The age-herald., 1902-02-06
Patriotic Societies Score Speaker Hen, q erson for Dissertation of the Flag.

the entrance is now on the avenue, be- low Fifteenth street. It Is in this house, most likely, that the congress" will as- semble two weeks hence, and. as it is fondly hoped, without turbulent scenes such as characterized the meeting last year.
 Singularly enough, Washington has never had a theatre building of the first class, and it has had a hotel building of that class but few months. There are two first-class theatres and several first class hotels, insofar as the conducting of them is concerned, but the buildings oc- cupied are ordinary.
 As to the D. A. R.'s who are turning hither one hotel proprietor tells me he has received hundreds of inquiries for rooms, many of his would-be guests de- manding bathrooms attached" "Bath- rooms attached' in Washington come high, but it appears that some of the D. A. Rs must have em. One mother D. A. R. asks for accommodation for herself "and three children" Now If every dele gate brings three children, those of us here who reside in hotels will surely have to take to the tall timber with Brer Squirrel.
 One of the statisticians of the census bureau-Dont you hate statistics?-has figured 1t out that in a5few years Wash ington will lose its distinction of being the greatest negro city in this country. his figures going to show that the drift of negro population is to the seacoast
 There is a widespread impression in the United States that half of the inhabi- tants of the national capital are negroes, and ever since 1865 Washington has been called the paradise of the negro" In point of fact the negroes in Washington constitute not quite one-third of the pop ulation, there being S6720 negroes in total of 71S inhabitants.
 Baltimore is the second negro city,with 7925S negroes in a population of 50S,957. and New Orleans comes third with 77,714 negroes in a total of 2S7,104; Philadelphia is fourth with 62613 negroes In a total of 1293, 697; New York, with 60,666 negroes in a total of 3,437,202, is fifth, and Mem phis, with 49,9O4 in total of 102,320, is sixth
 Thus practically half of the population of Memphis is negro. About one-third of Birmingham's population is negro, there being 16575 of that race In 8 total of 3S, 415. Birmingham Is the twenty-first negro city in America, Mobile Is the nineteenth and Montgomery the eigh- teenth. Considerably more than half of the inhabitants of Montgomery are ne- groes, there being 17,220 negroes in total of 30, 346. Mobile contains 17,045 negroes just five more than Pittsburg-in total of s. 469. Atlanta is the eighth negro city, with 37727 in total of 89,S72. More than half the population of Charleston and Savannah respectively is negro; these two and Montgomery being the only cities of above 30, 900 inhabitants in the country in which negroes predominate as to num- bers.
 According to the census figures, the total increase of population in Birming- ham from 1890 to 1900 was 12237, of which 5321 persons were negroes. During tho same period Montgomery increased 8462, of which number 4242, or about one-half, was negro. Mobiles total increase was 1893, of which negroes are accredited with 3415, or some two hundred and odd less than half
 Richmond shows an actual decrease in negro population, the figures being 32,2 23o in 1900 and 32,330 in 1890. Washington draws comfort from the fact that while it is first in negro population, it is but seventh in point of increase during the last decade. Louisville is eighth. Mem phis is second in the total increase, Philadelphia being first, Chicago third and New Orleans fourth.
 In these totals of increases Birming ham is fifteenth, Montgomery twentieth and Mobile twenty-ffth.
 With these and some other exceptions the gains in negro population in Southern cities has not been marked. As shown. Richmond shows loss-one hundred is the number-while the gains in Baton Rouge Chattanooga, Nashville, Charles ton, Columbia, Dallas, Shreveport and Vicksburg have been very small
 On the other hand. decided gains in negro population are shown in Northern and border state cities. The figures showing the increases in some of thesa cities are amazing, and they show be- yond questioning that the black man IS headed for the North.
 Yet the officials say: "It looks as if the third-rate city of Memphis will soon over- take and pass Washington as the negro center" the negro increase in Memphis in ten years being 2l,202. while Washing tons increase was but 11130.
 LUCIEN JULIEN WALKER.