emanded exhausting labour, was crowned with success. As was to be
expected, some of the students grew discouraged while undergoing such
experience; but those who persevered and conquered with their leader at
last found themselves braced or strengthened, rather than injured, by
the difficulties which they had been enabled to conquer. At the present
time the students at Tuskegee are competent to turn out 100,000 bricks
of superior quality a month, and all of the forty buildings on the
ground are their own work. The latest addition in this department is a
magnificent library building, the gift of Mr Andrew Carnegie, which, in
the _Southern Letter_ of December 1901, was spoken of as "now being
rushed to completion." This house has cost Mr Carnegie L4000, and when
finished there was already a large collection of books waiting to be
placed on its shelves.
In proportion as the students increased in the early days of the
Tuskegee Institute, there came the urgent need for additional buildings
and more money, both for providing these and for the general outlay. It
was decided to put up a main building at a cost of L2000, and in order
to raise money Booker Washington had to do a good deal of travelling as
a collector. He found the rich quite willing to respond in a handsome
way when his needs became known; but while the work has often been
stimulated by large gifts, the more numerous small gifts of commonplace
people have from the first been its mainstay. Practically he was
introduced to the people of the Northern States by General Armstrong,
who accompanied him on a collecting tour. On this and other occasions
some striking adventures were met with, and all tended to show that hard
work, perseverance and freedom from worry carried a man over a great
deal of ground, while in a providential way all things seemed in the end
to turn out for the best. Booker Washington had the gift of being able
to impart some of his own energy and enthusiasm to his subordinates, and
even to the students, who generally came round to see in what direction
their best interests lay. A wholesome discipline was maintained
throughout the institution, and thus, while being qualified to become
instructors of their fellows of the coloured race, the students learned
to love and to respect their leader.
CHAPTER VIII
SOME ACTUAL RESULTS--POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTS
In the ordinary sense, neither General Armstrong nor Book
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