The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-13

in detail and 1 placed myself in his hands,
telling him that had been unable to solve
the crime and as far as the authorities knew
he was the only man in France who could
help us. He alone could find the guilty one
and thus clear away the cloud of suspicion
now resting upon the 5000 of his fellow cit
liens, and an appeal was made to Wilson'S
pride of race. After a promise to return
him to his company as soon as he had fin
ished with the case, he was finally won
over to our point of view, and he agreed to
assist us.
Wilson was fine fellow, a graduate of
who seem not of mixed blood, but to come
from superior African tribe.
In Bordeaux, Wilson was confined in the
guard house, with instructions to escape as
soon as opportunity offered and make his
way to the Bassens camp. If possible he
was to join one of the stevedore COM
panies. Major Henderson who was in charge
of the guardhouse at Bordeaux facilitated
the escape, and within few days Wilson
was safely hidden away in the Bassens
camp. At first we were apprehensive that
he might be arrested there as deserter,
but later on it was all made clear why he
was permitted to remain there unmolested.
Not knowing how many pairs of eyes
were watching our every movement, l was
afraid to have Wilson either mail his reports
or come to even our secret office to deliver
them personally, SO knowing the supersti-
tious fears of the colored stevedores it was
arranged that every night between nine and
ten | or someone of my staff would be at
the spot where Hand had been killed, and
there Wilson could make his report Sew
eral discouraging nights passed before Will
son put in his first appearance. But when
he came to the rendezvous he had plenty to
tell. For over an hour he poured out tale
that seemed almost incredible.
"Why Major" he began, conditions at
the Bassens camp are terrible! There are
two sergeants who are running the camp
just as they please; their names are Hodges
and Pew. There is no attempt at rotation
of the guard instead of every man having
a chance to do guard duty, Hodges and
Pew select the men they want for the guard
and their word is law inthe selection, and
these two sergeants are making fortune
out of selling places on the guard You
understand, that if man is doing guard
duty he is released from work on the docks?
Working on the docks is hard, and the men
have to work eight hours and sometimes
more. Those doing guard duty, however,
walk post for four hours and then loaf or
sleep the other eight, before they are re-
quired to do four hours more of guard duty.
Compared with work on the docks guard
duty is big snap The price for being
assigned to guard duty is ten dollars per
month, and those who do not pay are quick
ly returned to the docks. With three hun
dred guards in this camp these two SER
geants are cleaning up big. However, that
is only one source of income, or graft"
In repeating long conversations, of
course, l make no pretense of remember
ing them verbally, but the gist of this and
many of Wilson's explanations / will never
forget. His news made too deep dent
"You issued ORDERS" he went on, "that
only three hundred men week from the
Bassens camp can come into Bordeaux on
pass. All the stevedores want to get into
Bordeaux, if possible, so the competition for
passes is keen. These two crooks, taking
advantage of. your order, are selling the
passes. The price is ten francs, per pass,
per day. AS all the men are required to re-
port upon return and turn their passes in to
the guardhouse, these sergeants have them
for reissue.
Hodges and Pew also have their stool
pigeons present at all the gambling games
going on, and these stool pigeons collect
a rakeoff for the two sergeants. When one
of the men is caught overstaying his pass
or breaking the rules or regulations, they