► LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF t'UlCAGO AND NORTH PI KANSAS (I'M_ _____ ^ Entered as Se,“Ct ed chairman and Mrs. Gertrude Lucas was elected secretary of Mayor Butlers’ North Side Advis ory Committee. ----- S «If Father Devine does, It will Be Over My Dead Body ... ROOSEVELTS OK DIVINE AS NEIGHBOR New York, Sept. 7 (CNA)— Through a series of letter's ex changed by President and Mrs. Roosevelt and Father Divine, it was revealed this week that fol lowers of the cult leader are nego tiating for the purchase of the elaborate 700-acne Vanderbilt es tate adjoining the President’s an cestral acres at Hyde Park. The correepondance, in which the President affirmed “the right i which all citizens have to pur chase any property” but said that he had always felt the Vanderbilt place should be acquired “prefer ably by some public or govern ment body” was made public by John Lamb, Father Divine’s white secretary. The estate, with its fifty-room manor house, is on the same side | of the river as the Roosevelt’s Hyde Park home. The cult lead er last year acquired the Krum Elbow property of Howland Spen cer, on the other side of the river from the Roosevelt’s estate. Spen cer, anti-New Dealer, made a “spite” deal with Divine’s follow' ers but W'as dJ comfitted when the President and Mrs. Roose velt greeted Divine as a “goo:! neighbor.” Meanwhile, publication of the correspondence between Divine and tho Roosevelt brought a “No Sale” statement from Mr*. [ James Laurens Van Allen New port dowager who inherited the • uge e.-rtate from her unde Fi ed erick W. Vanderbilt, upon his death June 29, 1938. Mrsi. Van Allen said that it would be over her dead body if Father Divine ever gets title to a place she once valued at $500,000. However, in his correspondence with the Roosevelts, Divine made it clear that he did not expect to c.ffect purchase of the estate by direct negotiations, but rather by using some of his white followers to put through the deal. In his letters, Father Divine warmly praised the democratic attitude of the President and Mrs. Roosevelt and expressed sup port for the New Deal. Postal Men $32,416.80 Good Start: S40.5I8.00 - * Good End Chicago. Sept. 7 (By Trezzvant W. Anderson for ANP)—The 10th annual biennial convention of the National Alliance of Postal Em-* ployes got under way here Mon day night, with Mayor Edward J. Kelley welcoming the visitors at a public sejsion at the Metro ' politan Community church. At the registration desk at the Wabash Avenue, YMCA on Mon day morning approximately 75 delegates and 80 vi itors had re gistered, in addition to 14 na tional officers. The meeting of the executive committee occupied the full morn ing, and reports from various dis tricts indicated substantial gains in membership. The main reports taken up were those of the na tional secretary and the treasurer. The report of Thomas P. Bomar secretary, showed the organiza tion had in cash $40,518.36, and $1.3,000 in government bonds. The total assets were $54,782.36, as compared with cash in 1937 of ! _ /C $32,416.80 and the $13,000 in< bonds, or a gain of $7,925.44 in actual assets during the two year period following the last meeting in Philadelphia. Membership to tals showed a similar substantial increase. These cash assets are those left after disbursements had been made. There appeared to be little in the way of internal politics as the convention began, but one fight which was to develop was (continued on page 7) Eating Beer Bottle* for 18 yrs. Gets Choired! On A Few Rtzor Blades * RAZOfc BLADE DIET PROVES ‘STICKLER’ TO CARNIVAL PERFORMER Jefferson City, Mo. Sept. 7— (ANP)—For more than 18 years Alfred Edwards has made his liv ing at carnivals and county fairs by swallowing pieces of broken bottles, knives, tacks, razor blades and other articles of cut lery. , ___ 1 But last week misfortune be fell the “swallowing champ,” when, after disposing of a beer bottle, some tacks and three knives—a razor blade stuck in his throat. His physician ordered a strict fast until the blade worked out of his throat. Last Friday, out came the shaving acce'ssory an Dallas, Sept. 7 (By Pritz Cans ler for ANP)—Here is one for tho statistician who complies the lynching figures for the year book! About 10 days ago near the small Texas hamlet, Terrell, 30 miles from Dallas, a white woman reported that she had been the victim of a criminal as sault, and she gave the police tho description of a Negro man as the perpetrator. For a whole day and n'^ht a “posso" of citi zen* searched for the assaulter until finally a man was fotind who seemed to answer the 'es tjt-ion, Pen \vueeler, a few l miles from the place the c me ks alleged . ti> have occured. The \h gut, hi 'vilv manacled, wa ■ nicd to I>a las’ lynch-proof Ml arid promptly indicted for llnitml assaul n capital offense i i® exas. X.h the speed with which such are handled in the South, un •hjjfhunge of venue the Ne gro, L. lb officer? ",d a half dozen Texas ranger sTifTST*~~Stl5a| police, left the Dallas jail at 3:30 a.m. last Monday for Kaufman in an adjoining county. Promptly over-ruling a defense motion to ouash the indictment on the claim of racial di crimination in the selection of the grand jury, and in face of the statement of several witnes •«, including Judg * i Joel R. Bond, chief justice of the I Texas court of appeals, who stat j ed that Negroes had never been summoned for grand jury service in Kaufman county, the trial was, underway and testimony taken. After a characteristically short trial in which the Negro’s lif" was at stake, the case was turned over to the jury, who deliberates! for five whole minutes, and re turned with the verdict “guilty as charged,’’ with the punishment, electrocution. Citizens commenting on the case are of the opinion that re gardless of the guilt or innocenc I of tho accused, that the preseence of spectators crowding the court room and the streets around the court house during the course of the trial, must have had their effects on the jury. Others have stated that five minutes is all too inadequate a time to consider th'i evidence. Ml Races Same; Skim, Celer aid Pigameat Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 7 (AN P)—A thorough, scientific study of human skin colors, now being conducted at Massachusetts Insti tute of Technology under direc- j tion of Dr. Edward A. Edwards of Harvard Medical School and Dr. S. Quimbly Duntley of MIT, has revealed some hitherto un known facts concerning pigment tation. Regarded as outstanding among their findings, declared the scien tists, is proof that all races have the same five color pigments and that variations in skin color are due to the proportions in which they are blended. Doctors Edwards and Huntley are using the newly developed recording spectrophometer i» studying variations in the five pigments which make up skin color. Their investigation, as re* ported in 'the current issue of the American Journal of Anatomy may lead jto quicker, more ac curate diagnoses of anemia and * reliable method of checking re sults of treatment. One of the pigments revealed by the investigation—and named melanoid by its discoverers—has heretofore remained a mystery. It is a diffuse form of the fami liar brown pigment, melanin, found in abundance in colored persons. health stations , court houses, schools, libraries, hospital, gar ages. warehouse and fire houses. In addition 106 miles of new water mains were improved, two new breakwaters were erected anl several piers were repaired. Announcement of the new fir ings was accompanied by reports of further wage cuts. Under the Woodrum Bill the national WPA administration is ordered to make the wage reductions at the same time increasing the number of hours of work. The United States Conference of Mayors under the leadership of Mayor I>aGuardia of New York i has protested the reduced wages. The Mayors pointed out that such reductions will have an adverse effect on the economy of the country and could not but in crease the burden of many muni cipalties. It was stated that the cities will be compelled to supple ment the relief wages of many workers with home relief. Plans to prevent the mass dis missals were being considered by several organizations including the Workers Alliance. Leaders of the Alliance announced that a delegation from that organization will see Colonel Harrington with in the next few days to insi*» that the rolls be kept intact and a deficiency appropriation be re quested when Congress ri venes. J ^ ^