The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-12-15

That negro who is looked upon as one
of the most dangerous to his race III 'ils
entire country has fallen into the hands
of justice. This is the Rev. Justus
James Evans, placed under ponos Oh
three hundred dollars by Justice Crutch-
field in the Police Court last week ana
wanted in half a dozen other cities tor
the alleged swindlng OF colored people
Either a fanatic or one of the shreWdest
of swindlers, this man has exercised d
marvellous influence over negroes Wner-
ever he has been, this being particularly
true since last March, when he puplsheo
for the first time what he sald was d
message from Heaven.
So dangerous is he considered that
when an effort was made before justice
Crutchfield to have his bond reduced So
that he could gain his freedom, the cou'.
very frankly said if he had thought Tor
q moment that Evans could furnish the
bond OF three hundred dollars he would
havo vastly increased the bond.
MINISTER AND EDITOR.
Evans came before Justice Crutchfield
IN the specific charge of larceny. $3.50
being involved. In court Evan said
he was q minister Of the gospel and an
editor. His newspaper was Ihe Right
eous Negro Defender. parenthetlcaliy
described as 'The Raven Wolf and Devil
Killer" whatever that may be. IN aa-
dtiou to this, Evans, it seems, is the sell
STYLED leader of q dozen alleged CHARITY
colleges, homes and institutions, Whch
exist on paper only. How much money
he has made through these schemes
there is no telling. 1t VIII probaoiE
amount to thousands.
Evans always signs his name as Rev
Justus J. Evans, D. g." this last being
interpreted by the court to mean DOE
Good" Every article in his paper IS a
call for money, plate matter or an ad-
vertisement. It is weird and wonderful
collection of schemes he uses. In TACT,
he may be tersely described as human
''get-rich-quc1" concern
THAT MESSAGE.
In the alleged message from Heaven.
Evans tells how the Lord spoke to him
from Heaven and told him He had work
for him to do. Evans didn't like work
$50 Justice CrutchfieId intimated the 9TH
er day., and upon saying as much he eX-
plains what happened in this exclama-
ton:
.But. oh my. the hand of the Lord
was heavily upon me, and the Lord
chastised me rigidly for 100 days
Then he tells how he was translated
from place to place. how he was made a
god and how an angel once told him
into a multitude of strangely absurd al
legged visions; how the waters stood still
for him to cross a. river: how he had
caused the moon to dissolve into a stream
of red blood, which slight occurrence
was lost sight of by the astronomers:
and how he had spent weeks and months
in Heaven.
ON EARTH AGAIN.
Continuing, he says when he returned
to earth he saw a wire extending to
Heaven and az he looked an infant was
fastened to the wire, land as / looked it
skeeted all the way down that wire from
Heaven into his arms. There he, re-
ceived some advice that was good for
his soul, and as superlative he adds:
MY, my, my. What a battle yet to be
fought lie is kind enough TO tell the
white people that they have Heavens
permission to lynch bad negroes if they
themselves are pure, and explains graph
icaly how it came to pass that he once
killed a man.
According to him he had been attacked
by one jeff Houston the son of d man
who owned Evans in slavery days, and
Houston was trying to brain him with an
axe. AS they fought an angel came down
from Heaven and handed him an axe
with which to kill Houston. This has
never appeared against Evans, ana if it
should he might have some difficulty in
proving how he got hold of the axe.
HIS FIRST DOLLAR.
Naively he describes how another man
said that as he had killed Jeff they
would have to fight it out. Evans
naiveIy said: mo. you give me a silver
dollar and I will call it square For
some reason unknown the other man
gave him the dollar. This incident pos
sibly illustrates better than any other
the true nwardness of Evans work
Another time he was praying. when he
stopped long enough to beat another man
in the head, after which he resumed his
devotions.
He specifies January ), 1899. as one
DAY when an angel came to him with
instructions. and again this happened in
1897. Toward the end Of the two-page
article he pays himself the compliment
of saying that he IS exceedingly wise:
that he has not told half he knows. and
explains that as the Glorious Wisdom
College is being established at the ex-
press wish of Heaven. every one should
contribute if they wish to be saved. He
wants a regular Solomon's temple erect
ed as q monument to his memory. He
closes with a ridiculous hieroglyphic
showing how those who first contribute
will receive honored places in Heaven.
EVANS THE EDITOR.
Just to show the great sulliolc public
what real good thing they have in the
Righteous Negro Defender. Evans intro