Show spies A A USTIN ROZ HOE might justly be arx called the paul revere of new york with this difference that instead of taking one wonderful ride roe iloe took a n hundred those are the words of morton pennypacker a new york historian who recently discovered in no nn old chest in a home on long island some one hundred and fifty year old documents which told the hitherto un known story of spy sy sya s teni tem while the british occupied new york city during the revolution the man who collected in new york the information about the british plans was robert townsend the successor of nathan hale this information he passed along to austin roo hoe who carried the messages from brooklyn to setauket L I 1 L where they were handed over to abraham woodhull woodhull then watched for a signal a house far across the fields and this signal announced that caleb brewster had arrived with his boat to carry the information across the tha sound to maj benjamin tallmadge who immediately med lately delivered it to washington austin roes hoes greatest ride and on one which was more remarkable and in finitely more dangerous than raul revers famous exploit was made to save newport it I 1 from the british fifty five miles he covered tn in record record time on that occasion and it gave to washington the information that british troops were embarking at whitestone for newport and that admiral graves with eleven ships was already on the way to attack the french fleet of seven ships off the coast of rhode island receiving the message from townsend he sped across long island to reach woodhull while brewster waited to carry the message the information reached washington in time for him to put out the false information and see to it that british headquarters got it that he was contemplating an immediate attack upon new york alarmed by this possibility the british commander ordered the expedition against newport withdrawn and this was done before they had an opportunity to destroy the town as they had planned to do even more important in its results was another ride which roe made on this occasion he carried the message to major talmadge which determined him to have john anderson An darson major andre of the british army recalled after he was wait well on his way to arnold the traitor and to freedom ot of this mr air pennypacker says colonel trumbull Is quoted by L P clover as aa saying that but for the capture of major andre the declaration of independence pen dence might have proved abortive and the blood of t so many of our coun conn shed in vain 11 US mi 1931 western petern union |