Part 7

Gupta, we observed, was harshly critical of Chakravarty. Let us see whether he was justified. Chakravarty said he had been commissioned to deal only with the broader propaganda. From captured reports which he transmitted through the German embassy as well as through the mails to Switzerland, he had been delegated to form a committee of five, with Ram Chandra as one of the other members, to handle Indian affairs here. They were to send an agent to the West Indies to stir up the Hindu coolies there, of whom there were estimated to be 100,000, and to send back to India all who would volunteer for revolution. The same policy was to be followed in British Guiana, Java, and Sumatra. From Ram Chandra’s _Ghadr_ press were to be issued reams of propaganda in the various Indian dialects for circulation throughout the East and West Indies, in Hindustan itself, and even for German aviators to drop upon Hindu troops in France. Chakravarty was to procure letters of introduction to parties in Japan which would assure a safe welcome to an emissary to be sent there to carry out what Gupta had failed to do, and an envoy was to be sent to China for a similar purpose. It was a broad program, and the doctor set to work immediately upon his return to organize his staff.

In all his work he had the coöperation of von Bernstorff and the embassy at Washington. Chakravarty organized a Pan-Asiatic League as a blind, so that Hindus posing as its members could travel without exciting suspicion. His work was somewhat handicapped in the early spring by an automobile accident which took him to the hospital, and by the seizure of the military attaché’s papers in von Igel’s office. He hired a Chinaman named Chin as the delegate to China, and shipped him off on a Greek vessel from New York. Referred by Berlin to Houssain, the spy in Trinidad, Chakravarty established contact with him, and supervised the formation of an organization there. In July Chakravarty started for a tour of the West, in the course of which he visited two disloyal Hindus in Vancouver and determined upon a plan of action for that section. Then he swung down to San Francisco, where he called upon Ram Chandra, the western head of the committee. He conferred with friendly agents of Japanese newspapers who proposed to attack the Anglo-Japanese treaty. He conferred with W. T. Wang, private secretary to the new president of China, as the secretary was leaving for Peking, and learned that “some of the prominent people are quite willing to help India directly and Germany indirectly--on three conditions, those conditions being a secret treaty with Germany for military protection, to last five years after peace had been declared, and to be secured by giving China one-tenth of all the arms and ammunition which she would undertake to smuggle across the Indian frontier.” By the late autumn of 1916 Chakravarty was acting as the master-wheel in a most elaborate and complicated machine for disturbing British rule in almost all of her colonial holdings, and it is safe to say that if the _Maverick_ affair had not roused shipping inspectors to unusual vigilance to prevent filibustering, the United States might have seen the bloody result of his work by March of 1917, when we arrested him. Even as it was, he was the general manager of a going concern.

It may be wondered how he was able to perfect an organization. The answer to that we found in Gupta’s safety deposit box--a list of two hundred or more members of an Indian society in the United States, a large proportion of whom were students in American colleges, sent here for education on scholarships, in the hope that they would return to their native country and uplift it. Some of them were influential agents, and they were scattered conveniently about the country. Add to this force the coöperation of almost innumerable German agents and pay it with a share of the $32,000,000 which Chakravarty said had been set aside in Berlin for anarchistic, race-riot and Hindu propaganda in the western world, and you have a real factor for trouble. It is perhaps surprising that the organization worked undiscovered as long as it did, but it is more surprising that having worked under cover for more than fourteen months it did not break out into a grave demonstration. Chakravarty’s arrest, however, came in time, and the authorities were on the whole satisfied that so much time had elapsed because it gave them more clues to work on and a larger group to round up.

And Chakravarty himself was pleased, I think. When he confessed his trip to Berlin, he was on the horns of a dilemma, for he feared the British would revenge themselves on him. I assured him that he would be protected as an American prisoner. He said, “Well, if I tell you about what I have done for the Germans, and they hear about it, they will kill me. And in any case my own people will kill me. You don’t know them!” I again quieted him and suggested that he tell me now where he got the money which he said had come to him from his estate in India.

“Von Igel gave it to me,” he answered. “I could not go to his office downtown, so I sent Sekunna. In all I got $60,000. I spoke of the poet, Tagore, because he won the Nobel prize, and I thought he would be above suspicion.” He had bought the house at 364 West 120th Street and equipped it comfortably as a residence. He bought a house in 77th Street to open a Hindu restaurant. He bought a farm at Hopewell Junction to use as a rendezvous for the plotters. And when he had given us valuable information, and had appeared at the trial, and had been himself convicted and had served his sentence (a short term) in jail, and the smoke had cleared away, he was the owner of three nice parcels of real estate and a comfortable income. Dr. Chakravarty, although a failure as a Prussian agent, fared pretty well as an investor of Prussian funds.

After a series of digressions which I hope have not led us too far from the path, we may return to the third of the Hindu-German projects in which we of the Bomb Squad were especially interested. Ever since Captain von Papen’s check-book had been captured by the British at Falmouth in January, 1916, students of the German plots in the United States had wondered why two of the stubs bore the entries:

“Feb. 2, 1915, German Consulate, Seattle (Angelegenheit) $1,300.

“May 11, 1915, German Consulate, Seattle (for Schulenberg) 500.”

In December, 1917, Barnitz, Randolph and I had gone to San Francisco to testify in the _Annie Larsen-Maverick_ case. It so happened that a German who was unable to give a satisfactory account of himself had just been picked up at San Jose. His name was Franz Schulenberg, and at the invitation of the San Francisco authorities we assisted in the examination of the prisoner. He testified that in the early months of 1915 he had met Lieutenant von Brincken, of the San Francisco Consulate, who had sent him to the consul at Seattle. There von Papen in person paid him $4,000 to buy fifty guns, fifty Maxim silencers, a ton of dynamite, and deliver it to one Singh, at the border between Sumas, Washington, and Canada. There Singh was to deliver it to a small army of coolies, who would start a reign of terror in the Canadian northwest, dynamiting bridges, railways and shipping, and shooting guards. Schulenberg had actually bought some of the munitions when he received a letter from von Brincken telling him to break off relations with the Hindus. After some time he tried to get more money from von Brincken, but Franz Bopp, the consul, spurned him, and von Brincken sent him to New York, to get it from von Papen. Von Papen refused to pay him further. While Schulenberg was in Hoboken, three men from Paul Koenig’s staff approached him and posing as United States agents offered him $5,000 for any information which would incriminate Count von Bernstorff. Von Papen had had Koenig send them--although Schulenberg did not know this--to test him. One of the three was George Fuchs. The air was getting thick around von Papen’s head at the moment, and he could not afford to have a disgruntled and unpaid henchman gabbling about the saloons in Hoboken. But Schulenberg believed that the three were really American secret service men, and refused to divulge what he knew. The next morning a German whom he had not seen before appeared at his lodging house and gave him a railroad ticket to Mexico. “They’re after you--the secret service,” he said. “Here’s a ticket. Use it.” Schulenberg was half sick anyway, and evidently it did not enter his mind to squeal. He fled to Mexico, and von Papen thus disposed of a troublesome source of information. When we talked to Schulenberg, two years later, he was a sorry reminder of another German failure.

Although we three members of the Bomb Squad had made the trip to San Francisco to testify to the circumstances of Chakravarty’s arrest, and to the statements which he and Gupta had made, we were not in at the death of the Hindu hunt. The trial was a long affair, with more than a hundred defendants. Aided by the revelations of the little doctor, the Government had presented to the Grand Jury a picture of violation of Section 13 of the Federal Code which caused indictments to be returned against the entire German consulate of San Francisco, its accomplices among the shipping men who chartered the _Annie Larsen_ and bought the _Maverick_, its Hindu agents from the nucleus of Berkeley and Ram Chandra’s editorial rooms, and a list of other notorious characters which included von Papen and von Igel, both of whom were by this time safe in Germany. We did, however, have opportunity to observe the Indian prisoners, and we noticed that they did not seem altogether fond of each other. They were forever whispering, wagging their heads, stuffing notes down each other’s necks and when the testimony of one of their number grew too truthful they squirmed and scowled. Chakravarty’s life was threatened during the trial. The officials in charge of the case all had more than their usual share of responsibility to maintain order. The trial lasted more than six months. The Germans upbraided each other in the court room: von Brincken, who had been jealous of Bopp, and had accused him of indifference to his duties, openly showed his independence of his chief, and ill feeling spread among the defendants. Its climax came on April 24, 1918, the day when, with the testimony all in, Judge Van Fleet ordered a recess preparatory to delivering his charge to the jury. Ram Singh, one of the defendants, suddenly rose in the court room and fired two shots at Ram Chandra from a revolver. Ram Chandra fell dead, and as he did so, a bullet from the revolver of United States Marshal Holohan broke Ram Singh’s neck. The jury then received its charge, retired, and returned convictions of the great majority of the conspirators.

So, just as Holohan’s bullet broke Ram Singh’s neck, Chakravarty’s statements had broken the neck of the Hindu plot. But there was one more incident related to it in store for us; it will conclude our story. The men in charge of the _Annie Larsen_ were a spy named Alexander V. Kircheisen and a Captain Othmer. Kircheisen’s name had appeared in several German secret service reports as “K-17.” As late as 1917 he was arrested in Copenhagen, Denmark, and on his person was found a letter addressed to another agent, La Nine by name. The letter advised La Nine that if he arrived in the United States before Kircheisen, he was to call for the former’s mail at “Kotzenberg’s, 1319 Teller Avenue, in the Bronx.”

When this information reached us, Detectives Randolph and Senff called at Mr. Kotzenberg’s house. He knew nothing of Kircheisen, he said, except that he was a friend of his cousin’s.

“Who is your cousin?” asked Randolph, in German.

“His name is Othmer,” Kotzenberg replied. “He escaped from San Francisco, and he came back across the whole country, half by train and half in automobile. He stayed here for a while. One morning he put on some overalls and he left and he went away on a Norwegian boat, and I guess now he is back into Germany.”

Randolph and Senff searched the house. They found among other papers, an application which Kircheisen had filled out in New York on January 9, 1917, for a certificate of service as an able seaman. In order to be granted such a certificate he had to swear that he was a naturalized citizen of the United States, and that he would “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies ... and ... bear true faith and allegiance to the same,” which he swore without any qualms of conscience. Furthermore, his character was attested to by one Charles A. Martin, who also wanted a seaman’s certificate. The records of the office show that Kircheisen obligingly turned about and swore to Martin’s good character. I have often wondered who Martin was.... We found in Kotzenberg’s house an expense account which the fugitive Othmer had submitted to von Papen after he had left the unfortunate _Annie_ at Hoquiam. And finally, we found two scraps of a memorandum book, which constituted the log of _Annie_ herself. It reads:

“Mar. 8. left S.D. Mar. 18. arr Soc. Apr. 5. Start Digg. wells. Apr. 9 boat _Emma_ arrived. 2 sailors. Apr. 10. _Emma_ arrived. two crews working on well April 16. Well 22 feet struck hard rock bottom no water gave up Apr.17. left for Mex. coast ” 22 went ashore in boat look for water Apr.24th. arr at Acapulco U. S. S. _Yorktown_ _Nansham_(?) _N. Orleans_ _Annapolis_ April 27 left Acapulco May 19 gave up Socorro made for coast June 7 (_two illegible words_) got provisions June 29 arr. Hoquiam July 1 arr. W. 1 arr. Investigator Jul. 4 _aus_”

So, in a word, Othmer summed up all the efforts of the Hindus and the Germans to hatch revolution in America. All, all “_aus_”!

V

A TRUE PIRATE TALE

Of all the stories of the sea to which the war has given rise, here is one that is certainly not the least entertaining. It is not a story of hunting a criminal. The only part which the Bomb Squad played in it was bringing the prisoner back to justice. It called for no service on our part save that of examining the prisoner, and returning him, with his statements and the statements of others who had dealings with him, to New York. And I think those statements themselves had best tell the story.

(_From Detective Corell to the Commanding Officer of the Bomb Squad, April 1, 1916_)

Sir: In compliance with orders received I went to Lewes, Delaware, to investigate and if possible bring back one Ernest Schiller, an alleged German spy....

(_From, a statement taken by Corell at Lewes, Del., March 31, 1916_)

My name is Ernest Schiller. I am a native of Russia, 23 years of age.... My occupation is that of textile engineer. I arrived in New York in April, 1915, in the steamship _Colorado_ from Hull, England, as a member of the crew, my assignment on the ship being greaser. My name on the ship was Frank Robertson. When I arrived at New York the captain gave me some of my money and I left the ship. I worked all told about eight or nine months, in Pawtucket, R. I., Lawrence, Mass., Whitinsville, Mass., Newton Upper Falls, Mass., and finished erecting a factory in Salem, Mass....

(_From the examination of Clarence Reginald Hodson, alias Ernest Schiller, Robinson, Robertson, A. Henry, New York, April 1, 1916_)

_Question._ What is your full name?

_Answer._ Clarence Reginald Hodson.

_Q._ What other names are you known by?

_A._ Robinson, Robertson, A. Henry, and Ernest Schiller.

_Q._ Where were you born?

_A._ Petrograd, Russia.

_Q._ Where were your father and mother born?

_A._ My father in Russia, my mother in Germany. We lived in Petrograd until I was about 10 or 11. Then we went to England. My father and mother left me in Chatham House College, in Ramsgate. I stayed there three years....

_Q._ What is the name of the head of that college?

_A._ A. Henry.

_Q._ Did you graduate?

_A._ No. I was put on a Cadet--a Marine ship--named _Conway_, to train as a marine officer. I was on that ship two years. I left when I was 17 and went to work in a machine shop in Oldham, outside Manchester, and learned the trade of machinist there. I left there in August, 1914, and I joined the English Army.... I was asked to leave the job--was told that they would not have any young fellows on the job.... My boss said that sooner or later I should have to leave and that it would be better to go now, and that there would be a better opportunity.

_Q._ At that time were your sympathies with the English?

_A._ They were never with England. I just wanted to see what it was like to be a soldier. I didn’t intend to fight against Germany. I did not think the war would last long--only a few months--and I knew all the time I could run away if I wanted to. So in December I left.

_Q._ What was the occasion of your leaving?

_A._ I commenced to discriminate the soldiers and make them out as to what they really were, and I found them a lot of rats. I saw that I was not a Britisher in my ideas, and that I favored the cause of Germany. I used to stay away from the other soldiers all I could, and go out with a newspaper and read in the fields. They were always bullyragging me, and one time I almost killed two soldiers for it. They chastised me for a German spy. I got away, and worked in Bath for a week, and then the police caught me and brought me back, and I was later discharged by my colonel when I explained that I could not agree with their theory of the war....

(_From the statement of “Schiller” to Corell_)

A few months ago I received a letter from my mother and she wanted me to go back to Russia. I came down to New York to get my passport, but it did not arrive, so I waited a month. My money was gradually going down, so I borrowed some money, I won’t say from whom....”

(_From the examination of Hodson_)

_Q._ While in Lawrence, Mass., where did you stop?

_A._ At the Saxsonia House, with Germans....

_Q._ What are the names of any other people that you met at the Saxsonia House?

_A._ Met a gentleman named Gruenwald at a German party. He invited me to come to his saloon in Lawrence....

_Q._ While up in his saloon was there anybody else you were acquainted with there?

_A._ Nobody, but I knew a young lady who stopped at the same house....

_Q._ You were quite friendly with her?

_A._ Yes, platonic friendship.

_Q._ Did she loan you any money?

_A._ She loaned me money from her own will. Two hundred dollars.... I only asked for $30, but she brought $200 in gold, all in gold....

_Q._ How long after that before she loaned you any more?

_A._ About a month later.... Telegraphed to her “Want money immediately.” I received by 12 o’clock $40. She said some more money coming tonight. Next morning I went to the address in Hoboken and there was a letter and there was another $40 in the letter. Then I received $10 another time from her.

_Q._ That’s $290.

_A._ Yes, all I can think of.

(_From the “Schiller” statement_)

... so I borrowed some money, I won’t say from whom. I went to Boston again and was looking for work. I could not get the work I wanted, so I returned to New York, and in Hoboken I ran across a few fellows, I do not know their names, and we made a plan to get some money....

(_From the Hodson examination_)

_Q._ Now where did you meet the Germans?

_A._ When I arrived in New York, in a saloon near the Cunard Steamship Company in West Street about 12th, I met a man who I thought was a German, and I talked to him about blowing up ships, and we then went to Hoboken where I met the man Haller in a saloon.... Then we proposed which ship to blow up. That was the Cunard liner _Pannonia_....

_Q._ And how did you come to decide upon that boat?

_A._ Because I knew perfectly well that all were carrying plenty of ammunition.... I went down to the piers, and I saw this boat, and I thought that would be the right kind of a boat.... I met the three men in the vicinity of Pier 54. I bought them their suppers.... I then told the unknown man to get some dynamite ... and I gave him $6. Becker said that he had a boat, and I gave Becker $8 to buy gasolene, then to buy two revolvers out of a pawnshop.... I bought Haller a revolver and 100 cartridges....

_Q._ Did you see them after that?

_A._ Yes, I saw them Saturday morning and asked Becker about his motorboat and he said that he did not expect it would be frozen up, and acted as if he would have been willing to go into the plot only that the boat was frozen up. Becker said that the boat could be launched in two hours, and although I do not know anything about running a motorboat it is my belief that it would have taken six hours to launch this boat---the boat we were supposed to use to go over in to blow up the _Pannonia_--and this would be too late to get to the ship before she sailed.... Since that time I have not seen any of these men....

(_From the “Schiller” statement_)

... but the other fellows left me, so I went on my own accord. I saw the steamship _Mattoppo_ was going to leave, so I stowed away on her, in a life boat, where I remained for five days. The sixth day we left....

(_From the statement of Captain R. Bergner, of the British S. S. “Mattoppo”_)

At 3:30 P. M. on the 29th March, the British S. S. _Mattoppo_ sailed from 12th Street pier, Hoboken, destined to Vladivostock, Russia.

(_From the “Schiller” statement_)

That night ... I came out from my hiding place and walked towards the captain’s cabin....

(_From Captain Bergner’s statement_)

At about 7:45 P. M. ... when at a point about twenty miles from Sandy Hook Lightship, I was talking to the Chief Engineer in his room, and at 8:05 P. M. left and went to my own cabin, and as I entered my bedroom, which was adjoining, I was held up at the point of two revolvers by one Ernest Schiller, who said to me: “Hands up! I am a German. I am going to sink your ship.” He then made me turn round and gave me a frisk. He found nothing on me. He ordered me to shut my cabin door; then stood me in a corner and kept me covered with the two revolvers. Then he said: “Where is the safe? You have two thousand pounds aboard, and I want the money!” He told me he had placed bombs aboard the ship and was going to blow her up.

At 8:20 P. M. the Second Engineer knocked at my door, and receiving no reply opened it. Schiller instantly covered him with one of the revolvers and ordered him to come into the room, which he did. He then locked and bolted the doors on the inside and asked me for my keys.... He got them and proceeded to go through all the ship’s papers and my private effects. He opened my cash box and took four pounds in gold and five pounds in silver and said it was the first time he had ever robbed anyone but he needed the money. On seeing from the ship’s papers that she had barbed wire in her, he said: “That is contraband, and I am going to sink her.” He then inquired where I was bound for, and on my telling him she was going to Russia he seemed to hesitate about sinking her as he said he loved Russia. The conversation continued until about midnight....

(_From the “Schiller” statement_)