f =’ i The Monitor i = i
A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS.
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor
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$2.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA. NEBRASKA. JULY 24. 1919 Vol. . ^ 4 (Whole No. 212)
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.Held to District Court on Very Mtugre
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Race Riots Continue at Washington |
Home Defense Guard Killed in Wash
ington hy Negro in Speeding Auto
mobile—Another Fatally Wounded.
SOLDIERS CALLED OUT
TO QUELL OUTBREAKS
Clashes Continue Despite Arrival of
Troops From Camp Meads and Pa
trolling of Capital by Police Forces.
WASHINGTON, July 22.—Despite
all precautions taken by civil
and military authorities, rioting be
tween whites and Negroes broke out
again Tuesday night in Washington
and a report reached the police at
10 o’clock that a white man, believed
to be a home defense guard, had been
shot and killed in the northwest sec
tion.
Soon after the killing of the home
defense guard, the police received a
report that another guard also had
been shot by a Negro. He was re
ported as fatally wounded. A detach
ment of cavalry and a squad of ma
rines was rushed to the scene of the
shooting, which was at Eighth and
M streets, in the heart of a Negro
district.
Three Riot Calls
Shortly after 10:30 o’clock three
riot calls were sent in simultaneously
from a district in the Negro section of
the northwest covering an area of
about three squares. A cordon of
cavalry, marines and infantry, were
thrown about one block, in which con
siderable firing had been going on.
The defense guard killed later was
identified as Isaac Halbfinger. He
i was on duty at Ninth and M streets
f northwest and was killed by a Negro
in a speeding automobile. Crowds
of whites immediately gathered in
the vicinity ami several shots were
reported to have been exchanged with
blacks.
Secretary Baker went to the muni
cipal building early in the evening and
held a brief conference with district
uthorities, presumably relative to
the placing of troops brought into the
city.
Troops From Camp Meade
The troops from Camp Meade ar
rived about 8 o’clock and were sta
tioned in various parts of the city.
The troops, all of them belonging
to the regular army, comprised a
battalion of infantry, a battery of
machine guns, and four or five truck
loa dosf ammunition.
With the exception of its lower por
tion, Pennsylvania avenue between
v the White House and the capitol prac
tically was clear of crowds as dark
ness fell. In the portion about Sev
enth ami Ninth streets, opposite one
of the Negro districts of the south
west section, there were crowds of
white civilians, but marines stationed
a few yards apart kept them moving.
The police reported a number of
posters signer! by Negro ministers
urging members of their race to stay
within their homes and to preserve
order, had appeared about the city.
The sheriff of Prince Georges coun
_ ty, Maryland, adjoining the District
of Columbia, reported that a large
crowd of Negroes had gathered across
the district line and were moving to
CAPTAIN PEEBLES HAS
RETI RNED FROM FRANCE;
The Last of Omaha’s Colored Officers
Returns to City After Thirteen
Months of Overseas Service.
Captain William W. Peebles, D. R.
C., has returned te Omaha after thir
teen months’ service overseas and fttfo
years absence from home. He arrived
Wednesday morning of last week. He
was attached to the 349th field artil- :
lery ami after the armistice was trans
ferred to the S. O. S. at Brest. He
had a wide and varied experience
abroad, which he considers invaluable, i
I
Dr. Peebles, who is a graduate of
Amherst college and of the North
western college of dentistry, expects
to resume the practice of his profes
sion in a well equipped office here, of
which due notice will be given later.
Dr. Peebles spent a few days vis
iting his relatives and friends back
east before coming home and says
there are many things to attract one
to residence in the east, “But confound
it, there is something in this old town
of Omaha, which grips a fellow and
makes him mighty glad to get back
here and claim it as his home.”
ward Washington. The district au
thorities dispatched troops and motor
cycle police to the district line.
The casualty list to date early
Tuesday was placed at 5 dead, 11 dy
ing and scores injured.
GIVES *10,000 TO HELP GIRLS
New York, March 23.—A Colored
woman’s remarkable gift to the people
of her race in the United States is re
ported by Dr. J. M. Gaston, chief ex
ecutive of the Presbyterian board of
missions for freedom.
The woman, said Dr. Gaston, is a
| graduate of Scotia seminary, a Pres
byterian school in North Carolina.
Left a widow on her own resources,
she courageously opened a rooming
house in an Ohio city and accumulated
*15,000. Of this she has set aside
$5,000 for business capital and the re
maining $10,000 she has presented to
the Freedmcn’s Work of the Presby
terial Church in the U. S. A., in order,
as she said, “More girls may have the
same chance I had.”
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION WIRES PRESIDENT
ASKING SUPPRESSION OF RACE RIOTS
New York, July 21, 1919.
In connection with the race riots in Washington, D. C., the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to
day telegraphed President Wilson warning of the danger of such
outbreaks elsewhere. The telegram called up him as president
to condemn mob violence in the national capital and as commander
in-chief of the armed forces of the nation to enforce military law.
The telegram is as follows:
July 21, 1919.
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States.
White House, Washington, D. C.
In the name of twelve million Negroes of the United States, the Na
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People respectfully calls
your attention to the shame put upon the country by the mobs, including
United States soldiers, sailors and marines, which have assaulted innocent
J and unoffending Negroes in the national capital. Men in uniform have at
~ tacked Negroes on the streets and pulled them from street cars to beat them.
Crowds are reported by the New York Times to have directed attacks against
any passing Negro by cries of “there he goes.” The effect of such riots in
national capital upon race antagonism will be to increase bitterness and
danger of outbreaks elsewhere. National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People calls upon you as president and commander-in-chief of
the armed forces of the nation to make statement condemning mob violence
and to enforce such military law as situation demands.
JOHN R. SHIbUADY,
Secretary National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Evidence
Man Accused of Criminally Assaulting
Girl in Broad Daylight Within Few
Blocks of Her Home Is Remanded to
Higher Court by Judge Crawford on
Meagre Evidence.
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YOUNG WOMAN MAKES
VERY POOR WITNESS
Testifies She Told Her Assailant to
Go Across to the Railway Tracks
and Get Away Because She Did Not
Want to Have Him Round Her Any
More Than Necessary.
The Omaha papers of Monday night
and Tuesday morning, July 7 and 8,
carried under rather glaring headlines
the sensational story of a Negro bind
ing a white girl to a tree in the south
ern section of the city and criminally
assaulting her. The alleged crime oc
curred about 12:30 in the afternoon
in a well traveled section of the city.
The victim of the attack, Miss Bessie
Kroupa, aged eighteen, said that she
did not know whether her assailant
had carried out his purpose. The pa
pei ,v stated that a medical examina
tion showed that he had. Miss Kroupa
described her assailant as a small
sized man of a light brown or copper
color with a small mustache. Ex
citement was high as this was the
second or third alleged attack of a
Negro, of the same general descrip
tion, reported within a few days of
each other. In certain communities,
any hapless Negro answering this de
scription, might have been made to
pay the penalty of this alleged crime.
The police arrested a man, Ira John
son by name, employed at the Bur
lington ice house at Gibson, “who,”
to quote one of the dailies * tallies”
exactly with the description of Miss
Kroupa’s assailant, with the exception
that he is black, whereas her assailant
was of a light color.” An unessential
difference of course.
Johnson, who was working nights
at the ice house, was in his bunk in an
old way car provided as sleeping quar
ters for some employes, when he was
arreste'd Tuesday morning. The pa
pers gave the impression that he was
hiding in a freight car preparatory
to leaving the city. He was taken to
the home of Miss Kroupa by the of
ficers, who looking out through thf
screen door cried out, “Take him away
I don’t want to look at any Negro,
take him away.” The officers insisted
that she must look at him and tell
them if he was not the man. She
then glanced at him, according to hei
testimony on the stand, and said he
wr.s the man. Johnson was locked up
and precautions were taken to insure
his safety.
C. C. Galloway, acting for the Na
tional Association, secured counsel
who with him succeeded in interview
ing Johnson. Being convinced tha1
there was doubt as to the man’s guill
provision was made for proper lega
representation at the preliminary
hearing which was held Friday, July
18. Frank S. Howell represented
Johnson, Bryce Crawford being the
trial judge.
The state introduced two witnesses
Miss Kroupa and George Kyrel. The
defense introduced no witnesses.
Miss Kroupa testified that she Iefl
her home about 12:30 and was on her:
way to work. As she came west on
Canton street, she noticed a Negro!
approaching her from an opposite di
rection. Her impulse was to run, but
she went on and just as the man
passed her he threw his arm around
her neck and holding her hands he
earned her about a hundred yards
to where there were some small bushes
nd after tying her hands he threw
er on the ground and assaulted her.
He then walked some distance away
and returned when he tied her feet.
He said:
, “I’m going to tie your feet so you I
can’t run away and squeal on me.”
* “I told him to go way over to the
railroad tracks and get away; because
I don’t want to have you around me:
any more than necessary.”
She testified that when he came
■back and tied her feet he sat down
near her and wiped his face with his
handkerchief and then wiped her face.
She said she never got a good look
at his face. She said he had on blue!
clothes and a black hat and had a|
small mustache. She was sure John
son was the man. She admitted that
she had an aversion for all Negroes.
George Kyrel testified that he pass
ed Johnson in the vicinity about 11
o’clock that morning and was quite
sure that the prisoner was the same
man. The man he saw had a brownish |
suit, and his face looked like he had
huil the small pox. He said that he
saw Miss Kroupa standing up with
her hands tied and panting for breath
and he took her home.
It was upon this “evidence” that
,Judge Crawford held Johnson to the
fcb strict court.
prominent white official said to
The Monitor, “it was sentiment, not
evidence that is responsible for John
son’s being held. After listening to
the evidence, I want to say frankly
that I don’t believe that Johnson is
guilty. The girl made a very poor
witness.”
LYNCHING RECORD FOR
SIX MONTHS OF 1919
Tuskogee, July 23.—The department
j of records and research of Tuskegce,
which keeps an account of lynchings
in the United States, is accepted as
an authority and its statistics are
looked forward to with much interest.
Principal R. R. Moton sends out a
| report of lynchings for the first six
months of 1919. There were 28 iynch
] ings—seven less than in the same pe
| l iod of 1918.
There is some encouragement in
this showing, but the number report
ed is appalling. The states in which
lynchings occurred and the numhei
are: Alabama, 3; Arkansas, 4; Flor
ida, 2; Georgia, 3; Louisiana, 4; Mis
sissippi, 7; Missouri, 1; North Caro
lina, 2; South Carolina, 1; Texas, 1.
In most states the governors and
the judiciary are co-operating earn
estly to suppress mob law.
Lynchings react upon good order.
Every act of a mob means, not a sup
pression of crime, but more crime.
Prompt action on the part of the
sheriffs and the courts will reduce the
number of lynchings to the vanishing
point.
I t
I I
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The First Commissioned California Cadet
JUDGE TERRELL GREETS
PRESIDENT WILSON
First Man to Shake Hands With Chief
Executive Upon His Return to Na
tional Capital From European So
journ Is Distinguished Washington
Jurist Member of Reception Com
mittee.
Washington, D. C., July 23.—The
first man to shake hands with Presi
dent V.’ilson Tuesday night upon his
return to Washington was Judge Rob
ert TJ. Terrell, of the municipal court
of the District of Columbia. A citi
zens’ committee, appointed by the non
Partisan League, was deputed to meet
the president at the Union station,
and Attorney Jackson H. Ralston,
president of the league and a leader
at the local bar, delivered the address
of we'come. When the president had
made his response and began hand
shaking with the committee, the first
to whom he turned was Judge Terrell, I
and the cordial greetings followed, j
This was especially significant in view
of the fact that Judge Terrell was the
only Colored member of the commit
tee. H;s selection by the Non-Parti-j
san League was most fitting, as he is
the ranking Colored official now in the
federal service, and he invariably rep
resents the race with dignity and dis
tinction on occasions where our best
foot must be put foremost. President
Wilson well remembered the judge as
the man he appointed for his fifth
term on the bench of the municipal
court, solely on his merits, and in
tl'.e tace of a terrific back-fire from
members of the senate of his own po
litical faith and order. The president
has given evidence more than once of
the pleasure he meels in the fact that
Judge Terrell has “made good” as a
jurist, and he is popular alike with the
people of both races throughout the
District of Columbia and the nation
at large.
FATE OF SOLDIERS
IN PRESIDENT’S HANDS
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Camp Grant, 111., July 23.—The fate
of five of the fourteen Colored sol
diers accused of attacking a white
woman in May, 1018, now rests in
the hands of President Wilson, who
■ will review the case. There have been
two trials. Eight more are now on
trial and there remains another sol
dier, brought back from Fiance to
appear.
Major James P. Hall, one of the
three judge advocates in the case, has
received his honorable discharge and
returned to his duties as professor of
law at the University of Chicago.
MAYOR RECEIVES WARN
ING TO LEAVE HOBSON
(Bv Associated Negro Press.)
Anniston, Ala., July 23.—A black
hand letter surmounted by a skull and
cross bones, usually used to spell death
in all its horrors, followed by an al
leged assault against his person, by
two unknown men is given as the rea
son for the departure for the north
of Newman O’Neal, mayor of Hobson
City, the exclusive Negro town near
Anniston.
A few weeks ago the Hobson City
mayor is said to have received a warn
ing that he would be killed unless he
left these parts immediately. A short
time after the receipt of the letter,
the mayor claimed that he had been
assaulted near his home, and an
noucned to his friends that he in
tended to obey the warning in the
letter.
Accordingly, he gave up his position
as head of the government at Hob
son City and went north. Since his
departure from this section no other
of the officers of the town have been
recipients of warnings or blackhand
letters.
ANXIOUS TO ENTER
NATIONAL GUARD
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Columbia, S. C., July 23.—While
white young men over the state are
displaying a reluctance to enter the
National Guard under the present
regulations which require a six-year
term of enlistment, Negroes in many
counties are making application for
permission to organize.
Lee Julian Purnell, College of Elec
trical Engineering, Makes Up Time
Lost by Service in Army, Graduates
With Class, and Receives Cadet
Commission.
OTHER COLLEGIANS
MAKE GOOD RECORDS
Many Colored Students Take Advan
tage of Splendid Educational Op
port unities Offered Them in Cali
fornia Universities—Brother and
Sister Receive Diplomas.
(Special to The Monitor.)
AKLAND, CAL., July 23.—That
many of our young people are
keenly alive to the necessity of taking
advantage of the splendid educational
opportunities offered them in the fa
mous colleges and universities of this
state is shown by the number of recent
graduates, who have made good rec
ords. The pleasing fact is that they
seem to take special pride in their
work and are anxious to excel. Some
who have completed thcfir arts course
will return for technical and profes
sional work in the fall.
Unusual recognition has been given
a student in the University of Cali
fornia, Lee Julian Purnell, son of Dr.
Purnell, is the young man. He was
a student in the college of electrical
engineering, when his course was in
terrupted by the draft. After he was
mustered out Purnell returned to the
university, made up the six months
he had lost and graduated with his
class, receiving his degree. Besides
receiving his diploma of graduation
he was honored with a commission in
the cadets, presented by Governor
Stevens of California. He is the first
and only Colored student who has
ever received a commission of any
rank in the university cadets.
Stuart T. Davison, of the college
of medicine, made a good record com
pleting the work of four in three and
a half semesters. His sister, Miss
Belinda Davison, completed her course
at the same time and it was with a
thrill of peculiar pride that their par
ents and friends watched brother and
sister, in 'cap and gown, walking side
by side in the long procession of grad
uates.
Waiter Gordon of Riverside, Cal.,
the r.oted right tackle of the Univer
sity 01 California football team and
one cf the greatest football players
in the country, was awarded the much
ccvete i silver loving cup as the most
useful man to his team at the big
rally just before the Stanford-Cali
fomia spring meet. He has been ap
pointed assistant coach of the football
team for the fall season. He was
graduted from letters and science last
fall. He returns this fall to complete
his law course.
These are only a few of the many
who are demonstrating the fact that
Colored Californians are keenly alert
to the advantages of education. There
ought to bo more students availing
themselves of these excellent oppor
tunities and there doubtless will be.
It i3, however, gratifying to note that
■jur collegians are making good.
NEW ASSIGNMENTS FOR EM
METT .1. SCOTT’S ASSISTANTS
Washington, D. C., July 22.—The of
fice assistants of Dr. Emmett J. Scott,
who contributed so materially to his
success in the discharge of the deli
cate and trying duties connected with
the office of special assistant to the
secretary of war, have all been given
new assignments, through Secretary
Baker at the suggestion of Dr. Scott.
As is well known, Dr. Scott has ac
cepted the post of secretary-treasurer
of Howard university and will remain
in Washington.
Of the office corps, Dr. William
H. Davis, Dr. Scott’s secretary; R. W.
Thompson, who has conducted the pub
licity service, and James B. Smith,
stenographer, have been transferred
to the office of the adjutant general,
war department; Charles L. Webb,
stenographer, returns to the general
land office, interior department; Miss
Ernestine B. English, stenographer,
has gone to the bureau of war risk
insurance, where also will be assigned
Mrs. Madeline P. Childs, file clerk
upon her return from a special mis
sion in Fiance. The changes were ef
fective July 1.
