The colored American., 1902-08-23

represented Miss Emily a. Harper, the
clever and erudite assistant in the Arm
strong Manual Training School, who is
on a visit to friends in the Michigan
metropolis Her large circle of ac-
Quaintances in this city are not little
shocked to read in the Detroit paper of
recent date the following interview,
purporting to be an expression from her
lips. Comparing conditions in that
city and in this, she is reported to have
said:
You see here no such colOred peo-
pie as we have there. They are so poor
and repulsive. They are never impOlite
"a sOutherner never is that-but they
are dirty and they don't know how TO
dress. The manual training work did
wonders for the girls last year, though.
It was the first year for the work, and
when they had learned to sew a little,
we insisted that they must dress neatly
when they came to school"
81 meet with a great deal of jealousy
from the other teachers" Miss Harper
is reported TO have continued, with a
sigh, Il am a northerner and they don't
like that. They say they have plenty
of teachers south. They do have, too,
and l think it would be a good thing
for the colored girls of Detroit to go
south. Here there is very little incen-
tive for them to finish the high school.
There is nothing open for them when
they do. In Washington alone, there
are 400 cOlOred girls teaching. When
the young people see how others of
their race are succeeding. they feel a
desire to do something themselves"
T.
smart Aleck'' was sent out to gather
Miss Harper's views, and he thought it
would be neat trick to place her in a
false attitude by garbling her remarks.
and attribute to her the utterancesi of
sentiments which could under no cir
cumstances find lodgment in her mind
Miss Harper is a graduate of the Uni
versity.of Michigan, and that training
supplemented with her five years in the
Washington schools, would serve to in
culcate a pride of race and personal
culture that would forbid such a nOto-
rious caricature of the people of this
vicinity. I am sure Miss Harper has
been falsely quoted.
Few of the "old stagers'' are now
found in the Office of the Recorder of
Deeds, but among the familiar faces
and a striking one that even the most
CASUAL visitor never forgets-is that of
Walter A. Pinchback. He entered the
office in 1891, and has been rated as
clerk of the very first-class, handling
with ease and accuracy the many de-
tails that are encountered in the re-
cOrding and dispOsing of the deeds and
miscellaneous papers that are received
daily at the land registering depart
ment of the District of Columbia. Mr..
Pinchback ia painStaking in whatever
duty is assigned him, and careful as to
the slightest point that might some
time arise to cause confusion and en-
barrassment to his chief. He is a gradu-
ate of Andover College, and has sound
and well-defined views upon all QueS-
tiOns of public moment. He is a rec
ogniZed authority upon army matters.
He was at the front during the Spanish
American war in Santiago, with the
9th Immunes, and though appointed as
a second lieutenant, served throughout
that memorable campaign as first lieu
tenant (his next in command being alb
sent), and acquitted himself with cred
it and distinction He was member
of the commission appointed to investi-
gate the accounts of the local admins
tration in his province. and conducted
some delicate negotiations with a skill
that stamped him as a coming diplo-
mat. Mr.. Pinchback is a son of form
er Governor Pinchback, of kOuisiana,
and has much of the Virile personality
that has made the Dean of the Old
Guard a national force. Mr.. Pinchback