Nebraska Newspapers

    - ™g”ui i I he Monitor i__
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. SEPTEMBER 4, 1919_Vol. V. No. 9 0 |>le No. 218)
“No Excuse for Shooting Bellboy,” Says Sutton
s. ___ __ ___——_g
Bellboy Wantonly
Shot and Killed
Police Officers of the So-Called Morals
Squad, Which Has Been Charged
With High-Handed and Blundering
Methods, Raid Plaza Hotel.
FRIGHTENED YOUTH
RUNS FROM HOTEL
Pursued by Officers and Is Shot Down
in Cold Blood Without the Slightest
Excuse for the Tragedy—Police
Seek to Fix Blame for Murder on
Watchman—-Inquest Crowds Court
Room to Limit.
THERE was not the slightest ex
cuse for the killing of the boy,”
said Detective Paul Sutton of the
. i.— morals squad at the inquest in district
court room just before noon Wednes
day. This answer was made by Sut
ton, who was on the witness stand, to
the following question put to him by
County Attorney Shotwell, w ho is per
sonally conducting the inquest, assist
ed by his chief deputy, W. W. Sla
baugh:
"Mr. Sutton, was there, in your
opinion, the slightest excuse for the
killing of this boy?”
"No, sir,” was his unhesitating
reply. “There was not the slightest
shadow of an excuse for it.”
The large courtroom is crowded to
the doors, many being unable to gain
admission, showing the intense inter
est in the inquest which is being con
ducted, as we go to press, to fix re
sponsibility upon the man who fired
the shot which killed Eugene Scott, a
22-year-old bellboy, employed at the
J Hotel Plaza, early Monday morning.
' The large audience in the courtroom
was about equally divided between the
races.
Eugene Scott, aged 22 years and
married, came to Omaha a few months
ago from Gainesville, Tex., and w'as
employed as bellboy at the Hotel
Plaza. Mr. Kilkenny, the proprietor,
says he was one of the most decent,
steady and dependable fellows he had
ever had in his employ. He had gone
on duty Sunday night. Among his
duties was the ringing in of the West
ern Union fire and burglar alarm
boxes on every floor except the first
every hour. At 1 o’clock Monday
morning he had gone up to the top
floor of the building to ring in and
had rung in two of the upper floors.
Between the third and fourth floors he
was encountered by Paul Sutton of the
morals squad, which had raided the
hotel in quest of "gambling, prostitu
tion and booze.” Sutton, it is alleged,
charged him w'ith having whisky. The
boy started down the stairs, when De
tective Brigham, who was standing on
the stairs, made a grab for him. Scott
■ ran down the stairs, pursued by Brig
ham, and as he reached the first floor
Sergeant Thestrup grabbed at him and
tore a large strip out of the boy’s
shirt. Scott darted out the front door,
followed by Brigham and Armstrong,
and rushed eastward across Four
teenth street and down the alley be
tween Harney and Howard. Brigham
drew his gun and shot twice at the
fleeing boy, shouting, according to
witnesses: “Stop him! Shoot him!
Shoot the-!”
As Scott reached the intersection of
Thirteenth street and the alley Spe
cial Officer Holman of the Union Pa
cific railroad, a watchman, hearing
the shouts and seeing the boy run
ning, fired. Scott fell and died almost
instantly. He was shot in the left side,
just under the arm, the bullet pene
trating the heart. The Western Union
box key was still clutched in his hand
when he fell.
Brigham claims that it was Holman
and not he who shot Scott. Holman
was placed under arrest.
It was reported that Scott had
whisky in his possession, which is ap
parently a wilful and deliberate lie.
But even if this statement were true
there would be no justification for his
murder.
/All classes of citizens are most out
spoken in their condemnation and will
insist that nothing is left undone to
bring the guilty to justice. The Omaha
branch of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People is
taking active interest in the matter.
The body of Scott was taken in
charge by Silas Johnson, the under
taker, and it is expected will be ship
ped to Gainesville, Tex., for burial.
Three Murderers Escape
During Knoxville Riots
Whisky Stored in Jail Soon Disap
pears W'hen Mob Enters
Building.
Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 31.—After
the doors of the county jail had been
battered down by the mob which was
seeking Maurice Mays, the Negro who
had been taken into custody for the
killing of Mrs. Bertie Lindsey early
Saturday morning, a number of pris
oners escaped through the crowd.
Among them were two convicted of
I first degree murder and one under
sentence to be electrocuted. Among
the prisoners missing are: Ehude Fel
lows, charged with the murder of Wes
, ley Nichols; Charles Paul of Lafol
iette, charged with the murder of a
wealthy Greek, and C. W. White of
Blount county, under sentence to be
electrocuted for the murder of a white
man in Blount county. Two federal
prisoners escaped from the third floor
of the jail. Sam Huffaker, an alleged
murderer from Sevier county, was
among the prisoners who refused to
leave the jail.
On the second floor of the jail a
battering ram, twelve or fifteen feet
long, was found after the mob had
finished their work of searching for
Mays, who previously had been re
moved to Chattanooga for safekeep
ing. When the leaders found the Negro
, was not in the jail the mob turned its
attention to a large quantity of illicit
! whisky which had been found stored
in one room. The head of a sixteen
gallon keg w'as smashed in, cups were
produced and the liquor vanished rap
idly. Cases of quart bottles of whisky
were broken open and the bottles rap
idly carried away.
REPORTS CONDITIONS
IN VIRGIN ISLANDS
(By Associated Negro Press.)
New York, Sept. 3.—Rothschild
Francis, a West Indian and member
of the St. Thomas (Virgin Islands)
'egislature, addressed an audience of
about 250 persons here recently on
the subject of the conditions of the
Negro race in the Virgin Islands.
The speaker said that conditions
were so bad there that the black man
was little better than a slave. More
than 8,000 Negroes, he said, had left
the islands and migrated to this coun
try in the last few years.
Mr. Francis said that he had re
cently appeared before the foreign
relations committee of the senate and
had discussed the situation with it.
He said that he had been promised
that a bill would be introduced pro
viding that three senators and three
members of the house of representa
tives should bo sent to investigate
conditions in the islands.
Mr. Francis said that the inhabit
ants wanted a reorganization of their
judiciary and school systems after the
American plan.
FORMER SOLDIER
LYNCHED IN LOUISIANA
No Arrests Follow Action of Mob in
Bogalusa.
Bogalusa, La., Aug. 31.—After
Lucius McCarty, discharged Negro
soldier, had been trailed by blood
hounds, caught and identified by a
white woman as the man who attacked
her Sunday night, a mob of more than
a thousand men lynched the Negro in
1 daylight, tied his body to an automo
bile, dragged it through the principal
streets and burned it in front of the
| home of the woman here today.
Before the sheriff could arrive on
j the scene most of the body had been
burned. No arrests in connection with
the lynching were made.
I _____________
\SKS HEARING BEFORE
FOREIGN RELATIONS COM.
Boston, Sept. 3—The National Equal
Bights league, through its correspond
ing secretary, William M. Trotter of
this city, has sent a telegram to Sen
ator Lodge, asking for a healing be
fore the senate foreign relations com
mittee. The league desires to present
its views in support of an amend
ment to the League of Nations coven
ant guaranteeing full protection of
life and full equality of rights to all
Negro citizens of the allied and as
sociated nations.
SHILLADY’S STATEMENT
—
Statement by John R. Shillady, Sec
retary of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People.
NEW YORK, Sept. 3.—Unless Tex
as repudiates the statement of her
governor expressing satisfaction with
j a brutal and unprovoked attack upon
an unoffending United States citizen
; she will have confessed herself a law
less state.
I went to the capital of Texas, Aus
tin, having telegraphed the attorney
general and a justice of the peace,
offering any information concerning
! the National Association for the Ad
1 vancement of Colored People which
they desired. My first call after meet
ing with a committee of the local
branch of our organization was at the
office of the governor. That being
closed I proceeded to the attorney
1 general's office and conferred with
Acting Attorney General W. A. Keel
ing.
I offered him the fullest informa
tion concerning the purposes, methods
end work of the association, handing
him a copy of our most important pub
! lications. After this interview, which
lasted some time, I proceeded to the
| Adjutant general’s office where I had
an extended interview with Acting Ad
I iutant General Colonel W. D. Cope,
j I informed both of these officials of
my intention to see the governor and
1 the commander of the Texas Rangers.
The object of my journey to Austin
was to ascertain why the books and
papers and other property of the local
branch had been subpoenaed by a local
justice of the peace and examined by
state officials and to offer to these i
officials a much fuller record thatj
1 could be obtained from an examination
of the association’s national reports
I and publications, copies of which I
brought for that purpose.
In the light of these facts it is sheer
i and deliberate falsification for Texas
i mobbists to charge me with being an
“agitator” and inciting Negroes
against white men.
The assault upon me, by a group
I of men, including a county iudge and
| a constable occurred after I had been
1 baled before a secret session of a so
1 cal'ed "court of inquiry” in which in
addition to legitimate questions, I was
: asked insulting personal questions by
the county attorney, such as:
“If you’re such a nigger lover why
don’t you go and stay in a nigger ho
: tel ?” and personal reference as to
how I’d like to have my wife in close
personal association with “niggers.”
The county judge who took part in
the assault in broad daylight in one
i >f the main streets of the capital of
I Texas was present at the secret ses
| sion of the court and had full oppor
; tunity to hear all of my testimony.
Had there been the slighest question
| as to the legality of my intentions and
j acts, it is perfectly certain that I
would have been arrested in so hostile
an environment.
After the hearing the presiding
judge invited me to come to his of
fice to confer with him that night.
This invitation I declined although at
that time I did not think as I do now
that it would have meant an assault
if not a killing in the seclusion of
an unkept second story office, as my
assailants the next morning were the
1 same group that loitered about the
building in which the court was held.
While directly opposite the Hotel
i Driskill I was approached from be
hind by a group of men in an auto
i mobile. One of them, the constable
who had summoned me to the secret
session the day before, took hold of
my arm while the rest gathered round.
Anticipating another subpoena, I
waited expectantly. Instead of a
subpoena I was showered with blows
from all sides. No assistance was
offered me on the street or when I
went into my hotel.
The association will not allow this
dastardly attack to pass unchallenged.
What happened to me personally is of
little consequence. The law has been
defamed. Mob violence which the as
sociation is pledged to fight, has re
ceived the sanction of the governor of
Texas. The association will there
fore act as follows:
1. Congress will be asked to in
vestigate this specific assault on the
ground that the governor of Texas
approved a criminal assault made by
public officials upon a citizen of an
other state.
2. Following the precedent of the
Mooney and the Bisbee deportation
cases the president will be asked to j
appoint without delay, a responsible
investigating commission. Governor;
Smith of New York will be called upon :
to demand protection for citizens of!
New York visiting Texas. A legal j
committee has been appointed to in
itiate proceedings against the mob- j
bists. The committee is composed of i
Moorfield Storey and Butler Wilson of
Boston; Chas. H. Studio and Arthur]
Spingarn of New York, and George I
W. Crawford of New Haven.
3. An appeal to the public opinion ;
of the nation will be made through the !
press and mass meetings one of which
is planned for next week in this city.
The mayor and sheriff of San An
tonio, Tex., do not take the same view
of the activities of the National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored people as the mobbists who
assaulted the national secretary, Mr.
Shillady, in Austin.
The following report to the San
Antonio branch of the N. A. A. C. P.
ty a committee which was appointed
there shows a promising approach to
the race problem in that city:
To the San Antonio Branch National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People:
Your committee appointed to confer
with the mayor, the sheriffs depart
ment and the publishers of the Ex
press of this city, beg leave to report
that an epitome of the views of the
association publicly expressed in our
last regular meeting to the effect that
the great body of Colored people here
stand ready to join the authorities and
'mouiders of public opinion through
their editorial and news columns, in
suppressing every phase of lawless
ness and removing whatever of misun
derstanding there might be lodging
still in the public mind, was presented
to these officials.
The mayor and sheriff showed the
keenest delight and satisfaction in the
purpose and spirit of our mission, and
promised the fullest co-operation with
our association in all matters affect
ing race relations here. But each
expressed the opinion that our under
standing and friendly relations were
too close and strong for any sort of
trouble to grow up among San An
tonio people.
Mr. Huntree, president of the Daily
Express Publishing company, assured
us that the Express would ever ad
vocate close and friendly relations
between the races as it had always
done, and that its news columns would
remain closed to exciting and highly
colored accounts of race conflicts—
such accounts as would be translated
into acts of violence by the reckless
classes. They are commended the
high stand taken by the association
for the public good.
(Signed) J. J. Johnson, pastor A.
M. E. church; H. M. Tarver, principal
Dunbar school; H. S. Sims, pastor
Bethel A. M. E. church.
WILI. BE FIRED BACK
WITH BROKEN JAW,
SAYS TEXAS GOVERNOR
Fort Worth, Tex., Sept. 2.—Gov
ernor W. P. Hobby of Texas, speaking
before the convention of Kiwanis clubs
here, again declared himself in favor
of intervention by the United States
in Mexico.
“The American army was used on
the other side of the Atlantic to force
Germany to honor the American flag,”
Governor Hobby said, “and it is equal
ly imperative that it should be used
for the purpose of forcing other people
to respect it on this side of the ocean.”
While not mentioning his name,
Governor Hobby touched on the recent
attack on John A. Shillady of New
York, secretary of the National As
sociation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, at Austin.
"I believe in Texas for Texans only
and justly as strongly do I believe
that Texas should say how the affairs
of the state should be conducted," the
governor said. “And I believe in send
ing any narrow-brained, doubled-chin
reformer who comes here with the end
in view of stirring up racial discon
tent, back to the north where he came
from with a broken jaw, if necessary.”
Read good books.
Confesses She Lied
About Colored Men
Woman Who, Weeping ar.d Hysterical,
Claimed She Was the Victim of an
Assault by Two Negroes Outside
Carnival Grounds, Repudiates State
ment.
TELLS POLICE STORY
WAS PURE FABRICATION
(Special to The Monitor,)
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Sept. 3.—
*V Thursday, August 14, Mrs. Min
nie Franklin, white, told the police
that she had been attacked and crim
inally assaulted by two young Negroes
about 22 years of age in a secluded
spot near the carnival grounds, this
city.
Weeping and hysterical, she was
taken to a near-by hospital. She was
questioned by the authorities and
finally confessed that her story was a
pure fabrication. In the meanwhile
the police were searching for “two
young Negroes, wearing white shirts,”
according to the description given by
Mrs. Franklin of her alleged assail
ants, but had taken none into custody.
Upon her admission that she had
lied, the police department dropped
the case.
Mrs. Franklin resides at 1361 K
street, S. E. What her motive could
have been in putting out this damag
ing story, which might have led to
serious results, must be a matter of
conjecture.
HOSPITAL AND SCHOOL
OF NURSING OPENED
(By Associated Negro Press.)
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 3.—Hospital
Commissioner Shupp announced that
city hospital No. 2 which will be used
exclusively for Negro patients will be
ready for opening September 10. It
is located at Garrison and Lawton
avenues. All members of the hos
pital staff will be Negroes, except
the two head nurses who will be white
women, because trained Negro nurses
qualified for the position could not
be secured. Miss Gertrude E. Martin
and Miss Annista Mosler, who have
been supervisors of nurses at the city
hospital will be superintendent and
assistant of nurses until Negro nurses
can be trained to hold the position.
A three years’ course in nursing will
be offered Negro girls who have had
a high school education. Fifteen Ne
gro women, who will work as nurses
at the hospital are now being trained
at the city hospital. The staff physi
cians and internes will be Negroes.
When the hospital, which will have a
capacity of 200 patients, opens it is
expected to have about 176 patients, j
All Negro patients cared for by the j
city will be sent there.
“GOD WILL DENY AMERICA
WORLD LEADERSHIP"
Prominent Clergyman Sounds Note of
W'arning Against Racial Dis
crimination and Injustice.
(By Associated Negro Press.)
Providence, R. I., Sept. 3.—Ameri
ca’s treatment of the Negro was se
verely criticised last Sunday by Rev.
C. Edwin Silcox, white, pastor of the
United Congregational church of New
port, who gave the first of a series
of sermons on “Race Riots in the
United States and Their International
Aspects.”
He declared that unless this country
puts a stop to racial discrimination
and assertion of white superiority, it
may be forced to defend its alleged
superiority against the entire colored
population of the world.
“If more than a century of loyalty
on the part of the colored race is not
enough to convince America that the
Negro is entitled to the full rights of
citizenship, surely the record of our
black soldiers in the world war should
serve to win for him those rights.
“The race riots which have occured
in Chicago and Washington are serious
affairs for this nation, and they are
due to deeper causes than those which
have been given. They are a result of
racial discrimination, and unless it is
eliminated America is building for
itself a national menace.”
Rev. Mr. Silcox further declared
that if racial discrimination and in
justice are allowed to continue here,
God will deny America world leader
ship.
Minor Riots Add
To Casualties
Following .Saturday Night’s Rioting,
When an Attack on Jail Was Re
pulsed, Slight Outbreaks Occurred
in Other Sections of CSty.
MOUNTED MACHINE GUNS
COMMAND RACE SECTION
Number Killed and Wounded in Out
break Being Determined With Diffi
culty; Labor Day Parade Was
Called Off as a Safety Measure.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Sept, 3.—
Minor riots occurred in Knoxville
Sunday following the race riots Satur
day night and early Sunday which
were the sequel to the storming of the
county jail by a mob intent upon
lynching Maurice Mayes, a Negro, ac
cused of the murder of Mrs. Bertie
Lindsey.
The casualty list was increased Sun
day by four Negroes who resisted at
tempts to search them for arms. All
were wounded by national guardsmen,
two being shot and the other two
stabbed with bayonets.
Eleven hundred guardsmen of the
Fourth Tennessee infantry, under
command of Adjutant General D. B.
Sweeney of Nashville and Colonel
Ewing Carruthers of Memphis, sup
plemented by 200 special policemen
and seventy-five special deputy
sheriffs, patroled the city, dispersing
crowds and searching all Negroes.
Hundreds of weapons have been con
fiscated from both whites and blacks.
The guardsmen, who were in camp
near the city for annual target prac
tice, searched all Negroes arriving on
trains and established a barred zone
in the heart of the Negro district
where the worst of the rioting early
Sunday occurred. Four machine guns
were mounted at a commanding point
in this district and other machine guns
were mounted on motor trucks ready
for eventualities.
Labor Parade Called Off.
Union leaders called off the Labor
day parade scheduled for Monday and
candidates abandoned all political
meetings announced in connection with
campaign for municipal offices.
There had been shooting in various
sections of the city all day and this
continued, causing dozens of riot calls.
Most of this appeared to be hoodlum
ism without injury to any one.
How many have been killed and
wounded remains largely a matter of
guesswork. Some sections in which
the most serious clashes occurred
have not been searched thoroughly,
and reports conflict as to the number
of casualties which may be concealed
there. Two men are known to have
been killed; fourteen others, eight
white and six Negroes, are in hos
pitals. Of these four, two white and
l o Hegioes, are not expected to sur
vive their wounds. Sixteen wounded
white men had their slight wounds
dressed at one hospital and departed
without their identity being made
known. Many have had injuries
dressed by private physicians ot their
homes.
TO INVESTIGATE RACE RIOTS
(By Associated Negro Press)
Resolved by the senate and house
of representatives of the United States
of America in congress assembled,
that a committee composed of five
members of the senate, be appoint
ed for the purpose of investigating
the race riots all over the United
States and lynchings that have oc
curred in the United States, and as
certain if possible the causes of the
same and what remedy should be em
ployed to prevent the recurrence of i
the same.
Said committee shall have power
to subpoena witnesses and com
pel the attendance of the same, and
to hold hearings in any part of the
United States. The sum of $50,000
is hereby appropriated out of any
money in the United States treasury
not otherwise appropriated to defray
the expense of such investigation.
Don’t go around with a chip on your
shoulder, because it offers a strong
temptation to some other fellow to
knock it off.
i
Be swift to hear and let thy life be
sincere and with patience give answer.