The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-04
TUSCALOOSA


 number of cases of influenza reported by the physicians to the county health offi- cer up to Saturday last amounted to seventy five, in round numbers. On Fri day and Saturday new cases dropped
 down to one on the former day and two
 on Saturday. Monday morning it seems
 to have taken a stronger hold, as up to
 F clock nineteen eases had been re-
 ported, Only one death has occurred in
 the county the past week from pneumo-
 nia, being that of Coleman Pearson, who
 lived five miles from the city on the
 5arsroye road He was not reported as
 having influenza before he took pneH- monia. Of the nineteen reported Mon- day morning several were at the insane hospital farm at Holt several in North port and number scattered over the city. They are all mild eases and the doc- tors do not apprehend and great trouble from the epidemic.
 Sheriff Hughes and his deputies have broken up the biggest alleged organized band of grafters that ever banded to- gether to rob Mississippi and Arkansas farmers. Several negroes in Tuscaloosa and Hale counties have been making a habit of going down into Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas and represent ing that they wished to go down there and engage in farming. The big river planters Of that section, being short of labor, jump at the opportunity of getting help. especially when the farm labor goes there for the purpose of hiring.
 They represent to the farmers that they are in debt to their old employers in Alabama and want to do the square thing by settling up before leaving for their new homes in the states indicated. This
 makes good impression on the Mis- sissippi- i-Arkansas-L Louisiana planters, who are dickering with them, and they inva- rably agree to put up the money to pay them out of debt and come on to the hotel indicated in Alabama by the ne- groes for the purpose of receiving the money and paying off their former em- plogers The negroes come up with an itemized statement of how much they
 owe and say that their old employer is a curious fellow and the new employers
 had better give them the money and
 they will go and pay up what they owe
 and then meet the new men at the depot
 and accompany them to their new home.
 Of course. they never show m. after get
 ting the money. and some twelve to fif4
 teen big planters in the states alluded
 to have been fleeced of various sums.
 One of the negroes represented to the.
 strangers he worked on the DeMingo
 farm at Maxwell's Switch, in Tuscaloosa
 county when in fact there is no such
 farm. Two negroes who said they were
 from MaxwelPs Switch got $500 out of IT. A. Mingoe of Arkansas. A MT. Hardis of Foote, Miss advanced s5l7 to the same bunch of negroes. and they got away with it. They came here and laid their troubles before Sheriff Hughes. He at once told them~that they were dealing with certain negroes in Hale county, and they went with MT. Hughes to look them up. On the train they met the two ne-
 groes who are alleged to have fleeced the, men named and the-sheriff put them under arrest Church Pippn was the name of one of the negroes, and he swore he had never seen the two white men before, but when taken to BesSenler.s
 where they had fleeced MT. Hsrdis by claiming to be from YQlande. Church | Pippin is said to have broken down and owned up to the swindle and told the officers and MT, Hardis where they could | recover the money.
 They went to Pippin' home down Ain. | Hale and found the money at the place I he had designated. ands they recovered, every dollar the stranger had adyaqced,.
 and the biggest graft game of the sort | that has been played in Alabama for long time has been nipped.
 The American Legion in this city now has 125 members and is growing rapidly. At the last meeting of the chapter II vas decided to plant memorial trees to the memory of every Tuscaloosa county soldier who made the supreme sacrifice
 across the waters. A committee consist ing of F. R. Maxwell. Woolsey Flinnell. and Sterling Harris was, appointed to work out the details of the undertaking. 1 Professor Hausei of the university has drawn plans for the election of two story. hollow wall. reinforced school T1f., 4t..f .lt. | in this city It will be built on the unit tplan and will be 30x70 feet. Mother Gen. eraI Paraxedes of Kentucky is here and | has promised to send the Sisters of Lo- 1 retto here to teach the school. The school | building will be erected on Eighth street adjoining the First Methodist Church.
 The towboat now being built at Jeff fersonville, Ind, to be named after Tus- 1 caioosa will he ready to be launched some time in March. Miss Oliver Werner
 has been selected as sponsor. Mayor 1 Robertson has appointed the following gentlemen to tosrepresent Tuscatoosa sat the launching: Hon ]. Manly Foster Hon. lF c. Blair. Judge Edward de Graffen- \ reid. Hon. Frank M. Moody, J. P. Burch- i field A. C. 5Cade and $ F. Alston. The
 exact date of the launching of the boa. will be made known later. It will be in !active service when completed between Tuscaloosa and New Orleans.
 Fleetwood Rice and J, V. Eary have re- turned from an inspection Of the, oil fields of Eastman and Granfer counties. Texas They report that oil underlies l practically all of the territory of those two counties. Eastman is a place of 30. 0lo, which has been brought into exist ence in the past twelve months. hole in the wall. made out Of the toughest