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Date Original
1918 May 3
Description
Article from the Arkansas Gazette about a man being arrested for stomping on a Red Cross stamp.
Transcription
[Page 1] THOUGHT HE TORE
RED CROSS STAMP
Alex Rodergew's Story of
why He Destroyed
Thrift Stamp
Whether Alexander Rodergew, the
man alleged to have torn up and
stamped upon a thrift stamp given
him during the May Day drive Wed-
nesday, can be punished under exist-
ing federal laws, may be determined
today, when Roderegew will be
brought before United States Commis-
sioner W.S. Allen.
Miss Laura Baldwin, 1800 Park
avenue, who sold the man the stamp,
yesterday told of the incident.
"I was selling stamps on Main
street in front of the Electric Shop,
417 Main street," she said. "This
man came down the street. I asked
him to buy some thrift stamps. he
said he would take one. I gave it to
him and he gave me a quarter. He
looked at the stamp and asked me
what it was for, I said, "to help our
government win the war against Ger-
many.' Then he tore the stamp in
two, threw it down, stamped on it
and went off muttering something I
could not understand. Some soldiers
were passing and asked me about the
matter. I told them what happened
and they started after the man. I
do not know whether they caught him
or any more about it."
Arrested by Soldiers
Sergeant Major Stein of the Fourth
Training Battalion, Camp Pike, was
among the soldiers. He arrested the
man and took him to the county jail,
where he is being held. A warrant
was issued yesterday afternoon by
Assistant United States District At-
torney W.H. Rector, charging him
with violation of the espionage act.
It was served by a deputy United
States marshal and Roderegew was
taken before Commissioner Allen. A
hearing was postponed until today,
however, in the absence of witnesses,
Mr. Rector [illegible]
certain whether the man can be held
under the present espionage act and
that he has no information that the
new sedition bill, which is much more
drastic, has become a law. The sedi-
tion bill was last reported in confer-
ence.
[Page 2] Another federal official said that
unless the man was heard to make a
threat or a seditious utterance, he
doubted whether anything can be done
with him.
"While it is true that a thrift
stamp has a significance different
from that of a postage stamp, I
doubt whether tearing it up and
stamping upon it is a violation of the
law any more than tearing up a post-
age stamp that is one's own proper-
ty would be," he said.
When brought before Commissioner
Allen yesterday, Roderegew said he
thought it of no value and merely tore
it up, considering he had contributed
the money to the Red Cross and not
received anything of intrinsic value
for it.
Arrested Three Weeks Ago
About three weeks ago, Roderegew
was arrested near Lonoke as a sus-
picious character and brought to Lit-
tle Rock, where he was put in jail.
Investigation failed to confirm sus-
picious of Lonoke officers that he was
a spy and he was released wihtout a
formal charge being filed against him,
Mr. Rector said yesterday.
Roderegew, a towering foreigner
about 40 years old, told Commission-
er Allen yesterday he is from Hol-
land. He has the appearance of a
Scandinavian.
Physical Description
Microfilm
Subjects
World War I, 1914-1918; Freedom of speech; Sedition
Contributor
Arkansas Gazette
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MFILM NEWS 000431 Roll 0152
Collection
Newspaper microfilm collection
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
"Thought He Tore Red Cross Stamp," Arkansas Gazette, May 3, 1918, Newspaper microfilm collection, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of this lesson plan supplemental material for instructional purposes is allowed without prior written permission. For further information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
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