Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-03-10
From the Anti Slavery Standard
RIGHTS OF CoLORED PEOPLE vINDT.
GATED.

the general refusal OF OMNIBUS anu railroad pro-
prietors to permit them to enjoy equal rights as
passengers, are, we hope, nearly at an end the
Supreme Court brooklyn Circuit, Judge Rockwell
prcsiding) having made a decision which places
that class Of our citizens upon an equality with
all others. The decision referred to was made
in the case of Elizabeth Jennings VS.. the Third
Avenue Railroad Company. TIE circumstances
attending the expulsion Of Miss Jennings from
one of the cars of that company, last Summer, as
published in the STANDARD at the time of their
occurrence, we're briefly these, viz. Miss Jennings
who is n teacher in one Of the public schools, and
organist in one of the colored churchs, got upon
one Of the Company's cars on the Sabbath, to ride
to church. The conductor finally undertook to
get her of, first alleging the car was full; and
when that was shown to be false, he pretended the
other passengers were displeased at her presence
but she saw nothing of that, and insisted On her
rights, he took hold of her by force to expel her.
She resisted, they got her down on the platform,
Jammed her bonnet, sOiled her dress, and injured
her person. Quite u crowd gathered around, but
she etfectually resisted, and they were not able to
get her off. Finally, after the car had gone on
further, they got the aid of a policeman, and sue.
ceeded in getting her from the car. She instructed
her attorneys, Messre. Culver, Parker and Arthur,
to prosecute the Company, together with the
driver and conductor. The two latter interposed
no defence, the Company took issue, and the
cause was brought to trial on the ODD ult. Judge
Rockwell gave II very clear and able charge, in
s%trueting the jury that the Company were liable
for the acts Of their agents, whether committed
careicssly and negligently or wiliully and mali
clously that they were common carriers, and as
such bound to carry all respectable persons: that
cohOrea persons, USo6er, tceii dehared, and free from
disease, had the same rights as others and could
neither be excluded by any rules Of the Company
nor byt0rce or rioteHce and in case Of such expul-
sion or exclusion, the Company was liable.
The plaintiff claimed $500 in her complaint,
and a majority of the Jury were for giving herthc
full amount but others maintained some peculiar
notions as to colored peoples rights, and they
finally agreed on S225, on which the Court added
ten per cent. besides the costs.
The Tribune well says: Railroads, steamboats,
omnltuses aud ferry-boats will be admonished
from this as to the rights of respectable colored
people. tits high time the rights of this class
OF citizens were ascertained, and that it should be
known whether they are to be thrust from our
public conveyances, while German or Irish women,
with a quarter of mutton or Il load of Goldfish, can
be admitted" 1t seems, however, that the Eighth
Avenue Railroad Company is not yet willing to
to abolish its barbarous and inhuman rule. The
following was reported in the Tribune on Monday:
New YORK ScRyE.-A little before Q o'clock
on Saturday evening, n decent-looking colored wo-
man entered one of the Eighth Avenue cars in
Canal street, and had reached the middle Of it,
when the conductor observed her and ordered her
~ ~ blNh ClN 1 " uDs lCiIthC Nun
that she wished to ride and had n right to do so, as
had recently been established by a Judicial deci-
sion in BroOklin. The conductor replied that his
orders were imperative, and again ordered her
out. She still refused to go, when he clinched
her, and, with the aid of the driver, after q des-
perate struggle of some minutes, forced her into
the middle OF the street where she was left in the
bitter cold, her clothes badly torn ard herself
som what injured. The passengers throughout
the fray manifested disgust at the outrage and
with its victim. None of them had in
dicated a wish that she should be expelled. OF
the conductor was but obeying orders
but where does this place those who gave these
orders {?
The Rev. DR.. Pennington has complained to the
Mayor of another similar case, which occurred on
the Eighth Avenue Railroad, on Monday Miss
StcGman, of Brooklyn, a sealnstress, on
her way to Tw ntieth street, being forcibly pre-
vented, Notwithstanding the extreme severity of
the weather from entering Il car. DR.. Pennington
calls upon the Mayor "to restrain said Company
and its conductors from such n course of conduct
n future, and require them to observe the laws"
hope the Mayor will comply with his reason
sble request.
The, following which we copy from the Pitts
,urgh Dispatch exhibits the hardship to which
'olored persons are exposed on our Western Steam
,oats
CoLoRED PASSENGERS IN WESTERN SrEAMBoATs.-
The officers of Steamboats, on our Western rivers
re placed in a dilemma by the following decis-
IN of Judge Carter, of the Cincinnati Court Of
COMMON pleas. If they take a passenger who
nay afterwards prove to be a chattle sllve, they
IRE liable in heavy damages to the claimant Of
uch %clattel, unless they hand him over to some
all, for re-delivery Of such property. Hence the
Usage has been to land every colored man. who
not produce a proper pass, or free papers, at
he first slave port-oficers being thus iniquitously
compelled to become spies and slave-catchers-tO
earch insult, and seize passengers suspected of
having African blood in their veins, and hand
hen over to the slave pens. In pursuance of this
hameful, degrading usage, Oliver Black and an
'ther coloreI man were seized and sent back to
o Concord, (Ky,) by the officers of the Mary
after they had paid their fare to Ports
mouth, Ohio. The case before the Cincinnati
Court is thus stated in the Commercial:
Oliver Black VS.. steamboat Nary Stevens.
In January, 1913, the plaintiff and another
'erson, both colored, got on board the defendant,
Concord, Kentucky, to go to Portsmouth, Ohio,
md paid their fare to that place. After their fare
vas paid, the officers Of the boat tied them, took
hem beyond Portsmouth to Greenupsburg, Ken
lucky, where they tried to have them imprisoned
S runaway slaves, but the jailor refused to receive
hem the officers of the boat put them on another
and had them taken back to Concord. To
ecover damages for these injuries the suit is
The case was originally brought in the old SUI
erior Court, and on trial verdict and judgement
had for ten dollars for the plaintiffs. This
was reversed by the District Court for
he reason that the Superior Court had erred in
d~mitting proof of a usage in mitigation of dam
that officers of Boats were in the habit of
nprisoning persons of color who came on board
rom slave States, without record evidence of their
reedom.
The jury returned a verdict for plaintiffs for
100.
Ball for plaintiff. Miner for defendent.
THE RIGuTs OF CoLoRED PEoPLE.-In the case
f a respectable colored woman. elected from the
hrs of the Third Avenue Railroad, in New York
ty, by the conductor, on account of her color, |
Rnckwell of the Cnrcuit Cnnrt chnrnnl asL