The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-10
BY WILL T. SIBERIAN.

self Into Tuscaloosa street thet came strange vehicle through the dusk of perfect September day.
 Tnc weary walk of the mules, their droopinx heads, the dusty wagon be- spoke a long Journey. A days travel Rnd more was told of in the weary piod, plod of the mules through the streets of Tuscaloosa as the sun was sinking beyond the pine-covered hills with train of resplendent glory be- hindsft.
 lt was d strange vehicle, for such rarRoes as 1t bore were neither com mon snor ordinary in Alabama's olden seat Of learning.
 The driver was old and marked with 2 the signs of toll that years of labor leave. but the strength and conhden9e of other years were with him still. z There were other passengers upon the vehicle, dust-stained and travel-worn, foursof them, counting men and youth together for the oldest was perhaps not above 21 and the youngest might have been under 1e.
 It swas not the moving of a family. though one might have thought 1t from his first view of the vehicle and It's strange cargo. Aboard the wagon were trunks. This one ancient and time- worn and this one emphatically uew-k There were quilts aboard, quilts Of the old style thickiy made and with
  reserved, the sort of quilts that be- speak the old farm house and the long, wooden skeleton quilt frame hanging from the ceilings. Sheets, home-sewed, pillow cases home trim med. socks, home knitted, and shirts home manufactured, were in and of ttis cargo. f
 Going to College.
 It was not a removal It was an ex- padfkton s.
 It was an expedition into new and Hntrodden fields of promise: Journey into the lands of hopes. It was a fam fly journey into unknown lands. for the four young passengers were taking the trip that neither. their father nor their fathers father had taken. They were leaving the family traditions. to 10 out and build new ones of which their fathers had not known. Not or theniselves alone, for the will and the plan behind 1t all was the will and the plan of the strong and persistent driv- CT, who had spent his life in toll among the bills. :. Itkwas his hope that was behind it all; it was his aspiration that had rnoved forward the expedition. It was the fathers pride that had determined that his sons should have the same chance and as fine chance as the sons of any man.
 What a cargo of hopes, the dusty old wagon bore The father had dreamed day after day. on the farm. far in the hills of Jefferson, dreams of strength ened and equipped mind for his sons, and a life of value and of usefulness for them In after years. The mothers hopes Of developed character. nutured through the daily toll of countless days. were. too. a part of the treasure cargo. And the young men looked ahead and In their hopes the youths did the deeds of strong men. The dusty road was the way of promise to great ness and to wealth.
 Ttswas a great cargo the old wagon carried. Compared to it the famous boat which carried Caesar and his fortunes bore but ignoble freight in-S deed.
 And so. as they passed the old man saw visions and the young man dream ed dreams.
 The goal. the goal of the day. was the splendid stretch of green and the brick structures. peeping through the leaves which marks the University of Alabama. Here the journey ended and here the young men began their new life. of which they had dreamed and pictured on the Jefferson County farm.
 AmbitiOn's Chance.
 They are in one of the cottages in the rear of the University buildings,
  rents at a nominal cost and which in some instances go free of all charge to deserving students. At least one of these cottages is going to shelter this winter some plain living and high thinking.
 The four new students were unex- pected. No catalogue had been sent. The father had had no correspondence with President Abercrombie and no representative of the University had seen him. ..
 Their presence, their coming in the way they did, was typical. it might be said. of a new era. It was an incident of the development of one of the most cherished policies of President John w. Abercrombie And this policy is to link together closer than they ever have been brought together before the Uni versity of Alabama and the common school system of the State. It Is a policy conceived to bring into acquaint- ance and Knowledge the culture of the State University and what might be termed the common masses of the people.
 It is a policy which is designed to bring to the people fuller knowledge of the University on the one hand and 10 awake in them on the other their sense of proprietorship in the Univer- sity. It is to show the man who has been so warm an advocate. so strong a supporter of tho common school that the interest of the one Is the interest of the other, that the two are inter woven in the warp and wool or the States educational fabric.
 The policy is to carry conviction 10 the minds of the whole people that the University is a democracy of learning, a republic of letters. If there be people who think otherwise. this policy is to convince them of the truth, that the University Is as much the property of the people as is the common school ot Alabama Even as there Is no royal Fnad to learning, so fin the sovereign but democratic State there is to be no ariytocracy of intellect. there is to be no class privileged above another in fine search for light and for truth.
 Equal Chance to All.
 rhe people are to learn. in the de- veiopment of this policy that the Uni yersity doors swing open as readily to the boy from the vine-covered cottage on the hillside as they do to the youth who comes from the pillared mansion that overlooks a thousand acres. It IS 10 teach this policy that the opportuni- tiea. the benefits of the States highest institution of learning are not the priv iiege of any single class.
 Tn the accomplishment of this' the aurest means is to make the whole peo- Tla acouainted with the simple way and fhe small cost through which these onDortunities may be embraced and fhese advantages. obtained. It is pol iov of many phases, but all with one trend to show the open way and the