The Colorado statesman., 1913-04-05

this recently took place in the New
port News shipbuilding yard. There
are employed in this shipyard about
1850 persons, almost half of whom
are negroes. There are twenty-nine
different trades and occupations, in all
of which except two, bell hangers and
electricians, negroes are working in
greater or lesser numbers. The dis
tribution of white and colored work
men in the various trades at this ship
yard are as follows: AS anglesmiths,
white 33, colored "a; as blacksmiths,
white 46, colored so; as bell hangers.
white 63, colored O.; as boiler makers,
white 143, colored 103; as sheet iron
workers, white 69 colored 4; as brass
machinists, white 101, colored 10; as
coppersmiths, white 36, colored 6; as
drillers, white 20, colored lis; as cleo
tricians, white 49, colored O; as filters,
white 373, colored 118; as hull repair
ers, white 81, colored "a; as joiners,
white $50, colored IA; as lumber yard
laborers, white II, colored IL; as COM
mon laborers, white ~, colored 1876;
as engineers, White 1876, colored 81;
as outfitters, white 80, colored II; as
painters, white "a, colored 233; as
pattern makers, white AZ, colored 4;
as plumbers, white 1873, colored rs; as
power house workers, white IL, colored
%; as riggers, white 103, colored $780,
as riveters, white $50, colored 563; as
ship carpenters, white 16S, colored
100; as ship shed workers, white 81,
colored 1856; as steam engineers, white
| 174, colored ST. as teamsters, white 1,
| pn1Orah Or. n ward Whita
colored 8; as foundrymen, white sc.
colored 80; as civil engineers, white
SO, colored "a. Total employed, white
2,522; colored 2,13S. The weekly pay
roll for the colored employees Is $2o, 900.
The New York Evening Post, In
charging that the barrier of race has
kept colored musicians, with but few
exceptions, in the music halls, and in
its effort to induce the public to give
the negro music of today serious con-
sideration refers to the observations
of Kurt SCHNEIDER on the compositions
of Will Marion Cook, which follow in
part:
This revelation came at once at the
concert given under the auspices of
| the New York Musical Settlement for
Colored People. There were a great
many representative white musicians
and the entire New York musical
press present, and there was a stir
when the orchestra started to play the
fascinating rhythms of Cooks Swing
Along" followed by a storm of ap-
plause; there was no one in that audi
ence that did not feel that for once
he had heard the real thing" the true
southern negro idiom, worked out with
clever musicianship and genial verve
into truly artistic manifestation.
This pleasurable surprise was
equaled if not surpassed when the
second part of the program brought
another composition of Will Marion
Cook, "The Rain Song" To this de-
lightfully quaint and naive dialect
poem the composer has found mel
ody well-nigh perfect in its idiomatic
charm and in its close adaptation to
the. vocal infections of the colored
dialect. The musical form given 1t
| calling for six solo singers to rise
from the middle of the orchestra and
say their little verse in turn with the
full chorus responding) was as happy
in its effect as it was natural and ap-
propriate. This is music very close to
nature indeed in its sources
Newport News, Va-Members of the
race are accustomed to think of labor
problems among negroes as arising
where there is lack of opportunity
for work, or where there is threat
ened reduction of wages, or where,
because of prejudice or other reasons,
they are prevented from getting or
holding positions. One also hears a
great deal about the negroes being de-
MED opportunities to work at skilled
trades. AS a matter of fact, the op-
| portunities for negroes to work at
| skilled trades In both the north and
! the south are increasing. In all parts
of the south negroes are being sought
for to work at skilled trades. Labor
unions are becoming more friendly
| to negres, and are doing more than
they have ever done to organize ne
gro workingmen. Out of the over 100
labor organizations, only about nine
or ten, principally connected with the
railroads, now bar negroes.
The feat of the New York actor.
who has just married his eleventh
wife, doesn't constitute record. The
only way an actor can establish
matrimonial record is to marry one
wife.
This is an age in which efficiency
is demanded in every avenue of en-
deavor The man who can accomplish
with one step or one motion of the
hand what requires three steps or mo-
tions in another is the sort of man
the world is looking for