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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-07-05, Page 6Ho Was A Spy For Fifteen Years But Oki His Work In Forty-EightHours Some spies have tc wait many years before being called upon to do anything really dramatic. Such was the nese of a Welsh- man, Evan Williams, Ile was a spy for fifteen years — but all his spying was done within ` a period of forty-eight hours, Mr. Williams was delighted when a representative of the British Admiralty approached him in 1924. He had read so tnany spy thrillers, and now he was to become a spy. True, the Admiralty officer did not put it that way: he called the appointment that of a "naval agent," but Mr, Williams knew quite well what be meant. At least, so he thought. Maybe he betrayed his excite- ment a little too obviously, No- body wants an excited spy. Any- way, the Admiralty man's report was restrained, He had checked up the prospective agent's rec- ord, as directed, and found it admirable. Mr. Williams represented an Important firm of Welsh steam coal merchants in a South Ameri- can port — we'll call it Ellom- bis, adding that it's not far from Montevideo, He knew his job and his cus- tomers: his Spanish was fluent and colloquial. He was thorough.. ly British, and an ardent patriot. It was a pity that he had not reacted with more restraint to the suggestion that he should act as a naval agent The Admiralty officer reported that such a vola- tile man might not be suitable for the job, but he would be use- Jul in an emergency, So Mr. Williams fretted in El- Iombia, awaiting assignments which would set him on the trail of German agents — maybe with a beautiful woman spy as his assistant. But nothing ever hap- pened. Once every four years Mr. Wil- liams came home on leave: he called automatically at the Ad aniralty; the officer who received him was very affable; but noth- tog ever happened writes Ber- nard Newman in "Tit -Bite," Until the autumn of 1938. Three weeks before Mr. Oham- perlain made his famous flight to Berchtesgaden, Mr. Williams received a batch of instructions which made his eyes open wide. He was fourteen years older by this time, and lead ceased to dream of beautiful women spies. Further, his infrequent visits to the Admiralty had revealed the nature of his task. A naval agent does his own job, and keeps his eyes open, Well, Mr, Williams could do that: and he did. The crisis passed at Munich, but the Admiralty remained on the alert. A navy wants to know where its enemy is to be found. Now, a month before the war began, a German "pocket battle- ship," the Admiral Graf von Spee, passed into the Atlantic. She was a powerful vessel, re- puted to be able to sink anything ber own size, and fast enough to run from anything which might sink her. The mission of the von Spee was obvious — to said Allied commerce, and to up- set our naval dispositions. At the moment war was de- clared she steamed out of a har- bour in Portuguese East Africa. The chase was on. Powerful forces blocked the von Spee's routes home. Now she would be dependent upon her ttupply ships, organized weeks or months earlier, or upon her cap- tures. The naval intelligence service slwUng into action, i!'or three months intelligence service swung into action. ISSUE 25 — 1962 For three months Captain Hans Langsdorff kept his pocket battleship at sea. 1•Ie evaded his pursuers, but his supply ships were not so lucky, They had to put in at neutral ports to em- bark their supplies. From these places watchful men sent casual cables to business firms in other countries; sometimes direct to. London. In either case a British Cruiser would intercept the sup- ply ship, and the von Spee was running dangerously short. Evan Williams was one of the watchful men, but hitherto no- thing had come his way. But one day he had a cable purport- ing to come from his own firm: "Yours 2nd inst.: three tops aluminium. Address it, Cana- dian account, to Omaha market" A very ordinary example of the cryptic form of commercial cable, Mr. Williams got busy, The first three words gave him the clue, for he had sent no com- munication on the 2nd instant, From the remainder of the cable he extracted the second letter of each word, and produced the electrifying message, "Hold Ta- coma," The Tacoma was loading at the docks —it was Evan Williams' business to know about these things. The ship purported to be Dutch, but a false flag is a com- mon war trick. I have already said that he spoke the local Spanish fluently. .An ancient suit and a dirty face were sufficient disguise. He join- ed the gang of dockers who, were loading the ship. Now that Mr. Williams had entrance to the ship, he was able to make one or two minor "ad- justments", to her engines. The damage was not vital, but the "Tacoma" could not move until it was put right. Then came a sudden amend- ment to his orders. One night he received a telephone mall from Buenos Aires. It was in Spanish and very ordinary — for cen- sors might be listening in. After a discussion of coal stocks, the man at the other end said casually: "By the way, that refugee child you are holding — you can let her go back to her mother — after all, she's an only child." Two days earlier a British cruiser had captured the Uasu- kuma, Captain Langsdorff's last - but -one supply ship. Now there remained only the Tacoma. Mr. Williams had a quick enough wit and saw through the plan. Where the Tacoma went, the von Spee was bound to come, and very soon at that. Mr. Williams didn't doubt that there would be other members of the party! So, he watched with pleasure the rapid repairs to the supply ship's engines, for the Germans had recruited local engineers to supplement their own. Thus the German pocket bat- tleship, short of fuel and food supplies, steamed to the west to make the rendezvous with her last supply ship. Captain Langsdorff d i d not know that three British cruisers prowled about the entrance to the River Plate. On December 13th, 1939, the von Spee kept her appointment with doom. Mauled by the three British "terriers", she put into Montevideo for repairs — and Mr, Williams was among those waiting on the quay. When the pocket battleship again put to sea, within the statutory period allowed by in- ternational law, it was to an ig- nominious scuttling. Wily WAIT? An Oakville undertaker has twisted a familiar airline slogan. Zoe ltfe own purpose: His s gnn reads, "Pay now; go later," MEI SIMULATED SIMBA --- Motorists do a double take when they see little Kathy Jensen rubbing her pot "lion" behind the moil on n residential street in Kansas City. He's really her mixed* breed dog, Tippy, who hos been closely dipped to help hint beat the heat of summer "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" — Olaf Oettinger, whose name is about as long as he is, pets "Duke of Palatinate," a great Dane, in Saarbruecken, West Germany. Duke and Olaf are the same age. Each is 18 months old and growing. TABLE TALKS This is the season for informal entertaining, and every guest likes to "get in the act" Make things easy for them by placing bowls of various dips on your buffet table surrounded by pota- to chips and shrimp, and let them do their own dunking. (The oonsistenoy of a dip is most im- portant, It must be thick enough not to drip off a chip; if 11 deeps make it thicker. Always chill before serving.) Here are a few recipes for some popular dips; CHIVE -CHEESE DIP 2 pkgs. cream oheese (8 oz.) 1/ tbsp, mayonnaise 1 tbsp, cream 34 tsp. salt 1 tsp. grated chives 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce Beat cnvoath. * * * ALMOND -BACON CHEESE` CHIP DIP yf, c. unblanched almonds, toasted and chopped fine 8 strips lean bacon, broiled brown and crisp 34 o. mayonnaise 34 lb. aged Cheddar cheese, grated 4 tsp. finely ground green onion 14 tsp. salt After nuts have been chopped, drain bacon and crucible. Com- bine all ingredients, mixing lightly. (Should it be a little stiff, add more mayonnaise.) *•5 * CHICKEN -LIVER PASTE 1 lb, chicken livers 3 hard cooked eggs (chopped fine) 3 onions (chopped) 3 tbsp. mayonnaise (or sufficient to make mixture of proper consistency) Salt, pepper, paprika 1 tsp. dried herbs 2 tbsp. butter Saute liver in butter until barely done, Drain, Saute on- ions in same butter as liver. Blend all ingredients until they make a fine paste. Season and place in bowl for dipping potato chips or salty rye bread wedges. 5 * DEVILED HAM DIP 21/2 oz. can deviled ham 5 • oz. jar pimiento cheese 1/2 c. mayonnaise or salad dressing 1 tsp. onion, grated Let all ingredients stand until at room temperature, Combing them and beat until smooth and well blended. * * SHOCKING PINK LADY 1 c. cold creamed pottage cheese is e. shredded cooked beets 4 tsp. finely chopped onion See tsp. lemon juice 14 tsp. salt Dash of cloves Combine all ingredients light- lyy, but thoroughly. Turn out itvto bowl surrounded by toasted jtottuto chips. d. N * CURRIED BROCCOLI S34 lbS, broccoli auce Ingredients: 14 tsp. dry mustard 44 tsp, salt 1 teaspoon sugar 44. tsp, paprika egg, beaten ibap. mild vinegar tbsp. salad ell tbsp. butter I tsp, curry 'powder 1. finely chopped green onion Wash broccoli and trim off a bit of end of the stems, If any 0 the stems are more than 1 Inch In diameter, cut 4 to 8 lengthwise ga.hrs lhrotesh thorn. Cloak, coveted :n ,n, 1,11 amount of boiling, salted water until just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Top with Curry Sauce: In top of double boiler combine mustard, salt, sugar, paprika, egg, vinegar and salad oil. Cook over hot water until thickened, stirring constantly, Add butter, curry powder and onion; mix well. Serve at once over cooked broc- coli. * „ * VIENNESE CABBAGE 1 medium head cabbage 1 small onion, chopped fine 14 teaspoon ground anise (optional) 1 teaspoon salt ) teaspoon pepper 8 tbsp, vinegar 3 tbsp. (or less) sugar Wash cabbage well; cut into 8 or 10 wedges and remove the core. Mix onion, anise, if used, salt, pepper, vinegar and sugar in large shallow pan ar frying pan. .Bring to a quick boil; add cabbage wedgies, cover and nook over low heat until crisply ten- der, or about 10 to 18 minutes. Serve immediately. * * * ITALIAN STYLE CAULIFLOWER 1 medium-sized cauliflower 3 tablespoons butter sk cup Swiss cheese, grated 11/2 Isp. salt Remove the green outer leaves from the head of the cauliflower. Wash and drain. Cook whole in boiling water to cover with the saucepan uncovered, adding salt. During cooking have the stem end down so that the tender "flowers" will not be mashed. Do not overcook cauliflower — 10 to 15 minutes are adequate. When done, drain and carefully Mender to shallow ovenproof bowl or round -oven proof plat- ter. Spread with softened but- ter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper and with the_ grated cheese. If desired, place under the broiler flame in a hot oven until the cheese browns. Serve whole. The Swiss cheese blends especially well with the cauli- flower flavor. LOTS OF SPACE Robert Q. Lewis boasted that one of his new pals in Dallas was o rich he flew his own plane, 'So what," scoffed a Los An- sfelite. "Lots of people here fly tiheir own planes too." "Inside the house?" asked Robert Q. Use Masking Tape For Easier painting A. roll of pressure sensitive masking tape is one of the simp- lest "tools" the home handyman or handy woman can use • to speed up many painting and dec- orating jobs. Made of a special rubberized crepe paper, these tapes are coated with a rubber -base adhes- ive which remains permanently tacky. They stink to any smooth, clean surface when a slight a- mount of pressure is applied (hence the name pressure sensi- tive) ensitive) and they can be pulled off easily without leaving any reel - due. These qualities make this tape ideal for covering surfaces which need to be protected against accidental smears when paint is being applied. Most widely available in the See -inch, 1 -inch and 13,e -inch widths, the tape comes in rolls of various lengths. When very narrow strips are needed, the tape can be easily trimmed lengthwise by slicing with a raz- or blade or sharp knife. Though masking tape requires no particular skill to use, 'there are some pointers the user should know about it if best re- sults are to be assured. For one thing, if the surface is dusty, greasy or coated with wax, the adhesive /ill not stick properly and the tape may lift off before the job is done, To prevent this, dirt should be removed by eripimg with paint thinner or rinsing with detergent and water before the tape is put down. Another precaution that should be observed is to avoid stretch- ing the tape any more than re- quired to get the straight edge nornlnlly desired. Press on with moderate pressure, without rub- bing any more than necessary. When pressing the tape onto Masking tape should always be peeled off as soon as possible after the paint job is finished, Usually the time is just right after the paint film hes started to "set" or become "tacky" — or when it no longer shows any ten- dency to run or sag. if the tape is allowed to remain on the sur- face for several days, the paint film may harden sufficiently and become brittle, As a result, when the .tape is removed the tearing action is likely to leave a jagged edge on the paint film, When stripes are desired on toys, cabinets or furniture, mask- ing tape provides the ideal method for achieving a neat, professional looking result. For narrow stripes, tape the same width as the stripe desired can be used. The color of the stripe is painted on first, over the •en- tire area, then allowed to dry hard. Mas ring tape is applied 11111,1'1I110! VIII 11111111111 �lli U.41; wallboard cardboard or wall- paper, test first to make certain the material will not be damaged when the tape is peeled all later on, When protecting floors, cabin- ets or other large areas, the us- ual procedure is to use masking tape to hold down sheets of newspaper or pieces of wrapping paper. Hold the sheets of paper in place by applying tape along the edges so that half the tape is on the paper, while the other half is pressed against the sur- face being covered. By laying the tape down in a preoise line, neat borders and edges can be easily formed. No harm will be done if the brush or roller overlaps the tape, but the home decorator should avoid deliberately smearing heavy lay- ers of paint over the tape when- ever possible. This extra care is advisable because solvents in the paint sometimes attack the ad- hesive on the tape. This can pause a residue to remain when the tape is peeled from the sur- face, writes Bernard Gladstone in The New York Sunday Times, oven th's in the desired pattern, then the surface is repainted with the new background color. When the tape is peeled off, neat stripes the width of the tape will be left where the original back- ground color shows through, For wide stripes, two strips of tape are used to form the outside edges of the stripe, The center is filled in with 'pieces of old news- paper. The paper is held in place by the same two strips of tape, as illustrated in the drawing For masking curves or figured designs narrow strips of tape — IA -inch or less—should be used. The narrow tape can be curled or twisted so one edge follows the desired pattern. Wider widths of tape can then be used in combination with this to hold. sheets of newspaper over the areas to be protected (see draw - in). On curved jobs such as this, it is important that the tape be firmly pressed down along the edges to keep paint from creep- ing underneath, A handy tool to use for this job is the bowl of 4. spoon or the side of a plastid scraper. WANTS TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?=.President Kennedy will seek more privacy dur- ing his summer vacation this year by using the summer home of singer Morton Downey on Squaw island. Hyannis Port, Mass., it was reported in Washington. The President's family will occupy the 2i -storey house for about a month beginning July 4.