Evening star., 1936-03-25
BY JuNIUS B. WOOD.

maker whispered when his brother
Jack and DR.. Samuel r. Rogers found
his broken body along country road
between here and Brandon. Day was
Just breaking on that Sunday morning,
December l. following the flogging
party" for which IL men later were
indicted Three of them, former
Tampa policemen, went on trial here
yesterday for the kidnapping of Eugene
r. Poulnot, fellow victim with Shoe
maker and Rogers.
What sort Of man was Shoemaker,
whose bitterest thought after such
vicious abuse was that his faith in
humanity might be wavering? His
face was caked and bloody, eyes open
and staring and flicker of recogni-
ton came only after the brother had
repeatedly shouted his name His back
was torn and bruised by the chains
and straps with which he had been
beaten. The fumes of gasoline had
been burning into the wounds for
seven hours. One wrist was broken
and one side paralyzed from blows
on his head.
AL Klan Members.
Eight Tampa policemen and three
residents of the Orlando area were in
dicted in the three flogging cases.
Each of the Orlando defendants car
ried a Ku Klux Klan membership
card, according to the Hillsborough
County sheriff's office, when arrested.
One of them, Arlie F. Gillian, also
declared himself to be former State
officer of the Klan. He was reelected
school trustee in his home district
after his arrest and indictment. which
may be a proof of the Klan's strength
at the polls
Shoemaker was taken to hospital.
When it became evident that serious
efforts we're being made to find the
f1oggers, reports were heard that the
same gang might invade the hospital
and put Shoemaker out of the way
before he recovered consciousness and
could talk An armed guard was
placed over him.
Shoemaker was accused of radical
ging. In the Nations list Of lynchings
he is carried as an alleged radical" d"
The real record is pertinent. He was
born in Philadelphia. February a.
1888. Shoemakerville, with its stone
quarries around Chester, Pa. is named
after his grandfather. In the World
War he was rejected for physical
reasons and tried to get into the
Signal Corps. Numerous letters from
former employers and others were
presented, including letters from Lieut..
Col. Henry 3. Baldwin of the New
York National Guard, Willian D.
Sergeant and the late Frank A. Mum
sey, the latter describing Shoemaker
rs thoroughly dependable. good tenn
pered and Of good habits"
Victim Of Depression.
He did not get an Army commits
sion and was with Goldwyn Pictures
under the name Of Richard Turner"
in July. 1918, and few months later
was selected by Ashley Miller of New
York for the role of John Evers, model
soldier. in an Army Signal Corps
propaganda film entitled Made in
America" After the war he went to
Bennington, VT, where he founded
and owned the Handee Co.. making
wooden novelties. Depression put that
company out of business.
4 He had plan for relieving unem-
ployment on 30-hour week basis,
which brought attention in 1881 from
lean Federation of Labor. Mr.. Green
L. %l,n al
Shoemaker wrote to Franklin D.
Roosevelt, then Governor of New York,
and got reply from Albany shortly
before the 1882 Democratic National
Convention.
so you wrote to the President, did
you?" one of Shoemaker's captors
taunted him during the flogging.
Reply From Roosevelt.
Mr.. Roosevelt's letter read:
April 90, 1892.
MY dear Mr.. Shoemaker:
When your letter of some time ago
reached me I read the inclosed ma
terial with deep interest and attention.
In fact, have kept it in a file of in
formation which I have collected to
shed light on the present economic
conditions, and that is why you have
not received an earlier acknowledge
ment Of your courtesy in sending this
TO me.
2 Since you wrote, conditions have
somewhat changed, but you have prob
ably seen through newspaper reports
that you and are in fundamental
accord on the principles upon which
YOU touch.
yours very sincerely,
"FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT"
:. In June Of last year Shoemaker
drove to Tampa to live with his
brother, who has been a resident here
for many years. On the way he
stopped in Washington, called on Rep
resentative Thomas r. Amlie of Wis
consin and was converted to the
latter's production for -use instead of
profit" program. He resolved to start
q similar movement with his own
notifications in Florida and eventu-
ally link it up with a national move
ment under Amlie. Aside from that,
he had no interest in local politics.
Used Amlie Slogan.
!. He called his party Modern Demo-
Gratis" and, using the Amlie slogan,
Its program was to give everybody who
wanted it 30, hours a week work for
the Government and to start the
financing by confiscating all incomes
Id excess of $1,000 a year. A single
sheet circular was printed explaining
the plan, with red slip tackled on it.
asking: Are the Communists right?
WAKE I'D V0IlR