The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-07-26
MILIIoNAIREss PLEADS
FOR JUSTICE TO HER RACE
Calls Herself Worm In tho Eyes of
Her Creator.

beIOre eAnIDIIlH& Her SCereOptlcOn
views showing her remarkable progress
from the position Of poverty atriclken
widow with dependent daughter ito
that Of millionairess living in pal
ace which cost quarter Of million
dollars, with furniture in one room
costing ten thousand dollars and a rug
on one floor costing seven thousand dol
lars, Nine. G.. j. Walker, founder and
president Of the Walker Manufacturing
CO. of Indianapolis and New aCssy,
delivered before mixed audience of
members Of both races in the Ft. Dodge
High School last Friday evening, one
of the most eloquent appeals for justice
and fair play for her people which has
been heard in this state, and which was
published in full in the Ft. Dodge Mes
senger and Chronicle, the leading white
daily of Webster County, and reads as
follows:
"Every true American rejoices in the
valerous deeds Of his ancestors. The
scenes of battles of long ago are kept
fresh in the minds Of each succeeding
generation by the boast Of lineal
descent from heroes Of other days.
Men rejoice in paying tribute to that
loyal band Of colonists who, for the
sake of liberty, mingled their blood
with the land we love in defiance of q
stronger nation. It is heritage proud
ly shared by thousands. Women guard
with jealous care those credentials
which open to them the doors of
friendship with other daughters Of the
Revolution.
Around the fireside of winters
night their children 8 children are in
Quoted into the sacred knowledge Of
the part played by those whose blood
courses through their veins. Nor is the
Negro set aside in this revelry of fore
fathers fighting prowess for his is a
share in the soldiery memories Of our
nation from the beginning.
The first Negro blood to be shed was
that of Crissus Attucks, an escaped
slave, who led detachment of citi-
zens against the British soldiers March
S, 1910. General Jackson paid high
tribute to the Negro g soldierly quail
ties at the battle of New Orleans, 1912.
And to the Negro was given the post
Of guarding Washington because there
were no traitors among them.
The Negro has proven his valor from
Bunker Hill to Carrizal. On that never
to be forgotten morning, July Is, 1868,
when Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led
that mighty charge against Fort ~Wag-
oner, in which nearly all the officers
were killed, including Colonel Shaw,
sergt. w. H. Carney, a black man,
snatched Old Glory from the hands Of
a falling comrade and, although himself
twice wounded, crowded on his hands
and knees and placed it on top Of the
enemy's breastworks; and while being
led from the battlefield, torn and bleed
ing, aroused by the cheers of his com
rades he faced about, lifted his cap,
waived it high in the air and exclaimed,
esBoys, the old flag never touched the
ground.
These were the deeds of the gallant
Fifty-fourth Massachusetts in '63 to
'65. Coming down to the Spanish
American War in 1898, when our
friend, the advocate of fair play and
the champion of square deal, and his
entire regiment was about to be an
initiated by those blood thirsty Span
iards, the black boys of the fighting
Tenth said to their captain, Let us
90. Let us go to their rescue And
when the command was given they
charged San Juan Hill, singing |. Thers