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LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF t'UlCAGO AND NORTH PI KANSAS (I'M_ _____ ^
Entered as Se<vmd-Class Matter at Po*toffice,r Omaha, Saturday, September 9, 1939 Numbe,. 22—
Vpfrira«lrn nnHpr Act of March 8. 1874. _ _ - -- — ---
— City Edition
The Weather
Weather outlook for the period
Sept. 4 to Sept. 9. Upper Miss,
and lower Mo. valleys and Central
Great Plains, cooler beginning of
week and temperatures generally
near normal thereafter; not much
precipitation indicated. (
IF
©
Mayor Butler’s North
Side Advisory Comm.
ittee Elects Officers
■■ —
The meeting was called Thurs
day P. M. an dat this meeting At
torney Charles F. Davis was *>,“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<l Edwards is reported seeking
a less hazardous occupation.
HEADLINE BELOW—
PROVE RAPE CHARGE UN
TRUE; SAVE POPULAR
YOUTH FROM GRAVE
SITUATION
Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 7 (By
.T .E. Fair for ANP)—The entire
^ local populate was thrown into a
istato of unrest Tuesday morning
when a Knoxville daily paper ap
peared with a sensational story
charging Fred Wade, popular
young Negro man with raping
Mrs. Sarah Anderson, white
woman, after driving Hayes Jef
fries her white companion away
at the point of an automatic pis
tol. The picture of Wade stand
ing between two police officers
and Jeffries, the white man who,
according to the highly inflamma
tory article, positively identified
him as the rapist, appeared on
tho paper.
The white woman, who gave her
1 address at 102 K. street, North
west, Washington, D. C., and stat
ed that she was on a visit to the
city while enroute to Nashville
declared the Wade first robbed
hej- and then criminally assaulted
her. ,
Relatives of the accused Negro
employed Attorney Webster L.
Porter, to defend him, and when
the case was called in city court
Wednesday morning, Judge John
L. Mynatt dismissed the charges
after hearing the statements of
Chief of Detectives Pat Wells,
Mrs. Anderson and Jeffries. After
tho grilling cross examination of
the white woman and her male
companion by Attorney Porter, in
which flagrant conflicting state
ments were offered and absurd
contentions were advanced, Judge
Mynatt announced, “there’s noth
ing to this charge,” and tossed the
(continued on page 7)
Armstrong Got Raw
Deal
By LESTER RODNEY
Crusader News Agency
OUT OF THE welter of accu
zations of “fix” denials and gen
eral bad taste following the sec
ond Armstrong-Ambers fight one
thing is dear and has to be said
—Armstrong got a bad deal.
When two little fighters like
Armstrong and Ambers lock to
gether for fifteen bruising rounds
of what was almost toe to toe
punching it’s impossible to clean
ly and accurately score the round
in favor of one or another. The
completely contradictory score
cards around the press box and
even of the three judges proved
that.
Nevertheless there were very
few who would have given Am-,
bers the fight without the aid of j
five rounds automatically award
ed him by Referee Donovan for
supposed Armstrong fouls. Don
avan’s scorecard itself even with
tho five round headstart for Am
bers was only 7 and 7 in favor of
Lou. So if it weren’t for the
rounds taken away from him by
the referee whose judgement in
the matter also dictates the score
of the two judges it’s clear that
Armstrong would have won the
fight and retained the lightweight
title.
What about those “fouls?”
(cojjtinued on page 5)
Railroad Union De
mands Probe of Fatal
Wreck
San Francisco, Sept. 7 (CNA)
—Was the wreck of the City of
Francisco, streamlined train in
which 24 persons, including eight
dining-service employees, were
killed, a result of the “retrench
ment” policies of the railroad
monopolists who reduced appro
priations for personnel and main
tenance of trackage and equip
ment ?
That question was raised this
week as veteran train service
employees charged that flagrant
neglect of equipment may have
been responsible for the fatal
crackup and ridiculed Southern
Pacific officials’ charges of sabo
tage as “poppycock.”
The charge was backed up of
ficially in Chicago when AFL
Joint Council <f Dining Car Em
ployees asked the U. S. Depart
ment of Justice to investigate the
curtailment” of maintenance ex
pense on railroad trackage as a
probable cause of the wreck.
“The lives of members of our
organization were lost and some
of them were jnaimed ton the
recent wreck of the Southern Pa
cific lines near Carlin and Elko,
Nevada,” said the union letter ad
dr e s s e d to Attorney-General
Frank Murphy and signed by
Secretary Treasurer Ishmael P.
Flory.
Referring to Southern Pacific’s
charge of “sabotage,” Flory said:
“The truth of this conclusion has
r.oi been established to the satis
faction of our organization, and
Lo the bereaved members of the
deceased and maimed.”
Seven of the Negro employees
killed in the wreck were members
of the waiters union, and one
a member of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Pn-n.rs.
Six waiters also suffered grave
injuries, and several of them may
be crippled for life.
PROVE RAPE CHARGE UNTRUE
• * * 4
Former Omahan Dies
Mr. John South, one of Oma
ha oldest citizens died in Fre
mont,! Thursday Sept. 7. When in
Omahla, Mr. South and Mr. Tho
mas 'were the proprietors o<f a
Cafe located where the Roxy is
now' being run. Mr. South and
Mr. Thomam were the first Ne
groes to run a business on N.
24th St. He was a cousin of Mr.
Arlo South, who is now employ
ed by the Treasury Department
in the Douglas County Court
house. Mr. Arlo South left for
Fremont yesterday afternoon.
———0O0
200,000 Dismissals on
WPA Planned
Washington, Sept. 6 (Cy Chas.
Alexander for CNA)— Works
Projects Administration officials
announced this week that plans
have been completed for the dis
missal of over 200,000 workers
from the work-relief rolls by mid
October. The dismissals are in
addition to the thousands being
fired under the eighteen months
provision of the Woodrum Relief
Bill. Workers on the rolls now
number 2,000,000. a considerable
reduction during the past few
weeks.
An extent of the rate of re
duction was seen from the reports
of major cities. Newr York City
reported 36,00b laid off so far,
with an additional 39,000 schedul
ed for dismissal within the next
ten dhys. It was revealed that the
number on the rolls in that city
was the lowest since 1933. Other
lare’e cities show a similar trend.
The dismissals in New York
were reported hitting Negroes
with unusual severity. Several
hundred Negroes have already
been fired under the 18-months
ruling and a considerable num
ber is still slated to go.
* •
The social usefulness of the
WPA was dramatically demon
strated by a partial report issued
by Colonel Somervill, the New
York City administrator. The re
port stated that during the past
year the New Deal work program
has built 308 new Public buildings,
repaired 633, made 190 miles of
new highways, built scores of
new playgrounds, and made many
other public and municipal im
|provements. Among the structures
erected and improved are baby
40 Ne^voes Deported
by Coast City
Stockton Cal. Sept. 7 (CNA)—
The Stockton Negro community
was agitated this week over the
forcible ‘deportation” of forty
Negro agricultural workers from
tho county.
The workers were rounded up
by the police and booked in the
local jail on vagrancy charges.
At a healing before Police Judge
E. E. Breitenbucher political ma
chine appointee they were found
“quilty” of vagrancy sentenced to
180 days in the county jail. Sen
tence was then suspended on con
dition they leave the county and
not return for two years.
It was reported that policeman
engaged in the roundup had said:
‘‘There’s too many niggers in
town. We've got order- to drive
you out before election.”
Many of the workers driven
from town had made Stockton
their home for many years. Some
at the time of their arrest were
awaiting the arrival of a con
tractor’s truck to take them to a
ptach-picking job at Linden.
Upon learning of the raid the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People nam
ed a commitee to consult with the
United Cannery, Agricultural,
Packing and Allied Workers of
America, CIO agricultural union,
0 ruefonsive measures to be tak
1 n. The two groups planned to
take legal action to win a rever
-rl of Judge Breitenbucher’s de
cision.
>
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 ^ ^
