whar I was gwine. I found a waitin' room outside de President's
office and I made up my mind I would set dar 'til de President had to go
out for dinner or to go home for supper. I never thought about he might
have a side door he could come and go from widout usin' de door to de
waitin' room. Atter I had set dar in dat waitin' room de best part of
two days watchin' for de President, somebody said: 'Howdy, Uncle Ike!
What is you doin' here in de President's waitin' room?' I looked up and
dar stood Albon Holsey. He had growed up in Athens. He was de boy dey
'signed to wait on President Taft when he was at Miss Maggie Welch's
home for a day and night in January 'fore he was inaugurated. I bet
Albon is still got dat $5.00 Mr. Taft give him de mornin' he left
Athens, but he don't need to spend it now 'cause folks say he got rich
off of his chain of stores for colored folks, and anyhow he's got a fine
job dese days. Well, I s'plained to Albon dat I was jus' waitin' to git
a peep at de President whenever he happened to pass through dat room.
Albon he smiled sort of wise-like. He tuk out one of his cyards and writ
sompin on it, and axed a lady to take it right in to de President. She
warn't gone 2 minutes 'fore she come back and said: 'De President will
see Mr. Holsey and his friend now.' I was wuss skeered dan I has ever
been at any other time in my life. Us walked in and I was 'fraid de
President could hear my knees knockin' together, and my heart was
beatin' so fast and loud it seemed to me lak it was 'bout to bust. De
President spoke to us and when he found out dat I was from Athens, he
axed me lots of questions. He said dat he was interested in Athens. Soon
Albon said us must be goin' and when us got out of dar I was right weak,
but I was might proud and happy to think de President had tuk time to
talk pleasant lak wid a pore old Negro shoemaker.

"Another time in Washin'ton a friend of my son's tuk me to a club one
night whar some of de richest of our race is members. Dat night I met a
man who had went to school wid de Mr. Teddy Roosevelt dat was President
atter Mr. McKinley; den I met another Negro dat had been a classmate of
President Hoover and one dat went to school wid President Franklin D.
Roosevelt. It's right strange how dey all heads for Washin'ton, D.C. to
stay.

"Athens has allus been a real quiet town, and dere never was no real
serious trouble here 'tween de races, not even when Matt Davis and Pink
Morton was