i __ 'E RF.DICK’HA mr _ ._ _—
l==j The Monitor l. — 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, OCTOBER 9, 1919_Vol. V. No. 14 (Whole No. 223)
fc\er 100 Rioters Arrested—Grand Jury Begins Probe
* S. * \ _1_
* NIATEE. '> N l\ AS GRAM)
JU» .1 IN RIOTING CASES
Former Police Chief Onnn Is Chosen
by Sheriff to Complete Roily—John
M. Towle Is Chosen its Foreman
Fifteen Ren Taken From the Panel
of 28 Drawn by Clin nee From Vot
ing List.
Sixteen men have taken the oath to
act as grand jurors in the investiga
tion of crime in Douglas county, and
the indictment of criminals, particul
arly in connection with the lynching of
Will Brown, the attempted hanging
of Mayor Smith and the firing of the
court house on September 28.
Fifteen of the sixteen jurors are
the unexcused portion of a panel of
twenty-three drawn by chance from
the voting list of the county. The six
teenth is Henry W. Dunn, chosen by
Sheriff Clark to complet the jury.
John W. Towle, president of the
Omaha Structural Steel Works, and
chief inspector of a government ship
building yard during the war, is fore
man of the jury, by appointment of
the court.
Ollier Fifteen Jurors.
The other jurors are:
Clarence I. Anderson, 2907 Bristol
street, aged 35; printer at Beacon
Press.
Adolph Benson, 2578 Pratt, aged 46;
carpenter.
Harry Davis, 3203 Potter street,
aged 33; farmer.
William F. Gray, 3820 North Eight
eenth street, aged 58; foreman city
street maintenance department.
Charles E. Hall, 3319 Harney street,
aged 57; department manager Ne
braska Telephone company.
William F. Hoeh, 4506 Amos avenue,
aged 49. farmer and teamster.
William C. Hughes, 4016 Grand ave
nue. aged 53; clerk Union Pacific.
Olaf Johnson, 132 North Thirty-sev
enth street, aged 53; car repairer, Un
ion I’acific.
Robert l.eckey, 4211 Crown Point
avenue, aged 29; chauffeur for Looie
Wiles Biscuit company.
David L. Morgan, 3309 Sherman ave
nue, aged 54; automobile broker.
Claire It. Nelson, 415 North Thir
tieth street, aged 26; salesman for
'mmm mwrnmsmm
Payne-Slater company.
Hiland B. Noyes. 2021 Wirt street,
aged 44; president Noyes-Killy Auto
mobile company.
J. J. Smith, retired.
Jake Williams, 5805 Erskine, aged
! 30, gardener for A. L. Reed.
Henry W. Dunn, 3611 Mason street,
aged 56; former chief of police.
Questioned as to Attitude.
After the jurors had sworn to make
full and careful investigation to de
termine the existence of crime and the
identity of criminals, and to indict '
such criminals without fear or favor,
presiding Judge Redick read the
court's charge which set forth the
jury's duty and powers in general
terms.
A sttgi estion of the emergency
which brought the calling of the spe
, cial grand jury, was contained in
i Judge Redick’s charge and in the ques
tions which he asked of the jurors.
After the usual routine questions, rel
ative to physical disability, past jury
service, occupation and past criminal
record, the judge asked:
“Are you, or any one of you, op
posed to the strict enforcement of the
criminal law?”
None replied.
“Are you, or anyone of you, op
posed to organized government?” the
judge asked.
! None answered.
rorvrv attorney makes
STATEMENT; PRESENT STATES
OF ASSAELT EASES
,
County Attorney Shotwell gave out
a statement Saturday reviewing the
present status of every case of al
leged assault uiion women in Dougins
county, against the perpetrators of
which complaints have been filed.
Four Negroes and thirteen white
men are now awaiting trial in district
court on such charges.
Seven are held in jail awaiting
trial on a charge of attempted as
sault. These are: Joseph O’Hara,
Thomas Sullivan, Sanley Fox. Loren
nhiisoti, James Donahue, Ora
Brown, all white, and Robert King,
Negro.
Three have been released on bonds
SOME OK THE DETACHMENT OK ROOSEVELT POST. AMERICAN
LEGION GUARDING CITY.
ranging from $2,000 up, pending trial
for attempted assault. They are Amos
Gorman, Harry Boyd and Joe Nanflto,
all white.
William Livingstone, white, Frank
Wallace, Negro; Robert Winter, white,
and Ira Johnson, Negro, are in jail
awaiting trial for assault.
Joe Balkovie, white, charged with
assault, is out on bond. Alfred T. Ram
sey, white, was found not guilty by a
jury, and Jerry Dennis was sentenced
from two to fifteen years in the pen
itentiary.
These are all of the assault eases
against which Mr. Shotwell has filed
complaints. All pending cases were
to have been pressed for trial in the
opening term of district court this fall.
N KG HO HELD l\ \VIS\KH
ASSAULT CASE FKEE1)
Charles Jones. Negro, 2829 B street,
South Side, who was arrested by sol
diers on a street car for alleged crim
inal assault on Mrs. W. G. Wisner, 2922
Burdette street, was released Thurs
day at 6 p. m. by military authorities,
after a thorough examination.
The military authorities seriously
question the woman's story.
The condition of Clifton Westin, 4820
Pierce street, who was wounded in the
chest during the rioting Sunday night,
was reported to be serious by authori
ties at the Lord Lister hospital.
IIASTEM \'C WORK 0\
REPAIRING COURT HOUSE
Two hundred men are at work clear- j
ing up the debris in the court house,
putting in temporary windows, repair
ing the steam heating system and get
ting the building in condition to be
heated when the weather becomes
cold.
The window frames in many places
being entirely burned away, temporary
windows are being placed about two
feet, inside the inner wall so as not to
interfere with putting in the perma
nent frames and windows when they
can he obtained.
The county commissioners, in the
emergency, have drawn money from
the miscellaneous fund to pay for this
work, pending action by the legisla
ture to provide funds to do the actual
work of rebuilding.
TWO YOUTHS JAILED IN
LINCOLN ON IIIOT CHARGE
Lincoln. Oct. 8. Suspected of play
ing an active part in the Omaha riots,
William Robinson. 18, and Kenneth
Coates, 1.7, of Chicago, now working
in the Havelock railway shops here,
-veto arrested by State Agent B. F.
Danbaum Tuesday and taken to Oma
ha.
The two boys were washing dishes
at the Fontenelle hotel up to the day
of riots, they said. The next day hey
came to Lincoln.
_
Omaha Pulpits Ring With Uncompromis
ing Denunciation of the Mob Spirit
All Denominations With I'nited Voice
Protest Against the Substitution of
I.yneli Inn and Mob Violence for the
Orderly Process of te Courts.
CHARGE YELLOW .101 KNALJSM
WITH RESPONSIBILITY OE RIOT
N’OTHING could more plainly attest
the disapproval of the best citizen
ship of Omaha of the lynching and
mob violence which has cast a blot
upon the city than the unanimity with
which the pulpits uncompromisingly
denounced these unmitigated evils
Sunday. Liturgical churches like the
R6man Catholic, Episcopalian and
Lutheran, which ordinarily are con
sidered conservative in such matters,
were one with the non-liturgical
churches in the’r ringing messages
for the preservation of law and order.
Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jew
spoke with a united voice which could
leave no doubt in the mind of any of
the sentiment of the religious forces
of this community. There was re
markable unanimity of sentiment that
tile mob spirit had been awakened in
this community by the regrettable
methods of yellow journalism, in ex
aggerated reports of revolting crimes,
an inflammatory practice demanding
suppression. The following excerpts
are representative of the pulpit ut
terances:
Speaking at All Saints’ Episcopal
church, the Rt. Rev. Ernest V. Shay
ler, bishop of Nebraska, reiterated his
statement made to the press deploring
the indelible blot mob violence had
placed upon the city and traced it to
the un-Christian living of so many in
their homes. “We must have Chris
tianity in the heart and we must have
it in our daily lives. Respect for law
must be inculcated in the heart of the
young. Law must be enforced. All
men must be respected for their per
sonal worth and treated as children
of God.”
Speaking on "Omaha, the Mob and
the Church,” the Rev. Titus Lowe,
pastor of the First Methodist church,
said the recent riot here could be
traced in large measure to the exag
gerated reports of crime and the at
tacks upon the city administration
made by a local newspaper.
“There is nothing to condone the
lynching of the Negro, the malicious
destruction of property and the
shameful attack on the mayor of
Omaha," said the speaker.
“The disgrace of a week ago was
a challenge, not only to the city of
ficials, but to every citizen to stand
squarely for the rigid enforcement
of the law. It was a challenge to
| the public school system of today,
which neglects the teaching of proper
respect for law and order to our chil
| dren, and it was a challenge to the
(Continued on Page 2.)
I
I
I
I
I
PATROLMAN BALLEU,
I One of Last Police Officers to Leave
Burning Court House—Only
Negro Officer Injured.