leans man. "Anywhere in Illinois will do if I am away from the lynchmen's noose and the torchmen's fire. We are firemen, machinist helpers, practical painters and general laborers. And most of all, ministers of the gospel who are not afraid of labor, for it put us where we are."
"I want to ask you for information as to what steps I should take to secure a good position as a first class automobeal blacksmith or any kind pertaining to such," is an inquiry from a large Georgia city. "I have been operating a first class white shop here for quite a number of years, and if I must say, the only colored man in the city that does. Any charges, why notify me, but do not publish my name."
"Please don't publish this in any paper," and "I would not like for my name to be published in the paper," are requests that accompanied two letters from communities where lynchings had occurred.
A girl wrote from Natchez:
"I am writing you to oblige me to put my application in the papers for me, please. I am a body servant or a nice house maid. My hair is black and my eyes are black and I have smooth skin, clear and brown. Good teeth and strong and good health. My weight is 136 lbs."
Here is a sample of the kind of letter that is handed around and talked about down south. It was written by a colored workman in East Chicago, June, 19 17, to his former pastor at Union Springs, Ala.:
"It is true the colored men are making good. Pay is never less than $3 per day for ten hours—this not promise. I do not see how they pay such wages the way they work laborers. They do not hurry or drive you. Remember this ($3) is the very lowest wage. Piece work men can make from $6 to $8 a day. They receive their
