The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-29

proved to be one of the most perfect o
 all perfect Tuskegee days.
 Visitors began coming last week to at | tend the twenty-second annual com
 mencement of the Tuskegee Normal ana
 Industrial Institute. Inc number increas | ed every day. This morning all the roads leading to Tuskegee W ere alive witf
 teams of every description. By o'clock very spare foot of ground was occupied by the teams and wagons of the visitors | while their owners swarmed upon the grounds. overfiowing shops and recita. tion rooms and great throng constantly
 moved through all the buildings.
 Eight full coaches came up from Mont | gomery under the lead of Trustee J. w l Adams. The party included the Capital City Guards. about eighty strong. Many white friends of the school were in the
 party. There were congratulations on ev-
 cry hand over the great gift from MT. Carnegie.
 | At F o'clock dinner was served about
 the grounds in different places. A large
 company of white people ate in Dorothy | Hall. The various dining rooms and homes of | teachers were overnowing with visiting | friends, all of whom were made very wei
 come. The Capital City Guards ate a mili-
 tary spread in the shade of the Hunting
 
 were fed sandwiches and coffee around | tables, prepared near Rockefeller Hall. | It was a delightful, good -natured com | pany. No one spoke a bad word. There was but little smell of tobacco and none | of liquor. There was a large number of graduates and former students of the school, some with their wives and chil- dren, but the old fathers and mothers
 were by no means wanting. Their faces beamed with pleasure.
 No doors are locked at Tuskegee when Its friends come. Everything is wide open and they roam at will or are led | from place to place by willing and at | tentive guides.
 | After dinner the Capital City Guards at- tracted large company to witness their fancy drill. It was greatly enjoyed and Captain Robinson and his men were com. | plimented on every hand. The Tuskegee Town Night School has come to be very importance feature of | Booker T. Washington's great work. It has been in operation five years. This year 14S pupils have been in attendance. A former student of the Normal school | is the principal. He is assisted in the | industries, brick laying, carpentry, cook ing and sewing by competent students of | the senior class. In the five years the | school has had 30l different students. | They are such as, for various reasons, CtIlliOI dttCuu any udy StliOOi. OOitiC dL U l too poor some are maimed and married
 and have families to support, some were | not thought bright enough to keep up with classes, in regular schools. All, old and young are carefully looked after in | this night school.
 The closing exercises occurred Friday night and Alexander Wilson, the prin- | cipal, gave some interesting facts about l the school. He said no one could enter | it who was not regularly employed, dur | ing the day This is a condition made | by Washington. Of all who have at-
 tended the school during its five years, | only four have been convicted of any crime. The marshal and many ,itizens here tell of it's good effect upon the mor als | of the people. All sign pledges at the | beginning of the school. each year, prom
 ising to abstain from drinking, gambling and stealing. All have to keep a bank 1 account. During the five years they have deposited $567 and have now, $102 | in the bank. number have bought land ! others have repaired their homes Many | have given to the school.
 Friday night of each week is spent
 in study of the Sunday school lesson. All are urged to attend church and Sun | day school. As a result the churches | are better attended and more generously | supported. Three have become good brick layers, one a carpenter, one a minister Eight have entered the Normal school, where they are received without | examination, on receipt of their certi- ficates from the night school many spoke of the good they had received from the school One girl read very nicely, who, 1t was thought, never could learn to read.
 Little children and young men testified, most gratefully that but for the night
 school, they could see no way by which they could ever have learned to read and
 write
 Saturday night the annual debate be- tween representatives of the various societies was held. It was spirited
 discussion of the question as to whether the labor organizations of the country are
 injurious to the colored people or not. It
 was deciG, that they are not injurious. On Sunday afternoon, at o'clock, a splendid audience gathered in the chapel to listen tn the commencement sermon. bv Rev. Dr. Stevens. pastor of Mount | Calvary Baptist Church. Boston. Mass. Quite a number of white people were present. from Tuskegee. Rev. Dr. Provence of the white Baptist Church. | Tuskegee read the scriptures and Dr. H. P. Johnson of the white Methodist | Church. offered the prayer.
 The sermon was on a high plane. DOT | traying the character becoming Sons or God" The speaker paid splendid tribute to Booker Washington regarding him as the most fraternizing spirit of the age" All were charmed with the music.
 Monday night was given to the gradu- ates of Phelps Hall Bible Training School.
 This school has just closed its eleventh year. Forty three have graduated in all, eight this year. Fifty nine have been | in attendance. All sat on the platform
 Their recitation of Scripture passages and l their singing. without an instrument,
 were very interesting.
 Two young men spoke of Ten Days Observation in the Rural Districts. They travelled about 15O miles on foot taking note of schools. churches and homes. | Their recital of facts interested every
 one Two young men spoke from their ex perience, on how to help the people in the country. A native of Jamaica told of the colored people of his island. One spoke of practical ethics and two of pastor wife and her duties in the community. The practical aim of all the addresses was how to render the largest amount