Nebraska Newspapers

    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.