TRICKS OF ENEMY AGENTS.

It is reported from a neutral country that a number of German spies have been unearthed who clandestinely carry messages written in “sympathetic” ink on black neckties. “Sympathetic ink is, of course, invisible ink which, by certain processes known to the recipients of such messages, becomes visible. It is a very ancient form of the spy’s equipment, and its extensive adoption by the agents of Germany does no particular credit to their smartness or their reputed mastery of invention. The fact is, no spies, either of Germany or any other country, are able for any considerable period to circumvent the agencies whose special work it is to detect them. They may secure immunity for a time, but sooner or later – true, it is sometimes too late to avert mischief – their methods are exposed. For that reason it is a little surprising that the well-worn device of employing “sympathetic” ink is so often resorted to at this late hour of the day. It is regarded by the police as quite old-fashioned, though they by no means discount its potential power of doing harm. During the present war many old tricks for communicating messages have been abandoned, and some new ones have been tried with success, until they have become known and countered. The “sympathetic” ink message depends very largely for success upon the apparent innocence of the medium on which it is inscribed. A necktie or a stocking might easily pass unsuspected, yet both have been adopted for secret message conveying. So thorough is the examination nowadays, however, when suspicion is aroused that no article of clothing can be said to secure immunity from discovery. The German mind in particular has, therefore, been tortured to find other methods, and in some cases these have been marked by true German naïveness and audacity. A successful spy must be a very clever man – much more astute than is the average German, despite his vaunted acumen. It has not needed supreme brilliance to devise such methods as the Germans have sometimes adopted to hoodwink neutrals and enemies, though the minds which can so readily lend themselves to deception must inspire a certain amount of contemptuous awe. We are told that before Roumania entered the war Germany was desirous of establishing a great wireless station at Osmanli, in Turkey, and for that purpose a mast was required so immense that it was likely to arouse suspicion on its passage through Roumania. It was therefore transmitted as part of a great circus going to Constantinople. The spy, to be worth his salt, must be able to cloak himself with all possible security. His greatest trouble is perhaps his identity. In the early days of the war he was much hampered in the matter of passport to the scene of his covert designs. False passports were at his hand at a price, in neutral countries and these were often too readily viséd by British Consuls who were not invariably British. That is less the case now, and should he safely reach our shores, no matter at which port, he is met by inquisitorial officials, who want to know a good deal about him. That is the moment of his supreme trial. Possibly he says he is a Russian, born and schooled in Chicago. Very good – in what street was he born, and what school did he attend? Such a street, and such a school. Still very good; and he breathes more freely. How far is the street from the school, and who was his schoolmaster? If he be the innocent person he looks, he readily supplies an answer, which is verified on inquiry. If he be an impostor, he is in a trap, bolted and barred through the medium of the same inquiry. It is in those little details, through these side issues, that our police gain the measure of their man, and many an enemy alien visiting these shores, and suspected of spying intentions, has had his career thu cut short. It is a drastic ordeal, but rather to be welcomed than feared by the foreigner who seeks to land here for innocent purposes.