Evening star., 1952-01-15
Nelson
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bNSHSOu
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formed with the partners sharing
equally in the profits. The prose-
cutor said Nowland managed the
place in the basement of a home
in Seat Pleasant, Md, next door
to the Tea Topper Tavern. In 1945,
Mr.. Fihelly said, Nowland was
robbed of a bag of, money near
the Maryland headquarters. The
money came from bets taken in
the District. the jury was told.
Thereafter Lowry or Bullock
or both openly protected Nowland
and his operators" Mr.: Fihelly de-
clared. They conveyed the
gamblers carrying money at night
and saw them safely to the bank
in Seat Pleasant to make their
deposits"
The prosecutor said things got
hot with the gamblers in Sep
Itember, 1947. and Headquarters
was moved to a garage on the.
-opulent stock farm which Nelson
had bought at Ritchie, Md. Anoth-
er headquarters was set up in the
home Of Nelson's daughter, Mrs.
Bertha N. MacWilliams, at North
Beach in Calvert County, Md. Mrs.
MacWilliams and her husband.
William K. aMacWilliams, are
among abe defendants. Z
Retired As Detective.
MacWilliams began to take an
active part in the racket and
helped another defendant, James
l.. Pumphrey, collect bets and
numbers slips in the District and
bring them to Maryland for pro-
cessing, Mr.. Fihelly continued.
The jury was told that Detective
Sergt. Robert G. Kirby of the
homicide squad began helpingI
Bullock and Lowry to protect thet
gambling syndicate as early asl
1914. IN 1947. it was said, Lowry
retired as precinct detective and
went to work for Nelson on a full
time basis.
"At ore time" ".Mr. Fihelly said,
"hiS duty was to Sit on the steps,
of the Nelson garage with loaded
sawed-off shotgun. field. glasses
and a buzzer warning button at
hand. Kirby also protected the |
North Beach places with a loaded
shotgun, working part-time at
night"
Loss on One Number Heavy.
The syndicate suffered a heavy
blow in June, 1850, when the
number 1922" came up while the
syndicate held many bets on that
particular number, Mr.. Filhellyl
said. Losses were so large that six
girls were discharged and the
partners and their wives had to
do most of the work for a time.
In winding up his opening ar
gument, Mr.. Filhelly declared the
Government will prove that these
three police officers not only pro-
tected the racket. but two of them1
actively participated in collectingl
bets and delivering them to head
quarters in Maryland"
Five women, indicted as en-
ployeS of the syndicate, were all
aware that they were working forl
a number lottery in defiance of
the law, Mr.. Fihelly said.
Liquor Dealer TeStifies.
The defense reserved it's openingl
statement and the first Govern
ment witness told how Nelson and
Nowland got into the numbersI
business in 1880 while they were
selling life insurance here.
Rennie Wilson, a wholesale
whisky dealer of Coral Hills. Nd.
said Nelson persuaded him to be-
gin selling numbers on his insur-
ance route. He said three of them
talked the proposition over while
eating breakfast and drinking
coffee. and he agreed to make a
numbers book on the side.
Mr.. Wilson told the jury he
worked for Nelson for two years
while he was employed by the in
|surance firm. He said Nelson left
the firm in 1888 and he left the
following year to go into the num-
bers business on his own.
Says He Was Framed"
MIR. Wilson testified that he was
framed" on a numbers charge
when colored boy ran into his
whisky store in nearby Maryland
and threw a package of lottery
slips under a table. The boy was
fleeing from police, the witness
said, and dashed out a minute
before the officers entered.
Mr. Wilson said he was ar
rested and pleaded guilty to
gambling charges.
Under cross examination, how
ever, he admitted that the boy was
regularly in his employ in collect
ling numbers bets but that the boy
was supposed to deliver the slips
to the store Of a colored man he
knew only as big Dog"
He denied that he knew the lask