rofited more than another by his toil, that section
is the South, whose forests he has felled, whose roads he has built,
whose soil he has tilled, whose wealth he has created, and whose
prosperity he has made possible. Then let us not be discouraged, but
turn our faces to the sunlight of heaven and put forth our very best
endeavors, confidently expecting to reap the full rewards for our
labors and attain the full measure of manhood as a race in this "the
land of the free and the home of the brave."

TOPIC XXVII.

THE NEGRO AS AN INVENTOR.

BY H. E. BAKER.

[Illustration: H. E. Baker]

HENRY E. BAKER.

Henry E. Baker is one of the most useful men in Washington.
His life stands out in strong contrast to that of so many of
our educated colored men who have come to Washington,
obtained positions in the government service, and shriveled
up so far as public usefulness is concerned. He is an active
member of the Berean Baptist Church, being its treasurer, an
office he has held for several years. For ten years he has
been secretary, the executive officer of the Industrial
Building and Savings Company, and a director of the Capital
Savings Bank. His most notable characteristic is his public
spirit, having been connected with almost every
well-directed movement in this city for the last fifteen
years, looking to the betterment of the condition of his
race, especially in the matter of opening up business
opportunities for them. The estimation in which he is held
by those who know him best is attested by the fact that he
is almost invariably called to the position of treasurer in
every organization of which he is a member. Born just before
the War in Columbus, Miss., he attended the public school of
his home and also the Columbus Union Academy. He passed the
entrance examination at Annapolis, and was admitted into the
Naval Academy as cadet midshipman in 1875, where he remained
nearly two years. In 1877, he was appointed "copyist" in the
United States Patent Office, where he is at present
employed, and where he was promoted, through the several
intervening grades, to the position of Second Assistant
Examiner at $1,600 per annum. He attended the Ben-Hyde
Benton School of Technology in this city from 1877 to 1879;
entered the law department of Howard U