necessary to send it on its way.
In the course of this explanation the woman had left the building and
was lost in the crowd on the street. It therefore became necessary to
continue the surveillance at the Post Office in the hope of the woman’s
return. Within a week she did reappear, late in the afternoon, and
inquired for mail under the name of a Catholic Sister. It was learned
that she had been receiving mail under this name for a considerable
length of time. She was followed for a number of blocks and was seen to
enter a large institution conducted as a girls’ rooming house.
A woman operative of the St. Louis Division, American Protective
League, that night, carrying a suit case, applied at the institution
for a room, explaining that she had just arrived from a nearby city.
She had a detailed description of the woman, but for a period of more
than three weeks she was unable to find anybody in the place fitting
the description. This woman operative was then also assigned to the
Post Office, where, in due time, the woman reappeared.
The operative followed her to the institution, entering the door only
a few moments behind her, and saw her enter a room on the second
floor. A few minutes later the woman operative was surprised to see
the suspect leave her room, wholly changed in appearance, the black
shawl having been replaced by a dark sack suit and a black sailor hat.
As the woman had that afternoon received a letter at the Post Office,
it was suspected that, as a go-between, she would deliver this letter
to some one. She left the building and boarded a street car. The woman
operative entered a waiting automobile and followed. Again the mystery
woman proved too elusive. The next morning the woman operative was up
and on guard before daybreak and was enabled to trail the woman to a
business establishment, where, it was learned, she was employed in
clerical work. She was again dressed in the sack suit and black sailor
hat, and apparently assumed the habit of a nun only upon inquiring at
the Post Office for mail.
The most thorough inquiries failed to reveal any additional evidence
indicating this woman’s connection with enemy activities, or solve the
dual character she was impersonating. It was ultimately determined to
take her to the Bureau, where she might be thoroughly interrogated,
which was done. Her explanations were simple but unsatisfying. However,
there was no violation of the law with which she could be charged,
and it was necessary to permit her to go. She moved to another hotel
where the St. Louis division continued to keep her under surveillance,
without, however, throwing any further light upon the mysterious
letter. Other apparent clues were likewise run down in vain.
The letter bears every evidence of having been a serious attempt to
communicate information of more or less value to the enemy and appears
to permit of further decoding through the use of some additional
cipher. It is by no means sure that the ultimate code for it will not
be found by some expert government man in Washington. The world little
knows what marvels of unraveling secrets is done in the Intelligence
work of the Government. Always the battle goes on between those trying
to make codes that cannot be read by an outsider and those who say
they can master any code if given time. In any case, here is a fine
detective story.
Little or no successful attempt was made by St. Louis Division to keep
the organization’s work a secret, and in a center so large, that always
is a moot question. In the first place, any large operations, like
raids and drives cannot be kept secret, and in the second place, the
fear created by the thought of hidden regulators has proved a valuable
deterrent, as has been shown countless times. In any case, months ago
the local press was “playing up” the League in many stories that named
it very frankly. Since that is true, some of the anecdotes collected
may be given here.
A St. Louis German, with the boastfulness which fortunately offsets
much of the cunning and industry of his species, bragged to his
sweetheart that he was a member of the Imperial German Secret Service.
Perhaps he showed her the card which German spies are not supposed to
show. She, very proud, confided to a friend her lover’s distinction.
The friend went to one of the local officials of the American
Protective League. She had four brothers in the service, three in the
Army and one in the Navy, and said that if there was a German spy
in the city the authorities should know it. Unfortunately, she had
forgotten the man’s name. The man’s room was raided, and evidence was
unearthed that he was not only an unregistered enemy alien, but indeed
a German spy. In his trunk were found firearms of the German army. He
was promptly interned. Perhaps no sweetheart should have a spy, and
certainly no spy should have a sweetheart.
A German who predicted the defeat of the Allies before the United
States entered the war, persisted in his harangues afterwards, until a
League operative went to the bank where he worked. The man’s dismissal
resulted. He continued at times to return to the bank, assailing some
of the young women clerks with abuse and threats because of their
loyalty to America. He was arrested for violating his zone permit,
which the United States Marshal had revoked when the bank’s notice of
his dismissal was filed. Later he was interned.
One night a party from the Naval recruiting office in St. Louis was
seeking enlistments at a West End theater. Moving pictures were thrown
on a screen and an officer made a speech, in which he declared: “The
Germans went through Belgium and France like barbarians.” A stout,
well-dressed man in the audience exploded: “That’s a damned lie!”
Two sailors with revolvers sprang for him over the footlights, but
the first to reach him were two members of the League, who, although
they had gone to the theater only for amusement, had not forgotten
their duties. After a sharp tussle the disturber was overpowered. He
protested indignantly that he was an American citizen, but refused
stubbornly to give any other information about himself. Borrowing an
automobile, the League operatives and sailors took him to a police
station and notified the Federal authorities. Search of the prisoner’s
effects showed that he was an unnaturalized German subject, though he
had lived in the United States for fourteen years. He was interned for
the duration of the war. Of such is the glorious Kingdom of Deutschland.
A client went to the office of his attorney, and after their business
was concluded, tarried for a chat, in which he dropped the information
that he had heard a pro-German say: “Every American child should have
its neck wrung as soon as it is born. The German army could rule
the United States better than Wilson—and it will, too.” The lawyer
obtained from him the name and address of the offender, and the names
of witnesses who heard his remarks. After the client had gone, the
attorney, being a member of the League, made out a report on a blank
form supplied by the Department of Justice, and sent it to the Captain
of his company, signing it with his number. The lawyer’s duty ended
here, for he belonged to one of the occupational units and was pledged
to give information but not to investigate. The Captain took the report
to League headquarters, where the officials approved it and sent it to
the local office of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Information.
It was O. K.’d there as a matter worth looking into, whereupon the
League called upon its other arm, the investigators. They went out to
obtain affidavits to corroborate the hearsay information first turned
in by the lawyer. In this roundabout way was secured evidence to be
placed before the Attorney General. You can never tell, even if you are
a pro-German and have to spill over, when you are also going to spill,
upset or overturn the legumes known in common parlance as the beans.
A naturalization department was organized on the initiative of the
St. Louis office, which was followed in other divisions. On May 18,
Congress repealed the law prohibiting the naturalization of aliens
if they had filed declarations of intention not less than two or
more than seven years before the United States entered the war. That
is, citizenship was possible under these conditions, providing the
applicant established his good moral character, his attachment to
the Constitution, his belief in organized government, his ability to
speak English and the genuineness of his wish to become a citizen and
renounce forever all allegiance to any foreign Power. About eight
hundred persons in the St. Louis district, according to local press
data, sought to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the new
law. Their applications called for a thorough investigation in each
case. This work the League volunteered to take off the shoulders of the
Bureau of Naturalization. The inquiries put in the questionnaire are
interesting as official tests of loyalty. The most important of them
are as follows:
Has applicant affiliated himself directly or indirectly with any
organization or propaganda in any way opposed to the position
taken by the United States in regard to the war, or with known or
suspected agents of the enemy?
Has applicant at any time expressed his approval of (a) the
invasion of France and Belgium? (b) the sinking of the Lusitania?
and (c) the general conduct of the war by Germany? If so, when,
where and in whose hearing?
Has applicant been opposed to (a) the United States’ entry into
the war? (b) acts of the United States in conducting the war (c)
shipping munitions to France and England? (d) the draft? (e)
Liberty loans?
Can all the foreign-born or foreign-descended citizens of the United
States swear before God that they are fit to gain or to retain their
citizenship under a test like that?
A St. Louis journal, in commenting on the work of the American
Protective League in that city, gave a rather interesting summary of
the growth of the espionage idea in the United States, for which place
not inappropriately may be found here.
The dangers that hung upon the flanks of the nation, the adroit
moves of detective forces which set at naught the plotters, and
the manner and means adopted to nip in the bud the creeping plans
of Pan-Germanism, is one of the most fascinating and in many
respects one of the most thrilling chapters in the recital of
America’s first months in the great war.
Previous to the Civil War, the United States had no secret
service. It came into being when reports were brought to Samuel
H. Felton, president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad, that President Lincoln would be assassinated
while traveling by special train from the West to his inaugural
at Washington. Felton sent for Allan Pinkerton, who was then
conducting a small detective agency in Chicago. It is interesting
to note that Pinkerton, in taking the task of protecting Lincoln’s
life, outlined the method which is the keynote of the secret
service system. In describing the work he wrote: “I resolved to
locate my men at the various towns along the road where it was
believed dissatisfaction existed. I sent the men to their posts
with instructions to become acquainted with such men as they
might, on observation, consider suspicious, and endeavor to obtain
from them, by association, a knowledge of their intentions.”
Later, Pinkerton, under the name of “Maj. E. J. Allen,” directed
the intelligence department of Gen. McClellan’s Ohio army.
Brig. Gen. Lafayette C. Baker was the organizer of the military
secret service that performed the detective duty of the Civil War.
At the outbreak of hostilities, a national detective bureau was
an idea entirely new, and was regarded as contrary to republican
institutions. The service went out of existence with the close of
the war.
The present day Secret Service, proper, is a division of the
Treasury Department. It was created at the time “shin plasters”
were in existence and counterfeiting thereof had become general.
Its duty at the outset was to run down counterfeiters, but later
its duties were somewhat broadened, and in recent years it has
been intrusted with the safety of the President.
In April of this year, the United States had at its command
(besides M. I. D. and Naval Intelligence) the Secret Service, the
investigators of the Department of Justice, the Immigration Bureau
inspectors and the inspectors of the Post Office Department. These
organizations for the detention of criminals are now working in
close harmony against the common enemy.
With these agencies also worked the American Protective League,
regarding which this comment was printed and should be reprinted:
It is no exaggeration to say that the American business men who
conceived the plan and who to-day constitute the myriad meshes in
the spy net cast over America, have accomplished a feat which, for
efficiency, for secrecy, for loyalty and patriotism has never been
equaled or approached by the men of any nation since time began.
The St. Louis division embraced a membership of 3,000 operatives,
the large majority of whom made up the listening and reporting
organization. The number and variety of cases developed and
investigated are as follows: Alien enemy activities, 225; Espionage
Act cases, 1,142; sabotage, 11; anti-military activities, 15; printed
propaganda, 1,741; I. W. W., including pacifism, 48; bribery, graft,
etc., 45; impersonation, 2; naturalization, 600; counter-espionage,
53; draft cases, 7,075; character and loyalty investigations, 589;
liquor cases, 49; vice, 26; wireless cases, 52; profiteering, 80;
miscellaneous, 256.
The credit for the patient and self-sacrificing labors required
in this large volume of work is due not only to the patriotism
and fidelity of the listening and reporting force and to those
operatives who devoted their time to work of investigation, but also
to conscientious coöperation of the district organizations and their
deputies and inspectors. Sharing with these must be remembered, on
the silent roll of honor, all those deputy chiefs in charge of the
respective departments at headquarters under the immediate direction of
their Chief, who must stand for all.