-ap?1 - " wrai
I PART FOUR
PAGES 25 TO 32 t
a
VOL. XXL
PORTLAND,. OREGON, SUXDAY MORXIXG, FEBRUARY 23, 1902.
XO. S
VETUNAL BEAUTg OF THE eiT
P7VRK m MIDWINTE'R
PROOF THAT CALENDARS
ARE OFTEN MISTAKEN AS TO
SEASONS....
,-r - - --
ffifc
tMiwwtt
V
TO tboci to wSwm a more strenuous
dlasate than ttat of Oregon Is fa-a-lllar,
the 'words "Winter In the
Park generally awaken visions of snow
. tdm bourhs. frozen fountains, statues of
e -dJeCTre whose attire Is ill adapted to
ti weather, and who seem to be endeav-o-ina-
to acquire additional protection by
wrapsaar- themselves in rigid icicles; of
trackless wastes of ppotless snow that
xvr ifce place -where flowers and grass
r oted la the Semmer. A place one only
1 arrSes through, or visits when skating :s
; "wlble
But while tho calendar still declares It
" Whner fa Portland the crocuses on the
wna owrn town are proclaiming that
Faring Is not far away. Some of the days
the past week seemed to indicate that the
-coa -wore in the right. The air was so
I aimy aad the sun po warm an to lure
-wop"e ot of doors, and a too tempting
i-vitattoa was offered to visit the City
Parlt, Jsst to see if Spring had put in an
rpear-ce there.
The seal down near the entrance had
-vramMe4 out on the rocks, but whether
It was to enjoy the sunshine or look for
on iceberg Is a matter of conjecture, there
fore lie couM not be considered as an au
thority to the proximity of Spring.
Maybe be was only seeking companion
ship, after all. for he certainly looked
oneowae all by himself. But on gaining
the top of the hill, after several pauses to
enjoy the magnificent view unfolding at
each advancing step, the flnt thing to
meet the eye -was a bright little daisy
thecrtly corroborating the crocuses' proc
.anMttioa. Then a glad note from a bird
the branches overhead added further
. namaUon.
Winter tt was, however, for the Orego--ian
that morning bore a date but little
;at the jolddlf of February. The only
wintry feature visible, however, was
Mounts Hood and St. Helens, gienmlrg
r the sunshine through the dark foliage.
H toafees very much as if it would be
reeeeearjr to resort to 4ho-e regions of
teraal Wtator to procure snow enough
t. piece oat the remnant of "Winter here
nd make ft agree with the calendar, for
he grass was a tender green and the
udt on the tree swelling. But here in
vregn that is what Is expected, the
Kas fe always green this, time of year.
nd Jnwt as we stand now and gaze on
vca Imposing mountains of snow next
smarter, when wo come m airy gowns to
uaU the lovely bawl concerts, we can
under the noble trees and enjoy the
i jsi' while watching those same peaks
:.i enow-crowned. Yes, the bandstand
' there, looking a little lonesome with
. at th orchestra, and the seats are still
a tho old inviting places under the firs
that spread their branches, tent-like,
i erhead.
Many of the benches out in the sun
shine wore Inhabited, for the City Park
la nevor deserted, even in Winter. "Win
ter, we man sav. In order to be techni
cal, la suite of the fact that added to tho
evidences of Spring already enumerated,
the pussy-willows along the dnvewajs
havo shed their furry jackets and aro
now a xnacs of fuzzy jellow pollen.
Some of the benches contained mere
idlers, w hlic on others sat men w ho looked
as if they were drinking in the sun
shine and tho rare, pure air for the pur
poso of wooing back health and strength.
The seats about the animal cages were
very popular. Family groups were cx
piortag distant .portions of tho park,
white children were going into raptures
over the bears and the monkevs and
smaller animals, some of tho latter ot
"wtlch were mere balls of fur rolled up in
a sunny corner of a cage. The cold
weather, however, had Inconvenienced
rono of the regular boarders at the park,
the man In charge assured me. In fact,
the boars and tho elk, especially, mani
ifstod keen delight In tho snow.
In response to a remark that the jun
Fhine had probablv brought out the crowd
ho said "Oh, no; this is nothing unusual.
There is niwaja some one in the park.
HOME
T RECALL, that during the first years
I of th history of the Tuskegee Xor.
1 saal and Industrial Institute, 1 spent
a good deal 6f time traveling through
the Black Belt of the South among the
members of my race. One of the things
that Impressed nc most lvldly was the
wrctoheonec of the houses in which the
eonte lived. It wat seldom that I could
3 .d a decent hojse in whkli to eat a
meal or spend the night. On one occasion
I recall when pasting through a cotton
raisftag district, a friend and I stopped
at a cabin for dinner. "When we sat
Iowa to tho table there were five of us:
on the table there was but one fork for
the flvo of us to use. Of course, there was
a little embarrassing hesitation. In the
opposite corner of the cabin I noted tlicre
was a cheap organ for which the family
had paid $9 on the installment plan. More
than once I had to go on the outside of
the house at night and wait till the fam
11 had gone to bed before I could retire.
I had to do this because tliere was but
one room in the house. In the morning 1
had to make my toilet out In the yard, as
there was no provision for any wash bowl
or basin in the house.
The object of thl article Is not to de-af-ribc
the bad conditions that existed at
that time but to call attention to the im
provement in Hie home life our people
hav- made within the last 20 years or
more
I do not believe that it Is possible for
any one to judge very thoroughly of the
life of any individual or race unless he
eets Into the homes. How I recall In xay
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- GETTING BY NEGROES
own case that I have completely mis
judged the real worth of individuals be
cause I was led to pass my opinion upon
them because their dress was coarse or
their language broken, or their faces un
inviting. It has only been when I have
seen the evidence of culture, convenience,
thoughtiulness and gentleness displaced
inside tho homes of such people that 1
have been made to see the mistake of
Judging people outside of their homes.
So witn regard to the negro, if one wants
to get an idea of Uie progress that the
race has made within a few years he
should not pass judgment until he has
had an opportunity to get into the homes
of the race. To sec the better side of
the home life of the negro Is not an easy
thing for a stranger or for a member of
another race to do. During the last three
3 oars I have spent considerable time in
traveling through the South. During this
time I have seen my people in the fields,
in the shops, n schools, in colleges, in
churches, in prisons and in their homes,
but in no place liavo I noted such evidence
of progress as in their homes. Behind
the development of nearlj every home
there was a history in many cases both
romantic and pathetic, a history of strug
gle, or self-sacrifice, of failure and then
final success.
Let me tell in brief the story of one of
these homes I found in Mississippi. I
found myself one night not long ago a
guest in a home in Mississippi, of a mem
ber of my race. There were in it seven
rooms. The parlor, the kitchen, the dln-
1 ins-room and bath and bedrooms were as
clean, sweet, comfortable, conveniently
arranged and attractive as one would ex
pect to find In Massachusetts. On the
table of the sitting-room were to be found
the daily paper, a weekly paper and sev
eral magazines: many of the books on the
shelves of the library were standard books.
The pictures on the walls were not of the
cheap, gaudy, flashy character, but had
been selected with taste and care. I saw
little about this house except the color
of its occupants to remind me that I was
in the heme of a negro. There was from
kitchen to parlor a delicacy, sweetness and
refinement that made one feel that life
was worth the living. Another thing that
pleased me as much as what I saw was
the pride with which each member of the
family referred to his own race and tho
faith all exhibited in the success of the
race. I neither heard nor saw anything
that led me to believe that any member of
the family was ashamed of his people or
wanted to discard the race to which Provi
dence had assigned him for another race.
Many people, I think, have the feeling
that the average negro Is continually seek
ing to get away from his own people, for
getting that every sensible negro has as
much pride in his own as Is true of other
races. As the negro becomes educated,
the more he finds comfort and satisfaction
in the company of educated members of
his own people.
But I promised to tell the story of this
family. Both father and mother had
been slaves, and they were not ashamed
of that. In some way both of them
learned to read and write a little during
AT THE SOUTH
slavery. The father was one of the most
faithful and trusted of his master's
slaves. V.'hcn Abraham Lincoln's proc
lamation was Issued, the father and i
mother became free, and found them
selves, of course, compelled to begin life
with nothing, so far as the material part
of life was concerned. They decided to
make their new home near that of their
former master, and always retained his
good will, and received from him much
good advice that proved let be useful in
times of adversity. The chief desire of
the hearts of these tv.o ex-slaves had
been, from the time they were married,
to somo day own at least a little shanty
that they could call their own. In order
to secure the first few acres of land, the
sacrifices which this family told me
about In their way were most interest
ing. The mother told me that, after
plowing or hoeing cotton In the field day
after day, by the side of her husband,
she would make her meal of bread and
water, that she often went barefooted
for a good part of the "Winter months.
The father told me that, after he had .se
cured a few acres of land, he would work
in the cotton-field all day and then by
moonlight or lamplight he built with his
own tired hands the first little one-room
cabin; how a few years later, when he
had saved a little by getting out 3hingles
at night for sale, he was able to put
glass windows in the cabin; and how still
later he had added a second room to the
cabin, and then a third and fourth, until
the house had grown into this now com
fortable house of seven rooms. Ho told
"Wliy, even during the snow there were
many people here, mobt of them after
photographs."
It Is not at all amazing that the people
of Portland love to vis-It the City Park,
for, had art added nothing but drivewajs
to nature's work there, the beautiful trees
and charming outlooks would be enough
to entice a loer of nature.
But as it is, the park Is a pleacint
place to loiter, with the rustic bridges
and the grottos, where Uie uword fern Is
still as fresh as In midsummer, and at
the fountain, Cupid, looking very happy
as the water falls over him, although he
Is without the rich background of the
flower bed he had last Summer and the
beautiful grouping of foliage plants
around the fountain basin.
A few of the cages had an extra protec
tion of fir boughst and so did some of the
more delicate plants. The flower beds,
that last Summer were such a delight to
tho eje, were only heaps of mellow black
earth. Otherwise there are few evidences
of Winter about the park.
The owls were the only things that
how, during much of tho time that he
and his wife were making this struggle
to secure a home, they had to mortgage
their crop for the food upon which to
live, and pay a rata of Interest for their
loans that averaged 15 per cent. Not the
least interesting part of the story that I
heard from tho lips of these two now.
happy ex-slaves was the manner in which
they had contrived to cducato their chil
dren, a boy and a girl, and it was
through the efforts of these two children
that many of the conveniences and re
fining Influences had been added to the
house.
Inquiry on tho outside of this house,
among white and colored people, recalled
the fact that this man was a regular
taxpayer, had a comfortable little bank
account, and that he had the respect
and confidence of both races.
The most encouraging thing in connec
tion with the home-getting effort of tho
negro now going on Is that one can find
In almost every town and city in the
country where there Is any considerable
number of mj' race at least one home that
approaches this and often several in the
same town.
Another feature that Is as encouraging
as the -material evidences of progress, is
the disposition that is growing among my
people to "classify" themselves, as an old
colored man put it to me recently. The
time is now passed when all colored people
herd themselves together without regard
to moral distinctions. There are colored
circles where it would be just as Impos
sible for a person of known Questionable
f seemed really wintry. As they sat in
prim rows on their perches, silently blink
ing at the passers, they looked for all
the world as if they were training for a
Chnstm.i card with a snowy background.
In the iclnity of the aviary there were
so many pleasant noises that it sounded
like it must be the last dress rehearsal
before the grand" Spring opening. Once
in the building, however, one Is forcibly
reminded that St. Valentine's day is just
past, for housekeeping preparations were
going actively forward all over the place.
Small birds were tugging valiantly at
pikes of straw on the floor, and when one
Anally succeeded in extricating a little
shred from the heap, he fluttered off with
it to a nest on the wall. Of course there
were frequent pauses for consultation and
billing. Up under the roof the turtle
doves kept up a contented cooing, and
down on the perches the parrots scolded
a little. There, was a special cage of
tiny shapely birds from Japan. . called
Straw berry Finches, whoso pretty scarlet
bills certainly would convict them of hav
ing recently visited some one's strawberry
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
PRINCIPAL OF THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
. . .WRITES . . .
character to enter a3 would be truo of
! white society. Perhaps there aro few in
dications that so clearly mark the progress
that the race is making as the fact that
the line is all the time being more closely
and tightly drawn between the good and
the bad.
Some years ago, in one of our negro
conferences at Tuskegee, I asked an old
colored man how the morals were in his
community. He replied: "Morals? "Why,
we hasn't got any of them things down
our way." .This now can be said of few
communities, and it 13 very largely owing
to the Improvement that Is going on in the
home life of the people. In some sections
of tho Black Belt one cannot ride many
miles through the country without seeing
the new and second room, being added to
the old one-roomed cabin.
There are other evidences of the activity
of the race in home-getting. In Alabama,
for example, there are at the present time
three Incorporated towns or cities where
practically all the Inhabitants are negroes,
and where all the town officials are of the
same race. Their names are Hobson City,
Douglas City and Booker City. In the
case of one of these towns within a few
weeks 100 lots were sold to members of
the race, and out of this number I was
Informed on good .authority that there was
only one purchaser w ho could not read and
understand the papers bearing- upon the
purchase of the property.
I could prolong this article to most any
length with evidence showing that the
, negro is making slow but sure growth In
patch. There were guinea fowls, too, that
looked as If they had been borrow Ins
feathers frcm all the birds, so very fluffy
were they, and so variously colored. Tho
white-headed eagles, buzzards and hawks
were haing a noisy but apparently a
harmonious time together. The bear3
were snoozing in the sunshine, and the
elk. though they had an immense wild
field to roam in, lurked by the fence with
heads held high, wistfully watching the
visitors, but ready to make a fleet de
parture should any friendly overtures bo
made. It seemed incongruous to watch
the mountain Hon restlessly pacing his
pen and yawning lazily. VTas it freedom,
or feeding time he was longing for? Ho
is certainly a beautiful animal," and very
interesting to watch through the bars.
But after pursuing this diversion for a
while it as pleasant' to go back to tlo
green slopes and peep into the wild place3
where the great trees reared their heads
skyward, or wander through the paths
and drlvewajs, catching now a glimpse of
the river and now a view of the city as
it lay spread out at the foot of the hill,
the larger buildings standing out like em
phasized w ords in an ad ertlsement. There
was The Oregonian Building, the Postof
fice, the Chamber of Commerce, the High
School, Bishop Scott Academy and tho
Snagogue. whose golden twin spires
brought vaguely to mind some lines that
had "domes" and "minarets" and "para
pets" in them. But the recollection is so
vague I cannot even ask The Sunday Or
egonian to supply them, which Is a pity,
for they would Just fit In the scene that
meets the eye of the gazer in the City
Park.
On the river a steamboat occasionally,
swept up or down stream and at the docks
a fleet of sea-going vessels lay peacefully
on the water. It was too far away to
realize there was any din of loading or
unloading. Beyond was the purple stretch,
of mountains broken here and there by
glistening peaks. It occurred to me as I
caught a glimpse of those snowy sum
mits through tho trees that they were
something like tho ideals in our lives,
those exalted goals that tower mountain
like above the sordid alms and surround
ings of every day life and toward which
we commenced our pilgrimage long, long
ago, filled with great and lofty purpose.
It Is true that in our Journey toward
them, we havo wandered into many by
paths, over rocky roads. Into chasms
wild, and, too, through pleasant valleys
so that tho lofty peaks have long been
shut from our sight. But occasionally
some sudden turn In circumstance like an
unexpected opening in the hills, has dis
closed the spotless finger ever "pointing
upward, the vision bringing gladness, in
spiration or may be reproach to us.
Very likely we will sometime lie down
without even the sight of them to bles3
that last closing of the eyes. But they
will still remain, with foundations deep
sunken in the earth but crown high up
in the heavens, waiting patiently for the
sleeper to waken and complete his jour
ney there where the pure air of heaven
blow s.
It is hard to imagine that the fine,
wholesome, sunny park !s haunted, but at
that stage of my reflections It seemed to
me one said, '"Well, jou could behold
these Ideals much more frequently if you
would but cultivate the habit of looking
up."
As there was no one visible I hastened
' to get out of that locality and just as I
turned a curve I came upon a joung
coupl, a a well, I was again reminded
that it was soon after St. Valentine's day
and I concluded likely the remark abovo
recorded was a scrap of their conversa
tion that had reached my ear. That set
mo thinking how nice parks are and es
pecially this park of ours placed so con
veniently near the city and requiring so
little to add to its attractiveness: beauti
ful enough to make a pleasure ground for
tho rich and the mighty but belonging to
the people. And lovely, not only in Sum
mer, when a man with a small dooryard
and a largo family may come here and
make the whole family happy for a day,
but also in tho "Winter when the mists lie
close around It or tho sunshine brings out
all tho beautiful surroundings.
EDITH Ii. NHiES.
4
home-getting and In homo life, and all thla
is a result of the education that the negro
has received through his own efforts,
through the state and philanthropic chan
nels. With 100 times moro money than Is?
now being put into tho South the whola
problem of tho negro would bo much slm
pllfied within a few years.
BOOKER T. "WASHINGTON".
A Syrian Night.
The night nuns over Hebron all her tars.
Miraculous processional of flame.
From the red beacon of the planet Mara
To the faint glow of orbs w lthout a nameu
The Jackals held wild orgy 'mong the hills.
From slope to slope their cries shrill echoing;
Until we yearned for the sweet peace that nils
Tho home-land valleja on the eves of Spring,
About us wo could mark the olives stir.
As tho wind rose in frosty puf"3 and Jets;
And far below, from out the purple blur.
Wo saw uprear the great mosque's minarets.
There, cenotaphed for centuries untold.
The bones of Isaac and of Joseph lay;
And broldercd cloths of sllv cr and of. gold
Were heaped and draped o'er Abraham's!
crumbled clay.
Strange, ah, how strange, this shifting life and
death!
Ne'er was the thought more deeply on us
borne
Than where these patriarchs onco drew vital
breath.
Loved as we love, and mourned as now wa
mourn.
Others will come as we. and see. and pass.
And vainly strive to pierce bejond the bars
But none shall read the mjstery. alas.
Till night o'er Hebron cease to hang her stars'.
Clinton Scollardi in March Sraart Set
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