The colored American., 1903-02-14


County Superintendent Holloway, and
the Mayor of Gainesville, urging him
| to come and deliver his address, and
assuring him that he would be cordial
| ly received. Mr.. Washington telegraph
ed me on the night Of the 4th that he
would arrive in Jacksonville on Thurs
cay morning the 5th and requested
me to meet him, which | did. He re-
NAMED in Jacksonville until 2:10 p. m.
and | accompanied him to Gainesville,
as his guest. A great many OF Mr.
Washington friends wanted Ann TO
cancel his Gainesville engagement, as
they feared he might have been the
victim of violence on the part of some
Negro-haters. And it was on account
of this fear for his safety that l de-
cided to accompany him. Gainesville
is an old-fashiOned, Ante-Bellum
southern city, and more than one out
ge has been perpetrated upon Ne
grCes in Alachua County; therefore |
expected that Mr.. Washington would
at least be insulted and discOurteOusly
treated, if he was not injured phySlc-
ally We went on a local train of the
Seaboard Air Line Railway, and of
course, stopped at every crosS-road
and saw mill, and at every place we
stopped, several men, both white and
DlaCk, came 1HJO Jne car W S60 anu
shake hands with the famous Negro,
Booker T. Washington. After we had
stopped at several stations, and all the
white men who had spoken to him,
had expressed their high appreciation
of him, and told him how glad they
were that he was going to Gainesville,
to speak; all fears | had as to his
safety vanished. Two elderly white
men got on at Waldo, Florida, and
shook hands with Mr.. Washington, and
old him that they were going to
Gainesville just to hear him speak. a
very amusing incident occurred at this
place, Waldo, typical cracker, about
sixty years old, was on the rear plat
form of our car, peering into the
coach, and another white man who had
Just spoken to Mr.. Washington, said
to him: There sits Booker Washing
ton, &c in and speak to him." and the
fellow on the platform replied, mo,
don't want to speak to him; / used
TO think a lot of Booker, but since he
took dinner with the President, /
have no more use for him, and | don't
want to speak to him. but his friend
insisted. and said, Il just shook hands
with him, and tell you he is a mighty
fine fellow and | want you to go in and
shake hands with him, cause you may
never get another opportunity; come
right in and see him, come on now"
And the old man said, well l believe
/ will" | was standing on the plat
form smoking, and | followed them in
TO hear what the old fellow would say
to Mr. Washington and to my sur
prise he told Mr.. Washington that he
was very glad to meet him, and that
he had been reading about him for
years, and thought him the smartest
Negro in the world. and always wanted
to meet him and shake his hand: and
told him how much good he thought he
was doing for his race. In fact he
bored Mr.. Washington by the profusion
of his compliments, and did not leave
him until the train began moving
When we arrived in Gainesville, we
were met by a reception committee
and carried to the beautiful home of
Mr.. and Mrs. J. n. Clinton, where we
received the best of care and attention
during our brief stay. | went down
to the Brown House, "a white hoteD
about $50 D. M, OStensibly TO see a
friend of mine, who was stopping
there. but in reality to see what the
sentiment concerning Mr. Washing
ton was, but l was agreeably surprised
to find that there was no feeling what
ever against him, but that all this
noise about Mr.. Washington's coming
had been made by the political enc