The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-09-13
Olks Domination.
Charlotte Observer
Wilmington, Septembe.

small rustic lad say to his mother tina
he was not going to be whipped by ncr
any M, &c. Her reply was: My young
man, your are getting too big for your
brooches and 1 will have to take you
down a notch or two" which she
lid. to perfection, with a seasoned
birch switch. The same sentence Will
apply to the negroes of New Hanover
county. They are too big for their
breeches." The town of Wilmington,
which means the county Of New Han
over, is in the hands of negroes and
mean White men. The officers are in
competent and insolent. The negroes
about the streets of the town are
saucy and overbearing. They hunt
trouble and find pleasure in being i'm
pudent. The police officers are neither
feared nor respected. From the chief
down the whole force is ignorant, Ia
competent and without courage. The
citizens of the town are without pro-
lection OF any kind. They have to
guard their own property, their homes,
their wives and their children. 1t does
not taxi a wizard to see this. ANY
man with ordinary faculties can see
that Wilmington is in the hands of a
crowd of milk-sOps. The white people
seem to be under hack. They accept
the condition Of affairs without pro-
test. But there is a day of ~retribution.
Some of these days this yoke of dis
grace is going to be hurled into the
face of the gang that put it on the
town. There is a mighty power here,
though it be buried nOW, hat Will eX-
ert itself by and by.
The best way to judge the character
of n negro population is by it's &C
tions. l came here last Friday night
and have kept my eyes on the people
of the town. | have been in the offices
Of the county and city officials; in the
stores, the restaurants, the saloons and
on the streets. My experience has been
varied. There is no law or order to be
found. The negroes loaf about the
streets in SWarms and in filth. They
are indolent and SauCy. They nave no
regard for the rights and feelings of
others. Indeed, they are mean to each
other. The main streets of the town
are extremely filthy. Negro dives and
joints abound with dirt and smell from
rOtting filth.
Negro boys insult deoent people as
they walk along the streets. | saw a
white gentleman, a farmer, his wife
and little girl, going along the main
street of this town Friday night, on
lIlclI way lIOll Tic DOdl Ol Tic I1FSI
to the depot, where they were to take
the train for home. They came here
along with a train full of eXcursiOnists
from some rural district. AT his heels
three ha~lf-grOwn negro boys trotted
along and cried out: Give my love to
little Sissie, little Bette" etc. This was
kept up for some distance. They pass
ed by a negro policeman, but he took
no notice of it.
fnuy dave ~ Un ty,n Of WI M N of0 n,o
most prominent and respected business
men were out driving, and a dozen lit
tie negro boys chased them and made
vulgar remarks about the horse n
the men. w young ladies of the
town were out shopping Friday night
and three negro boys, about Is years
Die each, lined up across the sidewalk
n told the ladies to go round if they
wished to get by. l saw three little
negro girls lock hands going down
street, taking up two-thirds Of the
sidewalk. They met two gentlemen.
The little chap in the middle said to
the other two: Don't give dem white
folks any road. OATS what pa says
do"
These are insignificant incidents, but
they go to show the disposition of the
negro here. Every hour during the
day such things happen. The decent
people of the town just take the whole
thing as a matter of course and do
not protest.
No city has ever had a more worth
less police force than Wilmington now
has John r. Melton, a man from u
in the country near here, is the chief.
He is nothing more than a mass of
clay. His actions from day to day
prove him totally incompetent. Every
night, every day, almost every hour,
for some months, thefts, robberies,
burglarieS and various other crimes
have been committed in the town. The
people hav no security whatever.
But one thing seems to fill the minds
of the officers: They look forward to
pay day. That is all.
Saturday 1 went to the city hall to
see Mr.. John Cowan, one of the best
citizens of the town. After OOklng in
at several doors l was met in the
passage by a little negro. l asked if
Mr.. Cowan was in. The boy answered:
mo, Cowan is not in and l don't
know where he is. If you want to see
him, you might go out and hunt for
him" This said, the impudent boy
scampered out to the front steps of
the building to pat a white policeman
on the shoulder. l left him hugging
the officer. However, the officer did
not seem to relish the embrace very
much. The boy closed the conversation
that he had drawn the cop into by dis
putting his word. l imagined l would
like to see the boy hug Mr.. Jim Cum
ningham, of the Charlotte force. But
such are the things that l see here.
During a short stroll on Market
street Saturday morning, l counted
six dead chickens and one dead cat.
besides a dozen or more barrels of de-
cayed cabbage leaves, beans, roasting
ear shucks and the like. Why all this?
Is Wilmington without officers? No.
She has twice as many policemen as
Charlotte. In all she has t~wenty-four
policemen. thirteen of whom are ne
groes. The names of the negro police
meE on regular duty are:
Sergeant II. B. Green. Officers Thos.
Moore, Joseph Sharp, Frank Toomer,
William = Richardson, Joe Anderson,
Henry Whitehead, David Bryant, Geo.
Bell, John Spicer and John Carroll.
Wilmington has also four health Of
f%icers, all colored: Isaac Barnett, Geo.
Dry, John Lee and Jack Moore. In ad-
dition, there are six deputy sheriffs,
four of whom are colored, viz: Buc
Wright, Ed. Bryant, Tony Ashe and