The Monitor
A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Eight Thousand Colored Peop
in Omaha and Vicinity, and to the Good of the Community \
The Rev. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor %
-^
$1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy. Omaha, Nebraska, August 5, 1916 Vol. II. No. 6 (Who %1o. 58)
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Colored Hero At
Cleveland Disaster
Garrett A. Morgan Rescues Several
Survivors of Tunnel Tragedy and
Recovers Several Bodies.
INVENTOR OF SAFETY HELMET
Is Personally Complimented by Cleve
land’s Chief Executive for
Heroc Work.
Cleveland, Ohio, August 4.—One of
the greatest disasters in the history
of the city of Cleveland took place
in the new West Side waterworks laie
Tuesday night and its hero is one'of
Cleveland’s leading Afro-American
citizens, Garrett A. Morgan, the in
ventor of Harlem avenue.
Aroused by the prolonged ringing
of the telephone bell at 4 a. m. Wed
nesday, Mr. Morgan was informed
that a terrible disaster had taken
place in the form of an explosion at
the tunnel leading from crib No. 5
to form a part of the new West Side
waterworks and that eleven or more
men were entombed and others who
had gone to the rescue endangeAd.
The police department urged him to
bring 20 or 25 of his helmets to the
scene of the disaster and assist in
the rescue. Calling his brother,
Frank S. Morgan, and a neighbor,
William Hoots, also colored, Mr. Mor
gan filled his car with 20 helmets, h s
own invention, and dashed to the
West Ninth street pier meeting the
police patrol that had been sent to
fetch him. At the pier the fire tug
Wallace was waiting his arrival to
hurry him to the scene.
At five o’clock, one hour after re
ceiving the call, Morgan stood at the
head of the shaft with the third res
cue party composing his brother
Frank and two rescuers. T. J. Clan
cey and Gilbert Martin. Firemen and
policemen stood about helpless. Al
ready two parties had gone down to
the rescue and none returned. No
one else cared to risk the journey.
All feared to trust themselves to the
terrible poisonous fumes that filled
the death chamber below’.
But Morgan, who is an expert in
this line, knew the qualities of the
Morgan national safety hood and also
possessing a great amount of per
sonal courage, never hesitated a mo
ment. Harry L. Davis, mayor of the
city of Cleveland, stood at the top of
the shaft as Morgan and his party
were lowered away. He was the last
man to shake Morgan’s hand before
he went down, even bidding him
good-bye, and the first man to con
gratulate him when he returned.
Morgan’s first task was to break
the bull’s eye glass in the first trap
door of the chamber where the res
cue party led by Supt. Van Duzen
of the tunnel construction had been
entrapped. This dangerous task ac
complished Morgan plunged into the
deadly gases of the tunnel and began
(Continued on eighth page)
John G. Pegg, Weights and
Measures Inspector, Dead
For Ten Years He Filled an Important Political Posi
tion with Satisfaction to Administration
and the Public.
The wholly unexpected death Thurs
day afternoon of John Grant Pegg,
city inspector of weights and meas
ures, at his home, 4308 Patrick ave
nue, came as a distinct shock to his
Jamily and friends. Two weeks ago
Mr. Pegg had what was then consid
ered a slight paralytic stroke from
neat prostration and from which he
was apparently rapidly recovering,
md soon expected to be about his
duties. Thursday afternoon he took
x turn for the worse. Twenty minutes
after his death a telegram was re
ceived from his mother asking how he
was.
Mr. Pegg was bom in Richmond
Va., in 1868, and was raised and edu
cated in Kansas. Being the eldest of
x large family he was forced early Ik
life to earn his own living. For a
time he followed railroad life. He
came to Omaha in 1899, where he has
since resided. He served as messen
ger to Mayor Frank E. Moores from
1901 to 1906. In 1906 he was appoint
ed by Mayor Dahlman as inspector of
/eights and measures, which posi
tior. he filled for ten years to the
.- atisfaction of the administration and
to the business public whom he served.
r*e was one of the best liked men on
the city pay roll. He was a chirty
seccnd degree Mason, being a memb.r
of Rescue Lodge No. 25.
Mr. Pegg was married to Miss Maiy
Page of Topeka, Kansas, in 1899.
He is survived by his widow, fiv.
children, Mary, a senior, and James,
a sophomore in the high school; John,
Ruth and Gaitha; a mother, four
brothers, James of New York City,
Henry of Chicago, Charles of Oakland,
Cal., and Bayliss of Omaha, and a
sister, Mrs. Ida Prayther of Oklahoma
City.
A brother-in-law, Prof. Gaitha Page
of Kansas City, Mo., and a sister-in
law, Miss Ella Page, of Topeka, ar
rived in Omaha Friday morning in
pesponse to a telegram.
The funeral will be held Sunday af
ternoon from Zion Baptist Church, the
Rev. W. F. Botts officiating. Jone.
and Chiles will have eharge of the
burial.
Only Colored Bishop of
Episcopal Church Dies
New York, Aug. 3.—The death of
Itt. Rev. S. D. Ferguson, for the last
thirty-five years bishop of the Epis
copal church, in Liberia, was an
nounced today in a cable dispatch re
ceived by the Domestic and Foreign
Missions society.
Bishop Ferguson was bom in
Charleston, S. C., January 1, 1842,
ind was taken when three years old
jy his parents to Liberia, where he
was educated in the Mission schools
of the Episcopal church. He was or
dained to the diaconate at Cape Pal
nas in 1865 and to the priesthood at
Monrovia in 1866. He was conse
crated bishop June 24, 1885, in Grace
church, New York. His episcopate
tas been marked by great growth in
his Diocese. His death removes the
only Colored member of the house of
Bishops of the Episcopal Church.
Bishop Ferguson visited Omaha
several years ago as the guest of
Bishop Worthington, at which time he
preached in Trinity Cathedral and the
Church of St. Philip the Deacon. In
the latter church he also baptized
Amelia, the infant daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. M. F. Singleton.
There will be no early service Sun
day at St. Philip’s Church. The usual
services at 11.
Woman Adopts
St. Paul, Minn., Priest
St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 4.—Father
Stephen L. Theobald, pastor of St.
Peter Claver’s Roman Catholic
Church, was adopted as her son by
Mrs. Mary E. Falihee, white, a
wealthy and pioneer resident July 28.
District Judge H. R. Brill signed the
decree of adoption after a brief hear
ing of Mrs. Falihee’s petition.
Mrs. Falihee, who lives at 135 St.
Peter’s street, has been a resident of
St. Paul 40 years. She is 61 years
old and is a widow with no children.
Father Theobald is 41 years old. He
is an orphan, formerly was a Mon
treal newspaper man and is a gradu
ate of St. Thomas College.
“I do not see that it is anyone’s
business,” said Mrs. Falihee, “and as
it is very unusual I do not care to
have the adoption given publicity. 1
am a zealous worker in the Catholic
Church and am deeply interested in
the work which Father Theobald has
been doing. I have some property
and when the time comes I want him
tc benefit by it and further his work.”
Father Theobald lives at 319 Fuller
street. He has been a priest four
years. The petition did not ask foi
a change of name, as it would be dif
ficult to alter all of Father Thebald’s
papers, some of which would have to
bo sent to the Vatican in Rome.
A Little More AtkV
the Krutown People
The Natives are Particularly Proud
of Their Canoes Which They
Handle With Great Skill.
GREAT SWIMMERS AND DIVERS
Uuy B. Robbins Continues Some of
His Interesting Articles on Li
beria and Her People.
The Krutown beach is lined with
:anoes on racks about two feet high.
The natives love their canoes and
pend a great deal of time in taking
:are of them. They scrub them with
mnd to keep them smooth and patch
the cracks that come with age. Gen
rally these canoes are small, made
0 hold two to three people, yet they
go out to sea in them to fish and to
/isit the nearby towns. The Krus
ire so skilled in operating their
:anoes that if one capsizes at sea
.hey can right it, shoot the water out,
limb back in it and resume their
journey.
Many times they go out to fish
1 the evening and do not get back
ntil the next day. They catch quite
number of good fish including snap
rs, cavalla, and “bonies. “Bonies"
ire so called for the number of bones
they contain. The natives’ mouths be
ing like threshing machines, the bones
don’t bother them. These and many
other species they sell to the civilized
>eople. The remainder of the catch
.vhich consists of such fish as sharks
y keep for their own consumption,
have been on the beach many times
and have seen fifteen or twenty
canoes go out at one time on a fishing
jxpedition. Seemingly the Krus regard
;his as great sport.
There is always a crowd to greet
he home coming fishermen similar to
i crowd that would gather to see the
.'mish of a race in this country except
his crowd is rushing and fighting to
?et the pick of the fish which are to
be sold.
Teaching Children to Swim.
The Krus love to swim and bathe in
he ocean, and take great pains in
teaching even the small children how
to swim. A father will take his son
>ut in a canoe to deep water and
throw him overboard to “fight water”
as they call this method of teaching.
This is a very severe lesson but it
jenerally results well and the child
soon becomes an expert. I saw a
/oung boy dive in about 18 feet of
water for a gun spring four inches
'ong and one-half inch in diameter.
The fourth time he brought it up and
handed it to the amazed owner who
never expected to see it again.
We imagine these crude people
would feel discontented when brought
n contact with civilization and what
t offers. But on the contrary, they
seem happier with little to do and
plenty to eat. And if we compare
heir condition with that of some of
(Continuel on Page 8)
