*
I
LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY_
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Omaha, Satuday, AllgUSt 26, 1939 Number 21
Nebraska, under Act of March 8, 1874. ______- --
1 - City Edition T
i( ic
per Copy
The Weather
Weather Outlook frr the Period
August 21 to August 26.
Upper Miss, and lower Mo. Valleys
and Northern and Central Great
Plains generally fair weather tem.
somewhat below normal early in
week and near or slightly above
normal remainder of week.
---—-(
Negroes Spend $16,000,000 j
Annually for Funerals. Well?
AND BEATEN BY MOB
------«
CIO Leaders in Packinghouse Drive
James Sampson, head of the
Wilson local of the Packinghouse
Workers Organizing Committee
(left) welcomes PWOC Assistant
Director Henry Johnson to the
microphone during a noon-hour
organizing rally at the Wil=on
plant Chicago, 111. Johnson came
to the meeting direct from Wash
ington, D. C., where he had con
ferred with CIO head, John L.
I^ewis on the plans of the packing
house workers to enforce their de
mands for union recognition.
—ON A Photograph.
ARMOUR REHIRES FIRED
UNIONISTS
Chicago, Aug. 24 (CNA)—Ar
mour and Co., giant meat packing
firm, this week bowed to union
strength and rehired 15 suddenly
discharged members of the Pack
inghouse Organizing Committee,
averting a strike of the company’s
several thousand Negro arid white
employees.
Discharge of the 15 men occur
red while they were attempting
to take up a grievance with the
management. After several days
of refusal to rehire the grievance
committee, a mass meeting of
2,000 workers demanded action.
Developments in the situation
arising out of Armour’s refusal
to negotiate a contract with the
PWOC meanwhile remained at the
boiling point.
Van A. Bittner, PWOC chair
man, announced that the union’s
National Policy committee will be
called to Washington in the next
few days to lay their grievances
before government officials.
SHE COULDN’T
RIDE WITH BUT
ONE 80,thp^tsho^
AS A RESULT ONE MAN IN vestigation.
JAIL, THE OTHER 'IN Price told police he drove up
HOSPITAL to 3019 R street this morning
- to pick up Eva Starnes to take
y Willie Black, 39, 2612 Jefferson her to the Cudahy packing plant,
street is in Nicholas Senn hospital where they both work. Before he
with a bullet-fractured left arm could drive away, Black drove in
and a scratched chest where a front of his car, threatened him
second bullet grazed him. Lee with a pistol. Price said he pulled
Price, 37, 5038 South Twenty-fifth his own gun and shot at Black.
-. .. —
TRY’ TO BUY OFF VICTIMS
OF JERSEY MOBBISTS
New York, Aug. 24—Certain
groups in Cranbury, N. J. are
trying to hush up prosecution by
making a “deal” with the seven
Negro potato pickers were were
stripped, beaten and threatened
by a white mob here August 11,
it was reported today by the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People.
The basis of the deal was re
ported to be payment in full foi
wrork done and small “damages’
for treatment by the mob provid
ing the victims would agree not
to prosecute.
Governor A. Harry Moore was
urged by the NAACP to emploj
every instrument of his office ir
support of the Jerseys state police
who are attempting to track dowr
the mob which viciously attacked
the seven Negro migratory farn
w’orkers, one of them a woman.
Action on the part of the na
tional office of the association
followed a probe launched by the
Princeton, N. J., branch of the
NAACP under Mr. David W. An
thony, chairman of the New Jer
sey State Conference of NAACP
branches, and president of the
Princeton branch, shortly after
the mob attack.
Working in conjunction with Dr.
Anthony, the association’s nation
al office sent a special investiga
tor to the scene of the crime. A
copy of this investigator’s report
has been sent to Governor Moore.
A general summary of the re
port made public by the NAACP
gives some indication of the sor
did conditions that face southern
sigratory workers, who roam from
state to state doing seasonal farm
work. Forced to accept a wage
level that is beneath subsistance,
they face the fierce exploitation
of farmers on the one hand and
the resentment of local workers,
Negro and white, who refuse to
work for less than subsistance
wages (preferring relief,) on the
other. In addition to this, Negro
The union’s national officers re
vealed also that charges of unfair
Labor practices in Armour’s Chi
cago, Oklahoma City and Peoria,
111., plants have been filed with
the National Labor Relations
Board.
To date, Armour officials have
refused to open negotiations with
the union.
---—---.
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*
migratory workers face the pre
judice of those white who fear the
fact that these people are tasting
for the first time a modicum of
freedom, above ttieir semi-slavery
status in the South.
The summaiy of the NAACP
investigator’s report follows:
“Generally the situation in
Cranbury Township is as follows:
There is no one in the Township
on relief and there are no people
unemployed. The majority of the
townspeople are employed in fac
tores in neai'by towns. What few
would probably go on relief are
taken care of by the overseer of
the poor.
“They receive grocery orders
and other necessities for which
they do odd jobs around the town.
They are people who are unfit
for potato picking because they
are too old or physically incapable
of such labor. Application has been
made by several farmers to the
relief office of Trenton and that
of New Brunswick for people to
to this work.
“Men on relief always refuse
to take these jobs and this re
fusal is easily understood. On re
lief they work three days a week
and get approximately $15.10 If
they get off relief to take these
seasonal jobs it takes them six
months to get back on relief
again. Therefore it is apparent
and a fact of which the farmers
are well aware, tht if it were not
for these workers from the South
they would have extreme difficul
ty in getting anyone else to do
this work.
I “Not only are the wages low,
but the hours are practically un
limited. Potatoes cannot be picked
at midday in this hot weather (the
season runs roughly from the mid
dle of July to the middle of Sept
ember,) so it is customary for
them to work from seven in the
morning till about noon, lay off
several hours and work till dark.
“A farmer can keep them idle
all day if he wishes and call them
out suddenly, late in the afternoon
if he find that he can sell a load of
potatoes if they can be picked
promptly. Under these circumstan
ces the Negroes who are most in
adequately paid, are forced to
work under conditions and for
numbers of hours which even a
slightly less depressed group
would refuse to tolerate.
Contractor Distributes Wages
“The farmers in this district
contract with bosses from the So.
They deal only through the boss
who brings whatever number of
Negroes with him that the farm
ers want. The rate paid by Mr.
Dey, on whose farm the attack
occured, is seven and one-half
cents per hundred-pound bag of
potatoes, which I believe is higher
than the general rate in that
section. (The contractors in this
(Continued on page 4)
FLEDGING DOCTOR, ARREST
ED ON THEFT CHARGE,
GETS A BREAK
St. Louis, Aug. 24 (ANP)—Af
ter being arrested on a grand
larceny charge and released on
$1,500 bail, Dr. Malvern H. John
son, 29, who on July 1 completed,
his internship at Homeg Phil
lips hospital, was granted leniency
by city officials last Saturday and
“given a chance to make good” in
hlip chosen profession.
Dr. Johnson was given his free
dom when officials decided to
drop prosecution. According to
police, suppiles, including instru
ments and medicine valued at
about $290, and the property of
' Homer Phillips hospital, were
taken from Johnson’s car parked
near the institijt’on.
Speaking oj^th# ca»-e* Dr. N.
Thompson, city hospital commis
sioner, said: “Dr. Johnson had a
good record, and Mr. Darst and
other city officials felt that he
should be given an opportunity to
go out in the world and make
good. No doubt he struggled hard
to earn a medical education, and
this will be a good lesson to him
that crime doesn’t pay. We are all
tsorry that it happened; everything
has been restored. I believe he
will make good.’’ Dr. Ora S. Mc
Clellan is the hospital superin
tendent.
--oOo
NEGROES SERVE ON TEXAS
JURIES
Austin, Tex. Aug. 21 (By Elain
Ellis for CNA)—Two citizens of
Travis county, Andrew' Anderson
and Eugene Johnson are among
the first Negroes to serve on a
trial jury in this county since Re
construction days. It is customary
for Negroes to be excused from
Jury service by agreement of at
torneys, but these two were per
mitted to serve by attorneys who
used the scratch method of select
ing the juror. They iserved as
jurors in a damage suit brought
by an Austin nurseryman against
the city.
Recenty the Rev. M. M. Haynes,
Negro minister, was a member of
the Travis county grand jury,
being the first Negro to serve on
any type of jury within the mem
ory of the oldest courthouse ob
server.
-0O0
S. AFRICA TO TRY
RACIST LEADER
Capetown, Aug. 24 (ANP)—The
Fascist leader of South Africa,
General “Manie’’ Maritz, awaited
trial in Cape Town this week on
charges of promoting race hatred.
The charges were brought by a
group of prominent Jewish resi
dents of South Africa The court
released the Fascist leader on $500
bail for trial in August.
Jewish leaders accused General
Maritz of making false allegations
against Jewis in his book entitled
“My Life and Struggle.’’ The book
has been officially banned in
South Africa.
«—
Willie (Suicide) Jonea . * t
leaped 29.000 ffjjr
Omaha Girl Weds
Parachute Jumper
1 ...
Miss Ruthgayle Griffin, age 21
of 2910 N 28th Ave. was mar
ried Friday Aug. 17 to Mr. Willie
“Suicide ’ Jones the world’s cham
pion delayed parachute jumper.
| They were married by Municipal
! Judge Dennis E. O’Brien. As Mr.
I Jones does not believe in delay,
I no matter what he is trying to
I accomplish. Theirs was a romance
of about 21 days before the couple
married. They met when Mr. Jones
came here to buy a Monoplane
for a four thousand mile hop. It
was learned that Mr. Jones would
try to fly from New York to
Seattle and return in an effort to
break the United States long dis
tance nonstop record now held by
Howard Hughes. Strong Rumors
hat it that Jones is going to fly
from the United States to Paris
i alone as Lindburgh did.
WRITER AND ARTIST
VISIT CHICAGO
Chicago,, Aug. 24 (ANP)—Wil
liam Attaway of New York City,
author of the novel, “Let Me
Breathe Thunder” was a visitor
in Chicago last week with Romare
Bearden, the artist who also lives
in New York. The youthful artist
and writer were absorbing local
color and spent considerable time
during their stay in the steel mill
district.
Mr. Attaway has received wide
and favorable comment upon his
book, the characters of which are
w'hite. Mr. Bearden was the only
Negro artist to have a picture ac
cepted for the New York World’s
Fair. His “Soup Kitchen’’ was
chosen for the exhibit of contem
porary American art. Out of
48,000 pictures submitted for this
exhibit only 800 were chosen. He
is the son of Mi’s. Bessye Bear
den, deputy internal revenue col
lector of New York City. The visi
tors left Chicago Saturday for
Pittsburgh.
« JNew Funeral Home
Opening Soon at
2022 Lake
*
Mr. Wendell Thomas of Lincoln,
Nebr., who has been a resident of
that city for 33 years has come
to Omaha and will conduct a
Funeral Home at 2022 Lake St
ile has also moved his family
hero and has purchased the beau
tiful spot to serve his people and
will be ready for business in a
few days. Watch for the opening.
He was associated with Umbergers
Mortuary for 6 years. Graduated
from Worsham College of Em
balming Chicago, 111., and has been
taking train’ng in Derma Surgery
and restorative art and duly licen
sed by the State of Nebraska to
practice embalming and Funeral
directing. Also holds a license from
the State of Texas it shall be the
aim of this establishment to give
tho people of Omaha prompt effi
cient dependable and economical
set Xce at all times.
)
UNDERTAKING BUSINESS IS
BIG NEGRO ENTERPRISE
e»
Forthcoming Convention in Chica
go Focuses Attention on Industry.
President W. J. M or sell of Pro
gressive National Funeral Direc
tors’ Association Gives Interesting
Data on Burial Business
Chicago, Aug. 23 (ANP)—With
the approaching annual convention
of the Progressive National Fun
eral Directors’ association set for
Aug. 20-24 here in Chicago this
week gave an insight into the
magnitude of the business.
He said that burial of Negroes
is almost entirely conducted by
merribers of their own race. They
have their own embalmere under
takers, cemeteries, burial societies
etc. It is estimated that 160,000
die annually, and t* these 136,000
are buried by Negro funeral di
rectors.
Colored people spend $16,000,
000 annually for funerals and an
average of $6,420,000 is spent
yearly for caskets, embalming
fluids and accessories. An average
of $1,500,000 represents the annual
expenditure for graves. There are
nine casket factories owned and
operated by Negroes, two colored
manufacturers of embalming
fluids and supplies, and two Negro
jobbing supply houses.
There are about 3,000 colored
funeral directors and 1,258 funer
al homes in the United States.
Total cost of Negro-owned fun
eral homes is $15,000,000 while
the investment in rolling stock
amounts to $1,000,000. States
ranking one, two, three in the
number of funeral homes are
Texas, 106; Illinois, 90, and Geor
gia, 89. Low mark goes to Seattle
Wash., with one, while states hav
ing only two Negro funeral hoonoes
are fowa, Wisconsin and Arizona.
Concerning this year’s convention,
which will be held at Metropolitan
Community center, 4100 South
Parkway, Pregiditnt Morsell said:
“These annual conventions are
for the purpose of discussing the
methods and service of funeral
directors, so that good will can
be built up between association
memlbers and the public. Topics
for discussion include getting busi
ness, rendering service, making
friends and repeating service.
There will be lectures and demon
strations in embalming, funeral
direction, salesmanship, purchas
ing power and public relations.
“The public has rather a fair
opinion who are aspiring to a
higher position in the eyes of
their fellow man. The task of pub
lic relations is a personal one—it’s
an individual problem and one that
is essential to the success of the
undertaker.’’
-oOo—
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, (CNA)—
Police this week charged the
Harding Republic Club, 1580 Lex
ington Avenue, with operating one
of the largest crap games in the
city. The club is seeking a court
order restraining Police Commis
sioner Valentine from keeping a
cop on post in their club house.
Seven Colored Girls fio To Work for N. W.
Bell Telephone as Elevator Operators Sept. 1st