The most recent legislation along this line was an act of South Carolina of February 23, 1906, requiring a separation of the races in all station restaurants and eating-houses, imposing a heavy fine for its violation. It is probable that the necessity or propriety of this law was suggested by the disturbance which arose at Hamlet, North Carolina, near the South Carolina line, when the proprietor of the Seaboard Air Line Railway eating-house at that place allowed a party of Negroes, one of whom was Dr. Booker T. Washington, to eat in the main dining room, while the white guests were fed in a side room.
Trains to which Laws do not Apply
There are certain classes of trains to which the "Jim Crow" laws do not apply. In Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia, they do not apply to freight trains carrying passengers in the caboose cars. South Carolina exempts narrow-gauged roads from the requirements of the law. North Carolina gives its railroad commissioners power to exempt branch lines and narrow-gauged roads if, in their judgment, separation is unnecessary to secure the comfort of passengers. South Carolina provides that, where a railroad is under forty miles in length and operates both a freight and a passenger train daily, the law applies only to the passenger train. These two States also except relief trains in case of accident. Whether there is statutory exemption or not, the railway company cannot be held responsible for not separating the passengers in case of an accident.[50] Oklahoma allows the running of extra or special trains or cars for the exclusive accommodation of either race, if the regular trains or cars are oper-
