The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
BILLBOARD STORY |. AROUSES WRATH OE OFFICIALS OF CITY Charges of Notorious Negro Accepted at Face Value
 by Publication WRITES AS IF HE
 WERE WHITE MAN Formal Denial of Charges Made by Moser-Negro Is Now in County
 Jail-Got Forty Dollars for
 Pathetic "Talev
keep Away From Birminghame

keep Away From Birmingham Thus is labeled in 24-point type one of the most remarkable feats of journalism that has ever drifted into Birmingham It came to town yesterday in the annual Christmas edition of theatrical maga- zine known as The Billboard" Under this screaming head nestles some 5000 or 4ooo words of some of the most amusing flights of fancy ever indulged bo human brain. The author of said flight is one Joseph A. McDaniels Joseph, in order to pursue his literary calling in quiet and peacefulness. is now sojourning in the Jefferson county jail Joseph, in fact, in the past b years of his life, has spent about IA of them inside this abode. The other year Joseph spent in running. For police court records show that it has taken considerable run ming for this illustrious author to keep out of the hands of the law at most any time in his career it might be decided to inquire into it.
 But there is one thing about Joseph that is as startling as his journalistic abil- ity, for which the Billboard, it is stated, recently sent him a check for $40
 Is an Ordinary Negro Joseph is a burly-headed, ebony black Ethiopian known in polite circles as an or dinary southern negro As regards Joseph there is one exception
 It seems he is about the worst negro criminal in Jefferson county
 The headlines of the Billboard story printed two columns wide in big, black, ri fol
 Keep Away From Birmingham
 If You've Got a Little Money. or Even if You Only Look as if You have
 Rotten Police Department Will Arrest You on Trumped-up Charges and Shake You Down if You Promise to Yield Only as Much as s5.
 ''The Plain Clothes Men especially Are Avaricious and Rapacious
 Comedian Joseph A. McDaniels in Their Clutches.
 Held on Manufactured Charge Brought by Crooked Detective, Support ed by Negro Stool Pigeon
 Under this the enterprising editor de- livers himself of the following: '1f you wear good clothes and look as if you could be squeezed out of a few dollars without putting up too. loud holler you had better keep away from Birmingham.
 If you look like transient, who, after being arrested and shaken down, will, when released, go away from there hur- riedly and remain away, better not go to Birmingham.
 "The open season for friendless strangers lasts the year round in Bir- mingham, and Birmingham's police chase their quarry indefatigably
 Beware of Birmingham.
 Especially beware of mourning the dispelasure of Brmingham's police.
 Let the experience of Joe McDaIiels be warning to you"
 And then starts "Joe's story,' as the article is sub-headed, and in that story even the imagination of Dante could not have placed more wonderful things. Joe recites how he was arrested how Detective Moser persecuted him, how his career on the stage was ended, how fake evidence was worked up against him, how eventually Joseph himself was the cause of the famous police probe and
 more of similar ramblngs. Now as to the facts concerning Joe. Moser Makes Statement Officer Moser makes the following statement, which briefly contains many of the more important events in this negro's career:
 Every word of the story in the Bill
 board by Joseph McDaniels is falsehood from beginning tos end. Why the paper published the matter is a mystery to me- They must have been under the impress son McDanes is white man. But why they should publish such a story even if
 he was white man, until they had in- quired into the facts, is still a mystery
 "McDanfels is one of the worst negro criminals in Jefferson county. He has served several terms in the penitentiary. I first arrested him in 1898 for robbing the drug store of E. T. Shaw, Seventy eighth street and Fourth avenue. and he served term in the penitentiary for that burglary Some few years later I ar rested him again for robbing the store of Dr. Abernathy. father of Judge H. B. Abernathy, and he was convicted and served several years. McDaniels was partly reared by Dr. Abernathy. He be- came so bad, however, understa nd that he was forced to leave. "In the Abernathy case charged him also with carrying concealed weapons. In testifying in this case, he made state ments out of which a case of perjury against him arose and in which he has | been convicted. He took an appeal, how | ever. and is now in jail awaiting the l hearing of this appeal.
 III Ocloper, iSV', | unuersIand, Mc- Daniels was held in the county jail on two charges of forgery. At that time he become so bad that he was kept in the condemned cell for 8 months as the l jailers could not handle him otherwise. l The negro is a natural artist, and 1t is while in this cell that he painted the 1 remarkable paintings now to be seen on it's walls. He claims to be British Canadian citizen and it is stated has written to the Canadian government to aid him. No one who knows him pays any at tentfon to what he says; he Is of the
 lowest class iof negro criminal. If the Bill Board printed his story knowing what he Is. they are certainly to be con- demned. don't care to get into an ar gument with anybody. but records will