The Web

CHAPTER VI
THE STORY OF BOSTON

After A. P. L. began to reach out into a wide development by reason of the hard work of the National Directors at Washington, D. J. in that town began to cry for more. It sent out to all its special agents and local offices a circular explaining the great assistance which the League was capable of rendering the Government, and asked the assignment of a special agent as an A. P. L. detail in each bureau locality. This circular went out on February 6, 1918, and Boston received a copy duly, as well as the request of the Provost Marshal General to the Governor of Massachusetts for aid in selective service matters. At that time there was no division of A. P. L. organized in Boston. A few days later the Massachusetts Committee of Public Safety, which had been organized and active ever since the beginning of the war, was asked to interest itself to the extent of having some good man start a Boston division of A. P. L. The latter matter was slow in development because of the extent and thoroughness of the earlier state organization. The latter had been taking care of the food, fuel and other administrative work in assistance to the Government. The feeling was that it might be better to enlarge the Committee of Public Safety than to start any new body which might be a source of misunderstanding and friction.

The Department of Justice work in Boston during the early days of the war had not been satisfactory. Boston, so far from being all Puritan, has in reality one of the most mixed populations in the country. There was some feeling against the Department of Justice in Boston, and some feeling also against any new body which proposed to link up closely with that arm of the Government. D. J. had been handling for itself the alien enemy, anti-military and propaganda work. Yet very early in the game D. J. was overworked in Boston, as it had been in every other great city in America, and it really needed help. There were a great many thinking men who believed that it could be much relieved by the well-organized support of the banking, real estate, industrial and commercial activities of the city, as had been the case all over the United States where A. P. L. divisions had been created.

Still another embarrassment, however, slowed up the early activities of A. P. L. in Boston. That city having in its population many French Canadians, Irish, and so forth, of the Catholic faith, had developed a sort of Church problem, and there had become somewhat active the organization known as the “A. P. A.”—whose initials are somewhat close to those of A. P. L. Many thought that confusion between the two organizations would result. There had been, moreover, in this state of independent thought, a great many other “Leagues” of this, that and the other sort; so that many felt that Boston had about enough leagues as matters then stood.

At about this time Mr. W. Rodman Peabody of the Committee of Public Safety pointed out to Washington the efficient manner in which Mr. Endicott had organized that committee throughout the State. There was a local committee of safety in every town, and also a state-wide machine organizing the banking, real estate and other important business activities. He suggested that instead of a division of A. P. L., there ought to be a sub-organization “organized by the Committee of Public Safety at the request of the Department of Justice.” It was understood that this minor organization should have the general features of A. P. L. and should act as the Massachusetts branch of A. P. L. A list of good names was suggested of persons suitable for the organization as thus outlined.

Mr. Elting of the National Directors, however, made the point that an arrangement of this kind would have a tendency to discredit or to disintegrate the League in other cities. The Attorney-General also was opposed to any organization which did not show the exact status of a purely volunteer body, as had been done in all other parts of the United States.

Mr. Peabody still wanted the Committee of Public Safety to appear as the parent or controlling body, and a lot of valuable time was wasted over this tweedle-dee argument. A compromise was effected, and on April 15, 1918, the National Directors had advice that the Massachusetts organization was hiring offices, and assumed that the work had begun and that Boston would copy as nearly as possible the form of letterhead used by A. P. L., putting the names of the National Directors on the left-hand side and substituting the words “Protective League.” Underneath that was to appear the legend: “Organized by the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee under the Direction of the U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation.” Boston expressed the belief that Washington would not be able to tell the difference between this organization and any other so far as loyalty and efficiency were concerned, although sensible of the Washington feeling that Massachusetts was starting a year late and might be suspected of lack in coöperation.

All concerned having thus been satisfied, Massachusetts began A. P. L. work a trifle late in the game, but none the less proceeded to show that it could produce as effective an organization as any other in the country. Assistant Chief H. E. Trumbull makes his report on the regulation A. P. L. blanks and letterheads, and adds the following data as to the later organization of A. P. L.:

Once in its swing, Boston Division proceeded to do as Boston always does, and to work in thorough and efficient fashion. A detailed statement of the work for Department of Justice covers 525 cases of alien enemy activities, 292 cases under the Espionage act, one case of treason, seven of sabotage, eleven of interference with the draft, 128 cases of propaganda, twenty cases of radicals and socialists, seven naturalization cases, and other investigations amounting to 484.

For reasons above outlined, the division did little in food and fuel, and there was not much to do for the Navy. There were seventy-seven cases of character and loyalty investigations, 331 passport cases, and 262 cases that had to do with war insurance and like matters.

A. P. L. was, as usual, of great use to the War Department. The division conducted 514 investigations for local boards, examined 4,000 slacker raid cases, as well as fifteen gentlemen who did not know whether to work or fight. There were 1,908 applicants for overseas service who were investigated, as well as 510 applicants for commissions. The division deserves compliments for its steady and intelligent administration of the whole range of the complicated problems that rose out of the war situation.

There were all sorts of curious cases which came up in Boston as in other cities, which show alien artlessness or slacker subterfuges much as they appear elsewhere, as well as a certain occasional informality in regard to the observance of the ordinary civil laws. For instance, one does not recall the name of Edward Burkhart as one of the occupants of the Mayflower on its arrival; neither does Mr. Burkhart seem to have been fully possessed of Puritan principles, for it was alleged that he had been dishonorably discharged from the U. S. Navy, was dishonorably living with a woman who was not his wife, and had dishonorably failed to register for the draft. As Mr. Burkhart was hiding out somewhere, an A. P. L. operative was put on his trail. He went to the house where Burkhart was living and told the woman in the case that she was doing wrong in covering up the whereabouts of Burkhart. He added that he believed the man was in the house or would come back to the house, in spite of all she had said. That was at three o’clock in the afternoon, and the operative concluded to sit in the house and wait to see what would happen, all exits being guarded by other operatives. Nothing did happen until 9:15 that night, although the house was searched. At last, up in the attic, a small blind space was found where the electric light wires went up to the roof. A flash light here illuminated the dark interior—and disclosed Mr. Burkhart resting rather uncomfortably on the cross beams, where he had been since early that afternoon—something of a Spartan, if not much of a Puritan. It was found that he was twenty-five years of age and not thirty-seven. It was also found that he had the classification card belonging to another man, whereupon he was accused of failure to file his questionnaire. On December 30, he was brought before the Grand Jury, found guilty and sentenced to East Cambridge jail.

Another gentleman, Mr. Ralph E——, when he filled out his questionnaire, swore that he was a married man and had a wife and child dependent upon him. It was discovered that the woman was not his wife. The man consulted the partner of the A. P. L. inspector—the two being members of the same law firm—in professional capacity. Here, therefore, was a question of ethics involving the privilege of a confession made to an attorney and also the oath taken to the A. P. L. The two law partners called in Mr. E—— and gave him good advice about the crime of perjury. As the man did what he could to square up matters, it was decided to let that part of his case drop. He was not sent to prison.

Mr. Herbert C—— had an ambition to go across as a member of the American Red Cross and had good recommendations. A. P. L., however, discovered that he was an alleged dope fiend. He did not go with the Red Cross.

Peter R——, of a town near Boston, while arguing with two men about the war, made a few such casual statements as “To hell with Liberty Bonds,” “To hell with Thrift Stamps,” “The Government is no good,” “I will not fight for this country,” “I will not register,” “I am going back to my own country, Russia,” and “The whole United States Government be damned.” This man was brought before the Assistant United States District Attorney from the police court, but the attorney declined to prosecute and said that Peter was only playful. He did not think that a private trial could be used in a Federal prosecution. Most excellent! Obviously, it is the spirit that killeth, and the letter that giveth life!

A Mr. C—— swore he had a wife and child dependent on him, and so he ought not to be asked to fight. A. P. L. found out that he had spent ten thousand dollars the year before, that his father gave him all he wished, that he was a Boston clubman, that he was not engaged in any productive industry. Held to the grand jury in five thousand dollars bail.

A man by the name of J—— was reported on November 14 to have made disloyal and pro-German remarks. Two days later, three affidavits were before the Assistant District Attorney. In this case the attorney ruled that although the men had a clean cut case against him, there was no need to prosecute him if he had been warned. Indeed, why annoy an alien?

Boston is well known in the matter of tea parties. An A. P. L. officer was taking tea with a navy officer on board ship in Boston harbor, and the latter complained that his men were getting too much cold tea on their shore leave. A. P. L. took it up with the Naval Intelligence, and within a week a man was taken in custody for selling such beverages to men in uniform.

Mr. Charles D. Milkowicz, or some such name, was alleged to dance in happiness at the report of any German victory. It was his custom to fire any employe in the factory where he was foreman, if the employe showed any pro-American tendencies. Once he said regarding the U. S. flag, “Get that damned flag out of the way.” He used to wear an iron cross stick pin up to April 6, 1917. He was a member of the German Club, and used to buy silver nails for the Hindenburg statue which they maintained at that club, such nails retailing for a dollar a throw, all for the good of the Kaiser. A. P. L. started an investigation which showed that this man seemed to be uncertain whether he came from Russia or Germany and was equally indefinite as to his age. He was not registered as an alien enemy, and was charged with falsifying his questionnaire as well as violating Section 3 of the Espionage Act. The Assistant U. S. Attorney handling alien enemy matters in Massachusetts refused to act in this case. So far as known, the attorney is still in office, and Mr. Milkowicz is still in Boston.

Mr. Hans D——, a German waiter in Boston, belonged to a German club where considerable advance news of German operations circulated. Mr. D—— said he sent money to Germany; said that Germany would win the war; drank to the health of the Kaiser on hearing that an American ship had been torpedoed. In short, Mr. D—— ran quite true to form in all ways. A photograph was found which looked like him in a German uniform—he must have been a German officer, because they found in his possession a half dozen spoons which he had stolen in New England, in default of better opportunity in Belgium. At least he was prosecuted for larceny and was fined $15.00. Later his reputation was found to be so bad as a propagandist that he was interned on a presidential warrant.

It occurred to the fertile brain of Mr. Julius Bongraber that a varied spelling of his name might prove useful to him in times of draft. Sometimes he wrote his name as Graber, sometimes as Van Graber, and sometimes as Julius V. Gaber. His classification card named him as G. V. Gaber. When interrogated as to all these matters, he admitted that the initial “G” ought to have been “Y,” because that was the way Yulius was pronounced, anyhow, in his country. At the same time he left a card over his door signed J. V. Gaber. He declared that he was a German, also an Austrian, also a neutral, but had sympathies with Russia. To others he said that his name was Von Gaber; that he was an alien, but would go where he liked. He had taken out first citizenship papers, but had registered for return with the Austria-Hungarian Consul. A. P. L. got this multifold party on the carpet, but on his statement that he intended to go to New York, the prosecution seems to have been dropped, although the dossier was forwarded to New York after him.

There was a draft evader in Boston by the name of R——, who did not file his questionnaire. He was found at his home by an agent of A. P. L. and agreed to accompany the latter. It was the intention of the operative to turn over his man to a policeman, but policemen seemed to be rare in Boston, for in two miles not one was sighted. The draft evader then evaded yet more, and was not found for several days thereafter. The man’s mother, however, when found, averred she had not seen her son for two months. A plain patriotic talk was made to her with the result that after a while, she found the said son and turned him over to the authorities for service in the army.

Boston Division in one case revoked the credentials which it had issued to an operative. The man’s name was Oscar F——, and the position seemed to go to his head. He took to borrowing money right and left, once getting as high as fifty dollars on a touch of one of the special agents. He admitted that he was probably the best secret service agent in the country, and told people he was getting $3,000 a year and expenses. After that he usually touched his listener for $5.00. Oscar was doing well until they let him out. His name ended in “ski.”

Boston, being near the Northern seaboard, heard of a good many cases of mysterious light signals. One operative in the Lynn district was sure he had seen dots and dashes coming across the bay at night in the approved fashion of mysterious night signals. They put a telegrapher on the case but he could not make out the message. At one o ’clock in the morning four tried men and true of the A. P. L. rowed out with muffled oars to an anchored yacht which seemed to be the place from which the light signals appeared. They found five pairs of feet pointing to the zenith. Calling upon the feet to surrender, they boarded the yacht and explanations followed. It appeared that the five yachtsmen had had a hard day’s sail and had decided to remain on board ship over night. The flashes of light which had so aroused the A. P. L. men were nothing more nor less than the reflection of a shore light on the glass of a porthole as the boat rolled and swayed in the ripples of the bay.

Next to mysterious signal lights, wireless stations have produced as many flivvers for the A. P. L. as anything else. Inspector T—— insisted that there was a house in his district which ought to be searched, because he was satisfied it had a wireless plant. As he had no proof, he could not obtain a search warrant. Mr. Endicott, at the office of the Food Administration, gave him a sugar warrant, stating that that would let him into the house, and that he might get some information. Inspector T—— went to the house with a club in one hand and the warrant in the other; searched the house from garret to basement, but found no wireless. While poking around in one of the corners, however, he did discover eighty pounds of sugar, which, being overweight, he promptly confiscated.

Soon after the forming of the A. P. L. in Boston, a man came in with a carrier pigeon which he was sure was a mysterious messenger of some sort. It was a beautiful white bird that had dark dots and dashes all over the inside of both wings. The chief was all wrought up about this and regretted that he had not been taught the Morse code in early life. He therefore took the man and the bird over to the office of Military Intelligence, where they unravel, decipher and decode all sorts of things. The Major in command was very cordial, and he also examined the bird carefully. In his belief the dots and dashes on the wings were of importance, but he could not quite read them all. He sent for the code expert of the Signal Corps. Who shall say that A. P. L. cannot run down any sort of clew? The code expert of the Signal Corps also examined the bird carefully, but at first could not make it out. Then he touched one of the dots with the point of his pencil. It turned out to be a perfectly good cootie, which still possessed powers of locomotion.

Throughout the war, New England was, always, one of the nerve centers of the United States. A great many munition factories were at work there day and night. The atmosphere was tense all the time; war was in the eyes and ears of the people. But let no man believe New England anything but American. Whatever her population to-day, her leadership is American and only American and always will be such. Boston and her environs, the entire state of Massachusetts, the entire section of New England, went into the war from the first word. No part of America is saner or safer; no part was better guided and guarded by local agencies of defense. A. P. L. was accepted as one of these, certainly not to the regret of any man concerned.