The Monitor
A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Eight Thousand. Colored People
in Omaha and Vicinity, and to the Good of the Community
The Rev. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
$1.00 a Year. 5c a Copy. Omaha, Nebraska, January 8, 1916 Volume I. Number 28
Colored Physician
Returns from Orient
Formerly Attached to Hospital Corps
of the Army in Philippines.
A NEGRO JUDGE AT ALBAY.
Where Dr. Brantly Has a Good Prac
tice. Opportunity for Negro
Mechanics.
New York, Jan. 7.—Dr. Daniel Troy
Brantly, for the past fifteen years
located in the practice of medicine at
Albay, Luzon, Philippine Islands,
reached New York on Friday, Decem
ber 24, on the French mail ateamer
Patria, from Lisbon. Leaving Ma
nilla, he touched en route at
Hong Kong,, and took the Japanese
steamer for Marseilles, coming the
Mediterranean route. He was arrest
ed twice in France, but by declaring
his purpose to engage in the Red
Cross service, he was able to get
across to England. He went then to
Madrid, Spain, and then to Lisbon,
from which port he embarked for New
York.
Dr. Brantley was attached to the
United States army as a member of
the hospital corps, and in 1900 he
decided to locate in the Islands. He
finished his medical course at St.
Thomas university, the Spanish med
ical college at Manilla, and was the
first Negro to be granted a license
as a doctor in the Philippines. He lo
cated at Albay, Luzon, and has a good
practice. He is in the States to take
a post graduate course in surgery.
He was bom in Selma, Ala., but made
Chicago his home prior to settling in
the Philippines.
Negro Judge at Albay.
There are only three colored Amer
icans at Albay, the others being Judge
Albert Somersville and Chas. Miller,
an ex-soldier, who is a blacksmith.
Judge Somersville went from New
York as a stenographer in 1902, but
some of the whites in the Manilaa of
fice objected to him because of color,
so he was assigned as private sec
retary to Gov. A. U. Betts of Luzon.
Somersville subsequently took up the
practice of law and enjoys the largest
clientele of any lawyer in the pro
vince. He has been chosen as a judge
of the district court and handles a
large volume of husiness in that ca
pacity.
Dr. Brantley declares that there is
a splendid opening for a Negro who
is qualified as an automobile me
chanic to open a garage and repair
tutos, quite a large number are put
to considerable delay in case of acci
dents.
Speaking of conditions in the islands
Dr. Brantley thinks the present ad
ministration’s policy has set the Fil
ipinos back at least a generation. The
offices have been filled, he thinks,
with Democratic politicians, no atten
tion being paid to their qualifications.
Governor General Harrison, lacking
(Continued on second page)
VICTOR B. CALDWELL
Late president of of the United States National Bank, whose death
is a distinct loss to the business and commercial interests
of Omaha.
Something To Make You Think
MON AMI
The world has room for the manly man, with the spirit of manly cheer;
The world delights in the man who smiles while his eyes keep back the tear;
Ii loves the man who, when things go wrong, can take his place and stand
With his face to the fight and his eyes to the light and toil with a willing
hand;
The manly man is the country’s need, and the moment’s need, forsooth,
With a heart that beats to the pulsing tread of the lilied leagues of Truth;
The world is his, and ft waits for him, and it leaps to hear the ring
Of the blow he strikes and the wheels he turns and the hammers he dares to
swing;
It likes the forward look in his face, the poise of his noble head,
And the onward lunge of his tireless will and the sweep of his dauntless
tread!
Hurrah for the manly man who comes with the sunlight in his face,
And the strength to do, the will to dare, and the courage to find his place!
The world delights in the manly man, and the weak and the evil flee
When the manly man goes forth to hold his own on land or sea!
—Folger McKinsey in Baltimore Sun.
1HE YEAR 1915 GIVES ENCOURAGEMENT TO COLORED AMERICAN
(Editorial in Pittsburg Courier, Dec. 31.)
When the chronicles of the year have been set down for leisurely
perusal, there must be much of good attributed to the year which is just about
done. Neither time nor space will permit of a detailed recitation, but a
few of the remarkedly important events may not be here amiss.
Never were truer words than “In union there is strength.” That being
so suppose we consider the events which have called forth this union. Early
in the year the Afro-American population of Pennsylvania was solid in the
efforts to secure an equal rights bill. Through political chicanery, of course,
this was eventually defeated at the hands of the governor, who vetoed it.
Nevertheless, this selfsame attempt caused a closer coalition of Afro-Amer- I
(Continued on seventh page.)
Colored Employee
Saves Girl’s Life
Miss Ollie Johnson Probably Owes
Life to Aid Given Her When
Fire Breaks Out.
WM. JOHNSON GETS CREDIT
Girl’s Hair -Had Caught on Fire. Her
Third Narrow Escape in Plant
of Dresher Bros.
Miss Ollie Johnson, living at 917
North Twenty-fourth street and em
ployed at the Dresher Bros.’ dry
cleaning establishment, 211 Farnam
street, had a terrifying experience
and a narrow escape in a fire at the
plant Thursday noon. She owes her
life to the aid given her by William
Johnson, colored employee at the
plant.
The two were the only persons in
the big dry cleaning room on the
third floor at the rear of the build
ing, when the fire broke out.
Suddenly there was a flash and
the whole room seemed to be filled
with flame. Miss Johnson’s back was
turned to the direction from which
the flame came. She felt her hair
burning and made a dash for the
exit. Johnson at once sprang to her
assistance, and succeeded in getting
her out of the room just as the sheet
of flame filled the whole floor.
Outside, employees rushed to the
foot of the steep stairway leading to
the room. Miss Johnson slipped on
the steps in her frantic effort to es
cape, and fell into their arms,
sustaining slight injuries. Johnson
was slightly burned about the hands.
A1 Dresher, one of the proprietors
of the place, was slightly singed
about the face when he insisted on
ascertaining positively that there
were no other persons in the blazing
room.
The damage will probably reach
$1,000, covered by insurance.
The injured girl was given atten
tion by the company doctor and taken
to her home. She is thejmly daughter
of Mrs. Irene Johnson, a widow. The
mother says that upon two previous
occasions the girl had similar narrow
escapes in the place, sustaining a
broken hand on one occasion and a
broken thumb on the other. The girl
is suffering considerably from ner
vous shock, say the attending phy
sicians, but her condition is not con
sidered serious.
INCREASE OF SALARY
FOR PULLMAN PORTERS.
Chicago, 111., December 28.—The
Pullman Company announced yester
day that on January 1 salaries of por
ters will be increased 10 per cent.
Conductors and other employes will
receive a similar increase.
Five or six thousand porters will be
benefitted. Present salaries for por
ters range from $27.50 to $40, so the
increase will be from $2.75 to $4 per
month.