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Show SPIES PLOT 10 BLOW UP RAILROADS IN THIS STATE (Salt Lake Tribune ) That lhe German spy system has extended ex-tended its influence to every part of the Rocky mountain region and that Utah would be the first state in the west to be severed from transcontlnen tnl communication with the east has long since ceased to be a secret, It has long been known that a plot has existed, and is ready to bo executed, to literally rip the country In twain and isolate this part of the countrv and other western centers of supplies from serving the east by the carrying out of 8 scheme, gigantic in its nnclertnkint but simple of execution, of the blasting blast-ing and making impassable of all of the Important passes across the great divide. While it la admitted that In the event of war it would require a large army to gu;rd transcontinental railroad lines in Utah and other western states, the activities of the German spy system sys-tem in this section of the country have not gone unnoticed. Spies at Work Here. Spies and agents of the German government gov-ernment are, known to have been oper-ating oper-ating out of Salt Lake, and man of their plans and maps have been made in this city. These spies are known to hae photographed every bridge and narrow railroad eanjon In Utah. It Is known that the secret service has full details of these matters and that everyone every-one of the operators has been singh J out. Railway tunnels and passes in the Rocky mountain districts would be the first objective points of enemy agents, and it is at these points that 0ffUi.1i attention has been focused. Both Utah and Wyoming on the wesi and north and Colorado on the east have manv places that would require protection in the event of hostilities. According to army officials. Echo and Weber canyons on the main transcontinental trans-continental line of the Union Pacific railroad;. Soldier Summit and the canyons can-yons just east of Helper, on the Denver Den-ver & Rio Grande; the Royal Gorge, above Canon City, Colo., would necessitate neces-sitate the strictest guarding. The blasting of any part of these great gorges would block further traffic traf-fic for an indefinite time. Even the destruction of the swinging bridge in the center of the gorge would cause irreparable harm. Tennessee pass, at the top of the continental divide, would afford an opportunity for attack. There are miles of other narrow canyons can-yons and numerous tunnels through which the Denver & Rio Grande passes until it crosses the divide. This road would become an important impor-tant factor as a carrier in time of war, since It connects with other railroads from the east, forming a direct transcontinental trans-continental line from coast to coast Sherman pass, on the T'nion Pacific railroad in western Wyoming, is said 10 be another objective point at which the government would concentrate troops. There are several tunnels in that vicinity, the blasting of any one of which would cripple transportation indefinitely. The protection of railroad lines a would be placed under the direct supervision su-pervision of the military, according to armv nffirlalu Secret service operatives from the bureau of Investigation co-operate with the army in protecting railroads. Since the bureau in charge of Colorado. Winning, Wi-nning, New Mexico and Arizona is located lo-cated in Denver, that city is expected I to become the center of vigilance in that district, while Salt Lake will be I the headquarters of operations for the we stern intermcuntain district. Information would not be volunteered volun-teered last night as to whether or not I the tearing down of the great overhanging over-hanging rock on the Denver & Rio Grande, which even a small blast would topple, was a part of the preparedness pre-paredness campaign which has been so secretly conducted. An indication of what might happen as a result of spies' activities was exemplified ex-emplified Saturday forty-four miles east of Ogden In Echo canyon when the westbound Los Angeles Limited was held up several hours by a wreck of a freight train Passengers on the Los Angeles Limited got out of their train and viewed the derailed freight and noted that a culvert had been torn out, either, they said, by a blast or by the engine of the freight plunging into it after it had left the rails. 00 |