i6 
Land & Water 
April 4, 1 9 1 8 
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Two of Ruroede's Visitors' Credentials 
These cards, with the addresses written on the backs, were presented by two German oflicers in search of fraudulent passports. They were stnt by Captain von 
Papen and by Dr. .'Arthur Mudra, German Consul at Philadelphia) who both frequently directed such ofllcerj to Rurocde for this purpose. 
" Is this captain in reserve ? " Aucher interrupted. 
"Oh, no; he is active," Ruroede repUed. "You see," 
he continued, "he draws on this fund for §200 or $300 or 
$1,000, whatever he may need, and the cheques are made 
to read 'on account of reservists." You see, they have to 
have food and clothing, also, so there is nothing to show 
that this money is paid out for passports or anything like 
, that. I meet this captain once a week or so, and tell him 
' what I am doing, and he gives me whatever money I need. 
You see, there must be no connection between him and me ; 
no letters, no accounts, nothing in WTiting. If I were caught, 
and were to say what I have told you, this captain would 
swear that he never met me in his life before." 
Who tliis captain was became perfectly clear through an 
odd occi^rrence two days later. On that day — January 
2nd, 1915 — Aucher telephoned to Ruroede at his office, and 
made an appointment to meet him at a quarter to one. 
This meeting will doubtless remain for ever memorable in 
Ruroede's experience. 
At 12.30, a whole flock of special agents left the office 
of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice 
in the Park Row Building. There were nine representatives 
of the Department in the group. When they got near 
Ruroede's office, they were joined by two others, who had 
been shadowing Ruroede. They had located him at the 
Eastern Hotel, several blocks away, where he was at the 
moment with one of the German officers who planned to 
sail that day on the Norwegain Line steamer Bergensfjord 
with one of the false passports. 
Shortly after one o'clock, one of the special agents notified 
the group that Ruroede had returned to his office, and then 
this detective, and one other, went to the Customs House 
and stationed themselves at a window opposite Ruroede's 
office to wait for a signal which AucTier was to give when 
he had delivered the passport to Ruroede. , 
When Aucher met Ruroede in Ruroede's office, Ruroede's 
son was present ; but in a few moments the younger man 
took his leave, and liis departure was noted by one of the 
agents outside. After a few minutes' con\'ersation, Aucher 
handed Rurocde the missing passport and made his signal 
to the two men inside the Customs House window. These 
men reported to the main group on the street, and thereupon 
the whole flock descended on Ruroede's office, and placed 
both Ruroede and Aucher under arrest. 
They seized all of Ruroede's papers before they took him 
away, including the passport wliich Aucher had just delivered 
to him. Aucher put up a fight against his brother officers, 
so as to make Ruroede beheve that his arrest was genuine, 
but was quickly subdued and taken away. A few minutes 
later Ruroede also was taken from his office over to the 
ofiices of the Bureau of Investigation, but to another room 
than Aucher. Detectives were left behind in Ruroede's 
office, and in a little while Ruroede's son came in. He, too, 
was airested and taken to still another part of the office 
of the Bureau. 
Now, there entered in Ruroede's office a stranger, who to 
this day does not know that he unwittingly gave the officers 
of the United States Government the information that 
Captain von Papen was directly responsible for the passport 
frauds. This man entered wliile one of the detectives was 
busily gathering up the papers on Ruroede's desk. He said 
he wanted to see Mr. Ruroede. The detective asked him 
what his business was, and he repKed that he had a letter 
to give him ; and, answering an inquiry, he said this letter 
. was given him by Captain von Papen, to be delivered tO' 
Ruroede. 
The detective calmly informed the caller that he was 
Mr. Ruroede's son, and that he could give the letter to him. 
The stranger refused, so the detective told him that his 
"father," Ruroede, would be in in a few minutes. After a 
few minutes were up, he told the caller that he was sure that 
his "father" would not return, after all, and that he had 
better go with him to where his "father" was. The stranger 
agreed, and they left the office together, the detective taking 
him directly to the office of the Bureau of Investigation. 
On the way, the stranger decided to give him the letter 
from Captain vvon Papen, and also told him that he had 
come from Tokio by way of San Francisco ; that he was 
very anxious to get back to Germany ; and that he was 
sorry he was not saiUng on tlie boat leaving that day. He 
knew, he said, that Ruroede had a great many officers saihng 
on the ship that day, and asked if he thought the operative's 
"father" could make an arrangement to start him to Ger- 
many, too. He gave as a reason for his urgency the fact 
that he had with him eight trunks, wliich contained very 
important papers in connection with the war that should 
be delivered to Berlin without delay. 
Upon arriving at the office of the Bureau of Investigation, 
the detective excused himself for a moment, and went into 
another room, where he concocted a plan with a fellow- 
agent to pose as the senior Ruroede. The detective then 
brought the stranger in, and introduced his confederate as 
his father. The stranger gave this agent of the Department 
liis card, which was printed in German, and which read, 
translated into English : " Wolfram von Knorr, Captain of 
Cruiser, Naval Attache, Imperial German Embassy, Tokio." 
But let us leave the guileless caller in the hands of the ' 
guileful agent of Justice for a few moments, returning to 
him a little later. 
* * ^ 
Meanwhile, four of the agents from the Department — the 
minute they received the signal that Ruroede was under 
arrest—hastened to the Barge Office dock and boarded the 
revenue cutter Manhattan, on which they overtook the 
Norwegian Line steamship Berge?isJ'jord at four o'clock, about 
one half-hour after it had set sail. They were accompanied 
by several customs inspectors, and ordered the Bergensfjord 
to heave to. All the male passengers on board were lined 
up. Strange as it may seem, they discovered four Germans, 
of such unmistakable names as Sachse, Meyer, Wegener. 
