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n=ri the Monitor
A National Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Colored Americans
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
$1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, SEPTEMBER 22, 1917 Vol. III. . % '2 (Whole No. 116)
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Pays Fourth Visit
to Des Moines
“Bob” Robinson Writes Interesting
Letter Concerning Conditions at
Officers’ Training Camp.
TWO HUNDRED MEN GO HOME
Dost pone men t of Graduation Creates
Dissatisfaction and Dampers
Men’s Enthusiasm.
Editor Monitor: May I give you a
letter on my fourth trip to Fort Des
Moines? I left Omaha in company
with Mr. W. D. McCulloch, who was
the first man from Omaha to be
drawn in the selective draft, over C.
R. I. and P. Ry. for Des Moines
the morning of the 14th, arriving at
tile Fort at 9 a. m. I at once got in
touch with Dr. Cabanis and learned
there was some discontentment as
the boys had expected to finish their
three months’ training and receive
their commissions or be notified that
they failed to make good, but were
told that the camp would be pro
longed another month. An order
from the war department , directed
lhat the .-chool be continued and two
hundred men took their discharge and
left for home. Of the many who had
applied for their discharge was At
torney W. N. Johnson but little per
suasion caused him to change his
mind and enlist for another month,
lie expects to stay and try to win a
commission at the completion of this
month’s training. This extra month
will take some of the rough edges
off some of the candidates and, in
fact, do them more good’ than harm.
One visiting the camp last Friday
would have thought of school days,
seeing so many men getting ready to
leave for home. Some smart men
left the camp Friday but they had
finished their course of instruction
for three months and felt that as the
school was not going to graduate
them they could do better by leaving
for their positions in civil life. Dr.
Cabanis and his staff, Messrs. De
Frantz and Beckett, were a committee
trying to persuade some of the men
to remain at camp for the extra
months and find results. They called
on General C. C. Ballou and were as
sured the object was simply to keep
the men in training until time for
the first Colored selective draft men
were ordered to report at the canton
ment as no definite date had been
set for the Colored army to mobolize.
The companies were going on with
their usual routine of work. Com
pany No. 2 was going to the trench
es and we promised Ed Turner to
accompany them, but got busy try
ing to get some of the men to not
accept their discharge and "re-up”
for the extra month. The boys from
the regular army and National
Guard are there for results and will
stick by it one or more months.
We had lunch with Company No.
5. Menu: baked fish, Spanish sauce,
corn on cob, mashed potatoes, bread, j
butter, iced tea, and bread pudding.
After lunch we went down to the
medical corps quarters, met some of
the officers who were commissioned
in the Dental and Medical Relief
corps and spent quite an enjoyable
afternoon. The enlisted men of the
Hospital corps, about 800 strong,
were given instruction in litter drill.
They are a likely bunch of young
men and are learning the drill fast.
As so many of the candidates for
commission have left the fort, some
of the companies will merge so as to
let some of the Hospital corps have
their quarters. 1 think the intention
is to quarter the candidates in eight
or nine barracks.
The boys have had lots of sport
during the past week. Company No.
7 gave a banquet and ball Wednes
day night at the Administration
Building and it was well attended.
Captains Stevens and Fink, Com
panies 7 and 10 respectively, and
their wives and citizens were in at
tendance.
Thursday night Company No. 6
had their banquet and ball at their
quarters and members of each com
pany claimed the honor of having ex
celled the other in the undertaking.
Sorry I was not there to witness it.
Some of the decorations were hang
ing in Company No. 6 quarters Fri
day.
Returned to Des Moines after re
treat and after dinner planned to at
tend a banquet at the Auditorium,
given by some Des Moines society
for candidates and officers, but I was
too tired, and after taking a little
sleep, awoke too late, but heard it |
was quite a swell affair and well at
I tended. We left Des Moines Satur
i day morning at 8:20 for Van Meter,
la., where we got the car and mo
I tored to Omaha, arriving here rather
tired and ready to do justice to a
i good meal
G. Wade Obee, being one who de
cided it was useless for him to con
tinue training, asked for his dis
charge, and will be in the city for
a few days en route west to join his
family. Quite a few of the boys who
are going to “re-up” are asking for
a few days’ furlough to visit home.
A delegation has called on Secre
tary Baker in behalf of General Bal
lou having command of the Colored
soldiers in the new army. He seems
to have the interest of the Colored
boys at heart. They all like him.
The boys were disappointed at the
camp being prolonged, for most of
the men had made arrangements to
leave for home. Some were coming
to Omaha for a few days, but when
the order was received to continue
training for another month, it took
all the life out of the men and a
shadow of gloom hovered over the
camp, which was still apparent on
our arrival.
Shall try to be at Fort Des Moines
October 14th, if the training camp
closes, for it will be the last time so
many well-educated Negroes will be
a sembled for such an important
duty. Men from ail parts of the
country and from every school are,
or have been, in training in the 17
Pro. Iteg. R. O. T. G. at Fort Des
Moines, la., since it opened, June 3,
1!>17.
Wishing each officer, candidate,
enlisted man, and the secretaries of
the A. and N. branch, Y. M. C. A. a
successful future, I am.
Yours most respectfully,
BOB ROBINSON.
THOUSANDS ATTEND COUN
CILMAN CUMMINGS' FUNERAL
Baltimore, Md.—The funeral of
Councilman Harry Cummings, who
died last week after having been in ill
health for some time, was held Mon
day afternoon from Metropolitan M.
U. Church, near Druid Hill avenue.
Hundreds were unable to get into the
church. It was the largest funeral
ever held in Baltimore for a Negro.
Members of both branches of the
City Council attended in a body, and
civic organizations were well repre
sented. The funeral services lasted
two hours and the eulogies paid the
dead councilman were genuine.
COLORED SOLDIER
KILLED BY TRAIN
I’hillipsburg, N. J.—Harry Mason,
18 years old, and a member of Com
pany B, 15th N. Y. Infantry, Col
ored, was killed while on guard duty
in this section September 6. He was
guarding a bridge and stepped out of
the way of one freight train directly
m front of another going in the oppo
site direction.
MAY ENTER NAVY
ONLY AS COOKS
Pittsburgh, Pa.—The first oppor
tunity offered Negroes for service in
the navy is given in orders received
by Lieut. Com. Newton Mansfield,
authorizing the recruiting officer to
enlist Negroes as mess attendants.
The pay is $37 a month, besides $60
a year for clothing and subsistence,
medical attention and quarters.
BROOKLYN TO HAVE Y. M. C. A.
Brooklyn, N. Y.—The Y. M. C. A.
in this city laid Sunday, September 9,
the cornerstone of a new building for
its Negro members of the Carlton
avenue branch. William McCarroll,
vice president of the Brooklyn Y. M.
C. A., presented a silver trowel’to
George Foster Peabody, who placed
the cornerstone. Mr. Peabody was the.
donor of the first building of the
brunch. The new edifice will cost
$204,534.
ACTIVE AT AGE OF 107
Sacramento, Calif.—The oldest res
ident in the State of California lives
in Broderick. He is Washington Jack
son Brinston, and he resides at No.
510 G street. Brinson is 107 years
old. He is Colored.
If his present state of health is any
criterion, Brinson will live several
more years. He is as agile as a man
half his years, and can do a day’s
work without suffering from the af
ter-effects. He attributes his good
health to clean living.
Give Us a Colored Commander for
Colored Troops
PRESIDENT WILSON, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE
ARMY, TWELVE MILLION COLORED AMERICANS RE
SPECTFULLY PETITION YOU, SIR, TO GIVE OUR RACE A
GENERAL IN THE PERSON OF CHARLES YOUNG, DAVIS,
GREEN OR ANY OTHER COMPETENT MAN NOW SERVING
IN THE ARMY, AND TO GIVE HIM COMMAND OF COLORED
TROOPS; AND WE PLEDGE YOU OUR HONOR THAT OUR
COUNTRY WILL THRILL WITH PRIDE AT THE VALOR OF
THE TROOPS UNDER HIS COMMAND.
GIVE US A COLORED COMMANDER FOR COLORED
TROOPS. OUR LOYALTY AND SERVICE MERIT THIS REC
OGNITION.
Opposes the Transfer of Troops
Archdeacon Baskerville Says Race Riots will Not Result
from Training in the South—Uniform Should be
Respected by White and Colored Citizens.
“As I am opposed to the wholesale
migration of the Negroes from the
South, because I am satisfied that the
South affords them the greatest op
portunity for material progress, and
that they are absolutely necessary in
the development of the Southland, I
am also opposed to the wholesale
transportation of the drafted men of
my race to Northern cantonments
where they are not used to the cli
matic conditions, because I am cer
tain that it will put them at a dis
advantage and that it may tend in the
end to influence more Negroes to mi
grate from the South.”
In these words the Rev. E. L. Bas
kerville, rector of Calvary church,
Charleston, South Carolina, and who
is also Archdeacon in charge of the
Colored work of the Episcopal Church
in that diocese, and a former United
States soldier, sums up, in the
Charleston News and Courier’, his
protest against the transfer of Ne
gro troops to the North for training.
Pleading for sanity and cautioning
against race hatred on the part of j
both his own race and the whites,
Mr. Baskerville says:
“As to our soldiers, the thing which
our white and Negro citizens should
do at this time is to respect the uni
form, regardless of the color of the
soldier who wears it, and to treat
every soldier as a man. This will
save us from trouble. By this 1 am
not advocating social intermingling,
but social justice.
'“In every community, North and
South, w'here black and white soldiers
are encamped, the civilians can keep
peace, if they desire it, or they can
start trouble between the soldiers and
the citizens. Especially is this true in
regard to police officers and Negro
soldiers. From observation, while in
the United States Army, it appeared
to me that some police had a dislike
to the Negro in uniform.
“Now, if our Negro drafted men
are trained in the South there need
not be any fear of race riots unless
certain white citizens cause it. I am
satisfied that these Negro men will
not be the originators of trouble with
white citizens or white soldiers. Ac
cording to the established custom of
the War Department, white and black
soldiers can be trained in the same
camp without friction. Their con
pany quarters and company streets
ai e separate and distinct. They also
have their separate mess halls. How
ever, they all are treated as men by
the War Department. As to camp
life there is seldom any friction be
tween white and Colored soldiers.
This fact can be verified by officers
and enlisted men of the United States
Army.
Train Men in South.
“I differ respectfully from those of
our Southern white friends who are
advocating the transporting of our
men from the Southland to be trained
in the Northern climate. It is agreed
by military experts that the South is
the best place for the training of the
soldiers for service in France, and
even troops from the North arc being
transferred to the South on that ac
count. Then, why should our men
be transferred from the South to the
North? Why should they be sent
from their friends and home camps,
where the climate is especially suited
to training, to be trained in a North
ern climate among strangers? Would
this be a fair policy? I think not.
In the South white and black men
work on many farms together, and
live in the same cities and on the
same streets of the cities without
strife. Why should they not be train
ed in the same cantonments without
friction? It can be done, and preju
dice on the part of white men and
Colored men should not hinder it.
“It seems to me to be high time
that the white people of the South
should understand that the Negro
does not desire to enter their parlors,
or their dining rooms, or their social
functions. What he desires is a
square deal as an American citizen,
who is an American to the core, and
social justice.”
TEN THOUSAND CHILDREN
ENROLLED IN' SCHOOL
St. Louis, Mo.—When the schools of
this city opened Tuesday, September
4, more than 10,000 Colored children
were enrolled in the well-organized
and well-equipped schools under the
efficient management of capable
teachers of the race. The enrollment
exceeds by 1,000 that of last year and
additional schools must be provided
at once.
APPOINTED TO CLERKSHIP IN
SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE
Washington, D. C.—Miss Florence
M. Hunt was appointed to a clerkship
in the surgeon-general’s office of the
War Department, after passing a
competitive examination as type
writer and accountant with an aver
age of 100 per cent. It is Btated that
Miss Hunt was treated with the
greatest consideration by the chief
and other employees when she en
tered upon her duties.
CLAIMS FILED AT
EAST ST. LOUIS
East St. Louis, 111.—East St. Louis
officials who have been receiving
claims filed by Negroes for damages
to their persons and their property
suffered during the recent riots, ex
press surprise at the apparent lux
ury in which some of them lived, and
at the costliness of their belongings.
25TH INFANTRY GOOD SHOTS
Schofield Barracks, H. T.—The
members of Company B, 25th In
fantry, enjoy the distinction of being
the most accomplished set of riflemen
in the regiment. There are thirty
two experts, thirty-seven sharpshoot
ers, and twenty-seven marksmen
among this company. These boys
rank with the best shots in the coun
try.
ROMAN CATHOLICS DEMAND
FAIR PLAY FOR NEGROES
Kansas City, Kas.—At the sixteenth
annual convention of the American
Federation of Roman Catholic Socie
ties held recently, resolutions were
adopted demanding fair play for the
Negro. A demand was made for such
governmental action as will secure the
Negro’s natural rights and constitu
tional guarantees.
TRAINING CAMP
IMPROVES WAGES
The location of a training camp
near Augusta, Ga., has given em
ployment to hundreds of Colored la
borers at $2 per day, while skilled
Colored workmen are receiving $4 and
$5 per day. It is suggested that the
camp will prove a godsend, if it will
teach the lesson in and around Au
gusta that the black man is worth
more money for his labor than he has
been getting tere.
THE DUVAL RECITAL
The recital given by Miss Darlean
Duval at St. John’s A. M. E. Church
last Monday night, was worthy of a
larger audience than that which greet
ed the talented young people who
gave a delightful program for a most
worthy cause. The audience was,
however, a most appreciative cne.
Miss Duval sang “Baracole” from
“Tales of Hoffman,” and “Calm as the
Night,” by Bohn; and gave as an en
core “Jean.” Mr. Lee gave as a violin
solo, “Humoresque,” Mrs. Silas John
son being his accompanist. Miss
Irene Cockran delighted the audience
with her rendition of “When the Heart
is Young,” by Buck. Maynard L.
Wilson recited “Eugene Arams’
Dream” with his usual effectiveness.
Willjam G. Haynes’ tenor solo, “Per
haps,” by Foster, was a revelation to
the audience which demanded an en
core, He responded with “Dear
Mother Mine.” Miss Dora Ware, a
newcomer who is an acquisition to
Omaha’s musical circle, sang “The
Year3 at the Spring,” by Beech, and
responded to an encore. John An
drew Singleton was most pleasing
in his rendition of "Mother M’Cree,”
by Ball. He gave as an encore Will
Marion Cook’s “Exhortation.” Mrs.
Brown, who is great as a reader of
Negro dialect, captivated the audience
with “How Lucy Backslid,” by Dun
bar; and an “Old Time Sermon.” Mrs.
Osborne gave a brief address and
Miss Duval graciously thanked the
audience for their assistance. The
Rev. John Albert Williams read a
brief letter sent him by Albert Hurt,
of Hastings, Neb., in w'hich Mr. Hurt
had enclosed fifty cents for himself
and mother to help one who is trying
to improve. He had seen the notice
of the recital in The Monitor and al
though neither he nor his mother
could attend they wanted to help.
Miss Duval goes to the Western
University at Quindaro instead of to
Fisk as Quindaro is nearer home.
PASSES TWO CREDIT
ABLE EXAMINATIONS
Pensacola, Fla.—Dr. Aarons, of
this city, who a few' months ago grad
uated from Meharry Medical College,
has just succeeded in passing two
very creditable examinations, one ad
mitting him to practice jn the state
of Florida, and the other admitting
him to the Medical Reserve Corps of
the U. S. Army with the rank of first
lieutenant.
C ANADA’S HISTORIC
NEGRO TOWN
North Buxton, Canada’s Negro
town, is situated nine miles fr)om
Chatham, Ont., on the Michigan Cen
tral Railway. The town has a popula
tion of six hundred and is an old set
tlement dating back from the Civil
War. North Buxton has a school
house which is well kept with beau
tiful grounds. Several families own
automobiles.
THREE PREACHERS
ARE FIGHTERS
David, Charles and Peter Preacher,
sons of the Rev. and Mrs. Benjamin
Preacher, Galveston, Texas, are all
members of the Twenty-fifth In
fantry. The ' Preacher family can
boast of having three sons in one
regiment.
LOUISIANA TO AID
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
Louisiana has decided to appropri
ate more money for industrial work
among the Negroes than ever before.
A special agent has been employed
to take charge of the free education
of Negroes along lines of farming,
cattle and poultry raising, carpenter
ing, etc.
TO MAKE STATE FAIR
RECORD BREAKER
Columbia, S. C.—The Colored State
Fair will be held here from October
29th to November 3d. There are 800,
000 Negroes in the state of South
Carolina and an appeal is being made
for them to make this year's fair the
record breaker.
COLORED SOLDIERS
GUARD SHOPS
Springfield, Mass.—125 Colored sol
diers from Connecticut are guarding
the power shops in this city.
Isaac Bailey has been re-elected a
justice of the peace in Atlantic City.
Mayor Indicted
By Grand Jury
Chief Executive of East St. Louis, His
Secretary and 37 Others Held for
Complicity in Recent Massacre.
DEMAND HIS REMOVAL FROM
OFFICE.
Report Declares He Failed to Give Di
rections to Militia. Specific Charge
of Malfeasance in Office.
Belleville, 111., Sept. 8.—Mayor Fred
Mollman of East St. Louis a;id his
private secretary, Maurice Aheam,
were indicted recently in connection
with the Grand Jury inquiry into the
recent race riots in East St. Louis.
Indictments were returned against
thirty-seven other persons in co-nec
tion with the riots, but their names
were not available, as the capiases
for their arrest bad not been issued.
The Grand Jury submitted a re
port criticizing the Mayor for his al
leged dilatorincss in taking means to
curb the rioters, who took part in
the slaying of Negroes on July 2 and
recommended that he be removed
from office.
“Mayor Mollman,” says the report,
“must be judged by his actions as
proved by the evidence. If his fail
ure to give directions to the militia
ar.d if his failure to call upon the
Sheriff and to deputize citizens who
offered their services were the result
of a lack of ability or of fright, the
office should be taken from him and
given to an efficient person.
“If his failure to act was because
his sympathies were with those who
sought to drive the Negroes out of
East St. Louis, he should make room
for a chief executive who is in favor
of enforcing 100 per cent of the laws.
The law-abiding citizens and indus
tries, and the respectable laboring
men should unite and demand the re
signation of the Mayor as the greatest
good he can do his city.”
The specific charge against the
Mayor is malfeasance in office, based
on his alleged negligence at the time
of the riots. The charge against the
Mayor’s secretary is that of conspir
acy with the rioters in that he order
ed the police and militia to destroy
cameras, “thus preventing moving
picture men from photographing the
mobs.” “No man,” saye the report,
“gave greater assistance to the rioters
and assured them more safety from
prosecution than did Aheam when he
ordered that photographers be de
nied their free rights to take pic
tures.”
.“About a month and a half after
the riot of July 2,” says the report
in conclusion, “a new police and fire
commission took charge of the police,
composed of three of the strongest
and most reputable men in East St.
Louis. They have courage and abil
ity. Our evidence shows that the co
terie of corrupt politicians who have
been the undoing of the mayor will
be able to hamper the fire and police
commission as long as Mr. Mollman
retains the office of Mayor.
“We have not been able, because of
lack of time, to apprehend and in
dict all who committed crimes in the
recent riots in East St. Louis.”
One hundred and five men were
named in the indictment returned a
few weeks ago as connected with the
race riots. If all the thirty-nine in
dicted recently are men not previously
named, the number now under in
dictment as a result of the riots is 144.
HOUSTON POLICEMAN, IN
CITER OF RIOT, INDICTED
Houston, Texas.—Lee Sparks, the
police officer whose assault on Ser
geant Baltimore, a trooper of the
Colored Twenty-fourth Infantry, pre
cipitated the riot between the Col
ored troops and white troops and civ
ilians on August 23, in which 11
whites were killed and *22 wounded,
was indicted September 1 by the Har
ris county grand jury on two charges,
assault on Sergeant Baltimore and
murder in connection with the death
of Wallace Williams, a Colored civil
ian, who was shot to death on the
Sunday following the riot.
FLOODS DRIVE PEOPLE
FROM THEIR HOMES
Richmond, Va.—Damage to the ex
tent of thousancjji^pf dollars and the
routing of many families from their
homes was the record in this city
September 9. Shockee Creek went on
another rampage, flooding the lover
section of this city.