Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-26
TUSKEGEE OF 1881 FAR CRY
FROM OLD SHANTY OF 1881
Material Growth Remarkable, but Influ-
ence 1t Has Exerted Upon Character
of ColOred Race Is More Striking.

{, doctrine Of buying and owning land II
season and out. In short, he devoted
much Of his time, energy and money II
teaching the farmers improved methods
Of tilling the soil and in showing then
how to raise their rural life to higheI
plane. Booker Washington's influence
has been felt in many ways, but in nom
more than in the success which III
achieved In inducing the farmers Il
buy the land which they cultivated
Colored people own much more prop
erty today than they did so years ag.
and there Is no doubt that some Of the
improvement in this direction was made
because they followed Booker Washing.
tons advice.
Went Out to Teach Farmers.
But even the Farmers Conference
did not entirely satisfy his desire tc
advance the interests of his race. He
conceived the idea of sending out q
wagon to the farmers to teach them the
lessons In agriculture and sanitation
which he wished them to learn. II tbs
mountain would not 60 to Mahomet
then Mahomet made up his mind to &C
to the mountain. Farm demonstration
service was carried on by the Jssur
Wagon, which was named for the donor
until 1t was taken over by the Depart
ment Of Agriculture. One of the most
interesting sights at the recent celebra-
ton was the old. broken down wagon
which was the first to go on its rounds
Of education, demonstration and In
spiration to the farmers of that section
All the sessions of the recent cele-
bration held the attention Of the audi
ences closely. but none captivated them
more than that one in which they were
shown by experts how the people of the
rural sections are taught to do certain
kinds Of work. It was an atmosphere
OF make believe" In which they lived
for the time being. For instance the
men who came to teach US how to plant
sweet potatoes started out by asking
How many Of you are going to plant
sweet potatoes this SPRING. Those of
you who are going to do so. raise your
hands" And We all entered into the
spirit OF the occasion and raised our
hands Forthwith the instructor told US
exactly how to plant them-what kind
OF soil should be used, how to keep them
warm enough, how deep to plant them
and 50 on.
Nurse Gives instruction.
Then there was q visiting nurse who
gave q thorough lesson on how to care
for the sick. On the platform before
our very eyes there was q sure-enougi1
bed IN which q student who played the
part Of the patient was lying. The nurse
showed how to change both sheets with
out disturbing the patient, explaining
Just how it was done as she deity did
the job. Valuable information was also
given about the steps to be taken to re-
store the patient to health and prevent
the spread Of disease.
Next to the visiting nurse was the
young woman who taught the audience.
how to "tie and dye" She held in her
hand q piece Of white material which
looked like silk. There were several
pans. One Of them contained green
dye and the other yellow. The dyer
plunged the whole piece of material into
the yellow dye and wrung 1t out. After
she shook it out. she rolled the center
into tight wad and dipped the loose
ENDS into the green dye. She shook
tnat out also and sure enough the ma
terlal nad been metamoA psiosed into a
ends did not exactly suit the young
woman, so she dipped the green ends
again into dark blue dye and intense
neo the green, which greatly improved
the color scheme. Then followed allur.
ing and encouraging suggestions about
the wonders which could be accom-
pllshed In the home ami for ones ward.
robe. II one only knew how to dye. Old.
faded dresses could be made to look
IKE new, to say nothing Of faded dra-
perieS and spreads.
Next to the ''tie and dye" lady was
one VINO sounded the praises Of the fire.
less cooker and showed exactly how to
make one. Nothing was more simple
IMAM fH1A YFnRAeG o..
oinary galvanized pan with some ex-
celsior plus several other little acces-
SORES into cooker which the audience
was told would greatly reduce the
housewives labor and improve the quail
ity CT the food as well.
Bug Spray Demonstration.
Then came the man who urged the
farmer TO spray potato plants 20 az
70 Destroy the bugs which devour them.
Ano tnere were sure -enough potato bugs
crawling On the leaves Of the plants as
lively as crickets till the deadly spray
was applied to them when they soon
ceased 10 DO their evil deeds This in
structor gave explicit directions con-
corning the best sprays % use and how
TO make them. A note OF warning was
uttered against some which were in
furious to human beings.
Next to this demonstraeor came the
man who showed how to test milk, so as
70 see the amount of butter fat In the
oinerent grades. Everybody was pleased
70 learn that by the test exhibited the
sins OF the milkmen who water their
proouct could be easily found out. The
farmer was exhorted not TO insist upon
keeping tea cup cows" which give such
a. smau quantity Of milk that they eat
IneI neaos on and do not pay for their
board. A great deal Of fun was poked at
farmers who keep what the denonstra-
Tor called sentimental" cows, which are
allowed to cumber the ground, not be-
cause they yield q satisfactory supply
OF milk, but solely because of a maudlin
sentimentality which prevents their
owner from selling them even though
tney are keeping him poor. The parting
injunction to farmers was whatever
you do. don't associate scrub cows"
"A pig was injected with something
winch made him immune to cholera: a
horses teeth were treated; little ducks
enjoyed themselves In q coop which
Kept their drinking water clean. All
this was done on the platform in an in
credlbly short time. After each demon
Stration announcement was made that
II anything had been done or said that
was not thoroughly understood the
county agent would give the necessary
information If requested to do so. This
is the kind OF practical work which
IuSkegee has been doing for years. It
was hitting that part Of an afternoon
session should have been set aside dur
ing the celebration in which to exhibit
IL 1t was literally a panorama Of the
schools industries" as the official pro-
gram called it.
Developing Musical Talent.
Tuskegee has been doing and is still
doing much TO develop the races talent
Tor music. There Is q fine department
OF music. whose instructors hold degrees
from the best Conservatives in the land.
a pupil may pursue course OF music
1or an incredibly small fee. It costs him
only a. q sennester fn get instr,,n4iara -.