Page:The web (1919).djvu/430

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some way, he found his way to Schenectady, New York, where he proceeded casually to marry a young lady of that city, under date of April 19, 1918. The wife was watched. The deserter was caught and returned for punishment.

St. Matthews, S. C., reports: "On the whole there was little enemy activity. We unearthed six cases of discharged soldiers drawing government money who were not entitled to it, and eight cases of parties receiving allotments from soldiers for incorrect amounts. We changed such undesirable sentiment as existed in our community, and with tact and judgment rather than by drastic measures. We think our community is among the most loyal of any in America and doubt seriously if there is one per cent disloyalty here. Some who at first were lukewarm changed, and we knew it was due to the policy adopted by our organization. We worked on the Sunday law and the fuel laws, the food regulations, etc., all in a quiet way, but, we think, with good results throughout our county."


GEORGIA

All sorts of stories show in the League files. One regarding submarine bases along the Georgia and Carolina coast was traced down to the purchase of a piece of land by a former grocery clerk, a naturalized German, who resided in Savannah for many years. He was outspoken in his sympathy with Germany before the United States entered the war. A report made by the Navy Department to the National Directors of the League states:

On January 6, 1918, this man was tried in the city court of Savannah and found guilty of violating the prohibition laws. He was fined $400 and sentenced to six months on the chain gang. Before he had fully served his sentence he was re-arrested by the United States Marshal on a presidential warrant and subsequently interned." The brief phrase "presidential warrant " covered many and many a case of naturalized Germans who became too loquacious in this country before and after we entered the war.

Atlanta, Georgia, had a nice scare about the report that a German U-boat captain had landed and was on his way to Atlanta, dressed in an American officer's uniform. Opera-