The Informer and Texas Freeman (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 72, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 3, 1943 Page: 1 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Houston Informer and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
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Colored Carnegie Libear.
Frederick and Robin st.
Houston, Texas.
Z-1
CNO Maps Fight For Negroes On All I
1
cl
mme
Permanen
Set-up is
Effected
′ By CARTER WESLEY
DALLAS.—The Texas Council of
Negro Organization met here Sat-
• urday, with between 75 and 100
leaders from the various organiza-
tions of the state, formed a per-
manent organization, took steps to
coordinate and implement plans for
improvement of Texas Negroes edu-
cationally, civically, politically, ag-
riculturally, mili+rily, religously.
and on all frr esides electing
officers standing commit-
•ees - -eated.
The vody passed resolutions sup-
porting the organization of govern-
mental workers who are engaged In
strengthening the positions of that
group. The body also passed a resc-
lution encouraging the leaders of
the Durham Conference, who are
working on plans for interracial
cooperation and the development
of the South. Another resolution,
vigorously commending and endors-
ing the Negro press, was passed by
the body.
After reports from Leslie White,
(See PLANS, Page 12, Col. 4)
War
nil# A 1emtr n 1 INVEST IN WAR BONDS Stewart Sees
we auuruet AND STAMPS Colored Boys
EXAS
EEMAN
VOL. 48-NO. 72__HOUSTON, TEXAS, SAT., >PRIL 3,1943 PRICE: 10 CENTS
SEX MURDERER STILL AT LARGE
Case Baffles Police;
Many Suspects Are
Under Surveillance
Houston Nurse Among First To Go Across
In Big Battle
By OLLIE STEWART -
WAR CORRESPONDENT FOR INFORMER PAPERS
ON THE NORTH AFRICAN FRONT
(Copyright by Afro-American and Informer Syndicates
Reproduction in whole or part expressly forbidden) \
Editors Note: The following cable from Ollie Stewart was cabled
from North Africa March 28. Since that time Gabes has fallen
the relent less British Eighth Army. Stewart is with Lieut. Gen. George
S. Patton, Jr.’s American forces. He will be present for the Rommel
kill, perhaps to appear in next week’s issue. —
HOUSTON—Police are still work-
ing night and day in their search
for the sex fiend that a few days
ago brutally slew and ravished Mrs.
Desslyn Chambers, well known
church worker and music teacher,
as she was on her way home after
having held rehearsal with the choir
of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist church,
Teachers Raise
Pay Fight Cash
HOUSTON.—One thing can be said, and that is that
when the Houston Negro teachers do come alive, they come
alive with a vengeance! No official announcement has been
made and this reporter cannot give the exact figures, but it
can be said that by Wednesday night the teachers of Hous-
ton had raised a formidable war
fund to equalize their pay. The
fund is over $5,000 and already in
the bank, and is the largest amount
that has, been raised by any group
for such a purpose anywhere in
the South in so short a time.
As this is written a few hours
before press time, representatives
of the local teachers are scheduled
to go before the school board,
which will meet at 1:30 Thursday.
Already the requisite petition to
equalize salaries has been drawn
(Thursday’s meeting was a com-
mittee meeting; the board will
meet Monday).
court. There seems to be a race
between certain elements of the
city, trying to force the school
board to raise the pay of all teach-
ers, and the Negro teachers who
are seeking to have what funds
are available to help equalize their
pay with that of the white teach-
ers.
Dr. Ray K. Daily, member of
the school board and candidate for
Whatever is the outcome of the
discussion Thursday, it is expected
that suit will be filed in the next
few days in the Federal District
Wesley Answers
Be sure to read Editor Carter
Wesley’s Answer to Roscoe Dun-
Jee’s editorial that appeared in
last week’s paper. Turn to the
editorial page.
re-election, made a peculiar move
Monday night at the school board
when she made a motion to raise
all teachers’ salaries, despite the
fact that it is known that the mon-
ey available in the school board
treasury, and the remaining part
of the maximum tax due, will be
needed to equalize the pay of Ne-
gro teachers. If the motion of Dr.
Daily prevails, it will mean that
the money wil be used, and when
the Negro teachers win their suit
it wil automatically force the white
teachers to oppose Negroes, be-
cause the only way the Negroes’
pay can be raised will be to reduce
the pay of the whites.
in the Fifth Ward, where she was
director of music.
The Sherrif’s office announced to
the Informer that though the ease
to one o fthe hardest they have had
to handle, the Negro citizenry of
Houston can rest assured that in a
short while, the sex-mad fiend will
feel the full weight of the law and
will be brought to justice. Several
suspects are now under surveil-
lance. While several have been
eliminated, there remain some a-
mong whom the officers believe
the guilty person to be.
Houston has not adjusted itself
to the shock it received when news
spread throughout the city that
Mrs. Chambers had been the vic-
tim of a ruthless attack by some
unknown person and left lying in
a ditch along the Burlington Rail-
road tracks a mile fro mher home.
Her face and head having been
battered in, and her body ravished.
This slaying, shoruded in mys-
tery, has proved doubly hard for
the seasoned sleutieiot the Sher-
rif’s department, owing to the fact
that the community in which she
lived, and was slain to settled by
hard working people and they us-
ually are away from their homes
from the early hours of the morn-
in gto late in the evening. They
were unable to give the officers
any in formation that could be
helpful in solving thi smurder. Be-
ing a peaceful settlement, Trinity
Garden has no beer taverns or
night spots where folks hang around
all day and night. Thus this cut
off the usual tips and information
that officers pick up from the in-
habitants of these places.
Taking * little” relax
waiting orders for overseas 1
Ho
are tmeurs. LEOLA M. AREN, MAN LANE,
(See FIGHT, Page 8, Col. 2)
20th Century Slave
Older Boys
Conference
Is Success
HOUSTON — The 22nd annual
Texas Older Boys Conference for
the Houston area came to a suc-
cessful closing Sunday morning
in the B. T. Washington Gym
when the Rev. John D. Moore, Pil-
grim Congregational church,
brought the final message. After
officers for 1944 had been installed
by W. C. Craver, executive secre-
tary of the local YMCA, the dele-
gates clasped hands, formed a cir-
cle which embraced the entire
Washington gymnasium, and sang
“God Be With You ’Till We Meet
Again.”
Of the 122 Hi-Y delegates reg-
istered 43 came from points out-
side of Houston; while the Hous-
ton delegation numbered 79 from
the high schools. Rev. Lee C. Phil-
lip of Prairie View College chal-
lenged the combined conference,
made up of Hi-Y and Gra-Y lead-
ers, “to decide now,” not tomorrow
(See OLDER, Page 8, Col. 4)
Convicted
This is ALFRED IRWIN, the humble colored American whom Alex L.
Skrobarocyzk and his daughter, Susie, held in slavery on a farm near
Corpus Christi. Both father and daughter were sentenced to penal terms.
SUSIE SKROBARCYZK and her
father, Alex Skrobarcyzk who were
convicted on charges of holding Al-
fred Irwin in peonage and slavery.
For her part in the crime she receiv-
ed a two-year prison term and he
received a four-year term. Testimony
revealed that they beat the Ne-
gro and reduced his fare to nothing
more substantial than bread and
skimmed or soured milk.
============== WITH U. S. TROOPS IN NORTH AFRICA— (By Cable,
-=.(.) I have been in Tunisia for four days. I am now
fens part of the surging Allied forces that are steadily advancing
9. against tiff German resistance in the direction of Gabes and
1 BSfax. Bombers and fighter planes supported by artillery are
creeae-nee-e-basting almost continually to clear the way for our tanks
.-. and infantry.
′ In Thick of Fight
tours. . Without advance notice colored troops have suddenly ap-
Pec peared in the thick of the fight. Yesterday I watched a long
1 a‘ ananas line of medium tanks roar in to an advance base of opera-
■ thee w - tions and their drivers were colored. Today they have moved
Smbion through mine fields into blazing combat areas. Young
B = l and grim-lipped and determined they passed me with a wave
= ofthe hand and rode their muddy charges down the road.
Inthe same area is a colored tank destroyer outfit. The
• es unit with which I live and move now is the most interesting
Bern 1 1 1 I B • • • • 5• I have n 1 e ’ since coming overseas. It is called the Air Base
• • I ‘ ‘ Security Unit. This outfit provides protection against para-
troops and small invading forces each time a forward airport
1 I w ‘ ' is taken over. We have already moved forward to a new air
SE =. base since I joined them. The unit is strictly combat and
motorized, using half tracks with mounted machine guns.
,Day and night t hey t Throw out patrols and planes are shot
BerB ...................................down. They scour behind enemy lines. These air base lads
. stock up with rations for many days and filter through
SJIMANCenemy lines until a plane is found. At the home airport they
I 1 5 I Ten man anti-aircraft defenses twenty-four hours a day.
52022.--=-. This is the first ship unit activated and sent overseas.
-, This outfit has white officers and never stays in one place
Hiene-shs-uks-M-eriee long.
All of us are accustomed to seeing Jerry come over. Yes-
aston, Texas: ROBY gill, uf I Mid ELLEN L.ROBINSON or Hack- terday two-men 109‛s flew over for a first visit at noon while
MAAE LAVensuck, New Jersey. They are work- we were lined up for chow and our boys shot down one. Today
Macon, ueorgu. 40*1 we got another in the afternoon.
Lads Are Excited
Although weather has hampered Air and ground activity,
our bombers take off almost every hour escorted by swarm
fighters. We count them when they leave and keep tally on
losses by counting those who return. Most of the time all
come back. This push has all the lads excited and laying bets
as to how soon we clean the Germans out of Tunisia.
Colored ordinance units and infantry are reported in the
Gafsa area of Font, but I have not found them yet.
I wish I could paint pictures of the extended front with
the steady stream of supplies and troops moving up all day
long in mud and rain and with laundry drying on the back
of trucks. Bridges are blown up and shoulders of roads are
mined because Germans held this territory very recently.
Wrecked and burned planes and tanks don the landscape. A
few Arabs are left in gutted towns. These are mostly men
as women and children have been evacuated. I have now seen
both German and Italian prisoners and both looked tired of
of Chicago, Illinois, ling on a jig-saw puzzle.
After-ides Brings Plenty
Trouble For Julius White
Houston — Julius White, he probably will agree that | ed down on the Grill and ar-
owner and proprietor of the the after-Ides of March have rested him for operating a policy
Downtown Grill 7141/ Prai. x: game, nt.AT M-E 5 -
Downtown Grill, 71412 Prai- rained plenty trouble on him. game. Sunday night, March 28, po-
rie Avenue, mav not know Friday nioht M.. 1 oe lice arrested him for killing
Charles Williams, 7245 Yale street,
a 15-year-old boy, and charged
him with murder.
rie Avenue, may not know Friday night, March 26,
about the Ides of March, but Morals Squad raiders swoop-
Ne
i Troops End
Of Colorful
New Guinea Work
By "SCOOP” JONES
(Associated Negro Pregg
Correspondent)
SOMEWHERE IN NEW GUINEA.
Chronologically reviewing events
of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Amer-
ican forces’ activities in the New
Guinea campaign, the pages of
world history should- blaze with
epochal data. The month of April
marks a year of activity for Amer-
ican ground forces here. The first
to arrive were Negro troops, Apr.
28, 1942, during a heavy downpour
of tropical rain at Port Moresby,
At that time the Japs were at the
Owen Stanley range only 46 miles
away.
From the period of April to the
present, colored troops along with
other American and allied forces
have learned how to “take it”
where air raids are concerned, hav-:
ing been in better than 50 of them.
It is believed that among Negro
troops during this period, the cas-
ualty rate was extremely low.
Difficult Odds
These troops began their task
here under difficult odds, but the
(See TROOPS, Page 12, Col. 8)
Macedonia Split
Ends Long Feud
HOUSTON—With the acceptance
of the program outlined by a new
pastor in a special business meet-
ing for the establishment of The
Rose of Sharon Baptisi church, tho
long battle for control of Macedonia
Baptist church, Ruthven and Wil-
son, was settled recently.
Rev. S. M. Weaver, native of
Georgia, and graduate of More-
house College, was recently install-
ed as pastor of Macedonia. Rev. D
L. Penn, ousted pastor of Mace-
donia, which was the center of a
(See FEUD, Page 8, Col. 6)
As Board Members,
We Hope It’s Davis
And Taylor; Be Sure
To Cast Your
te
By CARTER WESLEY
HOUSTON—Saturday, yes, April 8, is vote day to elect two mem-
bers to the Board of Education. The biggest interest is in your and
every other Negro’s going to the polls and voting. Vote for whomever
you want, but vote. Candidates are Dr. C. M. Taylor, Mrs. Sam H.
Davis, Dr. Ray K. Daily, Miss Ima Hogg, Attorney Virgil Arnold, and
T. A. Lambert. After a thousand thoughts, this writer has decided
to vote for Dr. C. M. Taylor and Mrs. Sam H. Davis. In other words,
out of the three candidates for Position Three we will vote for Dr. C.
M. Taylor. Out of the three candidates for Position Four we will vote
for Mrs. Sam H. Davis.
(See VOTE, Page 8, Cote. 7 & 8)
The police report shows that up
to presstime they had found no
one with an eyewitness account of
the killing of Charles Williams.
Julius White in his statement to
police said that he had caught four
men shooting dice in the rear of
his place, and after breaking up
the game was attempting to hold
them for the police, when one of
them “jumped him.” He further
stated that in the struggle a .38
revolver went off acidentally and
shot Charles Williams, who was not
involved in the dice game or the
melee.
Versions as to where Williams
was struck differed. Police records
said Williams was struck in the
back of the head and the bullet
came out in his face. Some who
saw Williams afte he was shot
said that the bullet went in his
right eye and came out the back
of his head, breaking his neck.
When Julius discovered that Wil-
liams had been shot, he ordered
an ambulance called and the police
summoned. But when the police
arrived Williams was lying dead
in a pool of blood.
White was also reported to have
said that in the struggle he had
struck one Melvin Thomas, but
Melvin Thomas had disappeared
when police arrived and his ad-
dress or whereabouts had not been
discovered at press time. Neither
had any of the other dice-shooters
been discovered, but there were
witnesses who said that Mr.
White’s statement was true. After
preliminary hearing Monday be-
fore Justice of the Peace Torn
Maes, Mr. White was charged with
murder and released on $5000.00
bond.
Police Find Booty
Just two nights before, Friday,
March 28, Captain J. R. Davidson
had led a Morals Squad raid on
Mr. White’s Downtown Grill and
reported finding in the “juke box”
(See TROUBLE, Page 8, Col. 8)
The Big
Ollie Stewart is with our ram-
paging armies on the Tunisian
Front. Many of your relatives and
friends are in the fight.
Push Is On
His weekly cable will keep you
informed of just what is going on
and the role our boys are play-
ing. Reserve your copy in ad-
vance. Government restrictions
limit the copies we can print.
war. .
I met from Baltimore Pfc. Irving Kiah, 811 North Band
street, and Sgt. Leroy R. Ward, 1834 Druid Hill avenue. They
send love to their families and hope to get home before
Christmas. From Philadelphia Leon Jamison, Pvt. Leroy
Boyd, 1208 Carpenter street; Cpl. James Peacock, 281* East
Ashman street; Pvt. Alex Robinson, 600 South 12th street;
Pvt. William Butler and Pvt. Mack Brady; Cpl. George Bunch,
formerly a New York art student; Sgt. Fitshugh Boulding,
208 South Randolph street, Richmond; and Sgt. Myron Moore
of Portsmouth.
Aged Woman Beaten By
Civilian On Harbor Bus
HOUSTON — Brutality that
would be associated and attributed
to Herr Hitler and his gang of
mobsters, broke out again in this
fair “land of the free and home
of the brave,” where freedom
rings, when a middle aged woman,
the mother of eight children, was
beaten and kicked late Friday af-
ternoon, by a white man who re-
sented the presence of a Negro
passenger on the Harbor bus.
Mrs. Mamie Harris, who lives
In her own home at 101 Gregg,
boarded the Harbor bus at Lock-
wood drive and Clinton and quiet-
ly took a seat in the rear of the
bus. Suddenly a white man walk-
ed to the rear of the bus and said
to her, "Don’t you know that we
ain’t particular about any niggers
riding this bus?” Shocked, Mrs-
Harris politely replied that she was
not aware of the fact inasmuch
as she had been riding the bus for
the past four months. When she
told him this, he struck her several
times, knocking her between the
back seats. As she attempted to
rise and pick up her packages, this
1-A candidate for the Nazi’s award
for gallantry, kicked her several
times.
Meanwhile, the other whites on
the bus only laughed and did not
try to prevail with fiend to stop
beating this defenseless woman,
who was different from other wo-
men on the bus only by the pig-
ment of her skin. The bus driver
did not move from his seat during
the time that this was happening.
The incident was reported to the
bus company who refused to give
Mrs. Harris any consideration.
The driver of the bus did not re-
(See BEATEN, Page s, Col. 4)
Pan - American
Day To Be Held
By Spanish Dept.
HOUSTON — Latin-American
counsels of Houston have been In-
vited to be special guests as the
celebration of Pan-American Day
at Phyllis Wheatley high school,
April 14, it was announced- by
(See SPANISH, Page 8, Col. 4)
WANTED
Men and Women
BETWEEN AGES 18 to 50
To Sell Advertising
WILL INTERVIEW — SELECT
AND TRAIN YOU
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
See MR. ELLIOTT
2418 LEELAND AVE.
or If now employed Call F. 8347 |
or Woodcrest 6-9341 ’
Informer Pi
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The Informer and Texas Freeman (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 72, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 3, 1943, newspaper, April 3, 1943; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1626744/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.