"It was in Berne, Switzerland, the well known rendezvous of secret service agents, that one night I had a premonition to go up to my room, and there I saw that my suitcase had been rifled of the document which I was taking to Premier Clemenceau."
This is the way Harry S. Lucenay of Waco, recently returned from overseas, relates one of the many thrilling experiences he had while a member of the United States secret service department of military intelligence section.
Excerpts from Mr. Lucenay's experiences follow:
In February 1919, I was sent to Poland to carry out the instructions of the commander in chief. Having accomplished my mission, I have made the necessary preparations for my departure. While resting in the lobby of the Bristol hotel in Warsaw, I met French General Nieselle, chief of the French military mission to Poland. During the course of conversation, I mentioned the fact that I expected to be in Paris within a few days. General Nieselle asked me if I would take along some confidential documents to Mr. Clemenceau, to which I readily consented. I must admit that I was flattered by his request and confidence.
That afternoon, General Nieselle gave me a large envelope which I carefully concealed by wrapping it in one of my civilian shirts and placing the shirt in my suitcase.
When I arrived in Berne, Switzerland, I stopped at the Bellevue Palace, one of the finest hotels there, and the meeting place of all the diplomats and agents of the various governments.
Closely Watched in Berne.
In view of the fact that this was in February 1919, three months after the armistice was signed, I thought that the German agents had relaxed their activities, and did not take the precautionary measures to guard my papers, as I had never failed to do before the signing of the armistice. Instead of depositing the documents in the hotel's safe, I left them wrapped up in a shirt in my suitcase. Before two hours had elapsed after my arrival, I noticed that I was very closely watched and in turn decided to watch my watchers.
About 11 o'clock that night, upon reaching the floor on which my room was located, I saw one of the men who had been watching me all that day coming out from the room next to mine. He passed me very calmly, trying to appear absolutely unconcerned. His coming out from this room aroused my suspicions, and as soon as I entered my room, I examined my suitcase and discovered that it had been opened and closed again. The articles in the suitcase were arranged in the exact order in which I had left them, except that the documents were gone.
Without waiting another moment, I broke into the next room and found a man getting ready to open the envelope which contained the confidential documents. Using a little mild persuasion in the shape of a German .38 automatic, I had no trouble in getting my papers back without unnecessary disturbance, and was fortunate enough to recover some other important documents which were stolen from the Swiss.
Went to Bolshevik Russia.
In May, 1919, I returned to Warsaw, Poland, en route to Bolshevik Russia, where I volunteered to go in order to obtain first hand information about the conditions in that country. I was confronted with the problem of selecting the best route in order to cross the Bolshevik lines without being detected.
I rented an apartment in Warsaw and inserted an advertisement in all the Polish newspapers requesting that all the refugees who had recently returned from Russia call at my address. In four days' time I had seen 37 people, and having had a good deal of experience in interrogating deserters and refugees during the war, it was comparatively easy to elicit from them all the information that I required. The result was that I ascertained that I could cross the Bolshevik lines either by the way of Vilna, Pinsk or Lemberg.
In the meantime, by careful manipulation, I managed to get in personal contact with Isaac Warschawski, a Bolshevik sympathizer, and connected with the Polish department of labor, to whom I presented myself as a personal friend of Bill Haywood, the notorious secretary of the American I. W. W.'s. I told Warschawski that I was very anxious to get over to Moscow in order to get in touch with Lenine and Trotzky, with whom I wanted to hold a conference and lay plans to carry on an active Bolshevik propaganda upon my return to the States.
Met Bolshevik Agents.
Warshawski extended me most cordial welcome and gave me a letter of introduction to a Mr. Rosenfeld, in Vilna, another Bolshevik agent. Taking all the above facts in consideration, I was pretty well prepared for the trip, but being accustomed to act with the utmost caution, I decided to make a short reconnoitering trip before crossing into Russia.
I had given Warschawski's letter of introduction to my assistant, whom I sent to Vilna. I went to Pinsk in order to look over the possibilities on the ground.
Upon my arrival at Pinsk, I discovered that the Bolshevik lines could be easily crossed at that point and two days later, I returned to Warsaw, where I had a prearranged rendezvous with my assistant.
The following day we left for Pinsk, and arriving there, we disposed of all our papers and civilian clothing. Dressed as Russian peasants, we crossed the lines without an incident, and when we got to the first village beyond the Bolshevik lines, we secured a horse and wagon and went to Minsk, where we boarded the train for Moscow.
We came in close contact with all classes of the population, from whom we obtained a great deal of information, the greatest part of which was contradictory to that submitted by the men who had been sent to Russia a short time before in semi-official capacity by the American Peace commission in Paris.
The men sent out by the Peace commission submitted a report which was very favorable to the Bolshevik government, in view of the fact that they had not come in contact with the people, but had only seen the leaders, Lenine, Trotzky and Chicherin, who presented them with their side of the story.
Bolshevik Hated and Dreaded
We found out from the people that the Soviet government is not at all popular in Russia and the Bolsheviki are hated and dreaded. Lenine and Trotzky manage to maintain their power by terrorism and tyranny unheard of since the time of inquisition.
The economic and industrial life of Russia is practically at a standstill; all the factories remain idle with the exception of some munition factories. The workmen employed in those factories represent the only element favorable to Bolshevism in Russia, because they draw big wages. The people in general are praying for Kolchak and the allies to deliver them from under the Bolshevik yoke, and the soldiers have attempted to mutiny on numerous occasions, but they lack organization and a competent leader. Several regiments tried to revolt, but the Bolsheviki sent against them soldiers from their loyal Chinese and Letts divisions and annihilated the mutineers.
Commit Terrible Atrocities
Bolshevism is barbarism, and I am fully convinced that no true American could sympathize with their cause if he was acquainted with their methods. Any sensible man would be bitterly opposed to the rule of the Bolsheviki if he had witnessed some of the atrocities committed by orders of Bolshevistic leaders. I could tell you of hundreds of cases where the women and children were slaughtered and sometimes forced to dig their own graves, but it would take too long, however I am going to mention some samples of justice and punishment as interpreted by the Bolsheviki.
Horrible Executions.
A man in Moscow was suspected of anti-Bolshevik sentiments. At first he was imprisoned, then tried without the privilege of having counsel to defend him - and finally executed in the most beastly fashion. He was placed in a square box hardly large enough to hold him, doubled up, then the lid was nailed down and his executioners took a cross-cut saw and sawed the box and the victim in two.
At Kiev, a factory superintendent and his assistant were assassinated in the most brutal manner. It was in January and the thermometer stood at 40 degrees below zero. These two unfortunates were taken out into the bitter cold and stripped of their clothing, tied to poles, and cold water was poured over them. This water froze as soon as it struck them and the procedure was kept up until the two men became solid icicles. Then these poles were taken up and the victims carried at the head of a parade, while the marchers sang "Internationale" and other revolutionary songs.
Attended Officers' Training Camp.
Mr. Lucenay attended the first officers' training camp at Leon Springs, graduating as first lieutenant August 15, 1917, and was sent to the army war college at Washington for a special course of instruction in the intelligence service. On October 8, 1917, he was ordered to France, where he was assigned to the espionage branch of the intelligence section. In July 1918, he was placed in charge of the military information section at Evian les Bain, on the lake of Geneva (Swiss frontier), where he succeeded in obtaining a great deal of information pertaining to the enemy's intentions, man power, armament, recruitment, equipment, defensive works, munition factories, aviation parks, morale of the army and civil population, and political and economic conditions. Since January 6, 1919, Mr. Lucenay has covered practically all of Europe, visiting various countries as the official observer of the American expeditionary forces, returning to Paris on the 10th of June, where he attended the Olympic games at Pershing stadium as a member of the American riding team.