The monitor
— ■■■ — . - „ , .. .. — ——__
A Weekly Newspaper devoted to the civic, social and religious interests
of the Colored People of Nebraska and the West, with the desire to con
tribute something to the general good and upbuilding of the community and
of the race.
Published Every Saturday.
Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2. 1916, at the Post Office a|
Omaha, Neb., under the act of March 3, 1879.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor and Publisher.
Lucille Skaggs Edwards and William Garnett Haynes, Associate Editors.
George Wells Parker, Contributing Editor and Business Manager.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES, 81.90 PER YEAR
Advertising Rates, 50 cents an Inch per issue.
Address, The Monitor, 1119 North Twenty-first street, Omaha.
Telephone Webster 4248.
COLONEL YOUNG’S RETIREMENT
We regret more than words can ex
press the retirement of Colonel Young.
The Monitor, always hopeful and con
servative, but fearless in expressing
its convictions, sounded a note of
warning two months ago, in common
with other race journals, that there
was a plan on foot to prevent, if pos
sible, Charles H. Young’s promotion
to the rank of brigadier general which
his standing, seniority and the exigen
cies of the times made imminent. Unit
ed protest simply delayed the plan. A
cautious, diplomatically-worded letter
of the Secretary of War, under date
of July 7, fooled nobody. It was so
oracular that its purpose was perfect
ly apparent. In the light of subse
quent events, the Colonel’s retirement
ordered August 3 and dating from
June 22, and the appointment of two
hundred generals August 14, extended
comment is unnecessary. These facts
speak in trumpet tones.
They are not creditable to us as a
nation. We do not believe that they
have the endorsement of the Amer
ican people in general who at heart
believe in justice and fair play.
We believe that a united demand
from our people may yet open the op
portunity for Colonel Young to serve
his country in the field and attain to
higher rank. Bombard the president,
congress and all in authority with
petitions for Col. Young’s restoral to
active service.
DON’T STARVE OUT ONE AN- !
OTHER.
—
Why is it that when one of our race
opens up some little business in one
locality a half dozen other fellows
open up in the same line of business
in the same or next block ? This is a
foolish and suicidal policy. It splits
up the patronage, never at any time
too large, and spells failure for all
concerned.
Let us get out of this foolish way
of doing business. If a man opens a
good restaurant in a given locality |
help boom his business. Don’t open
another restaurant catering to the
same trade in the same block. Open
up some other line of business, a
gents’ furnishing store, a confection
ery, a dry goods store, a grocery store
for example. Study the needs of the
people and try to supply those needs.
Our people are doing the right
thing in going into business, but we
are overdoing the matter in some lines
and starving one another out, and
neglecting other lines fn which per
sistence, diligence and service will
eventually bring success.
—
GOOD BEHAVIOR COUNTS
A business man was going home on
a Faraam street car last week. On
the same care were a number of well
dressed, well-behaved Colored people
returning from a picnic. The children
were merry and mischievous but not
boisterous, and the business man in
question, who is a splendid type of our
broad-minded white citizens, spoke in
the highest terms of the deportment
and appearance of these young people.
He noted with pleasure the kindly
feeling and complimentary remarks of
some of his fellow passengers about
this group.
How different w’ould have been this
gentleman’s feelings if these young
people had been untidy in appearance,
ill-behaved, loud-mouthed and bolster :
ous.
Good behavior on street cars, on the
streets and in all public places should
be a marked characteristic of our
people.
CONCERNING LABOR UNIONS
If the labor unions succeed in mak
ing Omaha “a closed town,” which is
their aim, it simply means the freez
ing of Colored laborers out of re
munerative employment. We have
been opposed to labor unions and will
continue to be opposed to them so
long as they continue their dog-in
the-manager policy of keeping our
people from earning their daily bread.
Every man has a right to work and
should be protected in that right.
WHEN GOVERNMENT APPROVES
When the United States govern
ment sanctions and approves discrimi
nation against any class of her loyal
citizens, what can one expect from
ignorant and narrow-minded private
Individuals but contempt and hatred
for that proscribed class?
RACE RIOT AFTERMATH
In another article of this issue of
the Argus we have endeavored to give
our readers a statement of the true
conditions in East St. Louis, since the
lecent race riot.
Law and order at this writing seem
to have been restored. Working con
ditions are normal, but the effects
upon the industrial situation is hard
to be estimated. While the Negroes
were the victims of the mob, their
sufferings were but temporary, and
since peace has been restored, they
have received their former Positions
and are more deeply rooted in, than
ever before.
The aftermath is rather encourag
ing from the Negroes’ standpoint. It
has revealed his worth to the manu
factoring industries of the north; also
i the communities in which he lives.
This fact is most strikingly brought
out by a manager of one of the large
concerns of that city, who stated that
his firm nor any of the large firms
! of the country could successfully op
erate without Negro labor. It was
also brought out that the United
States Government will take a hand in
future trouble, because all large con
cerns are contributors in some way
o the prosecution of the war.
That the communities suffer as well,
is interestingly described in an editor
ial of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat,
j Sunday, June 3rd, which reads as fol
i lows:
“East St. Louis is beginning to see
j the immediate consequences of the at
| tacks made on its Negroes by a mob
! inflamed by race prejudice and in- j
spired by ignorance. About 1000 Ne
groes have been driven from the city.
These were not idlers. They were not
parasites. They were honest workers.
Many of them were doing a character
of work about the packing plants
which the average white man refuses
to do. But it is necessary, and until
other people can be found to do it the
p acking plants cannot operate. When
the packing plants close, it not only
throws hundreds of white men out of
employment, with all that means to
the business of the community, but it
interferes with meat growers and
meat consumers in a large area. No
man nowadays lives to himself indus
j trially, any more than he does morally.
“The Negroes who have been driven
I from East St. Louis ate their bread in
the sweat of their faces. They did not
even stop at bread. Whatever fault
may have been found with the Negro,
; he has never been accused of parsi
| mony. Too often his expenditures ex- ;
actly equal his income. The Negroes !
are good spenders and they pay cash.
The merchants and the landlords es
timate that loss of these 1000 Negroes
means a weekly shrinking of about
SI8,000 in business receipts. None of
the mob have shown any disposition
to make this shrinkage good. None of
them have offered to fill the enforced
vacancies. They are not even trying
to find places for the white men 1
thrown out of employment as a result
of lack of men to do disagreeable
though necessary labor.
“The city ha3 also suffered in its :
industrial reputation. It is imnossi- |
ble to measure this loss. It is fortu- 1
nate that the constituted authoriies
made an effort to keep the mob under 1
control, for this proves that the foes !
of law and order are not in full '
charge. Determined prosecution of
participants in the riot will go still
further to restore the Prestige of East
St. Louis in the eyes of the outside
world."
Of course most of those who fled
from East St. Louis, during the riot
have returned to their homes and vo
cations and are satisfied. According
to the best information gathered by a
reporter for the St. Louis Argus, none
of them have returned to their former
homes in the south.—The St. Louis
Argus.
(Editor’s Note—The above article,
crowded out of one of our June issues,
has been in type for some time. It
throws an interesting sidelight on the
situation which followed the May out
break and immediately preceded the
July massacre at East St. Louis.)
WORTH TRYING
“What shall we do with the Negro?”
asks an excited contemporary. If all
other remedies fail, we might try
giving him a squtre deal.—The Times
Illustrated Magazine.
Colored men are employed in large
numbers at Southern army training
camps.
I. "
Obvious Observations
Spuds are selling out in the state
; at thirty cents per bushel, but ’long
' about Christmas they will be selling
at thirty cents per piece.
Can all you can while you can and
; when you can’t can, jar.
The western front is resting until
i Uncle Sam’s million men get over.
What are they going to do with the
Colored men drafted for service? The
left hand comer was tom off, but the
War Department couldn’t issue sepa
rate numbers and now they are all
balled up. Meanwhile ,the Colored
man should worry.
Colonel Young has been retired af
ter the President announced that he
would get a square deal. That square
deal squares with all other square
deals the race has received sine*
Woody has been warming the White
House chairs.
Have you ordered your coal yet ?
If it took man as long to die as it
takes the food control boss to lower
I the H. C. L., every one of us would
| make Methuselah look like an orphan
too late for a picnic.
Whatever became of the green pow
der that was to put gasoline on the
shelf and John D. in the poor house?
i There something rarer than a day in
June;
! The season when the watermelons
bloom.
How’s that for Shakespeare?
Russia is still thinking over whether
: to whip the kaiser or invite him to a
tea party.
A German paper has put Gerard in
: the Ananias Club. We are quite sure
that it didn’t consult Teddy, the or
i ganizer, before so doing.
Thanks for your courteous atten
i tion. We will now proceed to pickle
some cucumbers and watermelon
1 1 inds.
SKITS OF SOLOMON
Southern Patriotism.
Have you noticed, O my son, how
nobly the south hath come forth to
show its patriotism ? Tt can’t be beat!
It’s honuble manhood has just nachully
knocked the nails into the firmament
flagstaff to perch old glory. In Geor
gia hundreds of pecks registered un
der phony names and when Sam called
them they weren’t where they said
they were going to be. In Floridy
the Red Cross campaign brought in
several thousand beans and the crack
ers blew it all in on a big eatfest and
called it a patriotic banquet. In Okla
homa, the home of pickpockets and
gunmen, they organized an army and
started out to make Uncle Sam look
like a deuce in a poker deck. Down
in Texas, the home of the assistant
president of the U. S. A., the huck
buckers chopped down the flag and
then dared the Sammies to say any
thing about it. Wars need money and
money means taxes, but when Con
gress talked about taxing cotton a
yell started up south of the Mason
Dixon line that scared the man in the
moon. When it came to buying Lib
erty Bonds every state of the Solid
South sidestepped and fell down.
When it came to enlisting the slab
riders got word from Washington to
hand the cullud folks the cold mitt,
and Washington is still trying to find
out if any southun white gentleman
ever entertained the notion of offering
their services to the country. Yes,
the south has been some patriotic and
is still some patriotic, but one will
need a fine tooth microscope to lo
cate any of it. Selah!
SAVE YOUR MONEY
It is not how much one EARNS,
but how much one SAVES, that paves !
the road to prosperity. Despite the
high cost of living, our people should ;
arrange to lay aside, wherever pos
sible, a little money each week The
saving habit grows.
—
THE ONLY WAY TO WIN
It takes a little courage
And a little self-control
; And some grim determination
If you want to reach a goal.
I It takes a deal of striving,
And a firm and stem-set chin,
No matter what the battle,
If you’re really out to win.
j There’s no easy path to glory,
There’s no rosy road to fame.
Life, however we may view it,
Is no simple parlor game;
But its prizes call for fighting,
For endurance and for grit,
For a rugged disposition
And a “don’t-know-when-to-quit.”
You must take a blow or give one,
You must risk and you must lose,
And expect that in the struggle
You will suffer from a bruise.
But you mustn’t wince or falter
If a fight you once begin;
Be a man and face the battle—
That’s the only way to win.
—Author Unknown.
The American Iron Molders’ Union
is seeking to unionize Colored men.
HELPING THE RACE
One of the nicest ways for our peo
ple to help the race is not to patronize
race industries. Especially is this I
true of great organized bodies which |
pretend to advocate racial uplift. Last \
week the Odd Fellows held a conven
tion in Omaha. Many amusements
were mapped out and among them j
was to be a dance. Now, Omaha has
two large commodious halls owned 1
and controlled by Colored people and
welcoming especially crowds devoted
to the goddess Terpsichore. Did the
Odd Fellows rent one of these halls?
Not on your life! They wanted to
show off among the “white folks."
One of these halls was offered to them
for $65.00 for the entire week, while
they ambled up to Keep’s Dancing
Academy and laid down a cool fifty
for one night. Wasn’t that nice of
them ? Could race pride have been
shown in any handsomer way?
That also calls to mind a dance
given in honor of the Owl Club some
months ago. Either Colored hall
would have afforded more than
enough space for twice the number
of guests, but the promoters got a
hall next to the Strand. Colored peo
ple had never had it before for the
reason that they could never rent it
and this fact was used as an adver
tisement why the public should go.
But said race-loving promoters failed
to tell the public that the only reason
Sam got it was because it was to be
torn down at once to make room for
the new Athletic Club and that the
“white folks” were through with it.
And they paid a cold $50.00 for it :
when either of the other halls could
have been obtained for half that sum.
But that’s the “jigg” in us. We yell
ourselves hoarse about race pride,
helping one another, boosting for our
own blood, and such gab, but when
it comes to practice we are out with
both feet trying to find out how we
can keep from handing a few dimes to
those of our own race who are trying
to lift.
—
The Delaware and Hudson Railroad
has employed a number of Negroes to
take the place of striking whites.
I
t . . . . ... . -«■... ...
TRUNKS
THE BETTER KIND
Made from good clear lumber,
covered with fibre; well bound
on edges. Durable comers and
braces where necessary. Sturdy
locks and hinges, 2 trays nicely
cloth lined.
Priced at $10.00, $12.00, $13.50
and $15.00.
Freling & Steinle
“Omaha’s Best Baggage Build
ers’’
1803 FARNAM STREET
I TAKE PLEASURE
in thanking you for your patronage.
I want your trade solely upon the
merits of my goods.
You will profit by trading here.
H. E. YOUNG
Webster 515 2114-16 N. 24th St.
f—1——»
CRONSTROM’S
PANTALORIUM
LADIES’ AND GENTLEMEN’S
TAILORING
CLEANING
PRESSING
ALTERING
There’s a difference. All work
done by tailors who know how
to keep garments shaped and in
condition, something unattain
able by pressing machines.
Ix>ok over your wardrobe and
then call
Douglas 5407
Room 8, Patterson Block
17th and Farnam Streets
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| Sale of |
(Boys’ Suits)
I IN OUR BARGAIN BASEMENT §
= Two Tables of Wash Suits that are really wonderful values in dark =
E and light colors in all sizes, 2 to 8 years. They have been Akp =
= selling for $1.00 and $1.25, at. 2
E Boys’ Wool Suits, just a few of these suits left, regular $5.00 $>3.75 5
E values in green and brown mixtures, while they last.5
| Brandeis Stores |
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M a GREAT WESTERN CIRCUIT
DIPLI' PERFORMANCES IN
lIAIarn CONNECTION WITH
■ ■■■WfciU THE DOUGLAS COUNTY
The Champion Trotters and Pacers of the East and
West Will Meet Here Next Week to Test Their Skill.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21—See the big free-for-all pace, including
Ben Earl, 2:00%; Fay Richmond, 2:01%, Hal Boy, 2:01%; and
seven other famous pacers. Four races in all.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22—Records will fall in the three-year-old
trot with Noble Aubrey, Alicola, Black Diamond, Bird Maxey and
fifteen others. Three races on the card.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23—The 2:14 trot will bring together Sprig
gan, 2:03%, (winner of the $20,000 Panama-Pacific); Sweet Aubrey,
2:09%; Gail McKinney, 2:11%, and fifteen others. Three races on
the program.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24—'Tx>ok Who’s Here” in the 2:12 pace: Hal
Connors, 2:07%; Lee Dale, 2:09%, and fourteen others. Also the
2:17 trot and 2:18 pace for a big closing day.
Come and hear Green’s Band. The women will be interested in the
cooking and fancy work exhibits.
As for the children, well you remember the great times you used to |{
have at the county fairs.
Benson Race Track, Aug. 21-24
(Benson cars direct to Grounds, or transfer from any line.)
I St Philip’s Lawn Social I
Rectory Grounds, 1119 North Twenty-first Street
| Next Wednesday Night |
= AUGUST 22 x
You’re Invited—Come
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Glass-Blowing Entertainment |
By GEORGE G. KING, of Lawrence, Kants. 5
—at—
Mt. Moriah Baptist Church
26th and Seward Street* E
TUESDAY, AU6UST 28th, 1917 (
Admission 25 Cent*. E
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DO YOU EAT?
THE WASHINGTON CAFE
Mr*. L. Cuerington, Proprietress 1719 Cuming Street.
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! Circulation Boosting |
Bargain j
The Monitor is Hi.50 a year—and worth it. x
= To introduce it to NEW SUBSCRIBERS we will send E
= it to the FIRST 200 new subscriptions reaching us i
E after this date, but before August 31st, for $1.00 a x
1 year. This applies only to NEW sobscriptions (not §
| renewals) and only to the first 200. H
Names of lucky ones will be published in order x
= received.
[ Send In Your Dollar Now 1
Special Limited Subscription Order Blank |
= The Monitor, 1119 North Twenty-first Street, Omaha, Neb.: H
Please find enclosed One Dollar for One Year’s Subscription, E
= under terms of your special limited offer. It is understood that I am x
E a new subscriber and must be among the first 200 names sent in to E
X receive it for a year at this price.
x Send to. x
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E Town... State. S
E Date.
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