s in Richmond, Va., where he was
then living. I had heard much about him. When I first went into his
presence, trembling because of my youth and inexperience, he took me
by the hand so cordially, and spoke such encouraging words, and gave me
such helpful advice regarding the proper course to pursue, that I came
to know him then, as I have known him ever since, as a high example
of one who is constantly and unselfishly at work for the betterment of
humanity.

Mr. Morris K. Jessup, the treasurer of the Slater Fund, I refer to
because I know of no man of wealth and large and complicated business
responsibilities who gives not only money but his time and thought to
the subject of the proper method of elevating the Negro to the extent
that is true of Mr. Jessup. It is very largely through this effort
and influence that during the last few years the subject of industrial
education has assumed the importance that it has, and been placed on its
present footing.

Chapter XIII. Two Thousand Miles For A Five-Minute Speech

Soon after the opening of our boarding department, quite a number of
students who evidently were worthy, but who were so poor that they did
not have any money to pay even the small charges at the school, began
applying for admission. This class was composed of both men and women.
It was a great trial to refuse admission to these applicants, and in
1884 we established a night-school to accommodate a few of them.

The night-school was organized on a plan similar to the one which I
had helped to establish at Hampton. At first it was composed of about
a dozen students. They were admitted to the night-school only when they
had no money with which to pay any part of their board in the regular
day-school. It was further required that they must work for ten hours
during the day at some trade or industry, and study academic branches
for two hours during the evening. This was the requirement for the first
one or two years of their stay. They were to be paid something above the
cost of their board, with the understanding that all of their earnings,
except a very small part, were to be reserved in the school's treasury,
to be used for paying their board in the regular day-school after they
had entered that department. The night-school, started in this manner,
has grown until there are at present four hundred and fifty-seven
students enrolled in it alone.

There could hardly be a more severe test of a student's wort