The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-09
WORDS CONVINCING
 WHEN HE SAYS HE
 IS NOT GUILTY ONE
Says Man Never Knows How Many Friends He Has Till He Gets
 in Trouble
By WINNIE FREEMAN

l have always had keen desire to ! know the emotions that consume an in-
 nocent prisoner being held for a crime he did not commit. And I went down yesterday afternoon to see W. K. Wheelock, charged with fthe shooting of Mrs. Fred Wilkes to seek enlightenment. Not that any person, with the excep-
 ton, perhaps, of Mir Wheelock himself, could swear that he is innocent. But he says he is And he looks 1t. l found him in the office of the war den of the city jail. It was just about dark Something had gone wrong with
 the electric lights, and in the semi-dark- ness it was almost impossible to dis tinguish figures. In response to a call
 from the warden, tall, slender man
 stepped from the outer office, and was
 told that he was MT. Wheelock. And
 there's one thing about him, he has
 hand-shake that doesn't bespeak vice.
 That was the first thought that en-
 tered my head after I was introduced
 to him. I wondered if man could be
 guilty of murdering a woman, and yet
 meet the world with the hand-shake of
 an honest man. And then, he spoke. And l wondered again. I wondered if a man
 could bu guilty of murderng a woman
 and still meet the world with the voice
 of an honest man.
 ''The only thing I can say is that I am
 innocent"
 Words that have been reiterated by thousands of persons guilty among the innocent
 But the words as MT. Wheelock spoke
 them cid not sound like they came from
 guilty man.
 And still wondered.
 Suddenly the lights came on. The place which had been dark was flooded with
 light. And I had my first opportunity
 to look into the face of the man with whom had been talking. I looked into
 his eyes for several minutes. He re-
 turned my gaze and repeated: T am in- nccent." And I no longer wondered. l believed him.
 And then I put my question.
 MT. Wheelock, 1 began. i've often
 wondered how a man who is being charged with some crime of which he is innocent must feel. Can you tell me?''' He didn't wax dramatic. His expression hardly changed. Except for the twitch- ing fingers, he showed no signs of nerv- cusness.
 Those are emotions which 1t is im-
 possible for a person to know unless he
 has experienced them" he replied "The English language was not fashioned quite broad enough to describe such feelings"
 | He didn't say anything else for few minutes. I didn't either. I knew he was thinking, and I wanted to see what he would say next. Do you know he began slowly, "a
 man never knows what day may bring forth
 Just another bromide perhaps. But it didn't sound bromidical the way he said it.
 And then he rose to go.
 There is one other thing I should like
 to say he added, T just want to thank
 my friends for the way they have stood by roe since this thing happened" And then,
 "A man never knows how many friends he has until he gets in trouble Another bromide, perhaps, but also an expressive one. And that was all he had to say. He did not even reiterate his innocence. He went outside where half a dozen friends were waiting to see him. He didn't answer my question very better idea how an innocent man must feel when charged with crime he did not commit than had before I went