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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1928)
_____ LIP :\G LIF t'OO _2 _ ' e> f/i •5 O ^ ri 0 The Monitor NEBRASKA'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor. GROWING — THANK YOU $2.00 a Year—S Cent» a CopyOmaha, Nebraska, Friday, April 13, 1928Vol. XIII—Number 41 Whole Number 662 Two Race Candidates Win In Primaries DRAMATIC ABILITY IS DISPLAYED BY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS Girls' Friendly Society Delights Aud ience With Presentation of Two Original Plays in St. Philips’ Guild Rooms The Girls’ Friendly society of St. Philips’ Episcopal church gave a de lightful entertainment in the Guild Rooms Tuesday night which highly pleased the audience. It consisted of two original plays written by Cath erine Williams, one of the members. The first was called a “Musical Story,” which pictured a college ro mance betv/een two college chums, Arthur and Richard, and two co-eds, Annabelle Lee and Diane. The parts were admirably taken by Celestine Smith, Louise Scott, Olive Jackson and Edna James, respectively. The romance was told in popular songs, telling of the wooing and winning of Annabelle Lee by Arthur, leaving Richard, temporarily, “Broken Heart ed,” until his heart was mended by Annabelle’s chum, Diane. The story introducing the songs was read by Geneva Osborn. Sarah Brown was the pianist. The second play was a three-act one entitled "In the Dormitory,” and presented several college girls indulg ing in the usual conversations and pranks incident to such life. A ghost featured in the story, which turns out to be one of the girls, “Ada,” well impersonated by Lillian Avant, who walks in her sleep and makes a peculiar noise. So blood curdling was the strange noise “be tween a moan and a laugh” which frightened “Frances,” “Ramona,” and “Josephine” who burst into the room of “Miriam,” “Beatrice” and “Patricia,” in which the play opens, that the audience jumped from their seats in fright. “Beatrice,” nicknamed “Detective Trix,” who determines to solve the mystery of the ghost and discover the name of the “he” in which her chum and room-mate, “Pat ricia” is interested or “succumb in the attempt,” was admirably imper sonated by Lavina Scott. In fact, all the girls took their parts so realistic ally and well that it seems invidious to attempt to make distinctions be tween them. The girls taking part were the fol lowing: “Miriam,” Vera Walton; “Ramona,” Willa Hays; “Frances,” Mary Ann Williams; “Henrietta," Sarah Brown; “Ruth,” Ellen i, h ardson; “Beatrice,” (Detective Trix, Sherlock Holmes the Second), La vina Scott; "Patricia,” Margaret Dickerson; “Pauline,” Helen Jenkins; “Josephine,” Rachel Hartley; “El oise,” Margaret Bell; “Ada,” (The “Ghost”), the girl who walks in her sleep, Lillian Avant. This group of girls, all high school students, show decided dramatic abil ity. The membership of the Girls’ Friendly society includes Christian: girls of all denominations and is! therefore not confined to members of the Episcopal church. NOVA LISBOA CAPITAL OF PORTUGUESE AFRICA Nova Lisboa, Angola—The world’s newest capital, Lova Lisboa, is to be the most up-to-date in every partic ular. The first plot to be laid out in preparing Nova Licboa, formerly Huambo, as the new official capital of Portuguese West Africa, was that of an airdome, hangars and all, which have now been completed. Four new hotels have also ben built. ARMY DESERTIONS ARE ON THE INCREASE Washington, D. C.—Figures com piled by the Judge Advocate General for the first six months of the cur rent fiscal year show a considerable increase in desertions from the army. Should the ratio continue until June 30, it is stated that desertions will be more numerous than for many years, despite the fact that enlisted person nel now receives an increased ration, which was expected to cut down the number of disaffected. SECRETARY HOOVER STOPS SEGREGATION IN CENSUS BUREAU Presidential Candidate Responds to Protest of Negro Citizens Against Color Line in Depart ment Washington, D. C.—Vigorous pro tests of race citizens of Washington has resulted in segregation being wiped out of another of the govern ment departments. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, presiden tial candidate, recently ordered an unwritten rule of the commerce de partment segregating colored and white employees abolished. Last ; October Secretary of the Interior Hu bert Work issued orders restraining segregation in the bureau of pensions in response to the protests of colored citizens. The commerce department recent ly explained Hoover’s action as fol lows: “The bureau of census in the course of its work developed a divi sion dealing with statistics particular ly affecting colored people and in a desire to extend employment to col ored members of the staff it placed the division in their control and nat urally the whole division was concen trated in one room. “Recently some complaint has been made that it amounted to segrega tion, which was against the orders and practice of the commerce de partment. Upon the return from Europe of the director of census a few weeks ago, the matter was called to his attention and he at once dis tributed the colored members of the staff. Some 12 or 14 persons were involved." FINDS TRIBE OF COLORED GIANTS IN S. A. WILDS Men Are Expert Mirlumen with Huge Bow and Arrow Weapon* New York City—The discovery in South America of a tribe of dark men, resembling some of the black Pacific Islanders or Melanesians, was reported by A. Hyatt Verrill, field agent of the museum of the Ameri |Can Indian Heye Foundation, who ar rived here on the Grace liner, Santa Luisa. This tribe, which is called the Siri ono, occupies a territory about two i hundred and fifty miles east of San ta Cruz, Bolivia. Mr. Verrill, who was doing archaelogical work in Bo livia for the museum, decided to vis it these men, who, it is said, had never been visited by white scientists before. The reason for their long isolation is that they have bows ten feet long and arrows eight feet long and an inch in diameter and are of |an inhospitable turn. Mr. Verrill contrived, however, to | meet a few of the Siriono with the help of Indian guides living on the fringes of the Siriono country. Through his guides he carried on some conversation with them. “The Siriono are considerably tall er and different in other respects from the other South American na tives,” said Mr. Verrill, “and my idea is that they are Melanesian stock and not greatly modified. They are very dark and have wavy hair. Their appearance is Melanesian, and I believe that some of their words are of Melanesian origin. “After a long study of the ques tion, it is my belief that the nativd South Americans, especially those of the west, are immigrants who have crossed the Pacific. There is geologi cal evidence that a great archipelago once existed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America, so that this continent was connected by a series of island stepping stones with the South Sea Islands. “The tribe which I visited on this trip seems to have isolated itself and avoided intermingling so that it preserves the Melanesian characters, which are less distinguishable in other tribes because of the mixing of racial stocks. “I don’t understand why the men stick to their enormous bows and ar rows. Bows of six feet or more are common in South America, but these were larger, I believe, than any oth editorial The primary election is over. As usual a comparatively small number of those entitled to vote discharged this duty. The total registered vote of this city is over 70,000. The reg istered race vote is approximately 4,000, or to be exact, 3,929, as of March 1, 1927. It varies little, if any, now from that number. The total vote cast Tuesday was around 30,000, or about 40 per cent of the total. We do not know what the ratio of our race vote was. Probably a little higher than this be cause the educational campaign which we have been conduct ing to make our people appreciate the duty and privilege of voting is beginning to bear fruit. Be that as it may, the people have declared by their votes whom they desire as their candidates in the November election. Republicans have chosen their candidates and democrats theirs. These will be pitted against each other in the general election. The outstanding contest in Nebraska centered in the sen atorial fight. Senator Robert B. Howell was opposed by At torney General O. S. Spillman, an excellent gentleman of pleas ing and magnetic personality, and backed by powerful inter ests, centered in Omaha, Howell’s home city, and yet Senator Howell won by a majority which it is believed will reach 25,000 when all returns are in. Although he lost Douglas county by about 600 votes, this was a gain over his campaign in 1922 when he lost it by 1,600 votes, which shows his grow ing strength. His victory is very significant. The Monitor supported him. He will be opposed in November by Richard L. Metcalfe of Omaha, who won the democratic nomination. The special interest of our own group centered in our own candidates for the legislature and for the important position of public defender. The hottest fight was in the Ninth dis trict where the contest was between Dr. John A. Singleton, the present incumbent, and Dr. Aaron M. McMillan. Despite the fact that the machine opposed Singleton and supported McMil lan, certain employees of at least two city commissioners be ing active workers for McMillan, McMillan defeated Singleton by only 20 votes. But please notice this gratifying and sig nificant fact: McMillan lost in every predominantly Negro precinct in the district. Here is the vote : Precinct._1 | 2 | 3 | 5 [ 6 [ 7 8 j 9 10 11 12 13 Total Singleton. 22 20 15 27 44 14 42 | 76 | 24 | 39 j 91 f 157 571 McMillan.33 j 23 | 23 | 42 | 36 [ 24 55 | 68 ! 42 I 61 69 | 110 591 The predominant Negro precincts are the 6th, 9th, 12th and 13th. Singleton carried all o,' these. McMillan won in the heavy white precincts like the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 10th. It was generally known that Singleton was a Negro. It was not so generally known that McMillan was. Draw your own conclu sion. Only 1,162 votes were cast Tuesday in this district as against 1,495 in the last primary, which also carries its own lesson. Frankly, who was the choice of the Negro voters of the Ninth district, McMillan or Singleton? The returns from the Negro precincts answer this question. In these precincts Singleton received 368 votes to McMillan’s 283, a majority of 85 for Singleton. There’s your answer. In the Tenth district, despite the vigorous and aggressive campaign of Sam E. Klaver, and other candidates, F. L. Bar nett won over Klaver, his closest competitor, by a majority of 81, over Peter Mehrens by 224, and over W. H. Hoffman by 317 votes. With these three white candidates in the field, one of whom was a Jew, with a large number of Jews in the district, Barnett won. The votes were as follows: Barnett, 441; Klaver, 360; Mehrens, 217; and Hoffman, 124. This is significant and carries its own lesson also. Amos P. Scruggs, candidate for public defender, received 1,220 votes, landing eighth place in a field of eleven contend ers, the high man being Robert Troyer, whose total was 4,308, and beating O’Connor and Chambers, ninth and tenth men in the field by about 200 votes, and Bremmers, the eleventh man, by over 800. Under the circumstances Scruggs’ vote was a highly complimentary one, showing that our people gave him strong support, but it could have been and should have been better. For more than eighteen years Scruggs has been a loyal supporter of the machine and never did anything to offend it. We cannot help but feel that had the machine been as loyal to Scruggs as he has been to it his vote would have been larger. What do you think about it? There are many lessons to be learned from the April pri mary. Among them are these: That we are beginning to think and must learn to think for ourselves; that we are be ginning to learn that by standing by our own candidates we can nominate them, in most instances, and in others we can make such a creditable showing as to command respect and place us in a position to demand certain recognition by virtue of our political strength and prestige. There are others which we may present later. We emerge from the primary with two candidates for state representatives and with quite a cred itable showing in the race for one of the most coveted offices in the county, that of public defender. All of which should encourage us to take courage and go forward. Ad astra per aspera. On to the stars through difficulties which we can overcome. ers in use in any part of the world. They are remarkable marksmen, kill ing tapirs, peccarries, deer and other game, as well as large fish, some of which weigh forty pounds.” “UNDERGROUND RAILWAY” TUNNEL FOUND IN DETROIT Detroit, Mich.—A tunnel, believed to have been a link in an “under ground railway” through which the Southern slaves escaped into Canada in the days before the Civil War, has been discovered beneath a downtown street here in excavating for a build ing. The tunnel is twenty feet be low the surface, high enough for a man to walk in, and a yard wide. BIRTHPLACE OF NATIONAL ANTHEM TO BE SHRINE Washington, D. C.—Congress has provided an appropriation of $81,678 for restoration and preservation of Fort McHenry, Md., birthplace of “The Star-Spangled Banner." The authorization will serve ulti mately to provide a splendid national monument commemorating the de fense of Fort McHenry against the bombardment of the British fleet in 1814, and the birth of the American national anthem. Rev. William Young has been con fined to his home, 1117 North Twenty-first street, for several days by illness. COURT AWARDS DIVORCE DECREE TO MINISTER’S WIFE IN TEN MINUTES Mrs. Carl Flipper Promptly Granted Decree Closing Matrimonial Rift Which Threatened Sensation GIVEN CUSTODY OF CHILDREN St. Louis, Mo.—Mrs. Pearl Flipper of this city, got a divorce recently from her husband, the Rev. Carl F. Flipper, pastor of the First A. M. E. church of Kansas City, Kansas, and son of Bishop J. S. Flipper of At lanta, Ga., thus bringing to an end a matrimonial rift that has been given special prominence in newspapers for : more than six months. Teacher Stole His Love, Claim In her original petition, filed last October, Mrs. Flipper’s chief allega tion was that Miss Florence Johnson, popular teacher at Sumner High school and choir member of the St. James A. M. E. church of this city, had wrecked the Flipper home, by assiduously catering to the wants and whims of Rev. Mr. Flipper. In the meantime, through his attorney, Rev. Mr. Flipper filed his answer and a crossbill to Mrs. Flipper’s petition. In his answer, the reverend described his wife as possessing a high and un governable temper and that she did not sympathize with him in his re ligious work. She Is Given Children Through his attorney, recently, Rev. Mr. Flipper’s crossbill was dis missed and on the grounds of general indignities, set forth in an action for divorce by Mrs. Flipper, she was re leased from the bonds of matrimony. Mrs. Flipper obtained custody of their. children, Carl F., Jr., 12 years old, and Joseph, 8. Flipper is to pay a stipulated amount each month for the support and maintenance of said chil dren while in Mrs. Flipper’s custody. While the spacious courtroom was packed with spectators, eager to hear some rapid-firing tongue-lashing and mud-slinging, and a great number of witnesses were on hand to give testi , mony, the divorce hearing was brief and was conducted privately by Cir cuit Judge Hall. The case was dis posed of in less than 10 minutes. The Rev. Carl Flipper was assigned ito St. John’s A. M. E. church, Oma ha, to succeed Rev. W. C. Williams, a few years ago, but was subsequently transferred to St. Louis and did not fill the pastorate here. HEART DISEASE IS DEADLIEST ILLNESS An Official Report State* That Ma jority of Deaths Are Laid to It New York City—Organic heart disease during the past year was re sponsible for a greater number of deaths and a larger total of insurance claims than any other cause among the 26,000,000 policy holders of the Metropolitan Life Insurance com pany. Nearly $14,000,000 of the more than $100,000,000 paid out)in death claims by this company was paid because of death from heart dis ease. Next in importance in this com pany’s claims was death from exter nal causes—violence of accidental, suicidal or homicidal origin. More than $13,000,000 was paid on account of these deaths. In 1927 the com pany paid $2,681,330 in claims aris ing from motor vehicle fatalities. This compares with $680,000 paid for ! the same class in 1920, an increase in the death rate of 67.6 per cent. Tuberculosis was third in impor tance with claims totaling more than $10,000,000. This sum was about $200,000 more than in 1926, despite the fact that the death rate in 1927 declined to the lowest figure ever recorder among policyholders of the company. Cancer took fourth place with more than $9,000,000 disbursed, while pneumonia and influenza were jointly responsible for claim pay ments aggregating $9,Qj)0,000. Dis eases incidental to pregnancy and childbirth were responsible for death claims amounting to $1,354,000. Spring Frolic, Thursday Nite. Nite Owls furnish the music.—Adv. PUSILANIMOUS REPUBLICANS WEAKLY SURRENDER Hotels Refuse to Acommodate Negro Delegates to National Conven tion and Committee Meekly Submits BUTLER UNLIKE MARK HANNA Kansas City, Mo.—That the mantle of the great Mark Hanna has fallen upon unworthy shoulders is clearly proven by Chairman William M. But ler’s pusilanimous surrender to south ern prejudice in the housing of Negro delegates to the national republican convention here. Mark Hanna met the same situation in St. Louis a few years ago and refused to surrender to it. Segregation of the Negro delegates to the republican national convention is all right with the republican nation al committee. Chairman William M. Butler and the sub-committee which met here recently to perfect plans for the con vention, placed their official O. K. on the Kansas City plan to bar Negro delegates from the hotels in which their state delegi tions are to be housed. Many race delegates are reported to have expressed dissatisfaction over the failure of the committee on ar rangements to assign them to rooms the same as they do the whites. Thd committee’s only response was that managers of the places where white delegates will stop declined to ac commodate Negro delegates. At the close of Monday’s confer ences, the sub-committee announced to the press that the Negro housing question had been settled—the Negro delegates were to stay at the Paseo Y. M. C. A., the Street hotel, and in private homes, Mr. Butler, when seen recently at the Muehlebach hotel, refused to say more than: “The Negro housing question has been settled long ago.” The sub-committee under Mr. But ler is understood to have fallen in line with the plan of segregating the Ne gro delegates which was proposed by Conrad H. Mann, local chairman of arrangements. GERMAN AND ENGLISH EDUCATORS VISIT HOWARD Washington, D. C.—Dr. and Mrs. L. Burns of London, and Dr. Rudolph Heberle of Berlin, were guests of Howard university recently, where they were tendered an informal re ception and greeted by President M. W. Johnson, deans of the faculty, heads of departments and instructors of the social sciences. Current eco nomic and political conditions of England and continental Europe were discussed by the visitors. Dr. and Mrs. Burns are professors of economics in the University of London, and are traveling under a grant- from the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial, surveying American economic and industrial conditions. Dr. Heberle is making a special study of the influences of in dustrial changes on population move-* ments. NEW BRITISH AIRPLANE TO PREPARE MAPS OF AFRICA London, Eng.—A new and costly survey airplane, capable of preparing maps of impassable country, with landing grounds as far as 600 miles apart, is the latest development of British aircraft enterprise. The machine is being built on the order of an aircraft operating com pany and will be in operation before the coming winter on a survey of the Zambesi river for the Northern Rhodesian government, preparing maps of an area of 6,000 square miles. An expedition also will be dis patched to Bag-lad to survey 1,000 square miles on a scale of six inches to the mile. One company has representatives in South America now arranging an aerial survey of cities and harbors for which existing maps are out of date.
