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GROWING, LIFTING.
THANK YOU! T00!
A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor
$2.00 a Year. 5c a Copy_OMAHA, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER 28, 1918_ Vol. IV. No. 26 (Whole No. 181)
Character Not Color
\ Counts in Porto Rico
The Majority of the Inhabitants Are
of Dark Complexion and Texture of
Hair Is Distinguishing Feature.
ISABELA MOST HEALTHFUL CITY
Island Scenery Beautiful—People
Kindly and Hospitable—Spanish
Language and Customs Prevail—
Mrs. Grace M. Hutten, Governemnt
Teacher, Writes Interestingly of Ob
servations and Experiences.
ISABELA, PORTO RICO, December
1.—Porto Rico is indeed a beauti
ful fairy land. The island is rioutous
ly brilliant in its native coloring, en
gaging and attractive in the deli
cate tinting of its architecture. Its
resplendent atmosphere is so clear,
translucent and at times almost crys
talline. Even the clouds are beauti
ful. You see the snow’ white billows
that seem to be so close you could
reach them. At sunset you can see
beautiful soft pink, amber, lavender,
yellow and bright red soft clouds.
During the moonlight nights it
would be impossible to express in
words the beautiful scene. It is so
light that it is possible to read the
finest print. You can clearly see the
mountains and also the trees on the
mountain side. These mountains are
five miles from Isabela.
Isabela Prosperous Town.
We are located on the northwest
ern coast'on one of the busiest and
most prosperous towns. Isabela is
the largest cotton and tobacco produc
ing district on the island. It is re
garded as the healthiest city on the
island, and is located on a high hill
overlooking the ocean. We have spent
many happy hours on the shores gath
ering sea shells and bathing. This
is the first day of December and it
is warm enough for swimming. Al
/ though the days are very hot, the eve
nings are always cool.
Towns All Similar.
All of the towns are similar. There
is a plaza in every town, this is sim
ilar to a city square. This is alw'ays
decorated with flowers. Here the
people congregate every evening and
especially Saturday and Sunday eve
nings and enjoy promenading and
listening to the band play. On one
side is the Roman t Catholic church.
The one here is as large as the First
Christian Science building in Omaha,
and it is a very' beautiful structure.
All streets lead from the plaza, these
are all typical Spanish streets, very
narrow.
The houses are adjacent to the
streets. That is every house opens
directly upon the streets. They do
not have yards in front of their houses
as we do. The better class of people
live over stores. These homes always
have balconies in the front and rear.
They are trimmed with fancy patterns
of wood, and are always highly paint
ed. The Spanish people love bright
colors. The favorite house paints are
vivid greens, orange, yellow’, pink,
sky blue, and violet. Every house is
trimmed in white.
Oxen Draw Carts; Autos Common
The oxen are used as beasts of
burden instead of the horse. They
are yoked to a two wheeled cart, and
are guided by a peon who.walks by
the side and prods them with his long
stick. They ure very patient and
seem to be more able to stand this
tropical climate than the horse. The
horses arc used for horseback or for
pulling very light buggies. The ma
jority of the people have automo
biles.
They have excellent roads on the
island. I do not believe there is a
dirt road here. So you do not mind
the rain, as we never see mud. All
roads are macadamized.
It rains quite often on the north
ern coast, but it is seldom cloudy. It
generally rains with the sun shining.
Then it rains very hard for a half
hour, seldom longer.
Gardens and Products.
The gardens were planted in Sep
tember and at present the farmers
are bringing in green beans, turnips,
and green com, together with their
native vegetables. They have more
different kinds of vegetables than we
do in the states.
Rice and beans are very plentiful
here and most of the poor people live
entirely on this dish. They are usual
ly cooked together. Coffe is served
three times a day. This is roasted at
home and then made into a strong ex
tract. The cup is filled wdth hot milk,
then a tablespoonful of the coffee
extract is poured into the cup. Most
Americans they say enjoy the Porto
Ricans coffee more than the Ameri
can made coffee, but I long for a cup
of American coffee.
The trees are loaded with all kinds
of delicious fruits. Oranges are two
I for one cent. Bananas are thirty
i cents a stock.
I>ark Complexions Predominate
The majority of the inhabitants are
dark complexioned. Few are very fair,
i It is hard to distinguish between the
white and colored. The way they
tell here is by the hair, if it is very
short and close they regard the per
son as Colored. Here it does not mat
ter whether you are white or Col
ored, there isn’t any racial differences.
They are regarded as one race, the
Spaniard. They are very proud, cour
teous and very' hospitable. They
would gladly give you anything they
possess. As soon as you enter the
Porto Rican’s home, you are made to
feel at home and welcome. They
invariably tell you before you leave,
that anything they have is at your dis
posal, and nothing pleases them more
than for you to accept some token
from them.
There are very few Colored people
on the western part of the island, the
greatest majority live around Ponce
and San Juan.
Families Would Please Roosevelt.
The families are very large. Ten
children in a family are usually the
average number. Many have as many
as eighteen. They seem in get along
easier with ten or fifteen children
than the average American family of
three or four.
There are many very poor people
here, also very many orphans. As
a rule every family has from two to
five servants. They do not pay these
more than two dollars apiece a month,
and are glad to have some place where
; they can lie sure of getting enough to
eat.
The island is entirely too crowded
for its size. As a consequence labor
is too cheap. Men canot make more
than fifty cents a day. Women re
ceive from fifteen to thirty cents a
day, working hard from sunrise until
sunset. It is very sad to see the suf
ferings of the poor.
Women Secluded.
It is a custom for the better class
of women to be as secluded in their
homes as possible. They are seldom
seen upon the streets. They seldom
weigh more than one hundred and fif
teen. They all have very small feet.
The average woman wears a number
one shoe. They do not receive the
proper exercise and as a result they
are rather delicate. I have been here
four months and many of these wom
en have never been outside of their
doors during that time.
Parents Make Engagements.
Although the girls and boys attend
school together, they are never per
mitted to play together. The young
ladies are not permitted to keep com
pany before they are openly engaged.
If a young man believes he cares
enough for a young lady to marry
her, he just informs her parents. If
they are willing the engagement is
pubblicly announced, then the wedding
follows shortly. The home life seems
to be very happy. The children are
always obedient to their parents and
seniors.
American Teachers and Schools.
One American teacher is sent to ev
ery town and several to the largest
towns. At present there are about
seventy American teachers and over
two thousand Porto Rican teachers.
Every town has a large consolidated
school near the center of the town.
This school consists of two buildings
one for the smaller and one for the
gramar grades. The largest school
in Isabela has an enrollment of seven
hundred and fifty.
They have excellent playgrounds
and all kinds of playground appar
atus. They have a tennis court, vol
ley ball, basket ball, jumping and
vaulting.
The children here enjoy coming to
school, and they are never sad except
when they cannot come.
The bilingual plan of instruction is
followed. The children in the first
grade are taught in Spanish, from
the second grade up, English and
Spanish are taught. The children are
exceptionally bright in school.
Americans Supervise Classes.
The American teachers supervise all
English classes in the higher grades.
The principal supervises all Spanish
classes. Every school has a mammoth
training shop and domestic science
room. At present the girls in do
mestic science are making garments
for the Belgian children. The chil
dren in Porto Rico make wonderful
laces and after school is over every
girl is busy with her hand work.
(Continued on Fifth Page.)
‘MEMORIES”
LONDON EDITOR REBUKES U. S.
By Continental Press.
New York, N. Y., Dec. 24.—The un
told dignities the south has forced
the nation to face was forcibly
brought out in the answer the London
Saturday Review, published in Lon
don, England, offered the American
newspapers when the editor of the
Ladies’ Home Journal declared that
London was an unfit place morally to
entertain our soldiers in the hours of
leave. The row was started by Mr.
Bok (white), who went to England
with other American editors as the
guest of the British nation to inspect
at close hand the conduct of the war,
and he is reported to have said some
harsh things about the dangers con
fronting the American soldier when
off duty in London.
The London periodical declares
that the charges might come with bet
ter grace if America herself, and par
ticularly Mr. Boks’ home town, Phila
delphia, were above suspicion on the
score of public morals. The London
Saturday Review says: “We can not
stay to explain the paradox of ma
terialism and idealism, side by side in
the forty-eight sociopolitical labora
tories which make up the United
States. There is Bcant respect for
law, as the lynching records show and
as President Wilson has lately be
wailed with characteristic forthright
ness."
Philadelphia was recently the scene
of a bloody race riot in which several
people were killed.
MINNESOTA TO HAVE
COLORED GUARDSMEN
St. Paul, Dec. 24.—Minnesota will
be one of three states in the union
to boast of a battalion of Negro
guardsmen upon completion of plans
for four companies of Negroes in St.
Paul and Minneapolis as a part of
the new National Guard of Minne
sota, authorized yesterday by Gov.
Burnquist and Adjutant General W. F.
Rhinow.
Addition of this force to the new
National guard will be effected by
transfers of four companies of Negro
members of the state home guard.
The home guard battalion is com
manded by Major J. H. Sherwood, St.
Paul, who will head the national
guard unit. Two companies will be
maintained in each city. New York
and Illinois are the only states hav
ing national guard companies of Ne
groes in the past.
WHEN AFRICA AWAKES!
WHEN Africa awakes! and from
The crushing centuries of stu
died w'rong,
Base defilement, lust and thong,
Lifts up her voice and cries aloud
Her right to rule herself! Methinks
the crowd
Of gold-greedy men will laugh and
say :
“Not now, thou backward race! This
is our day!
Yours yet to bow and meekly pay
The price of weakness.
But Africa will ponder well these
words.
Her sons shall seek the shadows of
the hills
And vow, as they recount the rosary
of ills,
That their fair land of summer sun
and mien
Must not forever be the Midas dream
Of self-made masters, who even loathe
to give
The one, last human right, to live.
Africa bides her time! But from the
ocean strand,
O’er jungle, mountain, vale and mead,
That sweet word, “Unity-” will speed
On wings of winds, and woo her fret
ful folk
Into one dream! one voice! one heart!
one hope!
And yet again she’ll claim her sacred
right
To rule herself, apart from alien
might;
But if, once more, the pale-faced men
shall say:
“Not yet, thou backward race! Still
thine to pay!"
I quake to think how swarthy arms
shall hurl
Thundering terrors at a gasping
world!
When Africa awakes!
georgb:^wells Parker.
VIRGIN ISLANDERS ENJOY
NEGRO WAR FILMS,
(Special to The Monitor.)
Last night’s attendance at the Cine
Iiotalia at 40 cents per head, broke all
Sunday records at this popular play
house. From the enthusiasm shown
at the showing of "The Fighting Fif
teenth being presented with the col
ors by Gov. Whitman,” the atmos
phere was that of dear old Harlem
rather than St. Thomas, V. I., so many
miles away.
DELEGATES WILL AT
TEND PARIS MEETING
Washington, D. C., Dec. 24.—Dele
gates were chosen by the National
Colored Equal Rights Assembly for
Democracy, in session here, to attend
the conference of the darker races of
the world which will be held in Paris
at the same time as the peace confer
ence. They are: Rev. M. A. Shaw,
Boston; N. S. Taylor, Greenville,
Miss.; Rev. R. H. Singleton, Atlanta,
Ga.; Rev. W. T. Johnson, Lynchburg,
Va.; Bishop L. W. Kyle, St. Louis;
Rev. J. R. Ransom, Wichita, Kas.;
Monroe Trotter, Boston; Mrs. Ida B.
Wells Barnett, Chicago; Mrs. C. J.
Walker, New York City, and Rev. Wil
liam T. Carter, Seattle, Wash.
COLORED OFFICERS
FALL IN BATTLE
Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 24.—Among the
casualties of the American expedition
ary forces in France reported last
week were two prominent Atlanta of
ciers, Lieutenants Mallalieu W. Rush
and Guy Canady. They were officers
in the same company and fell in the
same battle, the former being mor
tally wounded and the latter killed.
The two prominent Atlanta officers
had gone to Des Moines, Iowa, to
gether in the spring of 19X7 and in
the following October they were com
missioned lieutenants in the army.
They were assigned to the same com
pany and went overseas together,
eight months ago.
WAR HISTORY BY
EMMETT J. SCOTT
To Be Only Authoritative Account of
“The Negro In the War.”
Washington, Dec. 20.—In order that
the public may not be misled, an
nouncement is made that the only au
thoritative history of the Negro’s par
ticipation in the great war will be
prepared yb Emmett J. Scott, now
serving as special assistant in the war
department, and a group of nationally
known authorities on all phases of
Negro life and activity. This work is
not to be a hastily put together
hodge-podge of newspaper clippings,
but an authoritative record of Negro
courage and valor. The publishers
will be one of the standard firms of
the land, whose imprint is in itself a
guarantee of literary quality and
typographical excellence.
Africa Gives Her
Answer to England
Interesting Reply to the. British Afri
can Colonies to England’s Query:
“What Does Africa Want?”
SIR HARRY JOHNSON, CHAMPION
A West African Dominion, Freer Im
perial Representation, and a West
African University, Are the Things
Africa Requests in Return for Her
Faithfulness to the Crown.
LONDON, ENG.—“What Does Af
rica Want?” is the title of Sir Har
ry Johnson’s contribution to The Af
rican World, of August 17, 1918, and
his article was one that caught the
eye and mind of England’s greatest
statesmen from Lloyd George, down.
Sir Harry Johnson is England’s great
est authority upon African matters
and is known and honored among all
intelligent West Africans, and indeed
among intelligent blacks throughout
the world.
Suggestive and important is Sir
Harry’ own description of the present
state of the African mind. He writes:
“There is a stirring, a mighty stirring,
a ferment going on in West Africa,
from St. Louis de Senegal to Mossam
edes in the Negro and Negroid popula
tions of forty to forty-five millions,
like the humming of hives about to
swarm. But it is a movement by no
means ‘anti-white’ in tenour; rather,
on the other hand, it is penetrated bv
a wistful hope that white, black and
yellow may work cordially and frater
nally together in the better develop
ment of the immeasurable wealth of
West Africa; waiting to be made
available for the whole world of pur
chasers; waiting to be turned to the
enrichment, comfort, and well-being
of West Africans.”
This statement sums up the situa
tion beautifully and the great coming
West African conference has already
made out its program of demands
and told the British government what
it wants and will expect. They are
as follows:
(1) Unification.—A West African
| Dominion. It matters little that its
portions are scattered, far separated,
I unequal in size and population. There
still remains a considerable homogene
ity, a common pool of interests and
ambitions, and two great trading lan
guages in common, English and
Hausa. There should be created one
Viceroyalty for all British West Af
rica, including under its sway Bomu,
Hausaland, Sokoto, the Benue prov
inces, Nupe, Yoruba, Southern Ni
geria, British Cameroons, the Gold
Coast and Ashanti, the Northern Ter
ritories, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia,
with governorships and lieutenant
governorships and secretaries for
each distinct province. Besides the
Viceregal Council, on which each sep
arate territorial division should be
represented, there wrould, of course, be
Provincial Councils, and all these
councils the native population would
be well represented by delegates.
(II) Freer Imperial Representa
tion.—The whole Viceroyalty would,
of course, depend for direction, policy
and control of finance and credit on
the Imperial Office in Whitehall—as
the Colonial Office (which is now in
Downing Street) should be renamed.
But the West African Viceroyalty,
like the Nilenad, like British Central
Africa, the West Indian Confedera
tion, Mayalsia and Ceyoln, should
have its own agency in London, and
considerable freedom of action in
looking after its own commerce, edu
cation, and industrial development.
The outwarn institution of the Crown
Agents for the Colonies must disap
pear amid the many other changes and
reforms that will become imperative
as soon as peace restores us to liberty
of thought, speech and action. Indeed,
as regards imperial readjustments
there is no reason whatever except
the dislike to change of a few elder
ly officials and of cabinet ministers,
who know nothing about the Empire
by personal experience or by educa
tion, why we should timidly and re
I spectfully wait until the war is over.
(Ill) A West African University.—■
West Africa must have its own uni
versity, established (say) on the up
per slopes of the gloriously beautiful
and healthy Cameroons Mountains. At
first there will have to be a certain
proportion of European professors
and in the choice of an educational
center for all British West Africa
a site must be chosen which would be
least detrimental to the health of such
white men as may participate in the
great task of educating the twenty
(Contlnued on Fifth Page.