llege.' (Prolonged applause, mingled with laughter.)
And I said to him further than that: 'If any of you gentlemen who
claim to be educated in the British West Indies, and all you gentlemen
who hail from Beloit College (wherever it is)--if you can fool any one
of those eleven Negroes out of one dime, I will give you ten dollars!'
(Laughter and applause.) Yes, sir, without much education these men
own their own homes and dozens of homes in which other people live;
they are self-sustaining and independent, and can write their names to
checks away up in the thousands of dollars; they live in neat,
comfortable, well-appointed homes and enjoy the respect and esteem of
their neighbors--black as well as white. 'Now, sir,' I turned to him
and asked him, 'will you kindly tell me what is your occupation in
life and what you have been able to accomplish with all this higher
education you have been talking about?' I found out that he was a
waiter in the United States Hotel. (Laughter.) I said to him further:
'My brother, I don't claim to be an educated man, but live in a villa
of my own; I own considerable real estate, and my dear little wife
rides around in our own $5,500 Packard automobile, all paid for.'
(Prolonged applause and laughter.)

"I am somewhat of a carpenter and builder; I went to work, bought some
ground while it was cheap and at a time when everything in
Jacksonville was at low tide; there were plenty of sick Yankees whose
investments had depreciated and I invested what money I had in some
land. I would build a house, then sell it; buy more land, build
another house and sell that; after a while I was able to build three
houses and sell two, build two and sell one and so on--(applause)--until
pretty soon I found myself in the real estate business, buying land
and building and selling houses. In this way I have gone on building
my own houses until now I have plenty to support myself and that dear
little red-headed woman who has a seat somewhere in this beautiful
audience. (Laughter and applause.) She doesn't have to keep a
boarding-house any more; she is on the retired list. (Laughter and
applause.) We have made enough to keep from doing that."

At this point Dr. Washington asked, "How many houses do you own?"

Mr. Blodgett replied: "I have been selling houses pretty rapidly
during the last few years, but I have built--and right here I want to
say that while my subject is 'Building and Contracting' I have never
bui