Page:The web (1919).djvu/400

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workman to take into a building such as this Government enterprise. The attorneys did not care for confidential relations with such a client. Close watch was kept for three weeks, but the client did not come back.

John G—— said when the Lusitania was sunk, "What in hell were the —— —— on that boat for, anyway—were they not warned to keep off?" Which again sounds familiar. Indeed, that was the attitude of practically every German or pro-German in America, no matter whether naturalized or not.

Alma, Michigan, is a pleasant and quiet city, but you can't tell where a big story will break. Drama is no respecter of geography. Which is by way of saying that one Herman R—— is reported by Gratiot County Division to have been raised on a farm in this locality. During the war he went to Spokane, Washington, and joined the I. W. W. He was indicted among others in the Haywood trial and disappeared while waiting for trial. Gratiot County Division was directed to look him up.

A visit was made to the sister of R——, who herself appeared as much an I. W. W. as need be. Through persistence, however, they learned where Herman was approximately. It was concluded that the brother and sister might correspond, so the mails were watched. Sure enough, on the third day there came a letter from Spokane addressed to another sister, and bearing the Spokane postmark. Then a brother of Herman was visited, and from him and from his unmarrried sister a snapshot was obtained of Herman and his pal, each holding an I. W. W. paper facing toward the camera, which sufficiently well identified them and their tendencies.

Later on both Herman and his pal were located, apprehended, tried, convicted, and sentenced in the Chicago trial.

Ottawa County, Michigan, has in its population a large percentage of people of Dutch descent. There are also many immigrants from Holland, some naturalized, others not. Most of these people have an inborn hatred for England, which was mistakenly called pro-Germanism. A correct understanding of the psychology of these people was no easy matter to arrive at, but the A. P. L. handled most of them in such a way as to convert them into patriots rather than