San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1939 Page: 1 of 8
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1H
Thii Firm • Membtr
THS SAN ANTONIO
NEGRO OHAMBZR OF
COMMERCE
Saw Awtojvic Register
RIGHT * JUSTICE . PROGRESS
ONLV
F*
WHERB
COULD YOU
rip
GET MORE
FOR
A NICKEL?
VOL. 9—NO. 4
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS,
)AY, AI'KIIj, 28, 1939
PRICE FIVE CENTS
Chrisman, Mouton IR. R. Datiennort sr. Confidence Team
In Run-Off for
S. A.'Sepia Mayor'
J. E. Chrisman Spurts to
Enter Finals-Inman
Fails to Qualify
R. R. Davenport, Sr.
AN illness of nearly a year ended Muiday afternoon, April
24, with the dea*h, at his reside .c r.14 North Pine Street,
of Robert Bitter Davenport, Sr.. 40, one of the local sch A
system's most capable instructors, an outstanding dramatist
and public speaker, and one of £ n Antonio's most Uctive,
civic-minded, and esteemed citizens
The decedent's illness assumed its more serious nature
In Old Home
DR. FKHDKKll'K 1>. PATTER-
SON, president of Tuskegee Insti-
tute, and one of America's out
standing Negro educators, who
lwis been visiting in Victoria, Tex-
as. According to a Victoria daily
newspaper, which interviewed l)r.
Patterson, last week, be will al-
ways have a sentiment for that
city because of his having worked
and lived tliere as n youth.
The distinguished educator, while
TJERBERT Mouton and J. E. Chrisman are the finalists for
■" the coveted position of "Negro San Antonio's sepia
mayor!"
Chrisman, closing the primary campaign with a mighty,
irresistible rush that saw him poll 4400 ballots in the final
few hours of the primary election, qualified, Tuesday night,
for the run-off with one hundred votes to spare. Mouton had
qualified the week prior, and,
Tuesday, reported an additional
800 votes to swell his total to
6000.
Tbe Chrisms n machine staged a
mighty rally Tuesday afternoon to
gather in votes from here, there,
and everywhere to get its man un-
der tAe wire with votes to spare.
Chrisman's qualifying climaxed a
day of feverish activities en-
gineered by a crafty set of cam-
paign managers, and brought the
well known business man froin
wlmt wtt« seemingly a hopeless
last place in the standlnga to with-
in striking distance of the leader
•C atll the MlllUlUltM.
Inman Falls to Qualify
Just as surprising as Cbrlsman's
final spurt to enter the finals, the
•*falWeT V* iirmlHy.-o* John In
man—considered tt certain finalist
—was even more startling. Inman,
well known tonsorlalist, president
of a branch of the Workers At
liana1, and one of tlie state's m->st
Influential Itaptint Inymen, hail
been a popular favorite to reach
the run off, and his campaign re-
ports throughout the earlier stagei
of the primary had been promisi'ii?
ami encouraging. He hail gen
erally been considered "In". How-
ever, Tuesday evening, when the
totals were announced, It was re-
vealed that lie had fallen a full
thousand votes short of qualifying.
Ills total for the week was 1400,
giving him n total of 4.0(H).
Finals (if Primary
A total of 20,700 votes were
cast during the primary.
The finals of the primary was
announced as follows—
Herbert Mouton tiiiOO
J. E. Chrisman 5100
John Innum - 4000
(i. T. Sutton 33«<>
Samuel Shaw 1800
Kun-Off to Be Hot
The "sepia mayoralty" now en
ters Its finnl stage—the run oil',
anil the next three weeks are ex
pected to lie one of the most ex-
citing and Interesting of any type
of campaign ever waged in San
A n ton io.
Chrisman, as une of his cam-
paigners declared this week,
"hasn't even begun to fight." And
It Is a generally known fact that
be has drawn nothing from tiie
sources that are known to Do-
able to afford him tremendous
strength. Chrisman, according to
reliable sources, Is perfectly cap-
able of polling an additional 20,
000 votes fn the finals.
Behind Chrisman. too, seems to
be a wMy organization of vote-
getters, capable of producing in
the pinches, ns was shown in
Tuesday's results.
Mouton Determined
Monton, has been grimly de-
termined to win, from the very
opening day of the campaign, mi l
lias n powerful, well organized,
and vote-getting machine behind
him. He is set on occupying Lhe
chair of "sepia mayor", and is
willing to work uight and day to
achieve that end. He too, bus
other very extensive source* from
which hundreds nnd hundreds of
votes can be druwn.
Observers are now confident that
tbe run-off is going to be closely
and bitterly contested, with the
final result possibly not beina
decided until the very last few
minute* of the balloting.
Tbe "sepia mayoralty" election
I* being conducted by the San All
(See HOME, Page 5.)
Fined $1,400. Gets
120Days injailior
ShowingHateFilm
■j The AaaocUUd Pf«gro PrNi.
DENVER, Colo. — Because he
showed "The Birth of a Nation"
six times in his small motion
picture theatre, Robert E. Aljen,
white, theatre manager, Wednes-
day was fined $1,400 and sentenc-
ed to 120 days in jail by Police
Judge Philip It. Gilliam.
A city ordinance prohibits show-
ing motion pictures which "tend
to stir up or engender race
prejudice, or are calculated to
disturb the peace."
W. F. Turner, president of the
local N.A.A.C.P., called the clty'3
attention to the fact that the film
violated this ordinance. A pre-
view attended by representatives
of the Ministerial alliance, Inter-
racial commission, and Cosmopol-
itan elub served also to focus at-
tention upon the prejudiced aspects
of the film, originally produced in
1914.
The law banning this and similar
pictures was passed in 1914 after
"The Birth of a Nation" was first
shown in Denver. Allen's attorneys
saWl they would appeal tbe case.
Splendid Record
MRS. VIOLET DAVIS REY-
NOLDS, bookkeeper for the Mme.
C. J. Walker Co., of Indlanapoli
Indiana, who has Just completed
25 years of service with that organ
ization. Mrs. Mae Walker Perry,
president, and F. B. Ransom, gen-
eral manager, joined this week in
paying tribute to Mrs. Reynolds*
competency and fidelity. Hir
record of never having been late
matches her reputation for seal
and efficiency in conserving her
e-mpiojrer'u interests.—ANP.
Man Who Runs
AmuckWithPistol
Disarmed by Wife
Walks into Battle, Takes
Mate's Rifle, Surrenders
Him to Sheriff
in September, of last year, with
Davenport undergoing two oper-
ations. Improved somewhat, he
resumed his duties as instructor
at Phlllls Wheatley senior school
on December 1, 1938. Although
ailing intermittently, he continued
at his duties until the latter part
of March, his condition forcing
him from his classes several days
dur .ig the last week of that month.
From A"l>ril 3 to the time of his
death he had been confined to bed.
Personable, cultured, brilliant,
with a splendid academic nnd
social background, Davenport
established an enviable record as
an instructor, athletic coach, and
dramatist, was much in demand
as <i speaker, and was always
keenly interested in civic develop
ment, and youth movements.
The decedent was born in
Orange, New Jersey, February 7,
1*5)0, finished grammar school
there, and was graduated—with a
brilliant scholastic record—from
the Orange high school in 1U10.
In a competitive examination, he
ranked among the highest, thereby
winning « four-year scholarship to
Rutgers university, New Bruns-
wick, New Jersey, from which he
received his bachelor's degree In
10-0. In the summers of 1035
and '37 he also did graduate work
at New York university.
He was employed as messenger
and bookkeeper at tho Corn Ex
change bank, New York City, but,
following his graduation from col
he immediately launched his
career alt n
followed for some
In Daveuport wnm a]
ed to a pedagogical post at Slat
college, Winston - Salem, Nort
Carolina, with his teaching at A."
and T. college, Greensboro, North
Carolina, the next year; follow
ing two years at A. and T., he
worked at Downington Industrial
school, Downlngtown, Pennsylvania,
in 19113, and joined the faculty of
Wiley college, Marshall, Texas, in
1924 where he served for two
years, with hia teaching in the
« n college
I. During
Yit
; in San
this same
i appointed to the
system here, and,
cption of a short
In the city schools
thirteen years. In
ed as instructor in
innnicr school,
nuglit in the St. Philip's
• summer school (San
In 1938.
~il -7, 1920, Davenport
Sadie Ellen CJoode were
marriage, two children
rn to the couple—Robert
fr., who celebrated his
i birthday on March 3,
KHon, who will be seven-
August 24.
-'animation Worker
irtc. u years that Daven-
it in San Antonio were
l-y useful and energetic
y endeavor. At the time
atb. he was the president
n Antonio Touchers coutl-
o division, secretary of
Advisory Council of the
in Orphanage, a member
>ard of directors of the
>nio Negro Chamber of
. a member of tl>p boar J
rs of the Alamo Athletic
l, a member
Fleeces 3 S. A.
Women
Wiln
Ant.
year, i.,
pnbl
with
peril
for t
MgS in
the, i
and
■TuiIit
Anti i
Ci. A J
and
join '1 .•
heli. - ! i
nit.
eight I I
anil M
teei.
Or
T! t!
por'
inai!. I
con. i..
kfh - ,i,
of :
ell, V
the Mi
Eliii A .
of the l>
Sai. Ant
Can; .i.rn
of ilinctil
nss< ion]
AHtrn.0 XegriM]
a Member of Phl|
ftMrnlty.
I ^i mport beijieil found, and
plajfcl an important role in tli-j
devji w> i t of, tbe Alamo Basket
which developed into
fthietlc association,
toll, l|||i' ir""T"" —_ „ .... __
m North rnmiiTm, VnZmnfS*
AiiWuio Wto A charter 1 um, Wilcy Marshall, Tex-
14, his counsel ' a8m
vigorouf efforts played fl very! +
irtant part in its developing ~~
Vthe powerful youth movement
org*iIzation that it now is.
II also was one of the group
thai founded tltf clr aiber of com-j
me'1 e, and again his straight
thiii ing and ability helped mal
in
Week
Man, Woman Work Old
Racket for Grand
Total of $153.85
A Pair of audacious pigeon droppers—a man and U woman—
striking suddenly, brazenly and very effectively, found
San Antonio a most lucrative field, during the past week, and
very deftly relieved three different San Antonio housewives
of substantial sums of money—in one instance $39, the sec-
ond, $21.85, and the third $93.
For a few days "work" the pair realized a total of
At St. Philip's
KOBERT
HAVES-
ember of the Sf.n |.okt, SK„ widely known public
iitUe Hi eat re, ami school instructor, dramatist, and
Heta Sigma energetic civic worker, who sue
cumbed, Monday afternoon, April
24, to an illness of nearly a year. |
A native of Orange, New Jersey,
he had lived in San Antonio since
1026, when he was appointed to a
position in the public school sys-
tem. lie bad previously tauglil
; (See DAVEN? ORT, Page 5.)
By The Asiorlntea frejfro Prrt>.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—A crowd
of .1,000 motorcycle race enthus-
iasts was i>eriled at Tuesday's
races near East Lake, when Do
melius Wood, colored, of Zion City,
attending the event with his wife,
suddenly went berserk, drew his
revolver, and began shooting at
everyone in sight.
llit by tbe first shot was Mrs.
Vivian Rogers who was wounded
slightly in the left arm. The rest
of Wood's fusillade luckily went
wild. An ho walked calmly into
the woods, city police, highway
patrolmen and sheriff's deputies,
hurriedly called, deployed, in an
effort to surround the gunman.
The fugitive was winged by Of-
ficer J. C. Hallard in the battle
that followed, and was hit again
by a bullet from another gun.
Finally, during a short lull,
Wood's wife walked up to him,
took his rifle, and surrendered
him to Deputy A. A. Wood, who
was nearest at the time. Rifle-
man Wood was then lodged in
County Jail.
BUK-OFF. Fife 4.)
WOMAN CUT
In an altercation, Sunday, April
23, Miss Klnr.i Johnson, 31, ef
1223 North OliTC Street, was out
in the hnck, at tbe Olive street
nddreeK, by a man whose Identity
she revealed to police. She wua
taken to the Robert B. Green
hospital In a private car. .
Congressman A. W.
Mitchell Appeals
Jim Crow Case
By The Asnoc:h:oi1 Negro Press
C III C A 11 0, III.—Congressman
Arthur W. Mitchell of Chicago's
First District this week continued
his fight against the Jim Crow
practices of railroads in Southern
states, when, through bis counsel,
Richard E. West brooks of Chicago,
he filed a petition on Thursday
in U. S. district court here.
The congressman sued the Rock
Island and Illinois Central rail-
roads nnd the Pullman company
for indignities suffered some
months ago when, en route from
Chicago to Hot Springs, Ark., he
was forced to leave the first-class
car and ride in the Jim Crow,
conch, desprte the fact he had a
first class ticket. Latest decision
in the cpse was an adverse ruling
by the Interstate Commerce com-
mission.
On Thursday, Attorney West-
Los Angeles Police Investigators Seek
Murderer in 'Sitting Corpse' Mystery
By The Associated Negro Press
| OS ANGELES, Cal.—His eyes wide-eyed with horror, C.
" E. Rose, motcrman on the Pacific Electric railway, bur-|!
ried to the Los Angeles Central police str.tion last Tuesday
with as weird nnd macabre a trie ns any ever penned by
Edgar Allen Poe.
He told the police and deputy sheriffs that just as his
heavy interurban car, speeding at more than a mile a minute,
More Are Lights,
Officer Secured
For Lincoln Park
curved into the Los Cerritos bridge
over the Los Angeles river bod,
he saw a man nnd a woman
sitting on the track ahead of him.
Although he whistled wildly, the
couple did not move, but the man
who seemed to be holding the
woman in a love embrace merely
gazed at the approaching jugger-
naut, while the motorman fruit-
lessly clamped down on his- air
brakes in an attempt to stop the
car in time.
Just before the car reached them,
the man released the woman,
leaped to safety, and disappeared
in the heavy thicket in the nearly
dry Los Angeles river bed. The
cowcatcher struck the woman's
body, hurling it high in the air
and over into the river bed be-
low. Crew and passengers hur-
ried to the broken nnd mangled
body which seemed to have met
instantaneous death. She was .seen
to be a light eomplexioned colored
wonKin about 45 years of age, but
no marks of Identification
r clothing. The trainmen
at first satisfied to believe
their car had struck and
her and expressed deep
wit
oil
w<r.
tbn
kil
r«£
J: "t to tin .surprise of witnesses,
po!. c investigators and attaches
of he coroner's office declared
thfi' she undoubtedly was already
det<: when hit. They said that
the nan seen sitting with her was
he; her upright In a sitting
ion. until the train could
orr i into the body and mangle
it Ik-.voiuI recognition. If .the
an ; \v established the approxi
n a!i' time of her death, they stated
th' would have something to
bui uiK>n in order to reconstruct
Mr crime and track down til?
mil. erer. They said ther© is a
Lility that the man may have
hauled the body to the bridge in
tin early morning from Carson
dr. \ t, a mile away, the nearest
habitation to the spot of the
ay- . r.v.
Officer on Duty Mondays,
Thursdays, Sundays;
Dark Spots Get Light
Officials of the Alamo Athletic
association announced, this week,
that, after many weeks of effort,
they had fiiuttiy been successful
in securing the promise of Im-
mediate installation of much-need-
ed arc lights for Lincoln park,
and had also secured the services
of a uniformed policeman for the
park for three nights of the week.
Conduct and actions of certain
persons in the unlighted spots of
the park liuve, for many years,
been the subject of bitter criticism
and condemnation, with many pat-
ents being reluct nnt to permit
their children to frequent the park.
Since the AAA's summer program
will be centered, for the most part,
in Lincoln park, it has tried to
have corrected these evils of many
years' standing. Park Commis-
sioner Iiublola positively assured
the association, this week, that
additional lights would l e installed,
giving more light to the entire
park. Electricians have already
DR. JOHN B. WATSON, pres
ident of Arkansas State college,
widely known educator and public
figure, who will b< the principal
speaker at the forty-first an-
niversary exercises of St. Philip's
Junior college, on Sunday, April
30.
The St. Philip's vested choir wi 1
offer, on the program, "Pilgrim's
Chorus" from Wagner's "Tarn,
ha user" and Mendelssohn's "Lift
Thine Eyes."
Woman. Walking
With Children, is
Run Down by Cai
(See PARK, Page 5.)
BrotlierhoodHcad
Spends Five Days
In San Antonio
Say Garner's Absence from Anderson
Recital May Cost Him Presidency
WASHINGTON, D. C.—In their syndicated column, "Wash-
" ington Merry-Go-Bound'' Sew Pearson and Robert S.
Allen assert, "the fact that Viec President Garner failed to
littend the Marian Anderson concert before the Lincoln
Memorial, or even to acknowledge the invitation, may ruin
his chances for the presidency."
The section of the coltmui dealing' with this topic is
(See APPEALS, P ge 5.)
entitled "Garner and NVfrroeV
nnd follows In full:
Garner and Negroes
UttU things cometlmc«
swing the tide of political
• events. In 1010 It was Charles
Evans Hughes' failure to
shake liands with Hlrnra John-
son In California that prob-
ably lost him the election to
Woodrow Wilson. And toda/
tile fact that Vice President
tiariiir failed to attend the
>l,ilirtu Anderson concert be-
fore the Lincoln Memorial, or
■ even to acknowledge the in-
! vitation, may run his chances
| for the Presidency.
Tiic colored vote can swing
Uu election one way or the
(See SAvTiate J.) . :
A. Philip Randolph, Interna-
tional president, and Milton P.
Webster, first vice president, of
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters, spent five very busy days
in San Antonio, last week, con
ferring with local train porter',
discussing their special problems
and in the interest of affiliating
the porters with the brotherhood
The American Federation o{
Labor, in its executive council
meeting in Miami, Florida, last
February, granted tbe brotherhood
full jurisdiction over all train
porters and colored brakemen.
Last week's conference v as
pronounced highly successful and
interesting. Nealon L. Flaggs is
the president of the San Antonio
division of the brotherhood.
Mrs. Ethel Williams, 33, of 1520
North Hackberry Street, was pain
fully injured, early Sunday eve
nlng, when she was run down bv
an automobile in the 1400 block
of North Hackberry street.
The auto victim was walking
in the street—there being no side
walk—with her two-year old daugh-
ter, Freddie Jean; Gloria Pumas,
11; and Jeanette Roscoe, 8, the
quartet being en route home from
a nearby cafe where some pur-
chases had been made. Jeanette
was knocked down and slightly
injured. Mrs. Williams was u:i
able to give any details of what
happened, declaring that' all she
knew was that she was walk ins
down the street, with the next
thing she remembered bring her
waking up in the hospital.
Mrs. Williams .suffered a wrench-
ed shoulder; cut on her right arm
between shoulder and elbow, with
the elbow badly lacerated and
bruised; lacerated right leg, injury 4 . *
to the right side of her forohen i. 8t°™ ,Mb,'.rB
and abrasions on right side nf her
face suffered when she slid on
the ground after being lilt.
She was carried to the Robert
H. Greeu hospital in a Cart r
ambulance.
ARREST 11 YEAR-OLD BOY
An eleven year old boy, whose
address wes listed as being in the
.'WO block of North Olive street
was arrested Monday, April 24,
accused fcf stealing a bicycle. Tii?
lad was remanded to the county
Jail as • juvenile delinquent
she had planned to pay a bill. Ai
she turned to enter the store, th*i
unknown little woman suddenly ex-
claimed that she had just seen a
men ahead pick up a purse th it
a white pedestrian had dropped..
"Let's make him divide wiili
us!"' declared the little woman.
Confronted, the man feigned feor
at threat of being exposed, and
consented to divide.
Again it was the little woman
who looked into the pocketbook.
—snd all that the coup'o
did was stage a nice act, talis
convincingly, and promise some-
thing for nothing. This old, old
confidence gauie has been worked
for years, hundreds of times, hore,
there, and everywhere, but, obvi-
ously, it. stills pays off with div-
idends—while it lasts.
From descriptions by the hood-
winked victims, the same pair has
accomplished all three bunkos, and
has successfully eluded the police,
fcut the "con" team bas u most
annoying habit ot appearing where
cash—that can be tteparatal lru*.a
righifal owu«r —uakes an
pearnnce.
The First
Mis« Aatiie Bell Montgomery,
200 Fretkfiiia Street, was the first
reported fleeced. Wednesday,
April 10, Vtween St. Mary's a'i«l
Soledad streets, a "little" woman
—a stranger to Miss Montgomery
—engaged her in conversation. Sud-
denly the strange little woman ank-
ed Miss Montgomery if she had
man, Immediately ahead
them, and walking in the same
direction, pick up a purse, and sug-
gested that Miss Montgomery a>k
him what was in it. When ques-
tioned, the man furtively hamlet
the purse to the little woman, who
opened it, and. looking at it
quickly and hurriedly, exclaimed
that there was a $1(H) bill in it.
The iiiiin said that he would take
it to the office where he worked
and count the pocketbook's con-
tents. In about ten minutes, he
returned, declaring the pocketbook
contained and some checks.
He offered to divide the money
three ways. ?l;(Xi to each—on the
condition that each produce $110
to assure him that, the "found"
money would not be used for at
least a month.
Miss Montgomery — who had
only $21.50 with her—rode home
in a taxi. got. her bank book, and
withdrew $li . The little woni'.u
produced her own "guarantee"
money, and received her "share"
of the "find". The man took the
$.'59 proffered by Miss Montgomery,
and iie ctnd the woman went "to
make change" so that Miss Mont-
gomery could get her share. They
told her to wait.
After waiting ;.bout four hours,
slve decided she had waited long
enough. It proved to be too long,
for no trace of the pair could oc
found.
Number Two
Th.1 very next day, Thursday.
April 20, Mrs. Eliza Harrison, iM)7
Ruiz Alley, fell prey to the old,
old gag, losing $21.85. She wag
approached in a downtown bank
by an unknown, little woman, wba
engaged her in conversation. Wh?u
the woman promised Mrs. Harri-
son a job with a well-to-do white
family, the hitter's curiosity was
aroused, and the two continued
to converse, as Mrs. Harrison
I
(S~ FLEECES, 1-ac* i.)
fe
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Andrews, U. J. San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1939, newspaper, April 28, 1939; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398388/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.