Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1923)
The Monitor + A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS '%/v . THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor 42.00 a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1923 Whole Number 401 Vol. VIII—No. 37 RACE PHYSICIAN IS AWARDED MEDAL FOR BRAVE SERVICE Doctor Springs, of Dewmaine, Illinois, Honored For Perilous Work in Mine Explosion at Royalton RISCRES SEVERAL MIRERS Only One Among Several Physicians Who Would Descend Into Shaft And Attempt Resuscitation of Men Royalton, III., March 16.—After a period of over eight years honor has finally come to the hero of the Roy alton mine explosion with the receipt by Dr. A. W. Springs, colored physi cian, of a beautiful gold medal in ac knowledgement of the wonderful work he did to bring back to life some of the men who were rescued in a dying condition on October 27, 1914, when fifty-two men were killed in a gas ex plosion. The medal is the size of a silver dollar and comes from the Dr. Hol man Safety Association, which organ ization awards medals for heroic deeds performed in connection with mine rescue work. There were only a half dozen awarded this last year in the entire United States and Dr. Springs is the happy winner of one of them, together with a diploma that also recites the perilous undertaking. On one side of the medal is engraved, ‘Awarded to A. W. Springs, resusci tation, Royalton, Illinois explosion, Oc tober 27, 1914.’ and on the reverse side is an engraving reading, ‘Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association, Medal of Honor.’ Dr. Holmes was head of the national bureau of mine safety work and did a great mission to promote safety and rescue work in coal mines. He died some time ago and the association !>earing his name is a memorial to his t memory. Wins World Fame The heroic work of Dr. Springs is a well known story in the mining field of southern Illinois. There were hundreds of people gathered about the mouth of the shaft after the mine went up in explosion and of the forty or fifty doctors, the colored physician of Dewmaine, armed with a pulmotor, insisted upon going below with the rescue team and taking part in the perilous task of rescuing the dead and ! dying. There on the bottom he worked his pulmotor bringing to life men who were given up for dead by some of the rescuers. The fame of his work spread all over the nation and he was called by everyone the hero of the dis aster. But not until this week did he receive any recognition aside from t!,e usual spoken compliment for his * deeds. The doctor is probably the only pos sessor of such a medal in the state of Illinois, and surely the only owner of one in the southern Illinois coal fields. COLORED WOMEN IN BALTIMORE POLITICS G. O. P. I x-aderH Cast Off Color Line At Political Banquet F’acific News Bureau Baltimore, Mr., March 16,—F'or the first time in the history of Baltimore colored women were in attendance at the annual G. O. P. banquet. Headed by Miss Hazel MacBeth, vice-chairman of the 14th ward, a del egation of colored women were seated at tables at the great political ban quet held recently in Hazazers Hall. Mayor Broening, “the next Mayor of Baltimore,” was the main speaker. Miss Pearl A. Eader urged the wo men to vote saying “Women should not call politics a nasty game, sit snugly at home, then complain of un satisfactory officials whom they have made no effort in helping to choose.” Miss Hazel MacBeth, the leader of the colored delegation, is a product of the city schools ,a prominent social and political worker, and a member of one of the best known pioneer families of the city. Her brother, Hugh E. MacBeth, formerly editor of a local Negro weekly, is now a resident of Ix)s Angeles, California, and General Counsel of the International Commun ity Welfare league. SAID TO HAVE COMMITTED SUI CIDE Mrs. Bertha Harris, mother of two children, is alleged to have shot and killed herself Sunday afternoon be cause Marvin Brinkley, 1636 North Twenty-first street, said to have been her lover, insisted that he would re turn to hi* mother at Dallas, Texas, and would not “break up a home.” The Harris home is at 2628 Charles street. Brinkley was held by the police for investigation. The body was taken to the Western Funeral Home. HINDUS OF INDIA NO LONGER RATED AS CAUCASIANS Supreme Court Decision Bars Hindus To United States, And Places Them With Japanese Pacific News Bureau San Francisco, Cal., March 16 (Spe cial to Monitor)—Considerable relief is felt by the people of the Pacific coast over the recent decision of the United States Supreme court that a Hindu is an ineligible alien, the same as a Japanese, and cannot become a naturalized American citizen upon the grounds that the Hindu is not a mem ber of the white or Caucasian race. Heretofore considered of the Aryan or white race, the supreme court has interpreted the Caucasian clause in the naturalization laws to apply to “free white persons.” The words “free white persons” are to be interpreted, the court said, as synonymous with “Caucasian” only so far as that word is popularly under stood. "Caucasian” is a conventional word of much flexibility and while it and the words "white persons” are treated as synonymous, they are not of identical meaning. Whatever may be the speculations of the ethnologists as to what races it includes, it does not, the court held, include the body of men to whom the Hindu belongs. Under the new ruling the Hindu comes under the head of the Japa nese with whom only crop mortgages are permitted. This ruling is merely j another step in the national program j to make the United States a “white man’s country.” No nationality with colored skins regardless of ethnologic al origin, are to be permitted citizen ship within the United States or Can-. ada. WOMAN DIES FROM HEART FAILURE, IN DENTIST’S CHAIR Mrs. Agnes Landrum, of 980 North Twenty-fifth Avenue, died in a dent ist chair Monday afternoon. Mrs. Landrum, who had been in ill health for the past two or three months, was j the patient of Dr. Elmer E. Porter, I one of the leading physicians of the j city. Visiting his office in the Bran- i deis theatre building Monday with her i husband. Dr. Porter advised her to j consult a dentist, and made an ap pointment for her with Dr. J. S'. Mel linger, with offices in the same build ing. Examination disclosed several | badly abcessed teeth, and extraction was recommended. Dr. Porter began to administer an anesthetic, when her i heart suddenly stopped beating and [ she expired. Funeral arrangement* have not yet been made. SENATE’S PASSAGE “MAMMY” STATNE ■ILL OFFENDS MANY Numerous Letters of Protest Prove Unavailing—Measure is Passed As Courtesy to Retiring .Senator EDITOR SUGGESTS * 10MB Washington, I). C., March 16 (Spe cial)—"Let the Daughters of the Con federacy erect a monument to the ‘“Black Mammies of the South’ in de fiance of our wishes and we will put a bomb under it.” That is the talk that is heard on the street corners of the Capital City since the Senate before adjourning on Sunday passed the bill authorizing the Confederate body to erect a monument in honor of the old slaves who nursed their children. Hundreds of protests from organizations and individuals sent to the members of the Senate were disregarded. One who is familiar with Senate af fairs said this week that the bill was passed out of respect to John Sharp Williams (Dem. Miss.) who was on the point of retiring after long ser vice in the Senate. Senator Williams introduced the bill and requested its passage as the last measure he should ever Introduce. The Senator has a strong personality and many friends among both parties. The Washington Eagle, more out spoken than many in denunciation of the proposed monument, said editor ially, “A single bomb can remove a monument more rapidly than sculptors and builders can erect it. There are more ways of killing a dog than by hanging it.” The Eagle also stated that the very existence of the Daughters of the Confederacy is “treason and smells to heaven . . . Don’t forget that you have seen rebel flags flying in Wash ington, the capital of the federal na tion and ornamenting its buildings.” "The “Mammy” monument is an other subtle move to stamp upon the minds of future generations the lowly station once occupied by people# of color.” PENSION FOR FORMER SLAVES Columbia, S. C., March 16.—Accord ing to a bill which has just passed both houses of the South Carolina leg islature, all “faithful Negro slaves are to be pensioned.” The bill provides that slaves who served the State and their masters in the Confederate Army during the war shall be granted pensions under vir tually the same conditions as those now paid to Confederate veterans. AMERICA GETS $3,500,000 COTTON CARGO FROM EGYPT Associated Negro Press Boston, Mass., March 16.—The larg est cargo of Egyptian cotton ever brought to America arrived here rec ently from Alexandria, by the steam ship Hog Island. It brought 14,380 bales, valued at $3,500,000. This is the eighth cargo of Egyptian cotton to arrive here this season. It presents the unusual situation of England buy ing Southern cotton and America us ing cotton from an English possession. It will not affect the domestic market. GRANDSON OF FIRST COLORED SENATOR HARVARD ORADDATE Sidney Revels Redmond Ranks High In Scholarship Throughout Career at Famous College CLIPS ME YEtt OFF MHSE Cambridge, Mass., March 16.—Sid ney Revels Redmond, son of Attorney S. D. Redmond of Jackson, Miss., and grandson of Hiram Revels, first Negro United States Senator, who succeeded Jefferson Davis in the Senate, grad uated from Harvard at the close of the first semester, February 7th, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Mr. Redmond completed the four year course in three, maintaining high rank throughout the course, notwith standing the large number of studies carried and the fact that about seven hundred fail annually at Harvard to pass or be promoted, and because of his high rank he was exempt from all final examinations. Redmond majored three years in ec onomics and since his graduation is doing post-grad work in literature, history, argumentation and journa lism. He plans beginning the study of law next fall. Redmond is twenty years of age. It is quite a coincidence that the names of grandsons of both the Ne gro United States ex-S«nators should be connected with Harvard at the same time: viz., the grandson of Rev els and Roscoe Conkling Bruce Jr., grandson of the late Senator B. K. Bruce. DATE FIXED FOR UNITY CONFERENCE New York, March 16.—A pdelimin ary conference of all Negro organiza tions as sugested by Kelly Miller will be held here March 23rd and 24th. The Equal Rights League, N. A. A. C. P., and the African Blood Brotherhood, have issued the call. From Nebraska to Arkansas and Back Experiences and Observations of the Editor on Trip to Southland Where He Saw Many Things of Interest SOME IMPRESSIONS ON NEARING LITTLE ROCK I have been very much gratified •with the many messages of commen dation of this series of articles re ceived from readers of The Monitor. Several have told me that they were al lanxiety to learn just how my con troversy with the Pullman conductor came out. Since learning this I have been the recipient of many messages of warm approval for the manner in which “you stood your ground.” One very ardent friend and admirer says, “I take off my hat to you, sir. You are one in a hundred. Ninety-nine men out of every hundred, rather than to run any risk of trouble, would have been bluffed by that conductor. He would have worked his bluff with any of our women and with most any other man. I congratulate you for standing your ground and for the gen tlemanly manner in which you handled the situation. Personally, I would have gotten hot and the stuff would have been all off. That's all. Glad it was you.” I am not so sure that “any of our women” would have been “bluffed” by the conductor. My impression is that our women are braver in such matters, and probably SAFER, than most of our men. Nor am I willing to believe that my own conduct was so excep tional. I am pleased, however, with the many words of approbation re ceived, and hope that my experience may prove helpful to others should they be placed in similar circum stances. Getting “hot” seldom does any one any good when placed in an adverse situation. Keeping cool is al ways more advantageous. Do you re call the lines of Kipling which begin “If you can keep your head, while all around you Others are losing theirs and blaming it on you;?" It concludes with, “You'll be a man, my son.” Several have asked rae to tell them of my experiences on my way home, but they will have to wait for this, as I promised to tell you this week, Some thing About Little Rock. 1 have so much to tell, and it is nearly all favorable, I am glad to say that I hardly know where to begin. Let's start outside as the "Rainbow Limited” is drawing into the suburbs. Among the many interesting things that first attracted my attention were several spans of fine mules drawing low road wagons moving in the direc tion of the city. Can you guess who the mule drivers were? You can’t miss it. They were our own good-natured, warm-hearted people, happily called j by our own George Wells Parker, the j "Children of the Sun.” The mules j looked well fed and so did the men. | Some distance off I saw a man plow- , ing with the orpni parent mule. In-1 stinctively I knew the plowman’s race, and there came to my mind an amus-; ing little screed I used to recite when I I was a boy. Of course, that was many years ago. I wonder if you have ever heard it. Here’s part of it, anyway: “You Nebuchadneezah, whoa, sah; wha’ am you tryin’ to go, sah ? I’d have you for to know, sah, I’se holdin’ ob des lines. You needen try to steal up, and fro dat precious heel up; You’se got t oplow ries fiel' up; you has, sah, for a far.” I do not know wnat was the name of the mule—in fact there were two, which our bucolic friend was driving; nor do I know whether his experience was the same as that of "Nebuchad neezah’s’’ driver; but I do know that here was evidence of industry, of hon est toil and labor, the patent of true nobility wherever normal man is found. Moreover, as the train drew into the yards I noted that the labor ers were almost without exception Negroes. In other words, I noticed that the labor that is commonly done in the North and West largely by for eign-born peoples, like Italian^, Lith I uanians, Poles, Mexicans, and the like, is done in the South by native bom I black Americans. Noticing this fact there flashed across my mind two sig nificant statements made in my hear ing at different times, one by a rad ical white Northerner, the other by a white Southerner. The former said in indignation after having read the sickening details of a lynching, “By God, t he black man of the South should declare an economic strike, and refuse to do a tap of work until jus tice is done him in that section. That and that alone will bring the South to its senses.” The other said, grateful ly, “We owe a profound debt to the Negro in the South. If it were not for his faithful toil and labor, for he is our chief labor supply, the South would become bankrupt. If he re fused to work, our railroads and in dustries would be paralyzed, our fer tile fields would lie untilled.” There is no question about it, the black American furnishes the labor supply of the South. Contented labor is an indispensable requisite to pros perity in any community. Discontent ed labor spells economic disaster. Can the South afford to lose its present labor supply? Will not economic ne cessity compel the South to see to it that its labor is contented? Content ment depends upon justice, fair-play, sanitary housing conditions, educa tional and recreational opportunities, and fair wages. Will the South be guided by wisdom before it is too late ? These were some of the thoughts which like trouping doves came to my mind as the train was drawing near the Union Station at Little Rock the busy capital of Arkansas, one of the richest states in the American Union. On the outskirts of the city I noticed —(Space limit is up; so, continued next week.) ■ Nebraska Civil Rights Bill |i Chapter Thirteen of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska, Civil Rights. Enacted in 1893. | jj i Sec. 1. Civil rights of persons. All persons within this state shall | ■j be entitled to a full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advan- | | tages, facilities and privileges Of inns, restaurants, public conveyances, Jf barber shops, theatres and other places of amusement; subject only to the % conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to every j; person. « j Sec. 2. Penalty for Violation of Preceding Section. Any person who shall violate the foregoing section by denying to any person, except for reasons of law applicable to all persons, the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges enumerated in the foregoing section, or by aiding or inciting such denials, shall for each offenBe be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, and pay the costs of the prosecution. "The original act was held valid as to citizens; barber shops can not f discriminate against persons on account of color. Messenger vs State, I 25 Nebr. page 677. N. W. 638.” 11 “A restaurant keeper who refuses to serve a colored person with re freshments in a certain part of his restaurant, for no other reastm than that he is colored, is civilly liable, though he offers to serve him by setting a table in amore private part of the house. Ferguson vs Gies, 82 Mich. 358; N. W. 718.” HARDING EXPECTED TO AGAIN APPOINT COHEN CUSTOMS COMPTROLLER It Is Report That the President Will Be as Persistent as RooseveH Was in the Case of Dr. Crnm. Washington, D. C., March 16—(The Associated Negro Press.)—The clos ing days of the U. S. Senate were marked with heated controversy on the confirmation of Walter L. Cohen, of New Orleans, to be Comptroller of Customs. Cohen was appointed last year, but the Senate failed' to confirm him. President Harding then appoint ed him during the recess, and failing of confirmation again, it is currently stated that the President will again appoint Cohen, during the long recess, with the same persistence that Presi dent Roosevelt used with reference to the late Dr. Crum. Senators Randsell and Brusr ard of Louisiana have declared that Cohen is “personally objectionable” to them. ! This time honored “objection” was used by Senator Watson of Georgia, to defeat the confirmation of Henry Lincoln Johnson for Recorder of Deeds. CALL SENT OUT FOR DOCTORS AND NURSES Positions at lT. S. Veterans Hospital Run from $1,680 to $f>,.’>00 per Year. Washington, March 16.—The Civil Service Commission announced this week its policy to select colored eli sihles where possible for the new two-million-dollar U. S. Veterans Hos pital at Tuskegee. Salaries of graduate nurses w'ill vary from $1,680 to $2,500, head nurses and assistants will be needed. Physicians are wanted, and salaries up to $3,250 will be paid; specialists, $5,500. Salaries of dentists will vary between $2,400 and $3,600. Salaries of pharmacists from $1,680 to $2,000. Fifteen doctors and 100 nurses are needed. WOMAN KILLS MAN William Tockerton, 919% North Twenty-sixth street was shot and killed Sunday afternoon by Mrs. Mar tha Walker whom it is alleged he at tacked with a pen knife in a quarrel that ensued over room rent. Several persons it is said were in the house at the time, and various rumors are afloat as to the real facts in the case. Mrs. Walker was taken into custody. Tockerton’s body was taken to the Western Funeral Home. Raleigh, N. C., March 16—President J. L. Peacock has announced a gift of $65,000 for a Science Hall at Shaw University, from the General Board of Education. DOCTOR DUBOIS 1$ HEARD BY CROWDS OH PACIFIC COAST Brilliant Editor of Crisis Makes Many Friends For Racial Justice By Speeches in Land of Sun shine And Flowers NOT RADICAL OR FIREBRAND Los- Angeles, Cal., March 16.—Dr. W. B. DuBois, publicity head of the N. A. A. C. P., while recently here on a lecturing tour, received a reception far greater than is usual with mem bers of Congress and other distin guished visitors. Columns of space were devoted to his addresses in the white and colored press, and even the Japanese Daily News gave him nearly half a page. To top it off he visited the movie world and posed with Sunshine Sam my and others. Estelle Lawton, former city coun cil member, in reporting Dr. DuBois’ address for the Express, said: “The race question is always TNT, and it has been given out by people unfamiliar with the claims of Dr. Du bois that he is a firebrand. Speaks at Trinity “That is a mistake. He spoke at Trinity auditorium Monday night, his subject being, “The Black Man and the Wounded World.” The address was aj calm, logical eloquent plea for justice for all men, and neither in his public address nor in his conversation with me after it was there aught of bit terness, resentment or untruth; tho there was much to cause us of the white race to reflect on the status of our souls and the future of a world run profit mad.” Will Comment on Pickens’^ Views Asked what he thought of Dr. Pickens’ “No heaven, no hell, and no resurrection from the dead theory,” Dr. DuBois said, "I am too busy tell ing the people here of the Black Man’s future in, this world to give an ex pression now. I will give my opinion concerning Dr. Pickens in a statement later.” SOUTHERNERS RET PLAIN SPEECH FROM COLORADO IOVERNOR Chief Executive Rebukes Delegation Who Seeks His Assistance To Put Over Sepaarte School Plan PRAISES COLORED CITIZENS Advises Protesting Mississipian To Return South of Mason And Dix on’s Line.—Stands on State Constitution Denver, Colo., March 16.—Hon. Wil liam E. Sweet, Governor of Colorado, came face to face last Tuesday after noon in his office at the state house, with the color question and the sep arate school bugaboo that has been the uppermost topic in the minds of the leaders in certain so-called im provement associations that have sprung up in Denver lately and the Governor met it in a manner fitting and becoming the fairminded execu tive of a great sovereign state. A delegation led by J. L. Hines, who is a prominent member of the Park Hill Improvement Association, and who has been loudest in demand for separate schools and residential seg regation, called upon Governor Sweet Tuesday afternoon in the executive chamber and solicited his aid in get ting a resolution through the legisla ture demanding separate schools for Denver. Mr. Hines, in the course of his statement, and in order to lend emphasis to his argument, referred to the Negro in vile and opprobrious terms so characteristic of some south ernr white men, and told how the Ne gro was treated in Mississippi. Gov. Sweet stopped him in the very midst of his tirade, and, looking squarely at him, said: “You go back south of Mason and Dixon’s line and handle the school question in any man ner you see fit and we of Colorado will handle the question as we see fit. No city in America has a finer class of colored people than are to be found in Denver, and the relations between the races has always been pleasant. I very much doubt,” said the Governor, “whether you could get the legislature to consider such a resolution as you are seeking, and I would not sign it if you did. If you will take the pains,” Gov. Sweet concluded, “to read the constitution of Colorado, you will find my answer to all such questions as you propose. JUVENILE NEGRO ACTOR NOW FULL FLEDGED STAB Earnst Morrison Heads Cast of Juve nile Artists in Pathe Comedies -Co-Starred With Baby Marie Osborne Pacific News Bureau Hollywood, Calif., March 16.—Ear nest Frederick Morrison, the ten-year old film actor, known to millions the world over as “Sunshine Sammy” has at last coveted the goal of stardom. Young Morrison with his baby sis ter, Florence (Farina) head the cast of juvenile actors in the series of “Our Gang” comedies made at the Hal Roach studios in Culver City and re leased to the leading theatres through out the world by Pathe. Bom in 1913 Earnest has played in more pictures than any other juvenile actor in the films. From co-starring with Baby Marie Osborne in two and five reel dramas, Earnest has support ed in almost weekly releases “Snub Pollard” and Harold Lloyd. His suc cess with these comedians won him the starring position of “Our Gang” comedies, and incidentally a substan tial raise in salary, which is said to run into three figures, the highest sal ary of any Negro film actor. PORTER FINDS JEWELS Baltimore, March 16.—Mrs. Mandel Katz, of New York, a passenger on a Pullman car, left $8,000 worth of dia monds in a dressing room on a B. & 0. train. H. G. Williams, porter of the car, found the jewelry, turned the diamonds into the officials at Mount Royal station, and received $140 re ward from Mrs. Katz. SENATOR PROBES CIVIL SERVICE DISCRIMINATION Fresno, Cal., March 16.—Incensed at the refusal of Postmaster G. W. Turner to appoint Patrick J. Young, colored, as mail carrier, a number of the most prominent white citizens of this city have petitioned Senator Sam uel Shortridge demanding an investi gation of the matter. 9200,000.00 SHORT Richmond, Va. March 16.—Report of auditor and certified public ac countants shows that the accounts of the Mechanics Bank are 9200,000.00 short. John Mitchell and other bank officials are under Indictment charged with mishandling funds.