The Negro Laborer: A Word to Him

XVII. Well Done.

What has been done by the Negro since his emancipation to make himself an industrious, christian citizen? How well is he meeting the expectations of his friends? How successfully has he defeated the prophecies of his enemies? How is he working out his destiny? Go to the farms and the work-shops—go examine the tax-books of the country—go see the million colored boys and girls attending the industrial and other schools of the South—go count the hundreds of magnificent temples, all over the land, erected to God—go ask good men, who have informed themselves on the Negro question—go read the history of the industrial civilization of the last quarter century, and the answer will be, WELL DONE. There have been many discouragements—there have been many days as dark as the brow of midnight—as black as the curtains of hell—yet scintillations of Hope ever shot forth from the altars of religion and patriotism, which are bursting into refulgent light and heat to chase away the shadows, dispel the mist, disperse the clouds, and drive all animosities into the Red Sea of fraternal love. The asps which dropped from the head of the Medusa of slavery, are being driven out by the good St. Patrick of mutual interests and fellow-feeling. We are treading upon new ground, without the lamp of experience, or the lessons of history, to guide our feet. The conditions surrounding the races of the South are new problems in the political annals of the human family. The solution is proceeding according to the rules of Providence. Only the Negro and white man of the South can handle the crayon. External intermeddling can be productive of no good. The races of the South, alone, are responsible to God—amenable to the generations of the future for the figures and calculations which are being made upon the slate of southern development. It is true that we have had our Copiahs, Carrolltons and Danvilles, but the great wonder is that these conflicts have been so few, and so small. It is a marvel that the races have maintained such amicable relations, when the former conditions and the bitterness engendered by the change of those conditions are taken into consideration. It has required the exercise of profound wisdom, great foresight, and almost supernatural patience on the part of both races to bring us where we are with such propitious environments.

A Western paper says: "The negroes of the South are rapidly solving their own problem by their religious and educational progress since their freedom. In view of the ignorance, superstition and degradation that enthralled them, we do not believe any other race on the globe has ever made more rapid progress than this people in the twenty-two years of their emancipation."

The People's Advocate, whose able editor is worthy authority upon Negro statistics, says: "The close of the first century of the constitution finds us after a record of twenty years, fourteen men having been in congress, a thousand men in state legislatures; to-day with 16,086 schools, 1,030,463 pupils, 22,183 in normal and high schools, academies and colleges, 1,900 studying theology, 100 reading law, 150 studying medicine; pay taxes on $150,000,000, and fully two millions are invested in business."

XVIII. Conclusion.

When a young man, just arrived at majority, leaps beyond parental control, into the wide world of personal responsibility, it is true that his immunities are greater, but his cares have increased also. So the Negro, being clad in the habiliments of freedom, steps out of the tomb of thralldom into liberty and citizenship. But his responsibilities are in proportion to his new liberties. He has graver cares and more arduous duties than when he rose and retired at the sounding of the overseer's horn. He must look at these duties to himself, his family, his neighbor, his state and his God, calmly and in the new light which must accompany freedom in order that it may be permanent. Freedom is a contradictory term. It is a deceptive word. There is no absolute freedom in civilized society. Among civilized people freedom means restraint—restriction. The farther man is removed from barbarism, the less freedom he has, and the greater the curb and restraint upon his conduct. Obedience to law and a regard for the general interests of society are fetters stronger than the chains which bound Prometheus to the mountain rocks. When a citizen throws off this restraint, he ceases to be a healthful factor in the state. As long as the great Mississippi River is held in restraint by its banks, it floats upon its bosom the commerce of our nation, carrying joy and comfort into millions of homes. But if the great Father of Waters leaps beyond the lawful bounds he becomes harmful and destructive; or if we remove the curbs and permit the water to flow as it will, we could no longer derive the least benefit from this grandest stream in North America.

I have spoken as I think the interests of labor demand, without appealing to the prejudices or caprices of the laborer. I have endeavored to be candid, as I am sincere. I know that men, generally, do not like statements which differ from their views, though such statements be the embodiment of truth and virtue. I know, also, that the common ear leans to the titillations of flattery, however illogical and damaging.

The Negro is here to stay. He is a citizen according to forms of law. He must be, and can be, according to the light of the nineteenth century civilization. Let the past be as oblivious as the contents of an ante-deluvian reliquary. Turn the eye and the effort to the living present, and the rising sun of the future, which shall make his course across the skies of the nations, to the adjustment of all difficulties and the guidance of mankind up the broad plains of highest christian development, and the Negro shall be thrifty, intelligent, honest and faithful in all things.

USEFUL INFORMATION.

Negro Vital Statistics.

It is a fact that the death rate among the colored people of the United States is greater since than before the war, and that it is far in excess of the white race, often doubling it.

Consumption and pneumonia are the diseases which are mowing down the ranks of our colored population. "In Charleston, S. C., the number of deaths from consumption for 1882-5 were 830 colored to 234 white; Memphis, Tenn., 471 colored to 323 white; Savannah, Ga., 391 colored to 212 white; Nashville, Tenn., 330 colored to 232 white. The mortality from pneumonia for the same period stands: Charleston, S. C., 219 colored to 85 white; Memphis, Tenn., 262 colored to 159 white; Savannah, Ga., 166 colored to 60 white; Nashville, Tenn., 155 colored to 100 white. The difference is also excessive in heart diseases, dropsy, scrofula, venereal diseases, and, when prevalent, from small-pox."

"In Savannah, Ga., in 1885, 7 whites and 114 blacks died without having a physician in attendance; in 1883, 6 whites and 145 blacks. Moreover, the fact should not be ignored that numbers of negroes are also the victims of empiricism and experiment. Some poor negroes are undoubtedly sacrificed for the benefit of science." This is the case all over the country.

Scrofula is said to be more fatal to mulattoes than to Negroes, and more deadly to both than to whites. It is seven times greater among colored than whites.

I believe, also, that the prevalence of scrofula among the Negroes is promoted by the immense quantities of meat consumed by them, to the exclusion of a sufficient quantity of vegetable food. I am led to this conclusion for two reasons: firstly, so far as I have been able to ascertain, scrofula is rarely found among the native Africans, whose diet is purely vegetable; seldom do they eat meat. Again, from a recent medical journal, I learn that the Esquimaux, whose diet is exclusively meat, usually die between the ages of 30 and 45, and among them scrofula is exceedingly prevalent.—Conrad.

The number of still births is greater among colored than whites. This is due to many causes. Among them exposure of the mother, poor living, and lack of attention during the period of gestation.

Huntsville, situated in Northern Alabama, is renowned as a healthful place. The colored people thereabouts are in fair circumstances. The death rate for the part of the year 1887 to November 1, reveals a startling disparity between the races: There were 42 deaths among the whites and 98 among the colored; 4 whites and 13 colored died of consumption; still born, 1 white and 6 colored. The colored death rate is 39 per 1000, allowing the colored population to be 3000. But it must be remembered that the winter of 1886-7 was the severest for nearly a half century.

"But the greatest disparity in the death rates of the two races is the number of deaths under five years. Here there is, indeed, in the negro race, a woful 'slaughter of the innocents.' The death rate of Negro children is always more than double that of the white, and from that to even four times as great." May not the unskillful midwife have much of this laid at her door?

A well informed writer says: "More than half of the deaths under five years among Negro children, is caused by trismus nascentium.[A] To well-meaning but ignorant old women can be laid this 'slaughter in hecatombs' of children. Unwholesome food also has much to do with the deaths of infants and children, especially in summer. There is a woful need of training schools to educate nurses, and similar institutions throughout the South. Skilled female physicians (colored) are peculiarly fitted for lessening this infant mortality."

Another strange thing with regard to Negro statistics is, that more women than men become nonagenarians. With the whites it is the reverse; more single males than single females die; more widows than widowers die; more females than males die of consumption; more males than females die of pneumonia. The cause of some of these facts is plain.

Only one Negro in 1,037 becomes insane, while one in every 434 whites, according to good authority.

A writer in The Sanitarian for June, 1887, says that many deaths among the Negroes are caused by indifference to personal cleanliness and medical attention—many dying without applying for medical aid. The same writer gives the following:

"In the following table is given the total death-rate per 1000, and also the death-rate under five years of age, in Charleston, S. C., Savannah, Ga., Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., for the years 1883-85. The upper figures give the white rate and the next the colored:

"The per cent. of increase for the total population from 1870 to 1880 was 30.08—white, 29.30; black, 34.67. To show the relative increase between the two races at the South, I take from the last official census the three Southern States—Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi—which may be accepted as a fair criterion for the rest of the South. Rate of increase in these, taken as one State—white, 23.90; black, 33 per cent. It is still more apparent, in South Carolina, because it is less affected by immigration from other States, and shows more accurately the natural increase. There it is 45.33 for the blacks, and for the white population, 35 per cent."

Comment on Negro Vital Statistics.

The foregoing facts are very startling and should arouse every intelligent Negro and every friend to the race, to devise a way by which this awful wave of death shall be checked. The history of all civilizations presents seeming unaccountable vital statistics. All races passing into civilization have increase in both birth and death rates. But the case of the Negro in the United States is one deserving profound study. It presents many seeming contrarieties, hardly met elsewhere. The question naturally arises, What shall be done to check this harvest of death? Begin in the school room. Teach the children sound sanitary principles. Begin in the pulpit. Let the minister constantly call attention to this matter and advise a way out of it. Begin the work in all the societies of the race. Establish and maintain schools for nurses and to teach the general principles of housekeeping. The demand is great for competent colored male and female physicians—especially female, as the work must be largely among the women of the race. An organization for the promotion of the sanitary condition of the Negro should be started, and its work vigorously prosecuted. They must be induced to seek better houses, better clothing, better food, and have better care of their bodies. I have known men who would get up every rainy night in the year, and pull their beds from under a leak in the roof, or who would lay abed and the wife set pans and buckets on them to catch the water, rather than bestir themselves two hours in patching the roof. Then I have seen some handsome looking women, most handsomely attired in beautiful white dresses or costly cloaks, hats and feathers, and I have often wondered where they would find a decent place in their homes for those articles when they returned from their perambulations or from the church or party. The old root doctor must be driven out by the lash of the law.

The idea, advanced by some writers, of shutting the Negro up in the lower valley of the Mississippi, or his natural tendency in that direction, is narrow and illogical. Why should the Negro huddle there? I confess that a large per cent. may forever remain there, but there is no natural or legal reason for assigning the Negro any particular locality in this cosmopolitan Republic. Driving him to the unhealthful localities of certain cities is the cause of much of this unnatural death rate. God has made man to inhabit any part of this great globe, and there is no part of it in which any race can not live, though it may require generations for adaptation and acclimatement. For monetary reasons I would be glad if the Negro would not only own that whole region, but monopolize its staple production, as I have before said. But at present there is not the slightest drift in that direction.

General Vital Statistics.

From 53 to 85 per cent. of the population marry under the age of 30 years. The per cent. is lowest among rich, and highest among poor families.

Men marry at a later period than women. The average age for men is 27 9-10, for women 25 7-10 years.

There is no reason why children should die, except it be found in the violation of the laws of nature, by foreparents.

Carpenters and country laborers live longer than any other laborers.

The average life, after the commencement of intemperate habits, is 21 7-10 years for beer drinkers, 16 6-10 for spirituous liquor drinkers. It is thus seen that distilled liquors are most dangerous.

It is shown that the death rate among soldiers, even though they are well provided for and remaining in barracks, is enormous. It far surpasses civilians. Lung diseases and cholera are twice as fatal to soldiers as to civilians. This large death rate among soldiers is due to overcrowded barracks, sameness of diet, and want of healthful exercise. The mortality in the navy is nearly double that in the merchant service—all being of disease.

Mortality is affected by population, location and climate.

It is a mistaken notion that mild winters are fatal to human life. Extremes are always harmful.

Sanitary and Medical.

All dwellings should be well lighted and ventilated.

Never stop up your grate or fire place in summer.

In and around all dwellings should be kept clean, and lime should be freely used.

Do not crowd people in a room, for lung troubles will surely follow. Each person requires a certain quantity of fresh air per minute, and too many persons in the same room will cut off this necessary supply.

Take all of the out door exercise you can get, and stay as much amid the wholesome air of the country as you can.

Do not buy cheap food, because it is cheap, but always have an eye to quality. Musty meal, tainted meat and other half decayed and decaying food have carried many a person to a premature grave.

Be careful about your drinking water. Use that of the best wells and springs. Never use water which has stood over night in a bed room. It is so much poison.

See that your food is properly prepared, as health depends largely upon the observance of this rule. Boiled, stewed or roasted food is always preferable to fried. Have plenty of vegetable food, and as little animal as possible.

All bed rooms and bed clothing should be constantly thoroughly aired, whether used or not. So should parlors.

Let some member of the family thoroughly post himself on all matters pertaining to buying and cooking food, the laws of health, &c. In fact these things should be discussed daily in the family that all may understand them.

The meal hours should be the jolliest of the day. All at the table should combine in jest and joke, as well as in giving valuable suggestions and information. The children should take part also.

You can not be too careful about your dress. Have respect more for comfort than for fashion. Teach your children this principle, and it will not be long before finger and earrings, dangling chains, bracelets, and such other relics of barbarity will be thrust aside by common sense. The lowest savage bedecks his person with trinkets and gewgaws.

The average festival and night meeting where people huddle together are fruitful of disease. The inhaling of this bad air is equal to a serpent's bite.

Carry method into your life and home. Have hours of prayer, reading, sleeping, conversation, writing, working, &c.

More people die of want of sunlight and pure air than of any other cause, even war.

When a person's clothes catch fire, smother the fire with blankets or clothing.

From a few drops to a teaspoonful of coal oil is a splendid remedy for croup, colds in the breast and like complaints. Saturate sugar with the oil and it is easily taken.

A weak gargle of salt and water is a good remedy for sore throat.

Colds in the head may be cured by bathing the feet in very hot water and wrapping them well. A little mustard added to the water will prove beneficial.

A teaspoonful, each, of salt and mustard in water will prove effectual where poison has been swallowed. It must be taken at once.

Dash water into the eye to remove dust. Don't rub the eye.

Burns and scalds may be relieved by dipping in cold water or flour.

If you are severely cut, tie a string tightly both below and above the wound until the doctor arrives.

Very ugly warts have been cured by small doses of sulphate of magnesia, or three grains of epsom salts taken morning and evening.

Mix 5 grains of carbolic acid and one ounce of glycerine. Rub the scalp thoroughly at night and wash out in the morning, and your worst case of dandruff will be cured.

Clean stoves when cold with any stove-polish mixed with alum water.

It is said that snuffing powdered borax up the nostrils will cure a catarrhal cold.

Ceilings that have been smoked by a kerosene lamp should be washed off with soda water.

Drain pipes and all places that are sour or impure may be cleansed with lime water or carbolic acid.

Strong lime may be used to advantage in washing bedsteads. Hot alum water is also good for this purpose.

Lemon juice and sugar, mixed very thick, is useful to relieve sore throat and coughs. It must be very acid as well as sweet.

To sweep carpets use wet newspapers wrung nearly dry and torn to pieces. The paper collects the dust but does not soil the carpet.

It is said if feather beds and pillows be left out in a drenching rain every spring and afterward exposed to the sun and air on every side until dry, they will be much freshened and lightened.

Medicine stains may be removed from silver spoons by rubbing them with a rag dipped in sulphuric acid and washing it off with soapsuds. Stains may be removed from the hands by washing them in cold water, to which a little sulphuric acid has been added; use no soap.

Some Noted Colored Women.

The Philadelphia Press, of last Sunday, contains the following concerning a few notable colored women of the country: Colored women have hardly had opportunity to do much that is sensational, but still there are several who have earned a solid reputation. The most prominent colored women in Washington, in the best sense of the word, are teachers—such women as Miss M. B. Briggs, professor of English in Howard University, a most talented woman; or Josephine T. Turpin, of the same school, who is a frequent contributor to newspapers; or Lucy Moten, who is the efficient principal of a big training school; or Mary Nalle, or Marian Shadd—all highly cultured women, respected and esteemed by those who know them. In the ranks of prominent colored women of Philadelphia, there is the skilled woman physician, Dr. Caroline V. Anderson. She is the daughter of William Still, a wealthy colored merchant, and a regular graduate of the medical department of Howard University, and enjoys a big practice. Then there is Mrs. Fancy Jackson Coppin, the lecturer, who devotes most of her time to the Institute for Colored Youth, and Mrs. Gertrude Mossell, who used to conduct the women's department on the New York Freeman, and who has written for the Philadelphia Press as well as for papers published in the interest of the Negro race. Mrs. Mossell is, also, a member of the Woman's National Press Association. Mrs. Frances E. W. Harper, the temperance lecturer and writer, has also been a resident of Philadelphia. Among colored women who have become more or less renowned in the arts and professions, must be mentioned Mrs. Nellie Brown-Mitchell. She is a musician with a mechanical turn of mind. She has invented and patented two or three appliances now in common use by musical instructors. Equally well known in another branch of the fine arts is Edmonia Lewis, the sculptor. She is an Afro-Indian, and was born in New York state, but now has her studio in Rome, where she has plenty of commissions and has done some fine work. "The Old Arrow-Maker and his Daughter," is one of her best known productions and is owned in England. Ida B. Wells—"Iola" whose suit for damages under the Mississippi laws for being forcibly thrust out of a passenger car in Memphis by three or four white men, brought her before the public a few years ago—is probably the best known of colored women journalists, and Mrs. M. E. Lambert, of Detroit, is a poetess of genius. There are two colored women in the ranks of the law, Miss Florence Ray, of Brooklyn, and Mrs. M. S. Cary, of Washington. There is at least one colored minister, the Rev. Mrs. Freeman, of Providence, and there has been one woman at the head of a newspaper published in the interest of Afro-Americans, Miss Carrie Bragg, who for sometime edited the Lancet at Petersburg, Va. Nor would it be difficult to pick out a dozen colored women in the country whose property in the aggregate might be expressed "on information and belief," by seven figures. In such a list would come the Gloucesters, the rich boarding house keepers of Brooklyn; Miss Amanda Eubanks, of Rome, Ga., whose white father left her $400,000; Mrs. Mary A. Wilson, a wealthy Florida woman; Mrs. Mary Pleasants, of San Francisco, who made something more than $35,000 in government bonds, owns a ranch and has some real estate; Mrs. James Thomas, of St. Louis, who is worth something like $300,000, and whose barber shop, the "Lindell," is the most luxuriant in the country, and Mrs. Catherine Blake, who owns the Kenmore Hotel at Albany, which is reputed worth $150,000. Miss Blake, a wealthy young colored woman of Nash, N. C., has taken the prize for the best production of cotton at all the State fairs, and several other Afro-American women with ample incomes are doing solid industrial work.—Chr. Recorder.

There are many noble women throughout the South who have done great work for the race, and whose names should be added to the above number. If Dr. Simmons, who wrote that excellent book, "Men of Mark," will get up a similar work of our "Women of Mark," he will find fully as much meritorious material among our women as he found among the men.