The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-13
NO PLACE FOR CoLORED FOLK.
Food and Lodging Refused in tn.
Adirondacks.
From the New York Sun.


From the New York Sun.
Prof. James H. Torbert. the assistant
principal of the Fort Valley (Ga) High
and Industrial School, is staying at
the Grand Union Hotel in this city
for a few days. 1t is a negro school,
and he is a colored man. He is ac-
| companied by one of his students, ST.
las L. Chandler and also by Charles
l.. Mahoney of Philadelphia, a negro
employe of c. ]. Hoppe & Son, the
piano manufacturers.
Prof. Torbert has been in the habit
of making trips through the North
each summer to solicit contributions
| for the maintenance of his school. In
the latter part of last month he made
a trip through the Adirondack region,
| and he encountered so much race preju-
| dice that he had difficulty in securing
| food and shelter. He told a Sun re-
porter yesterday that he would not go
| through the same physical hardship,
not to mention the personal indigni-
| ties that were heaped upon him and
| his companions, for a great deal of
| money.
After visiting a number of camps
occupied by New York men OF wealth.
the party arrived at the Upper Saranac
of Otto H. Kuhn of Kuhn. Loeb X
Co. That night the representatives of
| the colored school gave a concert for
| the ladies of the camp.
After the concert Mr.. Kuhn gave
| Prof. Torbert a check for 500 for his
school. They also received their sup
| per, and then they went to a hotel
nearby to spend the night. The pro-
prietor laughed at them when they
asked for a lodging. They had no
right to come to his place without hav-
ing made arrangements with him pre-
viously, he said.
The negroes went on to another no.
! tel, the owner of which had contri-
| buted money to the school The man.
| ager refused to give them either food
or lodging. They offered to eat in the
| kitchen, but the manager said it was
| too late to serve them. They then
| tried still another hotel. telephonine
| ahead that they were coming. But the
manager of the hotel to whom they
had last applied had telephoned too
telling the proprietor to look out for a
| gang of negroes who We're coming
over, so once again food and shelter
were refused to the representatives OF
| the colored school. They pleaded that
they were exhausted by their long
walk and would eat anything, any
where, and finally after much parley-
ing each received a cup of tea without
| sugar and a small plate of hash, the
proprietor charged them Is cents each.
He declined to give them a lodging
in any part of the premises. They ate
their supper with their fingers. As
they were leaving the guests Of the
hotel asked them to sing. They en-
phatically declined and went in search
of a place to sleep.
They tried farmhouses and were
turned away from each. The farmers
said that they were afraid of colored
people. Finally they decided to row
to Saranac Inn. But it was raining
and the water was rough. After rowing
eight miles they decided to stop at
the house of S. A. Swinson of New
York. He gave them permission to
sleep in an empty boat house. Then a
colored servant suggested that they
sleep in the hay loft as the night was
very cold. By the light of a lantern
they climbed UP a ladder on the side
of the barn, passed through hole two
feet square and lay down. They re-
ceived some horse blankets to lie on.
They had no other covering, and the
roof being low Prof Torbert had the
misfortune to strike his head against
a nail, INJECTING a painful wound.
The next morning when they left the
barn two colored servants gave them
some water to wash in. For provisions
they had to row the long distance back
to the Saranac Inn.
At Lake Placid the party had no
trouble, but at Loon Lake the proprie-
tors of the hotels refused to receive
them. At one point they went for a
lodging to car which was standing on
the track, but a kind-hearted landlady
sent for them to return to her hotel,
and they gave concert there that net
ted $77. Several scholarships for the
school were also promised by guests.
Prof. Torbert feels that the race
prejudice in the Adirondack region is
in its worst stage at present. In the
course of the trip however, he received
among other contributions a check for
$3.50 from Cornelius n. Bliss and a
check for the same amount from George
Burnham of the Baldwin Locomotive
Works