MONTGOMERY, Ala., Dec. 5, 1955 (UP) - Negroes boycotted city buses today as a protest against arrest of a Negro seamstress who was accused of refusing to sit in the rear of a bus. J.H. Bagley, manager of the Montgomery City Lines Inc., said "first reports show that 80 to 85 per cent of the Negroes are staying off the buses today."
Bagley said no disturbances had been reported so far. He said the bus company's "biggest trouble" was handling telephone calls from white persons who complained that their Negro household servants had notified them that they couldn't be at work because city bus drivers refused to stop and pick them up.
Police Commissioner Clyde Sellers alerted city police to maintain order in the face of the boycott. The seamstress, Rosa Parks, was scheduled for a hearing in recorder's court. Her attorney said he would enter a plea of innocent.
Sellers said it was "impossible to tell" what group was behind the reported boycott, but he said policemen would be stationed at all bus stops. He said several Negroes reported they were threatened with bodily harm by other Negroes if they violated the boycott.
"I intend to have policemen at every bus stop and anybody who wants to ride the buses can do so with the police department's assurance they will be protected."
