and associations among
the Negroes of the city he posed for his photograph with a group of
those at the dinner. He then made a tour of the city by motor, during
which he visited three or four schools for Negroes and at each made a
half-hour speech into which, as always, he threw all the force and
energy there was in him.

After supper that evening he addressed twelve hundred people in the
Auditorium Armory, speaking for an hour and a half. From the armory he
went to a banquet given in his honor where he gave a twenty-minute
talk. He did not get to bed until one o'clock. Four hours later he
took a return train which brought him back to the school by
ten-thirty. He went at once to his office and to work, working until
late in the afternoon when he called for his horse and took his usual
ride before supper. After supper he presided at a meeting of the
Executive Council and after the Council meeting he attended the Chapel
exercises. After these exercises were over at ten o'clock he made an
inspection on foot of various parts of the buildings and grounds
before going to bed. By just such excessive overwork did he constantly
undermine and finally break down his almost superhuman strength and
powers of endurance. This he did with an obstinate persistence in
spite of wise and increasingly urgent warnings from physicians,
friends, and associates. Where his own health was concerned he
obdurately refused to listen to reason. It would almost seem as though
he had deliberately chosen to put forth herculean efforts until he
dropped from sheer exhaustion rather than to work with moderation for
a longer span of life.

Booker Washington was a man who thought, lived, and acted on a very
high plane. He was, in other words, an idealist, but unlike too many
idealists he was sternly practical. His mind worked with the rapidity
of flashes of lightning, particularly when he was aroused. This led
him at times to feel and show impatience in dealing with slower-minded
people, particularly his subordinates. He was often stirred to
righteous indignation by injustice, but always kept his temper under
control. He had a lucid mind which reasoned from cause to effect with
machine-like accuracy. His intuitions were amazingly keen and
accurate. In other words, his subconscious reasoning powers were very
highly developed. Consequently his judgments of men and events were
almost infallible. Although practically devoid of personal vanity, he
was a very p