=ll===iiai ^-^rT^r^r=T^BF====ll=]l ■■ . Lrj=ngl=^r-gi^ ] General Race News J I MEMPHIS HORROR Memphis, Tenn.—After a mob had burned at the stake Eli Pearson, ac cused of criminal assault, John Bur lingame, a Colored chauffeur, seized an American flag from an automobile he was driving and cried to several Negroes who had witnessed this act of barbarism: “Come on boys! We are through! Let’s join the Germans!” Then he tore up the flag. He was seized by a dozen men who started to lynch him for manifesting lack of patriotism. Officers who claimed to be unable to protect Pearson from the mob took Burhngame in custody and turned him over to the Federal authorities. He will be prosecuted. The lynching of Eli Pearson occur red near Memphis and was witnessed by thousands. Before he was burned his head was cut off. Five thousand armed men were in the mob. In addition hundreds of per sons from Mem'phis who heard that Pearson was in t the mob’s hands rushed to the scene. Their automo biles w'ere' formed in a large circle and Pearson was burned in the cen ter of it. Pearson was taken from Deputies at Potts Camp Monday night. Seventy five men surrounded the train on which he was being taken to Mem phis for trial and forced the officers to give him up, which they did with out protest. Before Pearson was tied to the tree he was mutilated and tortured. Some in the mob proposed shooting him be fore setting fire to his body. INTERPRETER OF THE SOUTH (From the New York Sun.) Ruth McEnery Stuart, interpreter of the South through tales and verse, died in a hospital in this city on Sun day in her fifty-eighth year. She had been ill since last summer. Mrs. Stuart was born in Avoyelles Parish, La., and was the daughter of James and Mary Routh Stirling Mc Enery. She was educated in New Or leans. At the age of 19 she was mar ried to a cotton planter, Alfred O. Stuart. After his death, which occur red in 1883, she lived with relatives in and near New Orleans. Her first story, “Uncle Mingo’s Speculations,” appeared in the Princeton Review in 1888. It and stories which followed were successful that Mrs. Stuart moved to New York and thereafter made this city her home. She con tinued, however, to write of the South, especially of Louisiana. She was a true friend of the Negro race. This is her tribute to the slaves who pro tected women and children left in their care during the civil war, pub lished as the dedication of “Daddy DeFunny's Wisdom Jingles:” “To the memory of those faithful brown slave men of the plantations throughout the South, Daddy’s con temporaries all, who during the w. while their masters were away fight ing in a cause opposed to their eman cipation, brought their blankets and slept outside their mistress’s doors, thus keeping night watch over other wise unprotected women and children —a faithful guardianship of which the annals of those troublous times record no instance of betrayal.” WATCH FOR THE O. N. E. MIN STRELS AT MECCA HALL, JUNE 4. THE SCREAM OF THE YEAR. 11 ■■—“ -imi - I.ITTLE LIBERIA AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION Severence of diplomatic relations between Liberia and Germany was an nounced during the conference. Dave Lawrence’s keen knowledge of inter national affairs asserted itself again during talk on this subject. “Has this country a treaty or con vention with Liberia which provides that this country shall pass upon or acquiesce in any such step taken by Liberia?” Lawrence interrogated. “It has a certain protectorate over Liberia, sir,” stated the secretary. “But none requiring that this country pass upon its diplomatic steps before they are taken.” At this juncture the New York World man, evidently working his courage up to the sticking point, asked: “Mr. Secretary, this may sound like a very foolish question, but will you tell us what difference it makes if Liberia has severed relations w'th Germany?” “Only this,” replied the secretary in stantly, “the terminii of some of thc most important cable systems on that side of the world are in Liberia.” “Oh-h!” came in a chorus from sev eral of the scribes as they made hasty notes. Evidently this point had either not been known by most of ’em, or, if known, had not been thought of when the severance announcement was made. WRITES BEST ARTICLE; 6,782 TRY TO WIN PRIZE Saratoga Springs, N. Y.—Z. Mar shall Cochrane, a Negro residing here, has been awardecd a prize of $25 by Collyers Eye, a Chicago weekly de voted to sports and finance. Mr. Cochrane was winner out of 6,782 contestants. Mr. Cochrane submitted his article to the publication March 21. On March 31 it was announced that the judges had named him among the five best writers in the contest and that the prize of $25 would be divided among them. As it was later learned by the magazine people that the Federal Government would not permit such a division the readers of the publica tion were asked to read the five ar ticles and decide by vote who was to be awarded the prize. The magazine has announced that 7. Marshall Cochrane received the largest number of votes and that out of (5,782 writers his literary contri bution was the best. TEXAS TRAINING CAMP San Antonia, Tex.—The War De partment has under consideration the forming of a camp for Negroes to train as reserve officers to be used in officering the Negro regiments which will be organized under the Se lective Draft Bill. It is probable the camp will be located in a Northern city, although no decision has beer reached to this effect. When the training camp for reserve officers was ordered at Leon Springs many applicants were received from Negroes, but as no provision was made for them in the order, the> were told to wait until the matter could be adjusted. This condition ob tained at other reserve officers’ camps and the War Department is now con sidering the establishment of a camp exclusively for Negroes. MAKING IT HARD FOR THE RACE Because of numerous instances in which men have had their transpor tation advanced them and then failed to put in appearance after reaching the North, the Urban League and other agencies have discontinued the policy of furnishing railroad fare un less the parties are known to be, ab solutely reliable. It is said that hun dreds of dollars have been lost by northern firms which have provided transportation. Unscrupulous labor agents are said to be victimizing southern Negros by taking advantage of their igno rance of conditions in the northern slates. Men have been met in New' York upon arrival and persuaded to desert those w'ith whom they had agreed to work for $2.50 a day, hav ing been promised by these agents who are looking for a commission, as much as $4 and $5 a day. Upon going to the new positions it is found Xjssoj3 uaaq OAT?q sat-ispis aq; misrepresented. In Harlem the attention of the po lice has been directed to several cases of robbery in which the Colored man just coming from the South has been victimized by members of his race. Confidence men are known to have engaged a newcomer in conver sation, gained confidence and then taken him to a flat w'here he is re lieved of all his money and valuables. The demand for Negro labor in the North is even greater than ever, there being openings galore for unskilled workmen. Unable to secure the de sired amount of Negro labor the Na tional Highways Commission is im porting Spaniards and Mexicans in large numbers who have been put to w'ork building toads. In New' York State alone roadbuilding has been al most at a standstill because of the scarcity of labor. Although Negro labor is on trial in the North and prospects of the race assuming an important place in the industrial world are unusually bright at this time, the unreliable Negro workmen is beginning to make himself a nuisance, thereby embarrassing those w’ho bring him from the South and vouch for his dependableness, and proving a costly experiment to those who advance his transportation and go to big expense in giving the Negro a chance to make good. Two serious complaints have been registered against Colored help by northern industrial firms recently. One has been that southern Negroes, after reaching the North, permit them selves to be lured away by labor agents who make false promises of higher wages. The other complaint is that some Negroes, after being brought North, work a day or two and then quit without giving notice, leav ing their place of employment in debt. —New York Age. FIRST IN MANY LINES The following compilation of curious facts has been going the rounds of the press, being credited to the Tennessee Valley News: It is interesting to note w'ho were the first Negroes to accomplish cer tain feats in America. For instance: Macon Allen was the first Negro to be admitted to the American Bar, re ceiving this honor in 1845. Estevan ico, “Little Steven,” a Negro was the discoverer of Arizona, and one of the first persons to cross the American continent. The first martyr in the Boston massacre, March 5, 1770, was the Negro soldier, Crispus Attucks. Dr. A. T. Augustus was appointed sur geon of the Seventeenth Regiment. United States Colored Volunteers. He is said to have been the first Colored man commissioned in the medical de partment of the.United States Army. Bean Johnson, of Albany, Ga., en joys the distinction of putting the first bale of cotton on the market in the State, and by this feat he has acquired the title of the “First bale man.” About 1754, Benjamin Banneker, a noted Negro astronomer with impei‘ fect tools, constructed a clock which told the time and struck the hour. This was the first clock constructed in America. Henry Blair, of Maryland, wras the first Negro to receive a pat ent on an invention. This invention was a corn harvester. It is claimed, but not verified, that a slave either in vented the cotton gin, or gave to Eli Whitney, who obtained a patent on it, valuable suggestions to aid in the com pletion of that invention. In 1788 Andrew Bryant was the first Negro to found an African Bap tist church at Savannah, Ga. Lott Carey was the first missionary to Liberia, and one of the leading spirits in the founding of that colony. He sailed for Liberia in 1812. James Denham was the first Colored physi cian in the United States. He was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1767. Dr. John V. DeGrasse was the first Negro to become a member of the medical association. In 1854 he was admitted to the Masaschusetts Med ical Society. The American Insurance Co., of Philadelphia, was the first Negro insurance company for Negroes in America. It was established in 1810. Colored People Intending to Come North or ^ARMERS, farm laborers, HI ,