Page:The web (1919).djvu/298

 the prompt, patriotic rallying of our American citizens in support.

The decision was made, involving the opening of a suite of offices and the enrollment of a number of competent volunteers who could give their time to this work. Concurrently with making this decision, which meant so much more work, the St. Louis division undertook the formation of a geographic organization distinct from the company organizations, members of which were not only required to report all matters of interest through immediate superiors, but were also called upon from time to time for auxiliary investigation work in their respective neighborhoods. The district organization embraced twenty geographical divisions within St. Louis proper, there being from twenty-five to fifty operatives in each division, all of them responsible to a deputy inspector, who in turn was responsible to an inspector presiding over four districts. Four districts constituted a zone. St. Louis County, on the west, was similarly organized, as were East St. Louis and adjoining towns and villages in Illinois. In the summer of 1918, East St. Louis and considerable adjacent territory were separated from the St. Louis division and created into a distinct division, continuing, however, in close coöperation with the St. Louis division.

The increasing volume of work out of St. Louis headquarters required the active services of approximately fifty operatives, most of whom had abandoned their personal pursuits and were giving their entire time to the work of the League. In addition, two hundred and fifty men in the district organization were being called upon, more or less regularly, to undertake active investigations with respect to matters arising in their respective neighborhoods. The personnel of the organization was made up of loyal and self-sacrificing citizens in all walks of life. Much excellent service was rendered in investigations made at night by those who were unable to devote other time to the work. Each man did what he could.

Cases of intense and varying interest were arising daily to sustain the zeal of this large body of volunteers. One of the most interesting involved a letter, mailed in St. Louis March 17, 1917, to "Mr. W. Bernkong, Berlin, Germany,"