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VOLUME 2, NUMBER 6 JACKSON, MISS., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1941 PRICE FIVE CENTS Rags To Riches Story Comes True! Poverty-Stricken Kansas Brothers Overnight Are Made Millionaires .. KANSAS CITY, Kan.—(ANP)—The vast oil fortune fitted from the rocky acre land allotment and $7,413,- , . 'n cash of p.n illiterate Creek Indian woman was awarded l Friday to a Claremore, Okla.. Indian widow and two pachTTig plant workers here. The ruling of District Judge C. (). Reavers o7 Sapulpa that the fortune of the deceased Lete j Kolvin, Indian woman to whom the land was originally al- j letted, should go to Ozora Alexander Lete, 65-year-old half j sister of Mrs. Kolvin; Willie Mayw.eather, If’, and Floyd May weather, 37, brothers, climaxed a 10 year lawsuit. The May weather brothers, packing plant employes T|ere, t wetre nephews of Joe Stephens. Lete’s late Negro husband. I The brothers and half sister will share equally in the money and property, which consists of 15 oil wells, shops and ma- i Came To Aid S. C. Bulldogs Inspiration was given the South Carolina Bulldogs when they *net Clark College’s fighting Panthers in Atlanta Saturday by this charming young lady, Miss Frances Simkins of Columbia, S. C., who is “Miss S. C. State” this year. A junior, she is majoring in home economics and is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority (Photo by E. C. Jones.) Admit Only Few Negroes Hired LOS ANGELES—(ANP)—Defense industry person nel chiefs Tuesday testified that no racial barriers exist at their plants but admitted that only a decimal percentage of “minority races” are on their payrolls. The testimony was given at the first day’s session of the committee appointed by President Roosevelt to inves tigate charges of racial discrimination in the hiring of workers for national defense industries. Two Thousand Expected At Big Carnival Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1st, Jackson College will turn aside the two big days and nights of fun A la Carnival Style. Mr. T. B. Ellis, Jr., director of Physical Education and Recreation, and chairman of the Carnival Com mittee, has worked out some most unusual plans for a very successful affair. The President, Faculty Mem bers and students have given gen erously of their time and experi ence so that this carnival will be the biggest event of the fall season. Mr. Ellis states that there will be over two hundred prizes given away during th© two nights. The prizes were very graciously given by mer chants, businesses, and friends of the city, in order to help this bene fit affair. The prizes will be dis tributed as awards in skill, luck and prowess in Bingo, Archery, Shoot ing, dancing, Bridge, Ping Pong, Dart Throwing, Ring Pitching, Fish Pond, Guessing Games, and many other activities of fun and laughter. The admission to the grounds and buildings is free. Admission to events 3c, 5c, 10c, and 15c. Two of the feature attractions of the Car nival will be a Ministrel Show and a Child’s Circus. The Circus will be prepared for presentation by Mrs. Marie Young, daughter of the late Col. Charles Young, and a genius at getting the maximum out of children. Professor AS M Love lace and Miss Gladys O. Shirley will manage the Minstrel. Both (Continued on Back Page) Personnel officers of aircraft and shipbuilding stands accounted for the scarcity of Negro workers on their payrolls in several ways One executive said his company hired through union hiring halls and that no Negroes were sent when his company called for men. Another testified that white workmen had threatened to go on (Continued on Back Page) (Continued on Back Page) AFL Branded As Anti-Negro LOS ANGELES—(ANP)—“We don’t discriminate. ”We have never discriminated. “We are complying with the presi dent’s executive order. “We intend to continue compli ance with the president’s executive order.” Those statements, repeated over and over again before the Pair Employment Practice committee ap pointed by President Roosevelt and holding hearings Monday and Tues day at Embassy hall, were the stock in trade answers of local industrialists to charge that they had barred or were barring Negroes from employment in the r plants. They were made b Vultee, which does not have a single Ne gro worker at its Downey plant and with as much emphasis as by Douglass, another aircraft concern, which does have 10 Negroes working in various capacities. They were made with no less assurance and aplomb by Consolidated air craft of San Diego which has em ployed a large number of janitors within the past few months. Not overly impressed with the pat answers were Committee Mem bers Mark Etheridge, publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal; At torney Earl B Dickerson of Chi cago, David Sarnoff, head of RCA; M E Webster, Pullman Porter official; John Brophy of the CIO and John Fenton, representing the AFL In fact Mr. Dickerson, who did a brilliant job of cross examination for the committee, forced some of the self whitewashed industrialists’ (Continued on Back Page) * chinery which produced the wealth. TO BE PAID IN CASH Judge Beavers ordered the Sinclair and Minnehoma oil companies, who were contesting the suit, to pay the three cash sum for royalties and interest on oil and gas produced from the land since 1915. Testimony brought out at the hearing revealed that Lete Kolvin and Joe Stephens married a year before she received her land allotment. They lived on the land until 1906 when it was leased out for farming pur poses. The lease was renewed in 1911 for five more years. In 1915, the lessee sold his lease to two oil drilling com panies for $600 and oil was discover'd. The drilling com panies assigned the lease to Sinclair and Minnehoma com panies. In 1916, when the lease expired, Lete Kolvin began efforts to regain possession of the land. After her death in 1930 and her husband’s death in 1931, the Mayweathers and Anderson Stevens, filed suit against the oil companies charging them with taking oil from the property without authority. While the suit was pending, Anderson Stevens died. Attorneys estimated the total value of the estate to be between 10 and 15 million dollars. The oil companies were also ordered to surrender control of the land, located be tween Dumright and Oilton, a gasoline plant, and 15 pro ducing wells. TOLD OF GOOD FORTUNE Willie and Floyd, both employed at Swift & Company plant here, were called from the jobs to the company’s of fice and apprised of their inheritance. Willie works in the sweet pickled pork department at 70 cents an hour. Floyd works in the specialty room of the freezing department, re ceiving 75 cents an hour. Both were struck speechless at their good fortune. Wil lie grinned and said “I guess I’d like to buy a ranch in Kan sas and raise cattle. I want to hold on to my money.” His brother, Floyd, decided he wanted a chicken ranch, but then thought of the inheritance tax. Floyd said, “Of course, Uncle Sam’ll get most of it. He’ll build himself a lot of tanks with our taxes, all right.” (Continued on Back Page) CONFERENCE OF LEADERS URGED Call Sent To 7 Organizations NEW YORK CITY— (SNS)— Officers of seven national organizations concerned with the welfare of Negroes have been asked by the National Urban League to join in a Na tional Coordinating Conference on Negro Security. A letter signed by Hubert T. Delany, Executive Board member of the National Urban League, and Lester B. Granger, Assist ant Executive Secretary, was addressed last week to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People the National Bar Association, the National Medical AsiatUm the Nation^ Dental Association, the National Hospital Association, the National Negro Eusiness League and the National Association of Color ed Graduate Nurses. The Associated Negro Press was ' also invited to participate, in re cognition of the vital services that Negro newspapers render to the cause of racial advancement. The League’s invitation pointed out that “established organizations working toward the welfare of Ne groes have become convinced that there is need for more effective coordination among them. The need is all the more urgent be cause of the recent national deve lopments affecting the interests of Negroes and other groups in the American population.” Pointing out that the organiza tions listed in the invitation “have carried on distinctive programs of vital importance to the race”, the League officers declared that there is frequently “unnecessary dupli cation of effort or lack of effective cooperation among these organiza tions, operating to the disadvan tage of all programs. MIGHT INCLUDE OTHERS The letter' suggested that the meeting might also include repre sentatives of national civic organi zations whose leaders should bet ter understand what programs are being parried on for racial im provement and how those programs operate. The invitation emphasized that in holding the conference, there is no doubt of creating any new agency or super-organized, but that the emphasis would be on strengthening existing' programs NEWS IN BRIEF ARKANSAS MURDERER ARRESTED HERE RAYMOND, Miss.—Wanted for the murder of his common-law wife, whom he is alleged to have beaten to death with an axe, on October 18th, in West Mempliis, Arkansas, Ben Hunt, 28, was ar rested here Saturday by Sheriff officers under the direction of Deputy A C. Crawford. According to reports Hunt had been hiding out in the Raymond (Continued on Back Page) Alcorn College Host To Big Nutrition Conference ALCORN, Miss.—With approxi mately 200 men and wromen in attendance, a state-wide nutrition conference was held at Alcorn A. and M. College on October 25. Dr. M. M. Hubert, district agent, Cooperative Extension Work, Jack son. Mississippi, presided over the (Continued on Back Page) Pike County Murderer Given Electric Chair McCOMB, Miss.—Judge J. S. Guynes, presiding over the Pike County Circuit Court, sentenced Lee Kinney to die in the electric chair for the murder of O. A. Allen, whom tog stabbed to death here early last year. In his testimony, Kinney claimed that he stabbed his victim only once and that a woman whom he (Continued on Back Page) Ferguson Furniture CompanyBuysValue Property For Store The officials of the Ferguson Furniture Company, located at the corner of Amite and Farish Streets, announced the purchase during last week of the valuable property at the Corner of North Farish and Amite Streets, now occupied by Hunt and Whitaker. According to a statement by the management of the Furniture Store, as soon as the building is vacated that a credit clothing store will be opened by Ferguson Furniture Store, where a credit arrangement (Continued on Back Page) Five Of 17 Dead In Bus Crash Negroes Probing Coast Job Jim-Crow LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Above a fedtffal com mittee appointed by President Roosevelt is shown opening a hearing on alleged race discrimination in defenses. The committee, at the table, are (left to right): Frank Fenton, AFL; John Brophy, CIO; Earl Dickerson, Chicago; Chairman Mark Etheridge, Louisville; Milton Webster, Chicago and David Sar noff, of New York. (Acme photo) President Asked To Direct Prosecution Of Troopers HEW YORK —(SMS)— Presi dent Roosevelt lias been asked to settle the dispute between the War Department and the Department of Justice over jurisdiction in pros ecuting Arkansas State Troopers who threatened and insulted mem bers of the 94th Engineers divi sion last August 10, and slapped Lieutenant Donald Curry, ari offi cer in command. In -a letter to the Chief Execu tive Friday, October 24, the Nation al Association i'or the Advance | ment of Colored People declared: “There seems to be no dispute ! as to the facts that a crime has been committed. If it is true that the state troopers were deputized by the military authorities and if they acted as military police they they ciolated the Articles of War, especially Section 1536 of Title 10 of the United States Code. “Regardless of whether the state troopers were deputized or not,” the NAACP said, “they violated Section 54 of Title 18 of the United Illiterate Registrants To Be Trained ATHENS, Ga.—(SNS)—A school for colored Selective Service registrants who cannot read or write, believed the first of its kind in the state, has been started here. Classes are held nightly except Saturdays. Hundreds of registrants throughout the state are unable Jto read or write. Louis Resting Up Before Army Induction LOS ANGELES—(SNS)—Here with his wife for a va cation, Joe Louis said he wanted to “rest up*’ before his in duction into the army possibly on November 24, but he made it known he does not have any intention of retiring from the ring as yet. Army life will be all right,” he declared. “‘It will keep me in shape,” Commander In Chief Needed To Settle Dispute States Code which provides: “If two or more persons in any State, Territory, or District con spire to prevent, by force, intimid ation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of confidence under the United States, or from disharg ing any duties thereof; or to in duce by like means any officer of the United States to luavc any State, Territory, District or place, where his duties as an officer are required to be performed, or to injure him in his person or proper ty on account of his lawful dis charge of the duties of his office, or while engaged In the lawful discharge thereof, or to injure his property so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in the dis charge of his official duties, each of such persons shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than six years, or both.” The Association pointed out that failure by officails to take affirm ative action when Negroes had been victims of previous unprovoked as saults gave courage to the people -k*-—-. (Continued on Back Page) Relatives Rush To Clanton To Identify Dead Believe Cause Of Wreck Sealed With Deceased Driver CLANTON. Ala.—(SNS>—Toll of the bus crash and fire here Sunday night rose to 17 Tuesday with the death of Private Otis Lunsford, 28, white. He died of burns suffered when the bus burst into flames after crashing in to a bridge. Three colored residents of Bir mingham escaped with slight burns They were listed as Mr. and Mrs. Sam Terry and Robert Taylor. H. F. Townsend, Greyhound manager in Birmingham, said five women and one man remained un identified in funeral homes here. He listed the other known dead as Doc Alexander McKinney, Argo: Amanda Truly, address unknown. W. P. Alton, 23, the driver, Bir mingham; Mary Eleanor Finney 24, Buffalo, Ala.; Mrs. Clyde Ken nedy, 21, Birmingham; William D Davis, 17, Troy, Ala. CCC enrollee; Alonzo Renfro, 18, Banks, Ala. CCC enrolle; Alton E. Yates 17, Union Springs, Ala.; CCC enrollee D. L. Matthews, 39, Birmingham: Mrs. Minnie Tucker, 50, Birming ham; Walter W. Jackson, 19, Bir mingham, and William F. Penn, 18. CCC enrollee from Ensley, Ala. There was no indication as to what caused the crash, the Grey hound manager said. Witnesses were quick to praise W P. Alton. Birmingham. substitute for the regular driver on the Mont gomery-Birmingham, run who gave his life in a vain attempt to i ave his passengers. Alton died Monday In a hospital of burns he suffered Sunday night when he re-entered the fiery bus to save those trapped inside. The bus driven by Alton struck the concrete railing of a bridge four miles south of here. Almost instantly, it vas a mass of flames. The blaze w is visible for several miles. FIRE BEFORE CRASH Mack Stephens, International News Service writer, lives near the scene of the accident and was one of the first to reach the blazing vehicle. He quoted the bus driver as saying the bus was afire before (Continued on Back Page) JOSHUA JONES By I. P. Reynolds Brother Bell says a stoat heart can’t go far on weak knees.