The Washington herald., 1907-10-12

there were only two negro banks in the
country, one in Richmond, Va, and the
other In Birmingham Ala. The records
Of the Treasury Department show but
one failure of a negro bank. Eleven OF
the thirty-one negro banks are in Mis-
sssippi, and nearly every one of them
has been organized during the Vardaman
administration. One of the banks is in
the home town OF the governor. It is
said that the negro bank in Birmingham
has a number of white depositors and
some white borrowers. There was a Tire
in this hank some time ago, and when il
seemed that the safe could not be opened
In time for business next morning, the
white bankers offered to lend the negroes
what cash they needed to resume busi-
ness.
Negroes OF New York are preparing to
start big department store, and Il is
said that there will be a million dollars
behind the enterprise. The company back
ing it already has a number Of apartment
houses owned or leased. is conducting a
department store in Baltimore. a grocery
store in Plainheld, y. J., and a banking
institution in Georgia. A negro company
contemplates building a theater in Wash
ingtOn which will be devoted exclusively
TO negro performances.
The largest taxpayer in Westmoreland
County. Va, the county that gave birth
to George Washington and Robert E
Lee. is a negro. He is also one OF the
largest exporters OF logs In the world
His name is w. H. Johnson. He is also
postmaster at Baynesville, having been
appointed to that position over Confed
crate soldier upon the recommendation of
Representative William A. Jones, the
dean Of the Virginia delegation in Con-
gress. Johnson has the respect of all the
white people Of WestmOreland County,
and on more than one occasion has car
Tied letters Of Introduction from the
Washingtons and Lees who still reside in
WestnOreland-
The greatest religious work that is now
being done among the negroes is said to
be that of the Catholic Church. There
are more than 100000 negro Catholics in
the United States, which Is more than
one out of every ten members Of the
race a writer who has travelled ex-
tensively through the South, and has
studied the subject at close range, says
that the Catholic missionary work among
the negroes is proving great agency for
their moral uplift.
There are two orders Of colored Sisters
IN the United States. One of these is
the COl0red SisterhOOd of the Holy Fam
tly Of New Orleans. and the other the
Oblates Of Providence whose mother
house is in Baltimore. The latter order
has representatives IN Washington, ST.
Louis, LeavenwCrth, Havana, and at Old
Provident in the Caribbean Sea.
In 179 the negro Methodists Of the
United States separated from the white
church and organized one Of their own.
Their first preacher was Richard Allen.
ordained in 1893. John Stewart, a negro,
was the first missionary of the Metho-
dist Church, having been commissioned
70 work among the Indians. There are
now three negro Methodist denOmina-
tons, one independent and one each un-
der the patronage Of the n. L. Church
and the NJ +. Church South.
An official of the Library Of Congress
who has been noting carefully the char
acter OF books called for by negro read
ers says that they have no taste what
ever for fiction or for histery. He says
that the vast majority Of them call for
works on psychology and natural his
tory. A blind negro boy has distinguished
himself by reading every book in the
National Library for the Blind
The negroes of the United States have
written some 2000 books. and have about
150 regularly published periodicals. The
majority of these negro publications are
in the shape Of weekly newspapers, and
are published in the South A perusaI Of
the negro newspapers and magazines
shows that they magnify every incident
where negro shows to advantage over
the white man. In all their literature
they refer with pride TO the fact that
this man or that of their race did not
have the color line drawn against him.
The negro journals throughout the
South are advising their male readers TO
brush up for the railway mail service ex-
aminatiOns- They point out that this is
the easiest branch Of the service to get
into, and that the wages are good. The
number Of negroes who are taking the
examinations for the mail service is in
creasing monthly.
There are dormitories at the ends Of the
PAL 4 AltSr anu the white CLERKS
up against a situation where they have
either in many cases to sleep in beds thar
the night before were occupied by negroes
or go out and pay a hotel or boarding
house bin. There are complaints from
every branch Of the Railway Mail Serv-
ice on this account. The white clerks
are seeking 20 induce the POst-Ofice De
partment 10 establish lin crow" mail
route somewhere, where all the clerks are
to be negroes. They point out that this
would remove the causes for friction that
exist. and al the same time would give
the government an opportunity to test the
relative merit Of the two races as postal
clerks. since careful check is kept upon
each railway pOst-Off1ce
Just now the negroes Of Georgia are
much wrought up over an attempt to
prevent the negro Elks from further US
ing that name as a secret order. Court
proceedings have been Instituted. and first
blood has been drawn by the white Elks
It seems that the negro Elks originated
in Cincinnati. where a negro got hold of
an Elk ritual through a member of the
lodge. and gave it to another colored man
across the river In Kentucky This man
organized cOlored lodge in Cincinnati
in 1899. and from this the order has
grown. A writer in a magazine for col
ored people says that if the white people
are victorious in this case, the colored
Masons, Odd Fellows. and other orders
viii also feel the blow
The Supreme Court of the United States
has not only held that the "Jim Crow"
car laws as enacted by the States are
constitutional, but that the railroads may
provide such regulations without the