The Monitor
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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.
