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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1917)
The Monitor p?v A National Weekly News ^er Devoted to the Interests of the Colored Americans of Nebraska and the West THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor $1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, June 9, 1917 Vol. II. No. 49 (Whole No. 101) Cowardly Albinoes Assault Negroes Conservative and Reliable Race Jour nal Gives Story of East St. Louis Mob. BRUTAL ATTACK UNPROVOKED Uniformed Police and Military Men Alleged to Have Sympathized With and Abetted Mob. The St. Louis Argus, one of the most conservative and reliable Negro newspapers of the country gives the following report of the East St. Louis race riot: Thursday evening, May 31, after three clays of spasmodic rioting, everything seemed to be quieted down in East St. Louis. The trou ble started nearly two months ago when the strike was called at the Aluminum Ore Works and strikers were displaced by Negroes. It is said that a movement was imme diately set on foot by the unions to stop importation of the Negroes, be cause it was feared that they would be used by employers in the event of strikes which were scheduled to take place in the early summer. Sev eral meetings have been held and ev erything that could be brought into play, except mob violence, has been exhausted. During these six or eight weeks of the strike, the Negroes were getting a firmer hold on the in dustrial situation; and strikers were getting weaker and hungrier each day. Many of the industries have declared against unions; and the Ne gro labor, honest and conscientious, was fast winning the hearts of the managers of the firms. On Monday night a meeting was called at the City Hall by the strik ers and an appeal was made to the Mayor to do something for the hun gry crowd or something would be done by it. The blame for the situ ation was shifted from one source to another. Some said it was the man ufacturers; others laid it on the Ne groes; and still others said it was the railroad. So there was a division among them. It was suggested dur ing the meeting to “get” the rail read men; and another was to “drive out the Negroes and we will get our jobs back with higher wages.” This letter suggestion seemed to meet the popular chord. By this time the elo quence of the agitators had made the mob ferocious. Coincident with the dismissal of the meeting, a report was circulated, into the already in flamed minds of those present, that two Negroes had killed a white man. . This acted as a signal to go get the Negroes. The crowd marched to the intersections of all street cars which ran into Broadway near the bridge, and there they gathered sticks, rocks and bricks and attacked every Negro seen coming or going, on the cars. The Negroes were caught unprepared to defend themselves; and most of them found on the streets were as saulted by the mobs. An Argus Reporter Was on the (Continued on Page 7) CONFERENCE ON CIVIC AND INDUSTRIAL LEAGUE Twenty representative citizens were invited to attend a conference Tues day afternoon in the office of Amos F. Scruggs, city inspector of weights and measures, to discuss the formation of some central association for look ing after the civic and industrial needs of our people in this city, including the welcoming, help and guidance of the members of our race who are com ing from the South. Mr. Scruggs was chosen chairman of the meeting and Mrs. Alphonso Wilson secretary. The sentiment was unanimous that such an organization is needed. A committee of seven was appointed to formulate a plan. The members of the committee are Amos F. Scruggs, Rev. John Al bert Williams, Dr. J. H. Hutten, Rev. W. T. Osborne, Rev. Thomas A. Tag gart, Mrs. Alphonso Wilson and Henry W. Black. A general meeting will be called for some day next week to hear the report of the committee and effect the organization of a civic and industrial league, in which it is hoped to secure the co-operation of a large proportion of our people. CALL ISSUED FOR MORE NEGRO ARMY OFFICERS Chicago, June 5.—Applicants !for enrollment in the reserve officers training camp for Negroes at Fort Des Moines have not come forward in sufficient numbers to fill the Cen« tral department's quota. So far 151 men have been certified for admission to the camp and thirty-eight places remain to be filled. WITHDRAW PATRONAGE FROM DEPARTMENT STORE The Colored people of Louisville have stopped patronizing Selman’s, one of the largest department stores of the city, because a sign has been put up in the ladies’ rest room—• “Ladies—White Only!” CITIZENS PRESENT FLAG TO BUFFALO SCOUTS Buffalo, N. Y.—Tuesday evening, May 29, a mixed audience of a thous and persons gathered in the Auditor ium of the Hutchinson Central High school building to witness the pre sentation of a silk United States flag to Troop 68, B. S. A. The flag is the gift of the citizens of Buffalo, at the solicitation of a committee of la dies, of whom Mrs. H. H. Lewis was the efficient chairman; Mrs. A. Har den, treasurer, and Mrs. Fannie J. Catto, secretary. Troop 68 i sthe only troop of Col ored boy scouts fh western New York. The tro ,» was organized in October, 1916, with a dozen boys. The roll now has 66 names. Rev. Father Bennett, rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal church is the organizer and scoutmaster. Troop No. 1 of white girl scouts at tended in a body and cheered the boys of 68, who replied with cheers for No. 1. MEDICAL ASSOCIATION WILL NOT MEET IN MEMPHIS. Memphis, Tenn.—The meeting of the National Medical association, which was to have been held in this city August 28 to 30, has been changed and the session will prob ably be held in Philadelphia or At- j lantic City on the same dates. The immediate reason for this change of place of meeting is the savage and barbarous acts perpetrated in con nection with the burning of the Ne gro Persons, in the vicinity of Mem phis. To cap the climax of this bar barity, the recent meeting of the Tri-State Medical association was in terrupted by members of the mob of lynchers, bringing the head of the burned man and throwing it in the midst of the delegates in session. The local committee has therefore re quested that the meeting place be changed. SUCCESSFULLY PASS PRELIMINARY TEST Messrs. Johnson, Pinkett, Terrell and Turner and Drs. Morris and Pee bles have successfully passed the phy sical examination and preliminary test for admission to the officers’ reserve training camp which opens at Des Moines June 15. BAND MAKES HIT. The First Regimental Band, Dan Desdunes leader, cherfully volunteered its services with the other bands of the city to play for the patriotic meet ing at the Auditorium Saturday night. This band was deputized to play at certain points in the business section early in the evening, and, as usual, made a hit. Citizens were outspoken in praise of its work both on the street and at the Auditorium. LITTLE BOY COLLECTS DIMES TO GET RED CROSS BUTTON During the recent Red Cross cam paign in Omaha a Colored boy, thirteen years old, approached one of the Red Cross booths, and asked how much it costs to join, ex pressing his desire to do so if it did not cost too much. When told that it cost $1, he sat puzzling and counting his small change which proved in sufficient to buy a membership. The women in charge gave him seme money and told him to ask each of his friends to give him a nickel. At noon he came back with the neces sary amount and a radiant smile, and became a member of the Red Cross. SUBTLE I*ITT MOST REFRESHING HUMOR. Washington, June 2.—The rumor that a unit of American Indians would be included in the first divi sion of troops sent to Europe is only a rumor. Secretary of War Baker has announced himself opposed to it. He does not believe that the various nationalities and races that consti tute the American people should be separated in service, but should all fight as Americans. The Rehabilitation of Atlanta Progressive Tendtency Marks Move ment to Rebuild Famous Fire Swept City by the Sea. BOTH RACES ON COMMITTEE Co-Operation of Prominent Negroes With Whites in Community Mat ters Unusual in South. Atlanta, Ga., June 7.—A Commit tee of Rehabilitation has been desig nated by the Mayor of Atlanta, with the Advice of the Chamber of Com merce to synchronize all the elements that enter into the restoration of the burned area and those homes and business enterprises that suffered loss in the recent fire. The Committee is composed of the following persons, all prominent in the business development of Atlanta, and sevtral of much more than local fame: Mr. Edvv. H. Inman, Mr. Rock well Johnson, Mr. Isaac Schoen, Judge Walter Colquitt, Mr. Carlos H. Mason, Mr. Harry H. Pace, Rev. E. H. Oliver and Mr. A. F. Herndon. The three latter are Negroes. The Minister’s position is self-explana tory. Mr. Herndon is owner of one of the largest and best equipped bar ber shops in America, is the dominant factor in the Atlanta Mutual Insur ance Company, and resides in a home quite in keeping with his station. Mr. Pace is the distinctive character upon this Committee. He is young, virile and the Negro prototype of the mod ern business executive. His capabil ities are best explained by the fact that at the age of 33, he is Secre tary-Treasurer of the Standard Life Insurance Company, a $125,000 Le gal Reserve Life Insurance Company that has on its books FIVE MILLION DOLLARS worth of business, and that has met every legal require ment and examination with books and records in such shape as to receive commendation from even antagonistic sources. It is a distinct novelty in the South for Negro interests to be recognized in community matters by the active participation of bona fide business men in the deliberations of conse quential bodies. Occasionally in politics and reli gion some sort of Negro adjunct com mittees have been tolerated, but here we find a case of absolute and direct interchange of ideas, and it may be said that the exodus has not failed to become a prime factor in the Com mittee’s consideration. Rehabilitating seven hundred white and eight hundred Negro families of every social and industrial type is no mean job for even those eight high minded and experienced men, and our race throughout the country may feel certain that race interests will be cared for with aggressiveness temper ed by a proper sense of justice and business diplomacy. This will repre sent a lot of work to already busy men, but the establishment of this precedent and its satisfactory fulfill ment is of immeasurable value to the race.