of the country. Their apprehensions at times would lead them to report almost anything. One small demure little woman once applied to the headquarters of the A. P. L. in Los Angeles and said that she knew parties—German spies—who received money from Germany and who had no resources other than the funds of the German Government. The chief asked her upon what she based her information. The little lady looked carefully around the room, under the table and out of the window, and then came close up to the chief before she gave him the real basis of her charge. She said that the parties referred to were the possessors of a cuckoo clock which she was sure was made in Germany; hence they must be pro-Germans, and therefore spies!
The German ministers, it seems, infest the Pacific slope as well as the northwestern part of the United States. Herewith the case of Emile K, minister of a German Methodist church. An operative went into his church and took his seat in the last pew. He reports:
A broad shouldered man in a frock coat sat down beside
me, introduced himself as Rev. K and asked me if I
was one of the Liberty Bond salesmen. I denied any such
impeachment, saying this to him in German. This seemed to
please him very much, and Mr. K thawed out. He told
me after a while that he was born in Wisconsin but that his
heart was in the right place, like most people that were born
there in "Little Germany." He said he had been in Mexico,
where he had spent four years "very profitably." He smiled
at me—rather meaningly, I thought. He wanted to know
how the Irish were behaving toward our people in New York.
He also said that it was too bad the Americans did not want
to fight. He thought that if the Japanese were to come over,
it might arouse our manhood. He asked me to be sure and
call again, as he enjoyed my company very much. There was
something cold-blooded about this man that made me think
he would look better in a German uniform than in a preacher's
coat. What worries me about him—and I hope the A. P. L.
will square it—is that I had to put a quarter in the collection
plate to keep up appearances. I demand that two bits back
if the A. P. L. ever puts him in the jug!
An operative was sent out to get a deserter who seemed
to be rather of an inventive turn of mind. He found his
