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] 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 , <T skilled and unskilled
«CSl workmen, who intend leav
T#||cp llnfipp ing the south should pro
IdllC nuuuc tcct themselves against
swindlers and chance con
ditions. The Monitor has taken up this
problem and is able to be of service to you.
Write at once for information and en
close stamp for reply. Address,
: George Wells Parker,
Business Manager of The Monitor,
Omaha, Nebraska.
— i i
