The St. Paul echo., 1926-08-07
FIRES WORKER
FOR RENTING TO
NEGRO TENANTS
White Home Owners on Charles
Sign Petition to Keep Out
COlOred Renters.
Official Denies Charge
Pressure Brought to Bear on
Milk Company Causes Dis
charge, Worker States.

Detroit with it's Sweet case,
Washington with its Curtis case,
Kansas City with it's bombings
and improvement association
agreements" and st. Louis with
its injunctions ordering colored
home owners to move have all
come to St. Paul, nearly in the
middle of the colored residence
district, with a voluntary agree
ment on the part of white home
owners in the 700 block on
Charles street to prevent white
man from renting the upstairs
of his home to colOred tenants.
The case centers in Mr.. and Mrs.
w. Sager, white, who, together with
their four children, live at 727
Charles street.
Steady Worker.
Mr.. Sager, for four years an en-
ployee at the Consumers Milk Com
pany plant at 500 North Grotto
street as an all-around man, was
fred from his job last Saturday, he
alleges, because he had rented the
upstairs of his home to colored ten
| ants. --..
Saturday, July "a, Mr.. Sager rent
ed his upstairs to Mrs. Benjamin
Jones, who sub-let the apartment to
a Mrs. Alexander. Mrs. Jones was
to have moved in July 81.
Threats Made.
Sunday. July Is, when the neigh
bors heard about the plan of Mr..
Sager, a man whose name could not
be ascertained who lives directly
across the street, said to Mr.. Sager,
Everybody in the neighborhood is
mad at you. If you put colored peo-
pie in your house, we'll get them
out" Mr.. Sager states that that was
the first open threat.
On Tuesday of the same week, the
first direct threat to have Mr.. Sager
removed from his job was made by
a woman who lives at the corner Of
GrottO street and Charles. She said,
eff you rent your house to those
"niggers' you'll be out of job.
Petition Sent Around.
Protest meetings were held on the
sidewalks in front of and near the
Sager property as soon as the neigh
borhood discovered that Mr.. Sager
was going to carry out his plan.
A protest petition was sent around
which all but approximately two fam
lilies signed. The chairman of this
informal committee went to see j. v.
Gruber, general manager of the Con-
sumers' Plant, asking that Sager be
laid off from work in the event that
he persisted in his plan.
Conflicting Report.
Wednesday, July %. Mr.. Sager al
leges that Mr. Gruber on finding that
the colored tenants were to move in
on Saturday of last week, allowed
him until Saturday to work, but said
that the company would dispense
with his services after Saturday.
Mr.. Sager also alleges that Mr..
Gruber offered to let him have $500
out of his salary so that he could
pay the colored tenants to break the
contract. Mr.. Sager refused.
Thursday morning Mr.. Gruber told
The Echo reporter that Mr.. Sager
had left the employ of his company
voluntarily. He insisted that no
pressure had been brought to bear
upon Sager, although he admitted
that neighbors of his employee had
protested to him about the prospect
i've colored tenants.
At the present time, all the people
living in the disputed block are white
and own their own homes. The ar
gument of the milk company, Mr.,
Sager says, was that the people in
the block would no longer buy Con-
sumers' milk If Mr.. Sager, an en-
ployee, rented his home to colored
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