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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1916)
The A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests ^ Colored Americans of Nebraska and the Northwc & / THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor $1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, Sept. 30, 1916 Vol. II. No. 14 (Whole No. 66) Colored Firemen Are Entirely Exonerated Verdict of Prejudiced or Incompetent Coroner’s Jury Reversed. Commissioner Butler Indignant. Council Passes Resolution. Either moved by prejudice or con trolled by invincible ignorance, a cor oner’s jury on September 16 rendered a verdict censuring Fire Company No. 11, stationed at Thirtieth and Spaul ding streets for negligence in rescu ing Mrs. Hulda Malmberg from her burning home at 3047 Evans street. The verdict in effect charged these brave firemen with manslaughter through cowardice, an aspersion that has never been placed upon Omaha firemen, who have frequently haz arded their lives. A rigid investiga tion was demanded by the authorities. Monday an exhaustive hearing was held before the city commission with the result that the company was ab solutely exonerated of any blame or neglect in their duties in connection with the fire which resulted in Mrs. Malmberg’s death. The same wit nesses who testified at the inquest testified before the commissioi. Mrs. Minnie T. Wiggs, 3230 Evans street, who was quoted in the news papers as having said that the Col ored firemen had not done their duty, told the commission that she had been misquoted, while the testimony of Amfeldt Peterson was also far dif ferent from that credited to him fol lowing the inquest. Upon hearing the evidence, Com missioner Butler tried to find some way to call the coroner’s jury to ac count for its verdict, but was advised by Assistant City Attorney TePoel that that could not legally be done. Commissioner Hummel moved that the city attorney be instructed to draw up a resolution exonerating Company No. 11, which motion was seconded and passed. Commissioners Kugel and Jardine asked the reporters to see to it that their papers give as much prominence to the exoneration as they did to the jury’s verdict. This the Bee and the World-Herald did, but the Daily News, Omaha’s joke sheet and near news paper, which yelped at the coroner’s jury’s verdict, remained as dumb as an oyster packed in three feet of ice. Hose Company No. 11 is composed of the following members: Fred Vaverka, senior captain, who has been in service twenty-one years; Daniel O’Connor, junior captain, in service fourteen years; Woodson Porter, driv er, seventeen years; James Greer, eleven years; Clarence C. Trent and Edward Turner, ten years; Frank Stewart, seven years; William and Alonzo Jackson, five years; and Harry B. Lewis, three years. The captains are white. At the time of the fire the men on duty who responded and did their duty were Captain O’Connor, Messrs. Porter, Greer, Trent and William I Jackson. The following communication and resolutions are self-explanatory and will be read with interest: Omaha, September 26, 1916. Captain Fred Vaverka, and Captain Daniel O’Connor, and Members of Hose Co. No. 11. Omaha, Nebr. Gentlemen: You will find herewith copy of Resolution which was passed today by the City Council relative to inves tigation of fire at 3047 Evans street. The findings of the Council exonor ate you completely from any blame whatsoever as to your conduct at said fire. Respectfully, C. H. Withnell. CITY OF OMAHA Council Chamber Omaha, Neb., Sept. 25, 1916. Resolved: Whereas, the verdict of the Coro ner’s Jury rendered pursuant to the hearing relative to the death of Mrs. Carl Malmberg intimated that said death might have been due to derelic tion of duty on the part of the mem bers of Fire Company No. 11, of the Omaha Fire Department, and, Whereas, this council upon resolu tion introduced by the Superintendent if Fire Protection and Water Supply set down the matter of investigating the conduct of the said fire company in said case for 2 o’clock p. m. on Sep tember 25, 1916, and, Whereas, said matter came on for hearing at said time in the council chamber, and all of the witnesses who testified at the coroner’s jury except ing one, 0. G. Carter, personally ap peared and testified before this body ar.d the council being advised in the premises, finds: That said Fire Company No. 11 was not guilty of dereliction of duty and not subject to censure for their con duct in the matter of extinguishing (Continuel on Page 8) THE VALUE OF COLORED ADVERTISING Have you ever thought before of the monetary value of advertising among Colored people as a class? If not, permit us to open your eyes to a fertile field of advertising that you have too long neglected. Thousands of Colored men in this city and country are waiters and every waiter is a salesman. In hotels and on dining cars 99 per cent of guests are open to suggestions as to what they shall cat and drink. Some of us have been waiters and we know. Whenever the Domino Sugar man gets on a dining car he slips each waiter a dollar and whispers, “Heavy on the sugar, hoy; heavy on the sugar.” Why? Because he knows that the waiter is a business maker. We can say it without one word of exaggeration that the Colored waiters of the United States sell more of certain lines of foodstuffs than any single method of advertising extant. The Colored caterer is also a most important factor. His trade is fol lowed among the wealthy and he has all to say as to what his guests shall eat. The Colored paper means more to him than any other publication out side of his cook books and trade periodicals. Isn’t he a very important man to reach? The Colored club steward is another man to consider. In nearly every city of size the Colored steward is a fixture. The stewards of commercial and social clubs with their thousands of members are of value to the mer chant. A steward would sooner patronize a firm who is willing to advertise with his people than go elsewhere when prices are the same. Isn’t it logical? Then there is the Colored cook who does practically all the choosing for the family table. The mistress may not care whether Bing’s Beans or Pape’s Pickles are bought, but the Colored cook is going to ask for the brand1 adver tised in the race paper which he or she reads. Another class to be reckoned with is the servant class. In the matter of buying and favoring one brand of goods to another, or one dealer to an other, their power of suggestion is a value to be reckoned with. They, too, are reached by the Colored weekly. And lastly, but not least, come the Colored people themselves. What ever may be their faults and their virtues, three things are certain: Colored people will eat, dress and furnish their homes. The ten thousand readers of The Monitor spend' millions of dollars annually for merchandise of all kinds and they are fast realizing that the firm that advertises in their race paper is more courteous, more obliging and more anxious for their business than the firm that doesn’t. THAT IS WHY WE SAY THAT COLORED ADVERTISING PAYS— Think it over. Colored advertising pays better than any kind of class advertising on earth because there are more of that class and because they are placed in a position to be of value to the advertiser. Vey and Mandingo Tribes of Africa Men Have Smaller Hands Than American Women and are Proud of Their White Teeth. MOHAMMEDANS IN RELIGION Polygamists and Acquire Their Wives by Purchase. Guy Robbins Con tinues Articles on Liberia. A stranger will find much of in terest among the Vey and Mandingo tribes of Liberia. They differ a great deal from their neighbors, the Krus. They are neat and clean, very proud, and give one a very favorable im pression at first sight. They are of medium height with well proportioned bodies. They have regular features and velvety brown skins. Their hair is black and thick. They comb it and braid it until it looks very well. Their hands and feet are small which indicates that they do very little work. The average man has even smaller hands than the average woman of America. As is the case with all of the natives which I came across, they have very pretty rows of even white teeth. The men dress similar to the Turk. They wear a loose pair of pantaloons suspended from the waist, a long shirt extending nearly to the knees and sometimes longer. With a fez on his head and an English walking stick in his hand he feels dressed up to-date. What Women Wear. The women wear a one or two piece frock, without pins, buttons or any thing to take their place. They drape a long cloth around them and knot it in such a way that it will stay in place and seldom needs adjusting. These cloths or clothes fit rather tight but not any more so than some of the dresses the women of Amer ica wear. Their head-dress is very similar to the dress with the exception that it is smaller. It is wound around the head forming a kind of turban. This head-dress tells whether the wearer is single or married. When the tur ban is knotted on the side the woman has never been married, and if the knot is in front she is or has been. They Are Mohammedans. Religiously, these people are Mo hammedans. Native priests from Northern Africa come and live among them and teach them to read the Koran which some of them do read ily. The Koran is printed in Arabic and it is common to find people v'ho can both read and write Arabic. They call it “learning book” and are very proud to be able to read and write. Nearly all the children like to go to school, but although the most of the schools in Liberia are Mission schools the children generally hold to the re ligion of their parents. (Continued on third page)
