lO 
Land & Water 
May 23, 1918 
German Plots Exposed 
"Eitel Friedrich's" Photographs of Sinking Ships 
By French StrOther, Managing Editor, "The Woria-s work," New York 
OUT of the black picture of the German depravity 
in fighting this war have emerged four or five 
dramatic episodes that have stirred the imagina- 
tion of the world, and appealed to the romantic 
and chivalric instincts even of Germany's 
enemies. America was the scene of two such episodes. The 
first unexpected 
appearance of the 
U53 upon our 
shores, rising un- 
heralded from thp 
unsuspected 
waters, thrilled 
the sporting in- 
stinct of our 
people. But per- 
haps the most 
dramatic incident 
was the arrival of 
.the Prinz Eitel 
Friedrich. 
Durirg the 
night of Marcii 
9th -roth, 1915, 
this gallant 
cruiser of the 
Kaiserliche 
Marine, slipped 
into the harbour 
at Norfolk, having 
run the British 
blockade of 
cruisers outside 
the three-mile limit, ending a career of six montlis as a com- 
merce raider, recalling the feats of the Alabama in the Civil 
War. The Eitel Friedrich was soon interned for the period 
of the war, and her officers and crew put under formal arrest. 
Even the British whose fleet had been outwitted, gave their 
tribute of praise to the men who had taken their fair chance, 
and had got away. Captain Max Thierichens and his crew 
became objects of 
admiration to the 
world. Felicita- 
tions were 
showered on them, 
most of all, as was 
natural enough, 
from Germans and 
German -Ameri- 
cans. 
That is the 
bright side of the 
picture ; and no 
one, even now, 
would care to dim 
its lustre. 
But even at his 
best the German 
of the ruling class 
seems tainted 
with the ineradic- 
able nature of the 
beast. The world 
has long accepted 
the Latin affinity 
of Mars and Venus 
— perhaps too 
Before and After a Dose of Kultur 
I. Before 
Before and After a Dose of Kultur 
II. After 
complacently, though not without reason — so it would not 
have been surprised if the gallant Thierichens had not 
measured up to the standards of a Galahad. Nevertheless, 
it had a right to expect that he should not descend to the 
level of a Caliban ; and Thierichens fell below even tliat 
low standard. 
Among the great quantities of letters of congratulation 
which Captain Thierichens received were many ivpm German- 
American women. They were stirred by the brilliancy of 
his exploit : it was a ray of light in the gloom that had fallen 
on the Teuton peoples after the Battle of the Marne, when 
the rosy vision of quick victory had turned to the grey fog 
of a long defensive war. These letters breathed the passionate 
loyalty of the German spirit to the Fatherland. To these 
women, Thierichens was the embodiment of the martial 
spirit of their race — the spirit of the sons they saw them- 
selves in imagination sending forth to war. Some phrases 
from their letters 
strike the key : 
It is a pleasure 
lor us to help our 
German brothers, 
but I also under- 
stand that you, 
my dear brother, 
are waiting to 
come out from 
your predica- 
ment. How 
grand it is that 
you are receiving 
letters from the 
Fatherland. We 
don't hear any- 
thing. Can't write 
anything, as the 
letters are not 
being delivered. 
So far, good 
news. It is 
wonderful. My 
heart is jumping 
with joy. I look 
with confidence 
in the future. I 
have to please so 
many ; have so many times to defend my Germany, but 
1 have an unlimited confidence in God and in the truth. 
Again : Hold your head high and do not forget : "star- 
light itself is in the night, and God (foes not forsake his own." 
Their attitude was one of high patriotism and maternal 
solicitude. They sent him books and delicacies, scraps of 
news from Germany, and in every way sought to comfort 
and inspirit their 
hero. 
Thierichens was 
indifferent to the 
lofty purpose of 
these letters. His 
mind was deprav- 
ed by the social 
.custom of military 
Germany by which 
men of the officer 
class are in youth 
taught to consider 1 
themselves above 
the moral law. He 
was quite aware 
of the kinship of 
all emotions, and 
he promptly un- 
dertook to change 
the direction of 
these currents of 
passion into a 
channel more 
pleasing to his 
tastes. It was not 
long imtil he had 
narrowed his correspondence chiefly to three women, and of 
these more particularly to two. Of these latter, one was a 
German servant girl of rather better than average under- 
standing, and the other a kindergarten teacher in the Middle 
West, one twenty-five and the other forty-five years of age. 
Their correspondence in both cases started on an exalted 
plane. It ended in unprintable depravity. Only a reading 
of the complete series of Thierichens' letters to these women 
could give a full understanding of the heartlessness, the 
baseness, and the ingenuity with which this man, always 
playing upi)n their patriotic fervour, transmuted their finer 
