The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-05

quart Of eoal oil Yes, it looked like it did Folks saw the oil put in and the opening sealed, and there was the hot flame and all the cooking. Heaven only knows what Billy put in that unoffendipg coal oil, but the jazz fire if produced would have made the devirs eyes dance with delight.
 Well. to keep going. the demonstration kept ur for weeks, folks getting more and iroue Interested, and then Billy was final l5- persuaded 10 sell some stock. Reluc- tantly-you know how it is--he let go little, to special friends, because he waht- cd to see them prosper He had come to Birmingham and everybody had been so nice to him that he just had to let th.m have just a little of 1t.
 Did you ever see boy in swimming in July make a belly splash?' Well, that's the way the stock buyers fell for Billy's scheme. Think of it, s20,0oo-iron men, big round American dollars, worth twice as much as the aenemic. pallid medium of exchange registers today.
 Yes I fell for it' J. N. Martin, z3il Second avenue, told Chief Shirley yester- day T jared loose from s2,47O hard earned dollars. Charlie Eckerle. who used to be city plumbing inspector, came across with s3,5lS more, but we were small fry pikers compared to a chap named Wooten in Talladega, a cotton buyer. l know he bought over $1Q000 of if. but the Lord only knows how much more. Other people bought it, and when say Evans sold over s20,000 worth, have both feet on the soft pedal"
 That was about February, 1918, and soon thereafter pressing business engagements caused Billy to move on.
 Some weeks later, here came the prize packages, all done up in nice wooden \ boxes and crisp brown paper, and with
 the twelve cylinder, triple expansion, re- ciLrocating non-skid burners in them. Al | least they looked like the original when they were taken from the boxes, but they didn't quite have the fresh. shiny, eff cient look of the three that had been or exhibition.
 1 All the folks who had bought burners and stock brought out quart of kerosene 1 they had been keeping on hand and started the burners going, with visions oi | coal and wood bills cut to a weared lminirnuni; but. pshaw, the dratted things l were no more good than 90-cent oil lamr ! in 1882
 1 Then the war dance started. Tele- grams were sent to Kansas City, iron whence w. c. Evans was said to have sprlng. Billy couldn't be found. They wired Thomas Jefferson Crook of Wien ita. Kan, whom Billy had said was tho Inventor. T. J. said he had invented { lamp, a fine lamp, and w. c. Evans Wal the accredited agent He was mystitet that it wouldn't work.
 A delegation visited police headauar ters, and towns all over the countr. ! were communicated with-no sign Billy.
 Gradually the excitement simmere' } de,wn, and only occasionally was 1t men
 toned, until yesterday. Oh, blessed dar | ! lt.; a1r Try1t @ ] street yesterday afternon and passed tn ' Brown Marx building. Within grea window there was little contraptio ' twisting twine in way that had tn [ three thick, humping tigers of the nur v sery rhyme licked to whisper. Charii
 !watched the blamed thing gyrate, and a
 This eyes grew accustomed to the darke
 Interior there, seated at desk, he say - his old friend of the wonderful lamp, tn Aladdin of the aforementioned $2oOV Charlie pinched himself. turned his bac
 to the window and then made break fo lIJ. N Martins store He yanked J. N
 out and hustled the well-proportione ] iplunber to the rope mechanism WlndoN
 lJ. N. gulped twice and wanted to Ei ] Charlie, while Erckle was half piock
 the street headed for the sheriff's office . They got warrant and 4. J. heHp' + long. lean, cruiser-looking deputy, an } called as a delegation on Billy.
 Just as soon as the three got inslde ! tW. c. Evans recognized them and calle
 the two ''stock mem by name. He sue l gested that the triing matter could ? , settled out of court, but the deputy sherl said he want no court, nor no Juds
 neither.
 The long, tall deputy, taking Billy b
 | his little hand, led the way to the court | house and MT. Martin says Billy's Ire Il hIi1tp nothing (
 much as an aspen leaf before an electri fan. And the rest of the acts of Billy Evan' / f. and all that he said, and all that he dl'
 Twill they not be heard in the circu
 court at some future date? Boy, 70
 ltell the world they will.
 < Now. of course. no kame lies at tn , door of the Home Rope. Machine Compan
 of Kansas City, of which W. C. Evans ha
 been in charge in Birmingham Tor tf c ipast week or so.
 z Chief Shirley sat back in his swiV F chair yesterday afternoon when 1t ws all fixed and Billy was arranged so T \ will stick around Birmingham for an II : ~fvestigation Then the chief spoke: , jNrIts odd about some. people, but ther : are fellows who get so interested
 mechanical contrivances that they III
 Inventors, forget about everything els | I0ey TCflllilu iiiC ol IooNec "tAN AO>'s = the book, Helen's Babies-they Jul
 want to see the wheels go round. n Mir. Evans when asked for stat
 ment after the arrest yesterday said ths J when he was here two years ago he WE } working on a salary for T. J. Crook { !, i Wichita. Kan. and the burner he ws , selling was manufactured by the Ame 1 ican Gas Machine Conirany, a wei
 known concern. The product was know . as the Home Gas Maker He said
 did not remember what the burner sol l for Further, he said he had heard
 complaint from those in Birmingham VI bought it. and has had no connecue , lwith Mir Crook for eighteen months. q was working on salary, and ha
 bower of attorney to act for MT. Croe
 lin doing business and signing contracts
 The arrest was made exactly two yea . to the day after MT. Martin had bougl l his stock. !. Craftsmanship Club
 Vw4