the horses and mules of this great multitude, but to all such objections Mr. Washington replied, 'This place belongs to the people and not to us.' Less than a third of these eight or nine thousand people are able to crowd into the chapel to see the actual graduation exercises; but all can see the graduation procession as it marches through the grounds to the chapel, and all are shown through the shops and over the farm and through the special agricultural exhibits, and even through the offices, including that of the principal. It is significant of the respect in which people hold the Institute, and in which they held Booker Washington, that in all these years there has never been on these occasions a single instance of drunkenness or disorderly conduct."[1]
"One of our students in his commencement oration last May gave a description of how he planted and raised an acre of cabbages. Piled high upon the platform by his side were some of the largest and finest cabbages I have ever seen. He told how and where he had obtained the seed; he described his method of preparing and enriching the soil, of working the land, and harvesting the crop; and he summed up by giving the cost of the whole operation. In the course of his account of this comparatively simple operation, this student had made use of much that he had learned
- ↑ "Booker T. Washington: Builder of a Civilization," by Scott and Stowe, pp. 57–59.
