t2 
Land & Water 
February 7, 191 8 
propaganda. These men he placed in : 
German Embassy in Washington ; 
German Consulate-General in New York ; 
Austrian Consulate-General in New Vor'c ; 
German Consulate in Boston ; v 
Austrian Consulate in Cleveland ; 
German Consulate in New Orleans ; 
German Consulate-General in Chicago ; 
Austrian Consulate-General in Chicago ; 
German Consulate-General in San Francisco ; 
Austrian Consulate-General in Philadelphia ; 
German Consulate in Denver ; 
German Consulate in St. Louis. 
That, in the barest outline, is the story. Mr. Rathom 
himself is going to tell the details of it in a scries of articles 
in Land & Water beginning next week. The purpose 
of this present article is to give some idea of the man 
who did these things. But it may be well to suggest the 
character ard scope of his forthcoming articles by an 
attempt to tell briefly thre^ of his experiences which he 
will not ca\'er in his series. 
When the war began in 1914, most Americans regarded them- 
selves as interested, but aloof, spectators of the most colossal 
drama eyer staged in the world's history. That it might con- 
cern theni in their own dearest honour and possess'-ons did 
not for one moment enter their minds. But Mr. Ra'hom 
knew otherwise. He had travelled over nearly the whole 
world — Europe, Africa, China, Australia, and the United 
States. He knew, of old, Germany's ambitions ; particularly 
its designs upon the Monroe Doctrine, and its subtle and care- 
fully organised propaganda to consolidate the Germans in the 
United States for the working out of the American end of its 
dream of world dominion. Hen :e, the day war was declared, 
he began to probe German activities in America, knowing 
well that soon they would be in 'full play to cause much ' 
damage. In his search for German plots he placed men in 
liaiscrliifj 
Ortitsrtic l^otoriiad 
U'uliiuglQn, DQ* 
Oatobec 9. 1915 
ERPOSSCHUNO John Kathoii 
ProTidenos 
How York 
Chicago 
Lenve r 
San Francisco 
St Louis 
Donrar (2) 
Seattle 
Portland 0. 
Dallas 
SI48.00 
120.00 
335.00 
180.00 
685.00 
HiiO.OO 
75.00 
160.00 
300.00 
200.00 
Ausgnba Eisenbahn 2450.00 
Eldliche 400.00 
'JiTf^ 
Von Papeirs account of expend ture incurred in a far-reachins in- 
vestigation of Mr. Raihoms careeV for the purno.e of Svfrine 
some vulnerable point in his personal character ^ 
^''l.^t"u°"'^.u'^"''"'' mentioned above. Even now he cannot 
publish how this was done.though he can and will tell the men's 
names, that did this dangerous work . Of t hese, one secured 
employment as a secretary to von Bernstorff , in the Embassy 
in Wasliington. 
Enter now Dr. Heinrich Albert, fresh from Germany, with 
a letter of credit of £8co,ooo in his pocket and the assurance 
of his government that he may have eight milhons sterling 
alto^^ether— to buy public opinion in the United States, to 
purchase the votes of Congressmen, to procure the murder of 
American citizens working in munition plants, and to do other 
" friendly " acts toward that neutral Government and its 
unsuspecting people. Dr. Albert landed in New York and 
registered at the Ritz-Carltoh Hotel. He wrote at once to his 
Ambassador, Bernstorff, announ'cing his arrival and asking 
for instructions. The Ambassador happened to be taking 
an outing in the Adirondacks when Dr. Albert's letter reached 
the Embassy. The letter was delivered on Saturday afternoon 
— and the p jstal clerks at the Embassy were habitually granted 
a holiday from Saturday noon to 9 a.m. Monday morning. 
The Embassy secretaries, however, often stayed at their desks 
on Saturday afternoon ; and so it happened that Mr. Rathom 's 
man there got the letter, together with others, and without ap- 
parently disturbing the envelope, read the contents. Without 
a moment's hesitation he took the next train to New York 
and telegraphed Mr. Rathom. He was met in New York by 
another reporter from the Providence Journal. Next morning 
this other reporter, in Sunday top hat and frock coat, appeared 
at the Ritz-Carlton and asked for Dr. Albert. He was shown 
up to the doctor's suite and there presented to Dr. Albert his 
own letter to von Bernstorff.and said the Ambassador had sent 
him to discuss the situation with him. But first he must be 
assured that he was really addressing Dr. Albert, and not some 
possibly untrustworthy underling. Dr. Albert produced 
credentials of his identity, and even called in msmbers of his 
suite to prove that he was himself — forgetting, in the heat of 
his earnestness, to demand a similar guarantcj from his caller. 
. That would hardly have seemed necessary even if he had re- 
flected, for there was his own letter, brought to him from 
Wasliington. 
Scene in the German Embassy 
Having satisfied his visitor, Dr. Albert went at length into 
his mission— the precise purposes of it, the money he had in 
hand and in prospect — all the details. His caller congrat u'.ated 
him, bade him good-day, and left ; and immediately restored 
the letter to his brother reporter, who tock the afternoon 
train back to Washington, resealed the letter, and replaced it 
in the Embassy mail bag that night. ,■ 
On Monday, one of the postal clerks at the Embassy opened 
the letter zind laid it, as a matter of routine,on the Ambassador's 
desk. Birnstorff appeared on Tuesday, and as soon as he 
read it ^he telephoned Dr. Albsrt to co.tis to Washington. 
The two msn mst the following morning at the Embassy and 
enbracei in the presence of the Jourml reporter. And the 
first words Dr. Albert spoke were to praise his Excellency upon 
his choice of " so discreet aad admirable an agent " as he had 
sent to him in New York. Then there was a scene. Bernstorff 
denied sending any messenger, and Albert reaffirmed it. The 
clerk was called in, and declared he had slit the envelope with 
his own hand. 
Albert repeated that he had had that very letter, physically, 
back in his hand, from the messenger, on Sunday. Results : 
Two badly perturbed agents of the Kaiser, and the ultimate 
exposure of Dr. Albert in the Providence Journal. 
Another episode among Mr. Rathom's miny adventures 
into the intricacies of German intrigue is known in the Journal 
office as the " Case of the Two Hearts." He had caught the 
trail of von Pap^n when this happened. Von Papen," in the 
course of his duties in the United States, had accumulated 
a large mass of letters, receipts, reports of plots to blow up 
munition plants and American ships, and other documents 
thatwould be as useful to the United S ates and England as 
to Berlin (America was still neutral and the Kaiser stiil 
addressed the President in " friendly " messages). As 
they often did, the Germans used the Austrian diplomatic 
channels to get this treacherous correspondence to Berlin. 
Hence von Papen was picking his documents in a box in the 
office of the Austrian Consulate General in New York for 
shipment on the Oscar II. The shorthand writer in the office 
had been on the job only a few months. Before that she had 
never done anything more exciting than to take dictation in 
the office of the Journal, though, of course, that was not 
mentioned when she applied for the place. She knew what 
was going into the box and had reported it, and she had in- 
structions to mark the case so that it could be identified later. 
The day it was nailed up for shipment she ate her luncheon 
seated on the top of it. When she was in the midst of her 
meal, von Papen came in. He asked if he might share her 
sandwiches. She consented. They sat on the box together. 
He grew sentimental. She did not discourage his poetical 
mood. At Its height she took a red crayon pencil irom her 
