235 



first of all in the educational plant itself. At Hampton practically 

 all the work is done by the students themselves. There are build- 

 ings to be kept in repair and occasional new buildings to be 

 erected; there is a farm of 600 acres to be cultivated^ with 150 

 cows and young stock, 40 horses and mules, hogs and poultry. 

 There are horses to be shod, harness to be kept in repair, wagons 

 to be built, boys to be clothed — these are a few of the industrial 

 opportunities which the plant itself offers. Last year the stu- 

 dents received over $86,000 in wages, of which about one-fourth 

 went to the girls for domestic work in the Institute. 



This year the boys of the trade school have built Clarke Hall 

 at a contract price of $26,142. The work called for the services 

 of bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, sheetmetal workers, steam- 

 fitters, plumbers, cabinetmakers, electricians, and painters. The 

 architect who designed the building, after inspecting the brick- 

 work done by the boys, said it compared favorably with similar 

 work by New York men ; and some of the local builders pro- 

 nounced it the best piece of work done in that section of Virginia. 



At Hampton work is considered a privilege ; in fact, one form 

 of punishment is the taking away of work from a pupil. No 

 student is ever punished by being forced to work. At the same 

 time, labor is not insisted on as an end itself, but rather as the 

 means to an end. "The aim of Hampton," says Dr. George P. 

 Phenix, vice-principal, "is not merely to train workmen, but to 

 educate men and women who shall stand for the best things in 

 the communities to which they return, and wln) can make their 

 skill contribute to this end." 



MATERIAL FOR MAKING PAPER. 



Wood-pulp is by far the most important material for making 

 paper at the present day, and, owing to the wide distribution of 

 the sources of supply — coniferous trees being the most suitable — 

 it is the cheapest. Large quantities of straw-pulp also are im- 

 ported into this country for the manufacture of brown papers and 

 straw boards ; and bamboo is coming into prominence as a source 

 of paper-pulp. A new material for making pa[)er, "elephant- 

 grass," from L^ganda, is now suggested in an interesting article 

 published in the current quarterly issue of the Bulletin of the Im- 

 perial Institute. This is a perennial grass, growing usually to a 

 height of 6 ft. to 10 ft., and much higher on rich marshland. 

 Occurring in a deep zone across tropical Africa, it is found 

 chiefly along watercourses and in marshy depressions ; but it 

 grows also in the more open parts of bush and forest land. Both 

 cattle and horses eat it readily. A sample of the dried mature 

 grass was sent recently from Uganda to the Imperial Institute, 

 with the object of ascertaining its suitability for the manufacture 



