Rights of Negroes

The decision for Maime Caldwell in her case against the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad Company for discrimination is briefly recounted, noting the final award of $800.

RIGHTS OF NEGROES.

Verdict Against a Railroad Company Owing to the "Jim Crow" Car System.

New York. April 5 - Special Telegram. - A jury in the United States Circuit Court to-day fixed $800 as the damages which a railroad company should pay for making a mulatto woman and her children ride in a dirty car set apart for the use of negroes. The suit was brought by Mack W. Caldwell, of Brooklyn, a mulatto, and his wife, Maime Caldwell, against the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad Company, and the sum claimed was $5,000. T. McCants Stewart, the colored lawyer, and T. C. Babbett appeared for the plaintiffs, and Edgar M. Johnson, of Hoadly, Lauterbach & Johnson, for the defendants. On Aug. 19, 1891, Mrs. Caldwell bought a first-class ticket for herself and her three children, all of them under 5 years of age, from Johnson City, Tenn, to Chicago, for $19.15. She was about to enter one of the ordinary coaches, when the conductor told her she would have to go into the front car.

This was divided into two compartments, one for men to smoke in and the other for negroes. The door between the two was often left open, so both were filled with the fumes of tobacco smoke. Mrs. Caldwell testified that the compartment in which she was was filled with disagreeable old negro women, who talked of subjects which offended her ears. There were two newly married persons who hugged and kissed one another frequently. The air was bad and the car extremely dirty. Two witnesses corroborated Mrs. Caldwell. Samuel D. Haun, the conductor of the train, said that the "Jim Crow" car was as good as any other in the train. He said he would not have objected to having his wife and children in the car. E. B. Clark, a clerk of the railroad company, testified that the car had just been renovated. In his charge to the jury Judge Wallace said suggestively: "No doubt all of you gentlemen have traveled in the South and know what a 'Jim Crow' car is. I have traveled considerably and know one when I see it." The jury was out about fifteen minutes and returned a verdict awarding $800 damages.