San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-10-08
His Only Grievance.

ride in separate coaches on railroads.
The traveller about to enter q car any.
where in Texas finds himself confront.
ed at the door by one of two forms.
The notice reads "For Whites" or it
reads "For Negroes For white"
to ride where it says "For Negroes"
is to violate q law which subjects
himself, the roilrosd company and
the railroad employees personally to
heavy penalties. There is moth ng
optional about the operation of the
law. A white person is shut out as
completely from the negroes as the
negro Is excluded from the white car.
There may be one negro riding in SOL
itary comfort in the negro coach and
100 white people crowded in discom.
fort into the white coach. That makes
no difference. There can De no mix
ing. The railroads are unable to see
just what the race proportions Of trav
ell will be at all times. 1t happens
very frequently that 3 condition SINH
lar to that just mentioned is the re-
suit. There are not seats enough for
one race and there are too many for
the other race. A single illustration
from actual observation may be inter
esting. At Amarillo, in the Panhau-
die, two ladies with children, q cou-
pie of drummers and the usual as
sortment Of passengers boarded the
south bound train at O'Clock in the
morning. The white coach was full.
The negro compartment was occupied
by q Chinaman In solitary state. John
had turned over the seat in front and
disposed of his bsgs-the hesthsn al
al xr,tth
way as to prop himself into q very
comfortable position. There is nothing
in the law which says whites shall
not ride in the negro compartment
when there are no negroes on board".
SO the passengers from Amarillo filed
into the negro compartment and pro-
ceeded to do as the Chinaman had
done. The train had begun to move
when solitary negro got on. He took
q seat. The conductor appeared
White men, women and children were
required to get up and move into the
crowded white coach. There q gen.
eral awakening took place, Seats
were turned. Those who had whole
seats were obliged TO double up with
those who had none. Children cried.
Everybody grumbled. A few swore.
In the compartment for negroes the
African and the Chinaman rode wit h
two seats apiece and several others
unoccupied for more than 100 miles.
Not another negro got on in all that
distance. Cinnamon, Mexicsns and
Indians are not classed. They ride
where they please. Probably a very
strict and literal construction of the
law would throw all but the African
| on the white side of the coach dead
line, but the railroads only observe
| the forms to the degree that will pro-
tect them from persecution. At fret
| whole coaches were set apart for the
different races. Now, however, at
the end of the years trial of the law,
that is rarely done. Each coach Is
| divided by partition. In parts of
Texas there is 'almost no negro trav-
eler. Half Of the time it will be I'M
occupied. Further south the negro
| compartment is larger. And in the
black belt the coaches are separated
in halves. Some roads have the fast
enings and grooves so arranged that
a partition can be taken out and
moved q few seats forward or back
ward according as the race proper
lions of travel change. Negroes do
not ride on cars the year round. After
cotton picking Is well under way and
silver begins to circulate freely there
is a great deal of negro travel. Later
on ween the crop mnst be cared for,
the negro travel falls to a small frsc-
ton. To accommodate these changes
the partitions are so arranged that
they can be moved.
The law makes one exception in ia
vor of uegro nurses. for white child
rem. This provision is somewhat elias
tic. A lady came on train at San
Antonio with robust little Lord
Fauntleray son and q negro lad. She
planted the boy In one seat and told
the negro to sit with him, while she
took the seat In front. The negro pro.
tested. "Missus.I mustn't ride here.
There is a place where my people
have to sit" "You stay right where
you are" said the lady, and she pro.
ceeded to drill the negro i'll his tenn
porsry duty as nurse for the l0-year.
old youngster in sailor suit and long
hair. The negro prOmptly.tell asleep
and the boy amused himself by lean
ing far out the window. The lady,
having succeeded In doing something
the law said couldn't be done, took
great satisfaction in watching the
effect on her fellow
Practically the negroes of Texas do
not object to the separate coach act.
They are insured more comfort in
travel than they ever had before.
Theoretically they think the law is
an outrage because it raises what
they call "a class distinction" The
we'll ID ressad and well-eduCateQ ne
gro doesn't like anything which re.
minds him that he isn't white
man.
Notwithstanding the hardship 1t
imposes frequently upon the whites,