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)