The morning news., 1889-03-29
HERO OF THE NEGROES.
RACE TROUBLES FOMENTED BY
A VENDOR OF LIVER PADS.


VINO Tells the Negroes They Are
Oppressed - He Also Pockets All
Their Cash-Remarkable Influence
nj an Expert in Humbugging,
From the Nelo York Sun.
New ORLEANS, March 25-Sbreveport,
+be leading town of North Louisiana, has
been excited for some time past with possi-
bilities of race trouble growing out of liver
pads. Liver pads are the only subject Of
conversation on che streets to-day, and the
state. city, and parish authorities, backed by
the unanimous press and the white people
of that section, have sworn to drive the
liver pads and their vendor, yellowstone
Kit.n from the town.
Kit is well known from one end of the
cotton country to the other. Travelling
through it as fakir and vendor of liver
rads and popular medicines, he has made
both reputation and fortune among the ne
groes He pitches his tent, big one. too,
in some southern city, gives a free circus,
minstrels, music, and all that, makes
speeches to the negroes, and then sells his
mad, to them by the Thousand. In this way
he has accumulated in few years large
fortune He claims to be worth IS, 900, 900,
wears the purest diamonds in the south
negroes 1t is impossible to over-estimate
the admiration they feel for him. He is
regarded by many Of them as their Messiah,
the man who not only can cure thelr ills by
bis medicines, but who is destined to lead
them to new freedom and prosperity.
His influence with them was well shown
in the great prohibition election in Atlanta
Ga, year ago. Both the prohibition, It's
and the 'antis" bid for his support, and
every inducement was offered him to come
out on either side, but he kept silent on the
subject until the very night before the cleo
ton Then he burst forth to the thousands
of negroes present with short but strong
speech against prohibition. He is vigor-
Gus speaker before black audience and he
settled the election. The negroes voted
sodly against prohibition and drowned it,
and every one in Atlanta admitted that to
Yellowstone Kit the result was due.
Such is the man who opened his tent in
Shreveport couple of weeks ago, gave his
usual free show with some theater per-
formers, made speeches to the negroes, and
sold his liver pads. The show soon acquired
an even greater notoriety than Kit had
bargained for. He is a strong advocate of
"the rights of the negro" and il his
speeches usually touches on this subject.
He went little farther than usual in that
line in Shreveport, and declared that the
negroes were being ill-treated. defrauded.
colored people are in a majority in Shreve-
port and the neighboring country, and
there has always been some offs mess there
on the race question. Kits speech caused
scme little alarm and was denou iced as in
cendiary by the press. He replied with a
stronger one, and the white people then be-
came much alarmed lest he might stir up
trouble with the negroes, while the latter
got the idea that some harm was about to
te done to their Messiah and became bois-
ferrous.
Thus the race feeling grew more bitter
and intense. 1t was finally decided to get
rid OF Kit on the charge that be was
nuisance; that he had violated the license
law, etc., and he was arrested and taken be-
fore the court charged with a number of
offences 1t vas then seen that the situa-
ton was really serious. The negroes q cked
to his assistance by thousands, and ex-
pressed a strong desire to release him from
arrest by violence. Had he given the word
OF encouraged them a serious race riot
would inevitably have followed.
He saw the result. persuaded the negroes
to be quiet and went to court and bonded
himself by paying down his bond in cash,
for he could get no white man to go his
security.
By this time all parties were excited by
the affair. The episode had only made Kit
dearer to the negroes, giving them greater
SOnHuouC6 III nlils duNGTIlSeu
through all the country around Shreve-
port. For every dollar of business he had
done before, he now did ten, selling from
$500 to 81 900 worth of his medicines dav
The negroes hocked into Shreveport fl ON
the surrounding country, his tent was
always crowded with thousands of persons,
and his speeches followed each other in
rapid succession. Yellowstone Kit is to-day
the idol of the North Louisiana negroes,
and tens Of thousands of them would do to-
morrow whatever he told them to do. Saws
Shreveport paper on this subject:
If Abraham Lincoln could rise from the
grave to-day the negroes of Caddo parish
would not regard him with more blind idol
airy than that which they .estow upon this
fakir, who, under the 70 ms of law, is rob-
oing them Of their mo ey."
There has been genuine alarm ever since
over the subject. The whites declare that
the negroes have become aggressive and
turbulent The view taken of ne situation
by the white people Of Shreveport is we'll
shown In the following extract from the
Democrat of that town. The other news
papers agree cordially with all it saws. and
Kit has the benefit of two or three editorials
In them every day:
That these things have come to pass no
intelligent man, who has seen the countless
multitude OF negroes pou ing into the city
from surrounding plantations, who has
"CV0u lue OnlnOuS ScOWlS on their faces
when conservative men talk of suppressiug
Yellowstone Kit, and who heard their
shouts of triumph with which his deliver
Ance from jail on bond was greeted, can for
one moment doubt. For while the situa-
uon last evening was full of gravity, if not
OF actual peril, to the city. At the daily
aud nightly meetings of this man thousands
ot whites and blacks are mingled In view
Vi Jne condition of public sentiment, and
Ihe marked aggressiveness OF the negroes.
que To The teachings OF this man, a proper
regard for the public safety should suggest
70 tne city authorities q impropriety OF
ermntng continuance of these meetings.
Auinculty between a white and black man,
i"nlCu, under the present conditions, is
Aaoie 10 occur at any moment, would re-
sutG IN bloody riot between the races
:. 90 lar Kit has stuck to his post, although
.ue situation has been growing more threat
emng from day to day. No legal way of
sett & rid Of him has been found, as he
oondS himself out with ash whenever ar
rested. During the last few days there has
% oeen disposition to get rid of him by
.Atra legal means, aud White Cap notices
p'e pouring in on him warning him to
,eaVe inc town. He is demoraizing labor,
ue whites say; he is crea. ing an i'll feeling
oeVWeen the races; he is capturing all the
,,Iiiiley naiiy Oh the negroes; he must be com
Pe!I.d 10 leave. The faklr, howeve finds
sanreVeport good field, and he intends to
trayy' 81 uld violence be tried against him