The Monitor —
t A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
f $2.00 ;a Year. 5c a Copy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1924 Whole Number 460 VoL IX—No. 44
VOTE TUE&AY-DONT SHIRK YOUR BIG CIVIC DUTY
KANSAS CITY CALL
CELEBRATES FIFTH
AHHIVERSAIY DAY
Kupid Progress Made by Missouri
Newspaper Which Ha* Pursued
a Well • Defined
Policy
PLAIT IS WUTI $15,000.00
Chester A. Franklin, a Former Omaha
I toy, Is the Energetic But
Modest Proprietor
of Publication
Kansas City, Mo., May 2.—-(Preeton
News Service.)—Almost every week
news reach us of advanced steps In
the publishing game among race Jour
nals. Wliat is believed to be the most
remarkable progress in race Journal
ism is the rapid strides of the Kansas
City Call which quitely celebrated its
fifth anniversary last week. It now
sets its own ads on its recently In
stalled Model 24 linotype.
Plant Worth $25,000
Since May 1, 1919, date the Kansas
City Call was founded by C. A. Frank
lin, editor and owner, improvements
and equipment have been added until
the plant Is now worth more than
$25,000, exclusive of the three-story
brick building, which is valued at $30,
000.
The plant Includes a Duplex Webb
press, installed las*. February, a model
8 linotype machine and the recently
added Mode) 24, besides other miscel
laneous standard equipment.
From four employees In 1919 the
staff now numbers fifteen. Recently
Sir. Franklin disposed of a large Job
printing office in connection with the
publication In order to devote Mb en
tire time to the printing and publish
ing of the Kansas City Call.
Mr. Franklin Very Modest
When a Preston News Service re
porter said to Mr. Franklin, ‘Celebrat
ing your fifth anniversary?” "No,
sir,” retorted Mr. Franklin, ‘‘really, we
are too busy getting In our new ma
chinery so we can do some real work,
give employment to more of our peo
ple and get out The Call, to stop to
celebrate. Whatever success we have
attained in the past five years has
been due to the loyal support or *he
people of Kansas City who have pa
tronized our advertisers s« consistent
ly that we have been able to secure
advertising business enough to ex
pand and improve our publication,”
he declared.
Mr. Franklin who is a native of
Texas, was reared and educated in
Omaha, Neb., where his father Geo.
F. Franklin was editor of The Enter
prise.
POPULAR BABY CONTEST
TO CONTINUE THRU
THE MONTH OF MAY
Three Prizse Will He Awarded Babies
Receiving Largest Number of
Votes to Help Association
Cause
STANDING OF CONTESTANTS
The Omaha branch of the N. A. A.
C. P. will award three prizes, $10,
$5 and $2.50 in gold to the child up
to five years standing first, second
and third respectively when the con
test closes Friday, May 30. The pro
ceeds of the contest go to the work of
the National Association.
The following children have been
entered in the contest:
Lilian Austin, age 6,2305 Madison
St., South Side. Votes reported 0.
May Jefferson, age 1, 2639 Z St.,
South Side. Votes reported 0.
Lena Paez, age 2, 1418 No. 25th
St. Votes reported 0.
Mary Headdy Wiggins, age 3, 2838
Franklin St. Votes reported 540.
Nonice May Williams, age 5 months
2709 Caldwell St. Votes reported 66.
Lulu Divers, age 2, 2430 Franklin
St. Votes reported 0.
Charlotte Hicks, age 3, 2716 Miami
St. Votes reported 0.
Cecil Walls, age 2, 3026 R Street.
Votes reported 0.
Richard Stanton, age 3, 2617 Er
skine St. Votes reporter! 420.
George Bullock, age 2, 2618 Maple
St. Votes reported 0.
Evidently some of the contestants
are holding back their reports, but
all are expected to report each week.
It will seen seen from this that Mary
Heddy Wiggins, daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. Herbert Wiggins, leads Richard
Stanton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
R. Stanton by 120 votes. Watch the
contest week by week and work for
your favorite baby. There is an Elk
baby which it is said will be the
winner. Watch developments. Phone
for information Mrs. John Albert Wil
liams, chairman, Webster 4248.
UNCLE WIGGILY’S TRICKS
\
POSTAL EMPLOYES LOSE *3,24# j
Chicago,' IP.., May 2.— (By the Asso
ciated Negro Press.)—According to
government statistics the cost of liv
ing has increased seventy per cent
since 1913, while the salary of postal
employes has gone up only fifty per
cent in the same time, leaving a net
loss of twenty per cent. It is estimat
ed that the total loss to each postal
clerk and carrier is $3,246. Postal
employees are now asking Congress to
grant them a raise to range at the
maximum from $2,000 to $2,400 a
year.
NEGRO DEMOCRATS CONVENE
Washington, D. C.. May 2.—(By the
Associated Negro Press.)—A conven
tion of Negro democrats, meeting to
organize for the purpose of aiding
the democratic party will be held in
this city May 27. The convention will
be held under the auspices of the Na
tlona’ Negro Democratic party.
OMAHA TRIMS THE
LEAGUE LEADERS
IN THREE GAMES
_
Omaha Western Leaguers Make Gowd
Impression on Fans in Their
Opening Games Here
Several thousand rabid baseball
fans crowded into League Park on
Tuesday afternoon to witness the
Omaha Buffaloes trounce the bald
headed Izzies from over Wichita way.
It was a sweet game, despite the
gooey field, with Omaha on the winn
ing end of the count, 11 to 5. Wed
nesday and Thursday were repititions
of the verdict of Tuesday. Tulsa
arrived for todays’ game and will be
here Saturday and Sunday and a
mammoth crowd should greet the boys
during the week-end games.
Omaha, from all appearances, has
a dandy club, and as the season pro
gresses, with warmer weather, great
things can be expected from the home
clan.
Seven home runs is the record of
the locals during the three home
games, which bespeak them as slug
gers. Several other extra base blows
have been accounted for.
Join your neighbors Saturday and
Sunday and watch the Buffs take
Tulsa from their perch at the top
of the gang. There promises to be
some good things in store for the
fans.
ST. PAUL PRESBY
TERIAN CHURCH NOTES
Boys’ Sunday was fittingly observed.
The address to the boys by Dr. Ed
wards was of he highest order, pleas
ing, clear and instructive. And the
boys grasped his thoughts remarkably
well.
Sunday school was well attended.
New workers were elected as follows:
Assistant superintendent, Mr. Harry
Speese; secretary, Miss Dehlia Reeves;
assistant secretary, Miss Wllla Mae
Cruter; treasurer, Master Wayne Har
ris; Junior teacher, Miss Ethel Speese;
Intermediate teacher, Mr. R. S. Tay
lor. Mrs. M. A. Johnson was retained
as superintendent and Mrs. Taylor re
mains in charge of the primary and
beginners’ department.
At the evening service the Rev. J.
B. Currens was present and gave a
very helpful talk on tithing. The Rev.
Mr. Currens Is in his eighties and has
been a tither all his life practically.
Services Sunday will be as follows;
Morning, “What Think Ye of Christ?”
and In the evening, “And the Winds
Were Contrary”.
The Christian Endeavor will have
Its monthly consecration meeting at
7:00 o’clock. The pastor will lead.
The roll will be called. Will you be
there? Remember your pledge.
Easter visitors to Quinn chapel were
Miss Anita Gentry, St. Joseph, Mo.;
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon motored up from
Beatrice, Tommie Mason, Jr., and his
mother, Mrs. Bell Mason, motored up
from Nehawka; Mr. Chas. Scott, Bea
trice.
CHARLES WEST AT
HOWARD MEET, MAY 2Mh
Washington, D. C., May 2.—Up to
two season's ago, the athletic reputa
tion of Charles West, intercollegiate
pentathlon champion and captain of
the Washington and Jefferson track
team, was limited to his line plunging
and end-running skill in football.
When he finished runner up to the
great Legendre of Georgetown in the
Pennsylvania Relay Carnival of 1922,
the public began to sit up and take
notice of this all-around “phenom”
who already enjoyed a local reputa
tion in the Allegheny Mountain Asso
ciation as a baseball, tennis, and bas
ketball player of unusual merit.
Hp followed up this achievement
next year by winning the intercollegi
ate pentathlon championship at Frank
lin Field against such sterling athletes
as Plonksky and Maroney, George
town; Norton, University of Kansas,
and Kipp, Haskell Institute. Experts
claim that he is the nearest approach
to Jim Thorpe in amateur circles.
West heads the list of that great
quartette of runners composed of
Bridges, Allen, Moore and West who
has made athletic history for the
Negro in the region around Pittsburgh.
Coming from the rear in the Middle
Atlantic States Championship at the
Penn Carnival last year, he turned
defeat into victory for his Alma Ma
ter, banging up a record for same. It
was largely through this achievement,
plus the victory in the pentathlon
event that he was elected captain of
the Washington and Jefferson track
team for 1924. Both the winning of
the intercollegiate pentathlon event
and his selection as captain are honors
unique in the annals of Negro athle
tics.
His best event is the Javelin con
test in which he has a record of 177
feet. He also excels in the dashes,
middle distance events, broad jump,
and is a discus thrower of no mean
ability. He will display his wares in
a contest with “Ned” Gourdin, Har
vard University, at the Fifth Annual
Intercollegiate Meet at Howard Uni
versity on' May 10{h.
TEXANS PREPARE TO GET VOTE
Galveston, Tex., May 2.—(By the
Associated Negro Press.)—Qualified
Negro voters of this city were called
Into formal meeting last week: by L*
G. Robinson, Chester Ferguson, A. L.
Bush, J. A. Mirant and Frank Burton
to consider plans for qualifying more
Negro voters. A permanent organiza
tion is planned which will have for
its main purpose the preparing of Ne
groes to break through the bar to vot
ing, so that their suffrage will not be
abridged, either by law or political in
trigue. 1
AMERICA’S OLDEST WOMAN DIES
Hayti, Mo., May 2.—(By the Associ
ated Negro Press.—With the death of
Mrs. Maranda Cut, the claim is being
made by residents of this town that
the oldest woman in America has
passed away. There was documentary
evidence to prove that Mrs. Cute was
130 years old. Like many other old
persons she was said to remember
many of the men and events of the
period soon after the revolutionary
war. She came to this town during
the recent migration and was able to
care for herself until within a few
years of her death.
SCOTTISH HITE SUPREME
COUNCIL MEETS IN CHICAGO
Chicago, 111., May 2.— (By the As
sociated Negro Press.)—The United
Supreme council of the Thirty-third
and Last Degree of Ancient and Ac
cepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry
of the Northern jurisdiction will con
vene in its forty-third annual session
in this city May 11-14. Meetings will
be held at Bethel A. M. E. church. Dr.
Summer A. FurniBS, Indianapolis, Is
the grand commander and is making
elaborate plans for the success of the
convention.
Rev. H. W. Botts was an Omaha
visitor laet Wednesday.
A STORY OF THE MARTYRS OF 1822
A Story of Ante-Bellum Days, Dealing With Slave Insurrection at Charleston
It is not known for how many eager
and anxious months or even years,
Denmark Vesey had Ratronized the
Hast Bay Street Lottery of Charles
ton prior to 1800, when he was re
warded with a prize of $1,500. With
$600 of this money he bought himself
of Capt. Vesey. He was at last his
own master, 1n possession of a small
capital, and of a good trade, carpen
try, which he practiced with great in
dustry. He was successful, amassed in
time considerable wealth, became a
solid man of the community in spite
of his color, winning the confidence
of the whites, and respect from the
blacks amounting almost to reverence.
Ho married—was much married it was
said, which I see no reason to doubt,
in view of the polygamous example
set him by many of the respectabilities
of the master-race in that remarkably
pious old slave town. A plurality of
children rose up, in consequence, to
him from the plurality of his family
ties; rose up to him, but they were
not his, for following the condition of
the mothers, they were, under the
Slave-Code, the chattels of other men.
This cruel wrong ate deep into Ve
seys mind. Of course, it was most
outrageous for him, a black man, to
concern himself go much about the
human chattels of white men, albeit
those human chattels were his own
children. What had he, a social par
iah, in Christian America to do with
such high caste things as a heart and
natural affections? But somehow he
did have! a heart, and it was in the
right place, and natural affections for
his own flesh and blood, like men with
a white skin. 'Twas monstrous in him
to be sure, but he could not help it.
The slave iron had entered his soul,
and the wound which it made rankled
in secret there.
Not alone the sad condition' of his
own children embittered his lot, but
the sad condition of other black men’s
children as well. He yearned to help
all to better social conditions—to that
freedom which is the gift of God to
mankind. (He yearned to possess this
God-given boon, in its fullness and
entirely, for himself before he passed
thence to the grave.) For ho pos
sessed it not. He had Indeed bought
himself, but he soon learned that the
right to himself which he had pur
chased from his master was not the
freedom of a man, but the freedom
accorded by the slave code, to a
black man, a freedom so restrictive
in quantity and mean in quality that
no white man, however low, could be
made to live contentedly under It for
It; Francis J. Grlmke
PART II
(By The Associated Negro Press)
OUR HERO BUYS HIS FREEDOM
a day.
In judging this black man, oh, ye
critics and philosophers, judge him not
hastily and harshly before you have
at least tried to put*, yourselves in his
place. You may not even then succeed
in doing him justice, for while he had
his faults, and was sorely tempted,
he was, nevertheless, in every inch of
him, from the soles of his feet to the
crown of his head, a Man.
At the period which we have now
reached in his history, he was in pos
session of a fairly good education—
was able to read and write, and to
speak with fluency the French and the
English languages. He had travelled
extensively over the world in his mas
ter’s slave vessel, and had thus ob
tained a stock of valuable experiences,
and a wide range of knowledge of men
and things of which few inhabitants,
whether black or white, in the slave
community of Charleston, during the
first quarter of the 19th century could
[truthfully have boasted. Yet in spite
of these undeniable facts, in spite of
his unquestioned ability and economic
efficiency as an industrial factor in
that city, he was in legal and actual
ownership of precious little of that
right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness” which the most ignor
ant and worthless white man enjoyed
as a birthright. Wherever he moved
or wished to move he was met and
surrounded by the most galling and
degrading social and civil conditions
and proscriptions. True, he held a
bill of sale of his pernson, had ceased
to be the chattel property of an in
dividual, but he still wore chains,
which kept him, and which were in
tended to keep him and such as him,
slaves of the community forever, de
prived of every civil right which white
men, their neighbors, were bound to
respect. (For instance, were he
wronged in his person or property by
any member of the dominant race, be
the offender man, woman or child,
Vesey could have had no redress In
the courts, in case the proof of his
complaint or the enforcement of his
claim depended exclusively upon the
testimony of himself and that of black
witness, however respectable.)
Such a man, we may be sure, was
conscious of the possession, notwith
standing his black skin and blacker
social and civil condition, of longings,
aspirations, which the Slave-Code
made it a crime for him to satisfy.
He must have felt the stir of forces
and faculties within him, which, un
der the heaviest paing and penalties,
he was forbidden to exercise. Thus
robbed of freedom, ravished of man
hood, what was he to do? Ay, what
ought he to have done under the cir
cumstances? Ought he to have done
what multitudes had done before him,
meek and submissive folk, generations
and generations of them, borne tame
ly like them his chains, without an
effort to break them and break instead
his lion’s spirit? Ought he to have
contented himself with such a woeful
existence, and to have been willing at
its end to mingle his ashes with the
miserable dust of all those countless
masses of forgotten and unresisting
slaves? “Never!” replied what was
bravest and worthiest of respect in
the breast of this truly great-hearted
man. The burning wrong which he
felt against slavery had sunk in hie
mind below the reach of the grappling
tongs of reason. It lay like a charge
of giant powder, with its slow match j
attachment, the unplumbed depths of
a soul which knew not fear, of a soul
which was as hot with smouldering
hate and rage as is a live volcano
with its unvomited flame and lava.
As well, under the cicumstances, have
tried to subdue the profound fury of
the one with argument, as to quench
the hidden fires of the other with
water.
(He knew, none better, that his op
pressors were strong and that he was
weak, that he had but one slender
chance in a hundred of redressing by
force the wrongs of himself and race.
He knew too that failure in such a
desperate enterprise could have for
himself but a single issue, viz., certain
death. But he believed that success
on the other hand meant for him and
his the gain of that which alone was
able to make their lives worth the liv
ing, to wit, a freeman’s portion, his
opportunity for the full development
and free play of all of h1s powers
amid that society In which was cast
his lot. And for that portion, so pre
cious, he wa« ready to take the one
chance with all of its tremendous
risks, to stake that miserable modicum
of freedom which he possessed, the
wealth laboriously accumulated by
him, and life itself.)
(To be continued)
BELL BOY MUTILATED
Shreveport, La., May 2.—(By the
Associated Negro Press.)—Police au
thorities here are searching for two
white men who are charged with hav
ing abducted Dave Howard, bell hop
in a local hotel, and with performing
a serious operation on him. The boy,
who is in a serious condition and may
not live, said the white men were
angered when a white woman talked
to him too long in the lobby of the
hotel. The men being sought were
guests in the hotel.
LIVED TO SEE SIX GENERATIONS
Selma, Ala., May 2.—(By the Asso
ciated Negro Press.)—No more will
children (jf the town go to play with
“Aunt” Isabella Moss under the tree
that stood just outside her cabin. The
aged woman died last week, her age
reputed to be 115 years. It was
claimed that she had seen six genera
tions of Selma inhabitants come: and
go. She could not remember when
she started life’s Journey, holding to
the belief to the end that she had
always been a grown woman.
GIRLS FRIENDLY SOCIETY
ATTEND UNION SERVICE
Take Part in Social Gathering and
Program in Trinity Cathedral
Parish House
Last Saturday afternoon at 5:30 an
impressive service was held in Trinity
Cathedral where a union admission
service for the Girls’ Friendly So
ciety was held. The services were
conducted by Dean McGinley, the Rev.
E. J. Seeker and the Rev. John Al
bert Williams. There was a large
congregation present. Several can
didates and members were formally
admitted to the society by Dean Mc
Ginley in Jhe absence of Bishop Shay
ler.
The following candidates and mem
bers were admitted from St. Philip’s
branch: Irbie Anderson, Odessa
Banks, Louise Scott, Catherine Wil
liams, Celestine Smith, Ellen Richard
son, Lavinia Scott, and Zora Hill. Fol
lowing the service a luncheon was
served in the Parish house and an
interesting program presented by rep
resentatives of St. Andrew’s, St.
John’s, Good Shepherd, St. Philip’s,
St. Paul’s, Omaha; St. Paul’s, Council
Bluffs and Trinity Cathedral, Omaha.
St. Philip’s number was a piano solo
by Miss Grace Adams.
AKRON CLOSES BABY CONTEST
Akron, O., May 2.—(By the Associ
ated Negro Press.)—In what is per
haps the largest yet of a series of
baby contests being conducted by Wil
liam Pickets, field secretary for the
National Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, this city rais
ed more than $800 to fight lynching
with an expediture of only $75. Mr.
Pickens was given $600 for the asso
ciation.
There were thirty babies in the local
contest, only twenty-five having re
ported when the above figures were
given out.
FORMER SLAVE’S WILL
CUTS HIS CHILDREN
Montgomery, Ala., May 2.—(By the
Associated Negro Press.)—Dan Free
man, former slave who died here re
cently, left his entire fortune to the
five grandchildren of his former mas
ter. His own children were cut off
with nothing. They are now contest
ing the will, claiming that Freeman
was of unsound mind when he left
the bequest to the whites, and that an
earlier testament showed that he in
tended to leave his fortune to his own.
The property is valued at $3,000.
WANTED FOR MURDER
FORTY-THREE YEARS AGO
Tampa, Fla., May 2.—(By the As
sociated Negro Press.)—Georgia offi
cials are seeking to have returned to
that state, J. W. Ellis, 75, an ex-slave,
to stand trial for a murder committed
I in Decatur county, Georgia, in 1881.
HOWARD SCHOOL OF
RELIGIOH CAMFAIOH
GETS UHDERWAY
0
Colored People of the District of Col
umbia Have Pledged to Date
$21,536.50 for
Work
INTEREST IS INCREASING
Workers Confident of Ultimate Suc
cess in Raising Prescribed
Quota for the
District
Washington, D. C., May 2.—With the
campaign for $500,000 for the Endow
ment and Building Fund for the
School of Religion of Howard Univer
sity barely underway, thirty-fire work
ers at a dinner given Friday, April
25th, in the new dining hall of the
university, reported a total of $21-,
536.40 pledged to the fund by colored
people of the District of Columbia.
The workers in the campaign have set
I $50,000 as the amountto be secured •
I from the colored people of this city
and are most enthusiastic over the
success which has thug far come from
their efforts. The group of workers
is growing each day. A large number
of new teams were organized with the
appointment of additional captains.
In the report of pledges were two
of $1,000, given by Dr. Sterling N.
Brown and George W. Robinson, one
of $500 given by John T. Rhines, and
one of $300 by Dr. M. W. Norman.
The increased interest in the cam
paign for the School of Religion Is
noted In the plans for the observance
of Howard Night Thursday night, May
1st, at the Third Baptist church, Fifth
and Q streets, N. W., of which Rev.
G. O. Bullock is pastor. According to
the announcement at the dinner, Dr.
J. Stanley Durkee, president of the
university; Dr. D. Butler Pratt, dean
of the School of Religion; Dr. Sterling
N. Brown, director of the extension '
department of the School of Religion,
and Dr. Bullock, will address the meet
ing.
Among those who spoke at the cam
paign workers’ dinner were Garnet C.
Wilkinson, assistant superintendent of
school of the District of Columbia, and
Dr. James L. Pinn. Each worker
pledged himself to “go over the top”
in the matter of raising the $50,000
set as the amount to be secured from
the colored people of the District of
Columbia for the Endowment and
Building Fund of the School of Reli
gion of Howard Uuniversity.
“A NAUTICAL KNOT’
TO BE PRESENTED
BY LOCAL TALENT
Forty-five University and High School
Students Rehearsing Operetta
Under Direction of Mrs.
Pinkston
WILL BE GIVEN AT BRANDEIS
For the development and encourag
ing of musical talent among the Uni
versity and High school students of
Omaha, Mrs. Florentine J. Pinkston
has been training for some months
forty-five students in the pleasing
two-act operetta, “A Nautical Knot,"
or “The Belle of Barnstapoole’’ by
Maude Elizabeth Inch and W. Rhys
Herbert. In addition to the young
men and women presenting the op
eretta, thirty small children have been
in training to present a beautiful and
artistic dance, entitled “The Awaken
ing of Spring,” each child represent
ing a spring flower. It will be one
of the most elaborate and artistic en
tertainments ever presented in Oma
ha, and as such should be witnessed
by an audience that will tax the ca
pacity of the theatre. The Nautical
Knot will be presented at the Bran
deis theatre, Wednesday night, May
28th. Tickets go on sale next week.
FETE 800 ORPHANS
New Orleans, La., May 2,—(By the
Associated Negro Press.)—Three hun
dred orphans of the Holy Name so
ciety were entertained Easter at a
special ehowing of the Passion Play
in motion pictures at the Lyric theatre
through the courtesy of Manager
Clarence Bennett Vaudeville was also
presented for the benefit of the sol
diers at the government hospital
, Easter Monday.
N. A. A. C. P. WILL MEET SUNDAY
i The Omaha Branch of the N. A. A.
■ C. P. will meet at the Church of St.
- Philip the Deacon Sunday afternoon
i at 4 o’clock. M. J. Ford, president of
, the Men’s Service League and deep
I ly interested in the Boys’ movement
is expected to be the special speaker.