189 ? 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
569 
"THE NEW BLACK MAN.” 
WHAT HE IS TRYING TO DO. 
A "Negro Conference” in Alabama. 
Part I. 
“f’s gut a boy at dis here school, an' fo' God's suite, git 
f ru wid him soon’s you kin , an' send 
him home to me fo’ help ’• ” 
The speaker was an old, white-haired negro, evi¬ 
dently an old-time slave. He stood leaning on his 
stick in the dim light of a short February day. This 
man represented the hard and hopeless past of his 
race. His son, a student at the Tuskegee Industrial 
and Agricultural College, a poor bud of skill and 
science on the tough old stock of slave labor, repre¬ 
sented the future of the race, “The New Black Man”. 
It was the Negro Farmers’ Institute, or rather the 
annual Negro Conference at Tuskegee, Ala. Let us 
close our eyes for a moment and picture the scene. 
A large, square shed of a building, a temporary affair, 
readily and cheaply put together. Rough posts of 
timber driven directly into the ground, held up the 
simple roof of boards. The doors were mere frames 
of wood with cloth tacked over them. There was no 
floor. The audience sat on hard planks, nailed to the 
tops of low posts, and put their feet directly upon the 
sand. All the applause that the speakers received, 
was made with the tongue and the hand. Three small 
stoves, crowded with pine fuel, provided the necessary 
heat. At one end of the room was a low platform, 
with narrow wooden walks leading to it from the 
door. Lamps and a few Chinese lanterns over the 
platform, gave suflicient light to fight back the 
shadows that crept in from a wet and cloudy day. 
Around the posts, along the sides, everywhere, were 
draped small American flags and strips of bunting. 
Without, the day was cheerless, a genuine “gray 
day”. Now and then a brief, fierce, southern shower 
came drumming on the sounding-board of the roof. 
On several occasions, this celebration of the rain was 
so loud that speakers were obliged to sit down and 
wait for the noise to stop. Such time was not lost, 
however, for some one was sure to start one of the 
weird plantation melodies which seemed so singularly 
in keeping with the surroundings. One such chorus 
ran as follows: 
Oh Freedom over me, 
Over me, 
And before I’d be a slave 
I’d be buried in my grave, 
And go home to my LDrd and be free. 
Most of these songs were built upon some religious 
theme like the following : 
Old Satan is a liar and a conjurer too. 
The angels bid me to come. 
If you don’t mind he’ll conjure you, 
For the angels bid me to come. 
Go down, Gabriel, and blow your horn. 
Go ’wake up nations both great and small, 
Tell them I am coming now, going to 
Judge this world for actions here, actions here, actions here, 
Judge this world for actions here. 
Fly to my Jesus’s arms. 
When I was walking along one day, 
I met an old hypocrite on my way; 
She’s always right and never is wrong, 
She’s always up and never is down, 
Just watch that sun how steady she runs, 
Don’t you never let her catch you with your work undone. 
Perhaps 1.200 colored people and possibly 25 white 
men and women filled the building. Looking down 
upon the audience through the dim light, one could 
see about all the colors that the human face can pos¬ 
sibly bear. Here was a coal-black man with flat 
nose and crinkly hair. By his side sat a straight¬ 
haired man who would easily pass as the twin brother 
of a Jersey farmer of Dutch descent. There were 
men with Indian blood showing in their faces, and 
men so white and fair that few northern men could 
recognize the drop of negro blood that bound them 
to the dark men about them. It was a dignified 
audience. The white-haired man who opened the 
meeting with prayer, the black giant who led, “ Am 
I a Soldier of the Cross ? ” with the whole audience 
joining in, the young teacher who announced a con¬ 
ference in his “ beat,” and the poor woman who told 
of her struggles to secure a home for her children— 
all had gained something of the dignity and character 
that gives force and strength to a race. The first 
surprise to a northern man was the fact that men of 
negro blood were able to conduct and maintain such 
a meeting in an orderly and helpful manner. 
These men had come together to discuss the pros¬ 
pects of their race as well as individual hopes and 
circumstances. Many of them had come in wagons 
or on mule back for over 40 miles, taking several 
days for the journey. It was well worth a long jour¬ 
ney to see them, and observe their earnestness and 
hope for the future. The college grounds were filled 
with a remarkable display of vehicles and driving 
animals. 
A farmers’ institute is a good place at which to ob¬ 
serve the progress of local agriculture. We naturally 
expect that the men who attend a farmers’ institute 
are representative farmers—as good specimens of the 
class as the community can show. If we want to 
know whether the section is progressive or the re¬ 
verse, we notice the ideas that are advanced at the 
farmers’ institute. If it is fair to judge white men 
by that standard, it is fair to judge black men in the 
same way, and I shall, therefore, try to give a truth¬ 
ful account of what I saw and heard at Tuskegee, 
and draw certain fair conclusions from these facts. 
The conference was held at Tuskegee, because that 
is the headquarters for skilled negro labor in that 
part of the Gulf States. At this place is located an 
industrial and agricultural school for young colored 
people. It was started 15 years ago by a man who 
was born a slave in an old house which still stands 
on the college grounds. Starting in this single 
house, with but 30 pupils, the enterprise has grown 
until now there are 30 buildings, 80 teachers, and 
nearly 900 pupils, while the college owns a farm of 
1,400 acres of land. This work has been done by col¬ 
ored men. There is not a pure white teacher on the 
grounds. The prime mover in the enterprise is the 
principal, Booker T. Washington, a graduate of the 
negro school at Hampton, Va., and the noblest living 
example of the true “New Black Man”. 
The “ negro conference ” is really a part of the col¬ 
lege extension work, and I am certain that no white 
agricultural college has yet been able to gather so 
large a clientage of interested and enthusiastic 
farmers. 
Six years ago, Mr. Washington concluded that he 
must bring the people to the college if he hoped to 
understand fully the material with which he had to 
deal. Accordingly he invited the farmers to come 
together for a general talk. These meetings have 
grown larger and larger with each year, and have 
served a double purpose. The negroes come together 
and compare notes, and they also learn what is going 
on at the college, and see what their boys and girls 
are doing. The old man who wanted his boy fin¬ 
ished up quickly gave a good illustration of the faith 
and hope these negroes have in the power and force 
of education and skill. 
At most of the farmers’ institutes I have attended 
this year, I have found white farmers unhappy and 
discontented—far from hopeful for the future. These 
negro farmers at Tuskegee were, without excep¬ 
tion, hopeful and confident that brighter days were 
ahead of them. It is easy to understand why this 
should be so. Most white farmers have an era of 
greater prosperity behind them. They look back to 
a time when prices were better and money easier to 
obtain. The present judged by the past does not 
brighten the future. The reverse of this is true of 
most of these negro farmers. Their bad days are 
mostly behind them. They have been tenants, with 
the worst that the name implies. Now they have 
begun to learn how to buy and hold land. If a man 
who, 10 years ago, had nothing, now has a little home, 
he is naturally hopeful and looking ahead to some¬ 
thing better yet. 
The talks and discussions at this conference may 
be divided into two distinct classes. One dealt with 
the spiritual or social improvement of the negro—the 
other with his success as a farmer or skilled work¬ 
man. In giving a report of the meeting, I want to 
take these different topics up separately, first stating 
what appears to be the moral or social condition of 
the race. h. w. c. 
AMONG THE MARKET MEN. 
FIRST NEW YORK AUCTION SALE OF WOOL. 
A great event in the wool trade in this city was 
the first sale of wool at auction, on August 18. It 
was held on the floor of the Wool Exchange, in the 
new building devoted to the wool trade, and which 
was completed not long since. This building was 
the outcome of efforts on the part of the wool mer¬ 
chants of this city to have a headquarters where the 
wool interests could concentrate and bring New York 
to the front as the leading wool market of the coun¬ 
try, as it should ba. Preparations for this sale have 
been going on for some time, and arrangements have 
already baen completad for others to be held Septem¬ 
ber 8, September 29 and October 13, and others will 
be held later as the condition of the market and the 
supply of wool will warrant. The first sale was called 
a success by the officials. A large number were 
present, representing not only the wool trade of this 
and many other cities, but prominent public men, 
who recognized the importance of this new departure 
in the method of selling wool here. Some of the 
members of the trade now show a disposition to 
criticise the sale, claiming that the wool was offered 
in too small ldts, and that some lots catalogued 
were withdrawn. Time will show whether these 
criticisms are well founded. Doubtless any defects 
in methods will be remedied at future sales. 
The method of selling was much the same as that 
employed in the auctions at which California and for¬ 
eign fruits are sold. A long catalogue was -prepared, 
giving the description of the wool, the lot number 
and the weight. Here are some extracts from it, the 
price being that for which it sold 
Description. 
Australian cross-bred. 
Low quarter scoured Cape. 
Scoured A pulled. 
Kentucky, three-eighths clothing. 
Indiana quarter combing. 
South American coarse combing. 
Bucks. Utah_ 
Australian cross-bred. 
Lot 
Inv. wght. 
Price. 
No. 
lbs. 
cents 
. 101 
5,020 
26 !4 
. 124 
3,343 
11/* 
. 125 
3,500 
9% 
. 162 
2,300 
31 
. 163 
930 
29 
. 164 
1.300 
32 
. 165 
2,858 
45 
. 174 
300 
3714 
. 175 
270 
25 
. 176 
320 
34 
. 184 
500 
10% 
. 185 
850 
30 
. 188 
1,350 
40 
. 190 
750 
35 
. 196 
16.000 
3614 
. 197 
16,000 
37 
2,800 
20 /* 
. 201 
31-9 
3014 
10,000 
14 1 
!. 206 
4,000 
40J 
.. 251 
747 
22 
. 253 
793 
22 
,. 255 
866 
21 % 
908 
21% 
1,115 
18/* 
. 261 
1,018 
21 
,. 265 
964 
21/2 
. 268 
4,026 
17 0 
,. 284 
4.505 
15 
.. 285 
1,000 
15 
.. 287 
450 
16 
. 289 
450 
1614 
.. 317-9 
25,000 
1714 
.. 320-1 
9.000 
17/2 
.. 322 
2,000 
12/2 
.. 323 
3 500 
8/2 
.. 324 
1,200 
7 j 
.. 325-6 
14,000 
13 1 
.. 327-8 
8,400 
15 -i 
.. 329-30 3.300 
16 1 
.. 347 
800 
33/* 
.. 308 
4,000 
22/, 
. 369 
1,000 
19 
•d 371 
900 
18% 
!d 373 
800 
17% 
.. 375 
700 
17% 
300 
12 
.. 379 
1,300 
23% 
It was said that wool was offered from about every 
place on earth where sheep are kept. In all, 2,475,000 
pounds were offered, of which 1,375,000 pounds were 
of foreign, and 1,105,000 of domestic production. The 
sale was conducted by one of the best known auction 
firms in the city. The prices obtained were, in some 
cases, higher than those at which the same grades 
were being sold at private sale, and in some cases 
lower, averaging, perhaps, about the same. 
it! 
It is said that but three other cities in the world 
hold auction sales of wool—Liverpool, London and 
Antwerp. The results have been satisfactory in those 
places, and as the methods introduced here are much 
the same, modified somewhat to meet our conditions, 
it is to be hoped that both seller and buyer will 
derive advantages from the system. One of the chief 
advantages is that there is an authorized and guaran¬ 
teed classification of the wools offered. The Wool 
Exchange, a regularly organized and incorporated 
body, stands as the sponsor of the sales. Formerly, 
wools in trade were classified, but now these classifi¬ 
cations become fixed as adjusted and guaranteed by 
the inspectors of the Exchange. From being fluctu¬ 
ating grades according to individual ideas, they are 
now fixed oflicially. Every bale of wool consigned 
for sale at the Exchange is examined and passed upon 
by an expert inspector. Certificates from the Ex¬ 
change specifying the number of pounds and the 
grade become available as collateral at the banks ; 
holders of these certificates will be able to borrow 
from 85 to 75 per cent of their value, and this is often 
of great advantage to a business man. The sales are 
open to those who are not members of the Exchange. 
X X X 
Some of the critics claim that the auction system 
cannot be made a success in this country. It is said 
that, in London, the whole of the wool offered is dis¬ 
played in immense warehouses, so that the buyer can 
see it all, and that buyers will pay more than when 
buying from samples. It is said, too, that the Ameri¬ 
can idea of an auction is a sale at a sacrifice, and this 
is not the idea of these sales. But some of these ob¬ 
jections were made when auction sales of fruit were 
inaugurated, yet these are a success. It is to be 
hoped that the wool sales will be. f. h. y. 
BUSINESS BITS 
Last week an error was made in referring to the Rogers & Hub¬ 
bard Company, of Middletown, Conn. We spoke of them as the 
Bradley & Hubbard Company. No doubt letters addressed to them 
will be delivered safely, but we desire to correct the error here. 
Cutting corn by hand is slow and heavy work; but hand cut¬ 
ting is no longer necessary. Horses can do it faster and easier. 
The popular cutter now is made to run on low wheels, with 
adjustable knives on each side to cut two rows at a time. For 
full Jdescription of this cutter, address the Foos Mfg. Company, 
Springfield, O. 
Now is a good time to build that fence you intended to build 
last spring. A little fencing now may enable you to divide up the 
fall pasturage to the best possible advantage. A little extra fore¬ 
sight and precaution at this time may save you much worry and 
loss in the future. If you have not already decided what fence 
you shall use, look into the merits of the Keystone woven wire 
fence made by the company of that name at Peoria, Ill. They 
make a very superior and durable fence for stock and farm pur¬ 
poses. We believe that it will payayou to correspond with them 
before buying. 
