E 
 
 .Jfc8 
 
Class E n 5 
 
 PRESENTKI) ;iY 
 
IPU ^M ^ 
 
 KEY TO THE PROBLEM 
 
 OR 
 
 Tale of a Sa.ble City 
 
 ' ^y BY 
 
 H. T. JOHNSON. PhD. D.D. 
 
 Editor "The Christian Recorder" 
 
 Author of 
 
 DIVINE LOGOS 
 
 HOW TO GET ON 
 
 JOHNSON'S GEMS 
 
 TUSKEGEE TALKS 
 THE PULPIT, PEW AND PARISH 
 LUX GENTIS NIGRITIS 
 
 MISS LYNCH UNVEILED 
 RACE PROBLEM SERIES 
 
 CHURCH PROBLEM SERIES 
 THE COLOR LINE 
 
 THE DOLLAR MONEY 
 
 A. M. E. BOOK CONCERN 
 -, , . ^ 631 PINK STREET, 
 (.i-rf<-^C^^ PHILADKUPHIA, PA. 
 
 7 
 
 c ^ 
 
fcl. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Author 
 (Person) 
 
 
 /^_fp^;> 
 
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 ^ 
 
 
 
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 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 Chapter. P. 
 
 ^ge. 
 
 I. 
 
 An Awakened Section . 
 
 II 
 
 II. 
 
 A City of Sure Foundation 
 
 18 
 
 III. 
 
 City and Race Jubilee Proposed. 
 
 23 
 
 IV. 
 
 Multi-millionaire Appropriations. 
 
 32 
 
 V. 
 
 A Woman In It 
 
 37 
 
 VI. 
 
 A Magic Romance .... 
 
 40 
 
 VII. 
 
 Fortune and Cupid Crowned . 
 
 43 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Nearing the Goal .... 
 
 49 
 
 IX. 
 
 The City's Golden Event . . 
 
 56 
 
 X. 
 
 A Century's Offering . 
 
 63 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Whoso hath not snuffed the aroma of 
 southern wild flowers, or Hstened to the 
 carolhng of our celebrated wood choris- 
 ters, draws upon the imagination in vain 
 for material out of which to weave an 
 image which at once reflects the salient 
 features of southern rural life. How- 
 ever, let him not imagine for a moment 
 who hath witnessed a mocking-bird con- 
 cert, or been intoxicated by the poetic 
 fragrance of bay blossoms or cape jas- 
 mines, that he can don the toga of a south- 
 ern bard. He needs to linger long 
 enough in the land of Dixie to discern 
 the four shiftings of nature's gorgeous 
 panorama. He must tarry hereabouts 
 long enough to snatch a fringe from the 
 garment of meek-eyed spring; to see the 
 opulent goddess of summer and taste of 
 her nectarean sweetnesses from orchard, 
 field and garden; to behold the aurelian 
 form of fading autumn and listen to the 
 rustle of her departing robes. Then, 
 if time permits, with pen in hand and . 
 
Preface 
 
 optics askant, let him sketch the icv 
 footprints cvnd frigid countenance and 
 cold embraces of the stern matron of win- 
 ter. If this would-be knig-ht of the quill 
 has a heart for verse-making, and nature 
 up to this time has not moved it. perhaps 
 the vernal sun will reach him and pierce 
 it with his radiant daeeers 
 
 To the spacious poetic heavens of the 
 sunny South, whence the scenes and in- 
 cidents of our narrative obtain their birth, 
 we hasten the gentle reader. 
 
 5 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Says Cowper in his poem, "The 
 Task" : 
 
 "Variety is the spice of life 
 That gives it all its flavor." 
 
 Variety might have been termed by the 
 poet, not the "spice of life," but the life 
 itself; for where is life manifest that it 
 is not characterized by a variety that is 
 simply interminable — whether it be the 
 life of the firmament or of the sea, whether 
 it be on the earth or under the earth. 
 In life seen or life unseen variety is all 
 and in all. Indeed we have the thought 
 that it is not only by variety that life is 
 possible, but that by it success in the field 
 of its operation is also only possible. 
 That variety greatly furthers and hastens 
 success is perfectly demonstrable. Refer- 
 ing to the variety of agencies alluded to 
 by the prophet (Isa 62 : 10) to make pos- 
 sible the return of Israel from Babylon, 
 and not only possible, but expeditious, 
 
 6 
 
Preface 
 
 Rawlinson says : "The speaker returns 
 to the period of the exile, and exhorts 
 the people to pass forth from Babylon and 
 speed on their way homeward. Some of 
 them are to clear away obstacles, others 
 are to bring materials and construct a 
 highway along which the stream of emi- 
 grants may march, while a third body re- 
 moves such stones as might cause stumb- 
 ling, and a fourth lifts up a standard to 
 direct the march." 
 
 And this same principle of the potency 
 of variety is seen in the inspired economy 
 of our holy religion. We read (Eph. 4: 
 II,) "x\nd he gave some to be apostles; 
 and some prophets ; and some evangelists ; 
 and some pastors and teachers." The 
 Catholic Douay has it: "And he gave 
 some Apostles, and some Prophets, and 
 some Evangelists, and other some pas- 
 tors and doctors." 
 
 Respecting this divine exhibition of a 
 variety of forces, Henry says: "How- 
 rich is the church that had at first such 
 a variety of officers, and has still such a 
 variety of gifts!" 
 
introduction 
 
 It is to this principle of action on the 
 part of God. both in nature and in revela- 
 tion — to say nothing of its constant recur- 
 rence in the daily providences of our 
 lives — it is, we say, to this principle that 
 we would invite the attention of all who 
 are laboring for the disenthrallment of 
 our millions, and so happily illustrated in 
 the life of the author of this book. 
 
 Variety of effort is the word. Variety 
 of thought. Variety of word. Variety 
 of work. Variety of method in general. 
 Our author, we say, is a fine illustration 
 of all this. Is a speech to be made? Only 
 touch the button. Is a lecture to be de- 
 livered? He is there. He can give an 
 impromptu verse, on the first asking ; and 
 preach a sermon full of thought. He 
 writes editorials on the events of the day; 
 and books on the more substantial duties 
 of civic life. And now he essays to rise 
 to the realm of fiction. \\'hat next? we 
 are constrained to ask. He is the farthest 
 from being a variety man, but who can 
 say he is not a man of the rarest intellec- 
 tual variety? Of course, we bave no idea 
 
 5' 8 
 
Introduction 
 
 of the success that may attend this last 
 venture, l^eing- called away to the South- 
 west before it was possible for us to read 
 or even glance at the manuscript. But 
 judging- from the man and his past ef- 
 forts, judging especially from the variety 
 of talents possessed we have every rea- 
 son to expect success. Did not the variety 
 of the forces engaged bring retreating- 
 Israel safe to Palestine? Does not the 
 variety of the gift's imparted still lead on 
 the church to victory? So with the case 
 in hand. Surely the speaker and the lec- 
 turer, the poet and the author, the editor 
 and the preacher, will not fail when he 
 comes to write a work of fiction. None, 
 we prophesy, will have to pay it the left- 
 handed compliment paid to Hugh Miller's 
 venture as a poet : "There is not a ridic- 
 ulous or foolish line in it." 
 
 With an earnest prayer that his forth- 
 coming "Key to the Problem" will fit and 
 so enable our ten millions to open the 
 door of their worse than Mamertine 
 prison and emerge into God's free sun- 
 
 9 
 
Introduction 
 
 light of justice and fair play, we sub- 
 scribe ourselves, 
 
 BENJ. TUCKER TANNER. 
 
 2908 Diamond St, Philadelphia. 
 
 JO 
 
KEY TO THE PROBLEM. 
 
 or 
 
 A SABLE CITY, 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 AN AWAKENED SECTION. 
 
 Tlie city of Bayou, whence my narra- 
 tive takes its birth, is located in one of 
 the flowery commonweaUhs of Dixie in 
 a Black Belt District. A half-century 
 ago its inhabitants numbered a trifle more 
 than fifty thousand souls, forty per 
 cent, of whom were white, the rest a col- 
 ored population of every hue from Afri- 
 can ebony to Caucasian octoroon. The 
 jihenomenal growth of this Afro-Ameri- 
 can town is seen bv a o-lance at the latest 
 census findings, which place its whites at 
 seven hundred and fifty thousand and the 
 Afro-American variety at a quarter mil- 
 lion more than the whites. Nor are the 
 
 11 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 industrial and sociological changes of 
 this experimental community less marvel- 
 ous than their stride in population, for 
 growth along these lines had its tremend- 
 ous mainspring in the march of idea> 
 and irresistable conquests of truth. In 
 the light of its present greatness, the story' 
 of the dreams and drawbacks of the ju- 
 venile town of a half century ago is 
 of romantic tinge and will be read only 
 with incredulous eyes. If the picture re- 
 called should awaken the reader's doubts 
 touching history or humanity, the penalty 
 is but transient and incidental. Suppose 
 dark scenes are disclosed, each sombre 
 cloud \vili be seen to bear a silver fringe 
 and expel some death charged element. 
 V\'here traile 1 caste monsters in the slime 
 of unreasoning hate will be traced the 
 holy forms of vestal spirits pioneering to 
 higher planes. The bloody hoofs which 
 mark the tread of outlawry will prove but 
 providential outlines to the reign of law 
 and justice. In the wake of war and its 
 hydra horrors, the gentle doves of peace 
 will appear in flocks bearing twigs of 
 
 12 
 
A Sable Cily 
 
 thrift and amity. Instead of thorns of 
 discrimination, fir trees of equity will 
 flourish in splendor. The solitary places 
 made fearful by political and social curses 
 after fiery regencation will be seen 
 taking on new life and crowned with the 
 verdant grandeur of unfading greatness. 
 
 He who doubts the history and 
 prophecy sketched in these pages is no 
 firm believer in Providence and chal- 
 lenges the conquest and sovereignty of 
 eternal right. 
 
 A new era dawns upon the ill-favored 
 population of the South-land. The bap- 
 tism of blood with which they had been 
 deluged for centuries, first in the form of 
 slavery, then followed by the fiery perse- 
 cutions associated with their aspirations 
 to the rights of freedmen, had so regen- 
 erated the erstwhile inferior race that 
 they no longer looked or acted like their 
 former selves, save in a most shadowy 
 way. In evidence that the transforma- 
 tion was not merely superficial, the very 
 soil seemed permeated by it and the at- 
 mosphere felt lighter, and the fields and 
 
 13 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 farms wore an Eclenic aspect of beauty 
 and loveliness on every side. From or- 
 chard, farm and field, the golden fruit 
 teemed in unstinted abundance. The fleecy 
 staple that a few generations gone by 
 swayed the sceptre of sovereignty became 
 now crowded from its royal foothold by 
 conditions less conducive to its reign. The 
 unfavorable conditions which had so long 
 fettered the powers and crippled the as- 
 pirations of the long down-trodden peo- 
 ple had so yielded to the touch of pro- 
 gress that not a vestige of their unsight- 
 ly track was to be seen. Large wastes 
 of rural territories, deserted by former 
 generations, afforded prosperous seats 
 for thrifty multitudes who had the wis- 
 dom and energy to desert congested city 
 centers and take their chances with un- 
 fettered nature iri quest of health and for- 
 tune. As if in sympathy with their wise 
 and nobler aspirations, nature responded 
 freely to the touch of her ever-faithful 
 but long dwarfed subjects, and from 
 fields and flocks and farm, the bams, 
 graneries and stock-yards teemed in 
 
 14 
 
A Sable City 
 
 plenty. No longer dependent upon op- 
 pressive landlords, supply merchants and 
 lienholders, the people were masters of 
 their own soil, from which enough was 
 raised not only to maintain their families 
 but a large surplus for the market be- 
 sides. In springtime the sceneries along 
 railways, pikes and roadsides were such 
 as to arouse interest and emotion in the 
 dullest observer. From the Potomac to 
 the Rio Grande thrift and intelligence 
 roamed hand in hand, while waking 
 nature smiled and wove her verdant man- 
 tle for every vale and hill top. A few 
 months later and the fields in Virginia 
 waved broad banners of tobacco leaves, 
 answering to the golden corn and rice of 
 the Carolinas, the fruits of Florida, the 
 cotton of Georgia, the cane of Louisiana 
 ^nd the fleecy fields of the Lone Star 
 State. 
 
 Diversity, fertility and prosperity 
 marked rural conditions everywhere. 
 The historic black belts, unchanged in 
 contents and complexion, had so enlarged 
 in scope and magnitude that they erri' 
 
 15 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 braced the major portion of Southern 
 population as their inhabitants. These 
 people, long ago individualized for their 
 ignorance and backwardness, had taken 
 on the higher life, peculiar to a growing 
 people. The monotonous and depressing 
 sight of semi-civilized life no longer ex- 
 isted. Fenceless fields, wierd-looking 
 log shanties, lank and unsightly road- 
 rigs and other exponents of a backward 
 civilization, were rare exceptions, scarce- 
 ly to be met with in a day's journey. This 
 juvenile race, the youngest offspring of 
 nature, had discovered the golden secret 
 from their mothers' lips that nothing is 
 wasted and with great diligence they set 
 about applying this truth. The fortunes 
 squandered by their forefathers on ac- 
 count of stupidity or impecuniosity, the 
 rank and file of them rescued and re- 
 deemed with amazing thrift and wisdom. 
 Race pride and mutual confidence, so sad- 
 ly lacking in their ancestors, were no 
 longer drawbacks to their progress. Not 
 only was enterprise displayed in the form 
 of shopkeeping, shoemaking, blacksmith- 
 
 16 
 
A Sable City 
 
 ing, undertaking-, whitewashing and 
 what-not, as among the older generations, 
 tb.e new and more vigorons descendants 
 enlarged their thoughts awd activities 
 along higher lines. From tenacious soil 
 they utilized the ordinary clay, trampled 
 upon by their progenitors and devoured 
 by a type of "Crackers." to compromise 
 indolence and appease their appetite, this 
 new people built factories and manufac- 
 tured bricks and pottery for the market. 
 At convenient intervals of location were 
 to be found factories for the crushing of 
 rocks, the grinding of grain, the canning 
 of fruits and vegetables, or mills for the 
 sawing of lumber, the grinding of sugar 
 cane and millet, the weaving of cloth, and 
 the manufacturing of countless articles of 
 food and dress for personal and domestic 
 service. 
 
Or Key To The Problem 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A CITY OF SURE FOUNDATION. 
 
 In evidence of the intellectual and 
 moral transformation which took place 
 in this formerly iinder-race, little if any 
 trace of the distrust of each other which 
 for centuries stunted their progress was 
 anywhere to be discovered. Instead of 
 each one relying upon his individual 
 strength and judgment for success in 
 business ventures, just the opposite was 
 true. The larger towns of the orighial 
 black belt were dotted for blocks with 
 stores, market houses and business places. 
 In front of large stores of general mer- 
 chandise and groceries or hardware or 
 dry goods were signs such as "Jo^'^^s and 
 Brown," "Adams and Sons," "Anderson, 
 Smith and Co." 
 
 The city of Mound Bayou had the 
 lead of the other towns of the more 
 noted class and its superior stand- 
 
 18 
 
A Sable City 
 
 ing- was due to this fact as well as to 
 the fact that its early settlers were col- 
 ored men and women of the best char- 
 acter and of superior intelligence and as- 
 piration. The majority of them had re- 
 ceived their schooling at Wilberforce, 
 Tuskegee, Lincoln and Hampton, while 
 others studied at Northern schools, or 
 could exhibit certificates of training in the 
 school of good common sense and self- 
 acquired ability. The colony was the 
 outcome of the bitter oppression from 
 which the race suffered throughout the 
 Southland during the dawn of the twen- 
 tieth century. The persecutions, wide- 
 spread and intollerable, which drove the 
 less thoughtful of the race to desert their 
 homes, some going North and West, 
 others falling a prey to sharks of the em- 
 migration theory and taking ship for 
 Liberia, brought the conservative and 
 race-loving leaders together, who, after 
 due deliberation, concluded to remain in 
 the South and simply shift their base of 
 operation. They agreed to purchase an 
 immense area of land some distance from 
 
 19 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 the white man's irritating and hostile 
 presence and endeavor to build up a 
 model community for themselves. A 
 charter from the legislature was granted 
 the promoters of the unusual venture and 
 in less than a half century the thriving, 
 towering Mound Bayon city was the 
 stupendous fruitage. 
 
 From the fifty model families who 
 first settled and laid the foundation 
 of the village, the population had ex- 
 panded to fifty thousand. They had laid 
 the foundation of their safety and pros- 
 perity upon the four corner-stones of 
 righteousness, temperance, economy and 
 race upbuilding. Admitting these basal 
 elements of prosperity, it is not difficult 
 to account for the prodig-ious wealth and 
 success of the experimental city. Its walls 
 were towering and so fortified against 
 that foe which usually makes captors of 
 the powerful and great that their founda- 
 tions could not be undermined nor their 
 battlements scaled by the arch invader, 
 King Alcohol. No liquor traffic was al- 
 lowed within the city and arrests for 
 
 20 
 
 i 
 
A Sable City 
 
 drunkenness were unusual occurrences, 
 even during the Christmas season. The 
 police who did duty only throughout the 
 night did service more from obedience to 
 orders than from the fear that the public 
 welfare was endangered in any wise. 
 Banks, jewelry stores and business 
 houses needed no watchmen since burg- 
 lars and thieves shunned the city or found 
 its approaching roadways and posted 
 laws of entrance or residence both for- 
 bidding and rigidly impassable. Only a 
 small pro rata of whites were allowed to 
 reside in the town and then only on con- 
 dition that they take out license to restrict 
 their business within the limit of a cer- 
 tain margin of prosperity in a stated 
 time. This particular restriction was 
 varied, however, when the white man 
 elected to unite in business corporations 
 with colored men, and in that event that 
 he be restrained from exercising a con- 
 trolling share of the stock. This iron-clad 
 rule was not established and enforced be- 
 cause of prejudice against the whites, but 
 as a safeguard against the defeat of the 
 
 21 
 
Or Key To The Problem 
 
 scheme to build an independent, ideal 
 Negro community, illustrative of the 
 race's heart and brain in their best pro- 
 ductiveness, unhampered or unaided by 
 the white man's genius except in an inci- 
 dental wav. 
 
 22 
 
 I 
 
A Sable City 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CITY AND RACE JUBILEE PROPOSED. 
 
 The first century of the race's freedom 
 was near its close and it was decided to 
 celebrate the event in connection with the 
 golden jubilee of the magic Negro city. 
 To give eclat to the double anniversary, 
 the black republics of Liberia, San 
 Domingo and Hayti made liberal pro- 
 vision for representation of the people 
 and government, feeling especial interest 
 in the event because of their relation to the 
 history and people involved. Nor were 
 the whites to be accused of indifference 
 or opposition to the great event, for while 
 it meant the glory of the thirty millions 
 of sable-hued Americans, it involved the 
 credit of the nation that gave them citi- 
 zenship and made it possible for them to 
 demonstrate their powers of manhood 
 and race nobility. What the state failed 
 to furnish in the way of liberal appropria- 
 
 23 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 tion on miserly and partisan grounds, was 
 more than matched by the liberal outlay 
 of Congress for the gigantic display of 
 Negro genius and possibilities. The thirty 
 millions voted by Congress for the Afro- 
 American Centennial was fought by 
 Southern Congressmen on the ground 
 that the appropriation meant their en- 
 dorsement of class legislation, which was 
 contrary to the letter and spirit of the 
 Constitution as they construed it. While 
 they were in favor of the progress made 
 by the blacks since their emancipation 
 and heartily endorsed the proposed ex- 
 hibition which was intended to show their 
 development along industrial, mechanical, 
 agricultural, intellectual and business 
 lines, unless they warped the plain statu- 
 tory enactments from their recognized 
 applications there was no way by which 
 they could favor the measure. The more 
 radical among the Southern statesmen, 
 true to the instinct of the former party 
 and generation, opposed the appropria- 
 tion with much vehemence and all the in- 
 fluence and adroitness they could muster, 
 
 24 
 
A Sable City 
 
 but the measure won over their head with 
 qn overwhehiiing majority vote. 
 
 Those who championed the meas- 
 ure on the floor of Cong^ress used 
 the invincible argument that as a 
 part of the national body politic 
 the Afro-American contingent had as 
 strong a claim upon the contents of the 
 nation's treasury as any of the numerous 
 race-varieties whose blood coursed 
 through the nation's veins and helped to 
 constitute its life. No more was asked 
 for in the appropriation invoked for the 
 colored citizens than was even more lib- 
 erally granted to Irish and German- 
 Americans in the recent exposition-s 
 which marked epochs in their respective 
 histories. They insisted with telling ef- 
 fect that the marvelous material progress 
 of the countrv as a whole was due to the 
 black citizen's worth as laborers and that 
 this truth applied with unqualified force 
 to the South. Subtract from the nation's 
 wealth credit the revenue yielded from 
 rice, cotton, cane and tobacco culture in 
 the South and the shrinkage would be 
 
 25 
 
Or Key To The Problem 
 
 fearful. Such a deduction would so 
 lower the prestige of the nation that its 
 standing as a world power would be hope- 
 lessly impa'ired. Out of sheer equity and 
 consistency the nation owed it to itself to 
 recognize in an appreciable way the peo- 
 ple who so largely constitute the source 
 and mainstay of the stupendous material 
 showing the country was able to make be- 
 fore the world. It was also shown by 
 the champions of the appropriation bill 
 that the enormous contributions of the 
 darker races who composed the nation's 
 new dependencies had enriched the gov- 
 ernment more than a billion dollars in 
 two decades and that it was befitting that 
 the nation indicate its gratitude by the 
 moderate allowance asked for in the ap- 
 propriation proposed. As a fitting cli- 
 max, the leading speaker in support of 
 
 the measure referred to the patriotism 
 and valor of the colored man in every 
 crisis of the country's life, citing Attucks, 
 who fell a martyr in the fight for Ameri- 
 can independence ; Salem, at Bunker Hill ; 
 Carney, at Wagner ; Young and others at 
 El Caney and Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 26 
 
A Sable City 
 
 Southern Congressmen of the rabid, 
 fire-eating Tillman type had passed away, 
 but the succeeding crop supplied in ad- 
 herence to the traditions of the elders 
 what they lacked in bluff and bluster of 
 the blood and thunder variety. One of 
 the belligerent class of Southern states- 
 men mentioned courteously asked the 
 privilege of interrogating the speaker, 
 who was in the midst of a most interest- 
 ing and eloquent closing period. The 
 speaker indicated a desire not to be in- 
 terrupted at that juncture, but finally 
 yielded at the insistence of the inter- 
 ruptor. 
 
 "Does the gentleman on the floor mean 
 to give the impression that he is a believer 
 in social equality betv-;een the whites and 
 blacks?" The question did not in the least 
 d.'sconcert the speaker. His prompt and 
 silencing rejoinder was : 
 
 "When the warrant of time or the in- 
 terest of the discussion will justify it I 
 will be pleased to reply to the gentleman 
 from Mississippi and give him an ade- 
 quate reason for the faith maintained by 
 
 27 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 the speaker on this or any other subject 
 involving social rights and privileges." 
 
 Amid the deafening- applause of his par- 
 tisan friends and the cheers of the more 
 liberal representatives of the counter 
 party t]]e champion advocate referred to 
 'concluded his speech to the chagrin and 
 dismay of the minority element who de- 
 signed to weaken its force. The much- 
 boasted chivalry of the Southern gentry 
 wilted beyond recognition beneath the 
 glowing reference made by the speaker to 
 the heroic conduct of the ex-slaves to the 
 white population when the latter was ab- 
 solutely at their mercy and at a time 
 when the oppressor was striving with 
 main and might to more tightly bind the 
 gyves and shackles upon tliem. The 
 same fortitude that enabled these people 
 to endure the horrors of bondage for cen- 
 turies, to pass through the fires of perse- 
 cution and the hell of outlawry and wide- 
 spread race butcheries, had fortified them 
 with a forbearance and forgiveness well- 
 nigh superhuman in scope and character. 
 Time had demonstrated the wisdom of 
 
 28 
 
A Sable City 
 
 their course and the triumph of their 
 cause. Their descendants have lived to 
 see cities reared and temples of worship 
 and learning tower where once the hydras 
 of slavery and race hate and appalling 
 ignorance trailed their foul and slimy 
 forms. They had entered the wilderness 
 and like the nobler members of the Cau- 
 casian group had transformed it into a 
 paradise of homes and flourishing centers. 
 They had risen from chatteldom to man- 
 hood and could watch the superior for- 
 tuned race in the most admirable speci- 
 men of heart and brain productions. 
 Their poets can sing with no less en- 
 chanting sweetness than the bards of 
 Greece or England, while their artists can 
 wield the brush and chisel with an ease 
 that rivals an Orpheus or Angello. In 
 the educational realm members of this 
 once subject race now rank as masters, 
 while the foremost one of this class will 
 jut out in towering prominence above all 
 others of his day and race and country. 
 When Harvard and Yale and Johns Hop- 
 kins will have been obscured in forgetful- 
 
 29 
 
Or Key To The Problem 
 
 ness Tuskegee and Wilberforce, coupled 
 with Payne and Washington, their sable 
 founders, will have just shed the ivy 
 leaves of their ever verdant grandeur. 
 While the world looks upon the efforts, 
 achievements and renown of this plodding 
 indefatigable people with gratification and 
 admiration , it is a spectacle beggering 
 description that a paltry few who stand 
 astride the roadway of their pilgrimage 
 in stubborn attitude, hug;ging the delusive 
 hope of thereby arresting the chariot of 
 their progress or thwarting it from its 
 track of God-appointed destiny. In grant- 
 ing the thirty million toward their centen- 
 nial jubilee Congress proves itself equal 
 to a high privilege no less binding than 
 its duty to a class in whose hands the na- 
 tions life and honor are held as most 
 sacred jewels. 
 
 The committee to whom the matter 
 was referred reported favorably upon it 
 and Congress approved the same by an 
 overwhelming two-thirds vote. With 
 this added thirty million appropriation 
 from the government the Centennial Col- 
 
 30 
 
A Sable City 
 
 ored Jubilee Commission was amply for- 
 tified to make success of the 
 bration event it had in hand. 
 
 tified to make success of the gigantic cele- 
 
 3J 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MULTI-MILLIONAIRE APPROPRIATIONS 
 
 The colored capitalists of the Mound 
 City had formulated plans for the celebra- 
 tion of the first golden anniversary of 
 their city's life in connection with the 
 looth year of the race's emancipation. 
 The program arranged for the occasion 
 was arrang-ed on a most elaborate scale. 
 Not only were invitations extended to the 
 noted men and women of the race, but it 
 took in every known friend of the race in 
 all the sections and a few distinguished 
 advocates and champions of the Negro's 
 cause from abroad. For five years the 
 scheme of this surpassing event was un- 
 der contemplation and outsiders no less 
 than the local population talked and 
 dreamed of its unqualified success. The 
 popular subscription to the project 
 amounted to ten million five hundred 
 thousand dollars, while the wealthy capi- 
 
 32 
 
A Sable City 
 
 talists pledged to donate a sum six times 
 as large as the sum paid in by the people. 
 Congress, through the National Liberty 
 Party, which grew out of the old Repub- 
 lican party, had appropriated thirty mil- 
 lions to the same project. The sum for 
 the exposition by this figure now reached 
 the adequate and flattering amount of 
 more than one hunderd million dollars. 
 It was thought that one million dollars 
 for each year of the race's history since 
 its emancipation would not be too great 
 an investment in its jubilee centenary, 
 and the inhabitants of the magic city 
 cheerfully contributed its quota toward 
 the magnificent event. No one seemed 
 averse to the enterprise, for its successful 
 consummation meant fame to the inves- 
 tors and millions to the city coffers. The 
 expenditure of this money was placed in 
 the hands of an executive committee fully 
 competent to handle it in such a manner 
 as to give general satisfaction and pro- 
 duce the best results. A number of sub- 
 committees were placed in charge of var- 
 ious interests, such as agricultural, me- 
 
 33 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 chanical, domestic, artistic, scientific, ani- 
 mal and poultry exhibits, showing the 
 progress of the race during the first cen- 
 tury of its freedom. The most inviting 
 and picturesque land site was selected for 
 the exposition grounds and buildings and 
 was in easy reach of the city, both by 
 steam and electric railways, the latter 
 leading to the main entrance within a 
 stone's throw of the Administration 
 Building. Acres of humble two-room 
 cottao-es that cumbered the citv's subur- 
 ban grounds gave place to the fair 
 grounds and its mammoth structures, 
 their owners having been tendered lib- 
 eral compensation for a two-year lease of 
 the same and quarters for their occupants 
 being provided elsewhere. The people 
 that temporarily occupied the outlying 
 suburban territory were quite unlike their 
 city neighbors both in history and aim 
 and temperament. They were refugees 
 from lawless sections where the atmos- 
 phere of race hate was unbearable. The 
 community in which they lived formerly 
 became dominated by a class of whites 
 
 34 
 
 
A Sable City 
 
 who persecuted the blacks less bitterly 
 than their ancestors, but who, while the_, 
 no longer mobbed nor burnt them, still 
 controlled the courts and made it impos- 
 sible for them to enjoy their civil rights 
 or dwell peaceably or secured in their 
 homes. A sudden outbreak of this deadly 
 spirit drove thousands to abandon their 
 homes and the majority sought the more 
 congenial confines of the thriving and his- 
 toric Negro town. In their sudden ex- 
 odus they had to sacrifice all their pos- 
 sessions except what ready money and 
 portable articleql they owmed. Though 
 distressed in circumstances these unfor- 
 tunate refugees were received by their 
 more fortiniate race neighbors and given 
 a chance to try their fortune among those 
 who knew what it was to feel the shafts 
 of race persecution. For fifty years the 
 iron had entered into the souls of their 
 fathers and drove them to pitch their tents 
 into the wilderness in search of a Canaan 
 whose soil would yield corn and wheat in 
 plenty and whose streams would flow with 
 milk and wine. True to the high hopes 
 
 35 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 and fondest dreams of these earlier race 
 pioneers the fields were crowned with 
 plenty and the years with goodness as the 
 inhabitants more and more relied upon 
 their brain and muscles and adhered to 
 the God of their fathers. With temper- 
 ance, co-operation, righteousness and 
 education as main pillars in the structure 
 of their unique city, it was but reasonable 
 to surmise the success of their model com- 
 munity. While the well pastored and 
 flourishing churches and splendid insti- 
 tutions of higher and lower grades re- 
 flected the intellectual and moral life of 
 the populace, their homes, business place?, 
 clean streets, well-ordered parks, fire, 
 police and water systems were living illus- 
 trations of the genius and fitness of 
 this virgin race for self-government and 
 the ability to work out their own salva- 
 tion when left to themselves. 
 
 36 
 
A Sable City 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A WOMAN IN IT. 
 
 The mammoth Exhibition and Jnbilee 
 was the theme of every tongue but that 
 of Eunice Montgomery and Douglass 
 Hayden Lewis. The tropical sun never 
 tinged and bronzed a lovlier human 
 beauty than the former, the only daugh- 
 ter of the oldest and wealthiest settler of 
 the half-century-old town. The wealth 
 and beauty of the fortune-crowned maid- 
 en found chief expression in her cultured 
 mind and royal spirit. Passing through 
 the best schools of her native town and 
 with church credentials in testimony of 
 her Christian character 'she was warmly 
 welcomed by the president and faculty of 
 New England's celebrated school for 
 girls, and by her brilliancy and winsome-, 
 ness she was not long in securing a lead- 
 ing place among its student ranks. At 
 the social functions of the school she was 
 
 37 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 a drawing card and central figure as much 
 for her brilliancy and bon mot qualities 
 as for her prepossessing beauty. Though 
 exposed to the seductive influences per- 
 culiar to institutions which exalt erudi- 
 tion and mental finesse above the spiritual 
 virtues, Eunice Montgomery placed no 
 less stress upon her Christian honor than 
 upon her scholastic standing. With a 
 splendid class record supplemented by the 
 benediction of an ever approving relig- 
 ious conscience, the five years' enlistment 
 soon sped among the things of the past 
 and the successful and beloved Wellesley 
 College girl of color became numberd 
 with its extensive and ever-growing 
 alumnae. 
 
 The five summers of Eunice's college 
 life fled by as swift as the flight of fairies 
 and as lightly as their dreams. Her va- 
 cation months were pleasantly whiled 
 away in Boston at the home of a relative 
 whose daughter was a close companion 
 and college chum. Not until the vacation 
 season of her junior year did she yield to 
 the attractions of social life in the Hub, 
 
 38 
 
A Sable City 
 
 for prior to this the evenings were spent 
 usually in literary recreation at home 
 when not exploring the beautifully illumi- 
 nated and wonderful labyrinthian sub- 
 ways, and suburban wayside by fascinat- 
 ing trolley rides. The days were usually 
 spent in visits to such historic places as 
 Faneuil Hall, Old South Church and 
 Harvard College, or such romantic points 
 as the Willows, Nantasket-by-the-Sea, 
 Melville Garden and the like. Frequent- 
 ly during the earlier morning hours she 
 could be found in some corridor of the 
 far-famed public library poring over 
 some rare piece of literary treasure or 
 lost in the contemplation of some creation 
 of the masters in painting or sculpture or 
 statuary. It was during oue of these 
 quiet diversions that an incident occurred 
 which gave rise to the romance of the 
 present chapter and formed the major 
 link in the chain of events which caused 
 the mighty centennial and city event of 
 her Southern home to pale into minor in- 
 terest by its side. 
 
 39 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A MAGIC ROMANCE. 
 
 The crowning event of Douglass Hay- 
 den Lewis was soon to take place and the 
 princely private car of the railroad mag- 
 nate millionaire, , was at 
 
 his disposal. The son of the railroad 
 king and Douglass were fast college 
 friends and the bond between them be- 
 came sacredly confirmed, despite the 
 fruitless effort of the latter to save his 
 life in a runaway accident. Returning 
 from a polo game one afternoon as the 
 chums were nearing the college grounds, 
 a hug-e red-colored automobile suddenly 
 dashed around the corner and its furious 
 speed and puffing noise so frightened the 
 
 horse of young that he reared 
 
 and slipped and fell upon the rider 
 causing almost instant death. The steed 
 of Douglass was more controllable. The 
 athletic, agile rider grasped the reins as 
 
 40 
 
A Sable City 
 
 the horse of his chum rose upward, but 
 was scarcely able to break the force of the 
 fall. Seeing the tragic result of their 
 reckless driving the occupants of the 
 flaming machine steered to the bleeding 
 victim and assisted Douglass in lifting 
 his limp and quivering form to a seat of 
 comfort. The sinking victim was hur- 
 riedly conveyed to the college hospital 
 and the parents notified by wireless mes- 
 sage of the sad occurrence. They reached 
 the bedside of their only boy in time to 
 see him breathe his last. Despite the lux- 
 ury and comforts of the home of the 
 wealthy pair at Brookline, the death 
 angel's rustling wings and the vacant 
 chair left an ever-aching void that wealth 
 and fortune could never fill. As the sea- 
 sons returned with periodical reminders 
 of the fatal happening, the bereaved pair 
 would decorate the tomb of their sleeping 
 scion and take ship or private car to les- 
 sen their grief through travel. The only 
 worthy wearer of the dead collegian's 
 mantle in the eyes of the parents was 
 Douglass Hayden Lewis. In honor of 
 
 41 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 the departed the bereaved parents consid- 
 ered no attention to the surviving chum 
 too costly and a's the magnificent private 
 coach was not in use its princely service 
 was tendered the favored candidate for 
 matrimonial honors in the distant South. 
 
 42 
 
A Sable City 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FORTUNE AND CUPID CROWNED. 
 
 Douglass Lewis had felt the cheery 
 touch of golden days oft and again in his 
 youth and early manhood, but the morn- 
 ing of June 30th surpassed the best 
 record of all his former joyous days. It 
 wa's not his wedding day, but the prelim- 
 inary date introductory to the glad event. 
 Highland Garnett Payne was his fast 
 friend, having succeeded to that post of 
 credit since the death of his college chum, 
 was of invaluable aid in arranging the de- 
 tails of the eventful trip and its crown- 
 ing purpose. Besides the charming sis- 
 ter, mother and handy brother of the 
 groom-elect a select party of Boston's 
 upper tendom set, five whites included 
 among them, were 'snugly berthed in the 
 elegantly furnished and swell private 
 coach labelled "Lux" one of the latest and 
 richest outputs of the Pullman shops. As 
 
 43 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 the train rolled lazily out of the Union 
 Depot the conservative onlookers that 
 thronged the platform "rubbered" and 
 stared in astonishment at the dazzling, 
 breath-taking spectacle, while the uncon- 
 ventional group of newsboys silenced the 
 puffing noise of the retreating engine 
 with repeated peals of lusty cheer's. 
 
 "Gee whiz ! ain't she a beaute," shouted 
 a vociferous fledgling of the gang. 
 
 "Must be the Prince of India wid his 
 travelling train," echoed another. 
 
 "Ah, snuff yer gas pipes. Shut up yer 
 hot-air brake. Don't cher know the rich 
 old guy w^ot's big kid got killed by the 
 horse wot throwed him from de fright of 
 de red devil dat's suddenly turned de cor- 
 ner. De Harvard College guy, I mean." 
 
 A chorus of agreement followed and 
 the leader of the newsboys' brigade con- 
 tinued. * 
 
 "De feller''s dad is de one wot owns de 
 fine rig, 'cause I've seen him take folks in 
 it wid me own lookers many a time. 
 Don't cher guys mind the name yer seed 
 on the rig." 
 
 44 
 
A Sable City 
 
 The interest in the incident having ter- 
 minated as the magnificent carrier faded 
 out of sight, the merry news venders 
 made the morning air echo with shouts 
 of: 
 
 "Globe and Herald, Colored American, 
 Transcript, Advertiser. New York and 
 Providence papers. One cent. All about 
 the fire at Tremont Temple." 
 
 From Boston to New York the jour- 
 ney was marked by no particular inter- 
 est, save the merry pastime of the happy- 
 hearted party. A delay of ten minutes 
 at Hartford Junction, due to the tardi- 
 ness of the Boston Limited, was well 
 spent in a wholesome after-lunch- 
 eon exercise. The well-appointed car had 
 every convenience necessary to comfort 
 and a button had only to be touched to 
 secure the attention needed. The com- 
 missary department was stocked with 
 edibles and beverages, liquors excepted, 
 more than equal to the demand of a three 
 days' itinerary and suitable to the vagar- 
 ies of the most fastidious appetite. The 
 cooks, porters and waiters knew their 
 
 45 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 business and everything worked in apple- 
 pie order until the dividing line between 
 the upper and lower geographical region 
 was reached on the journey Southward 
 just beyond the nation's capital. From 
 the restful sleep of the previous night the 
 party awoke refreshed. The greater part 
 occupied seats in the observation car and 
 took in scenes of the Southern landscapes 
 and way'side objects while waiting for 
 breakfast, while a few found greater 
 pleasure in occupying seats at writing- 
 desks preparing letters for friends left be- 
 hind. Lewis, with Payne and Arthur 
 Garrison, one of the white guests, and 
 brother of Miss Montgomery's classmate, 
 who was one of the wedding party, paced 
 the platform outside as the train tarried 
 at the next 'station for v/ater and a fresh 
 supply of fuel. As the trio thus occupied 
 themselves they soon attracted the gaze 
 of curious hangers-on, whites and col- 
 ored, who were still slaves of the habit of 
 greeting passing trains as generations of 
 their ancestors did. The sight of the 
 jnagnificent coach, its mixed outfit of 
 
 46 
 
A Sable City 
 
 fine looking passengers, visible through 
 the uplifted curtains and windows from 
 the outside, together with the easy famil- 
 iarity of the motley party referred to, so 
 non-plussed the self-appointed delegation 
 of "Cracker" whites and sable loungers 
 that they seemed lost for expression for the 
 moment. While the blacks grinned and 
 the "Crackers" scowled as if awe-stricken 
 at the spectacle of "social ecjuality," the 
 car party inside ecjually at a loss to ac- 
 count for what greeted their visions in 
 the land through which they were but 
 transient passengers. 
 
 A number of colored gamins formed a 
 part of the early delegation that serenad- 
 ed the southbound train and furnished en- 
 tertainment to a number of drummers in 
 a novel, heartless way. The local whites 
 lined up together leaving elbow room for 
 the idle blacks to enjoy the sport. At in- 
 tervals a penny would be tossed in the 
 air so as to fall in a water puddle near the 
 railway track and the lucky scrambler 
 who could get it would be cheered by the 
 onlookers. The blacks indicated pleasure 
 
 47 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 at the sport only with broad grins, shrug- 
 ging their shoulders and hoJding their 
 sides for fear of offending the superior 
 loafers with a seeming violation of the 
 traditions of "'social equality." The party 
 from the windows of the handsome spec- 
 ial did not relish the barbarous entertain- 
 ment as the others, for they immediately 
 drew down the curtains. This act, 
 coupled with expressions of protest from 
 the Boston trio, drew the attention of the 
 crowd to the representatives of an obnox- 
 ious civilization and the shout of the 
 stern-voiced conductor, "All aboard!" 
 was a relief to the situation uttered none 
 too soon. After this incongruous episode 
 nothing occurred to cross-grain the har- 
 mony of the trip until Atlanta was 
 reached next morning and the special was 
 side-tracked two hours to make connec- 
 tion with the southwestern fiyer due at 
 noon. 
 
 48 
 
A Sable City 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NEARING THE GOAL. 
 
 The gorgeous special was switched at 
 the Yazoo Junction next morning early 
 and taken in charge by the colored con- 
 ductor operating between that point and 
 the renowned Negro city fifty miles 
 away. Three other special coaches await- 
 ed the early schedule. A delegation of 
 relatives and friends supplemented by 
 committees on behalf of the citizens and 
 the great Centennial Fair gave cordial 
 welcome to the Eastern visitors and for- 
 eign guests. Wonderment and gratifica- 
 tion were expressed on every side. The 
 saible official outfit that manned the train 
 from fireman to conductor seemed elated 
 over the Jubilee event and its bountiful 
 outcome in its first installment. The 
 news of the special car and its inmates 
 had been flashed ahead and it was easy to 
 distinguish its occupants from the Pull- 
 
 49 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 man passengers, although they were alike 
 distinguished for commanding appear- 
 ance.. The conductor, a portly, genial- 
 looking, brown-skinned official, as he 
 opened the staterooms and entered the ob- 
 servation car end of the "Lux" coach to 
 collect tickets from the pas'sengers, could 
 not suppress the pride, delight and amaze- 
 ment that struggled for mastery in his 
 thoughts and feelings. Though evidently 
 carried awa}- by the bewitching magnifi- 
 cence of the special carrier, he was more 
 deeply impressed with the rich and cul- 
 tured company aboard, but especially 
 with the imposing figure of Douglass 
 Hayden Lewis, its mo'st conspicuous 
 member. As he stood punching the 
 tickets handed by the future bridegroom 
 he could not restrain the impulse to greet 
 the Eastern visitor with a nod 
 of admissible recognition and asked 
 pardon if he was mistaken in 
 taking him for the hero of the matri- 
 monial event of the succeeding evening. 
 The blushing benedict-to-be handed the 
 conductor his card with a modest bow, 
 
 50 
 
A Sable City 
 
 which the official compensated with one 
 of his own and a copy of the Mound City 
 Morning News, which contained an elab- 
 orate program of the great city 'silver 
 event and the International Jubilee, to- 
 gether with a well written notice of the 
 wedding and the dazzling personnel of 
 the affair. The train made but a single 
 stop before reaching its final destination. 
 As it thundered along it was diffiicult to 
 differentiate or identify passing objects 
 by the wayside, but the towering impos- 
 ing forms of the huge Fair buildings 
 loomed up with increasing size and 
 grandeur, until the big spurting locomo- 
 tive was brought to a standstill within a 
 >:tone's throw of the main entrance lead- 
 ing to the entrancing and extensive ex- 
 position grounds. Thrift, enterprise and 
 business teemed on every side, greeting 
 the eyes and ringing in the ears of the pas- 
 sengers as they emerged from the train 
 through the station into the streets of the 
 record-eclipsing new Afro-American city. 
 Hotel agents teeming in great numbers 
 and drivers of hacks, 'buses and automo- 
 
 51 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 biles and other vehicles plied their genius 
 seductively as far as city ordinances 
 would permit in capturing new-comers 
 from the incoming trains. The Boston 
 guests were spared this boring gamut, 
 for the special advance committee had 
 taken them in charge at the junction as 
 already stated. Mayor Montgomery's 
 handsome auto wagon was in waiting at 
 the 'side entrance to the station and the 
 best girl of his daughter, the bride-elect's 
 college chum and three of the white pas- 
 sengers from the Hub, were hurriedly 
 wheeled to the mammoth mansion of the 
 venerable City Father. Douglass and the 
 other associate guests were conducted to 
 elegant suites of rooms at the L'Overture 
 Hotel, the leading hostelry of the place. 
 In the afternoon an automobile drive was 
 enjoyed by all save the man whose 
 thoughts and interest centered in a mat- 
 ter of greater and graver moment. Others 
 might regale themselves with sight-see- 
 ing and taking in the novel revelations of 
 the unique community, but it was up to 
 Douglass to face the music and keep time 
 
 52 
 
 J 
 
A Sable City 
 
 with the fitness of other things. He was 
 a helpless prisoner of Cupid, and a sight 
 of the human cause of his heart's undoing 
 he longed and eagerly yearned to see that 
 afternoon ere the noose of Hymen closed 
 around his neck. 
 
 The golden Jubilee of Mound City fol- 
 lowed close upon the heels of the Lewis- 
 Montgomery matrimonial event. As 
 might be expected the latter was a most 
 elaborate and surpassing affair of its 
 kind. To describe its details is to add 
 nothing of value to the narrative, hence 
 we take leave of the shadow and give the 
 substance in order to gratify the curiosity 
 and yield instruction to the reader. The 
 ceremony was performed at the People's 
 Temple in the presence of a shining as- 
 semblage of guests and spectators. The 
 interior of the building usually impressive 
 to the beholder for its simple beauty was 
 decorated for the occasion and expres'sed 
 a solemn grandeur that was heightened 
 by the rich and deep-toned wedding 
 march evoked from the pipe organ at 
 which a queenly graduate of the Boston 
 
 53 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 Conservatory of Music presided. 
 
 The Bishop of the district assisted by 
 the pastors of the contracting' parties 
 united the paii at the altar. The rites 
 performed, the gorgeously decorated par- 
 lors of the Montgomery mansion became 
 the 'subsequent scene of the brilliant wed- 
 ding. Congratulations, festivities and 
 music poured their choicest incense at the 
 feet of the lovely pair. Crowns of bene- 
 diction were woven from the kisses and 
 good cheers of the friends and early 
 mates of the bride and placed by tender 
 hands upon the brows of the jubilant 
 couple. The cup of happiness flowed in 
 unstinted fulness that merry wedding 
 evening, but the inspiration was not from 
 wine nor bacchanalian liquid in any form. 
 This could not be, for Mound City was a 
 strictly temperance, yea prohibition town, 
 and the man its most distinguished ruler, 
 whose daug-hter with her fullest consent 
 and pleasure, was turned over to the 
 graces and affections of another man. It 
 was not difficult to identify the happiest 
 quartette among the hymenial throng. 
 
 54 
 
A Sable City 
 
 The ex-Mayor, his wife, who was the 
 step-mother of his newly-married daugh- 
 ter, the latter and her noble husband eas- 
 ily betrayed the fact that of all the as- 
 semliled host they were the most favored 
 and interested ones. Narrowing the 
 group to a more limited circle, Eunice and 
 Douglass bore away the sceptre, as they 
 were the sovereigns of the realm that 
 night, their relatives and admiring 
 guests only reflecting their emitted 
 radiance. 
 
 55 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE city's golden EVENT. 
 
 The magnificent wedding event being 
 over, the next immediate afifair of com- 
 manding interest was the contents of the 
 city's Jubilee program. The benedict and 
 his lovely bride were in splendid trim to 
 appreciate the wealth of wonder con- 
 nected with this event and the grand Cen- 
 tennial World's Fair. While the appear- 
 ance of the latter in public during the 
 week was forbidden by the convention- 
 alities of good taste and custom, such 
 technicalities did not apply to her hus- 
 band and the rest of the circle of friends. 
 The royal wedding breakfast, the bracing 
 air and the golden June morning laden 
 with the beauty of the town's anniversary 
 dress and the intoxicating fragrance were 
 sufficient stimulants for the enjoyment of 
 every one. With Douglas's Lewis there 
 
 56 
 
A Sable City 
 
 was an additional stimulus in the piece 
 of paper placed as a surprise under his 
 wife's plate by her father before break- 
 fast. It was a check for one round mil- 
 lion dollars, a gift without any conditions 
 f 1 om the donor. This unexpected largesse 
 furnished additional relish for the future 
 in the benedict's thoughts, as he was 
 thereby more fully prepared to enter upon 
 the order of the day as arranged by the 
 city's executive committee on entertain- 
 ment to the eminent visiting guests. 
 
 A royal outfit of carriages and auto- 
 mobiles was announced in waiting at the 
 side entrance of the Mayor's mansion. 
 The father, son and two ladies of the Bos- 
 ton party took seats in the self-propelling 
 machine while others occupied the open 
 carriages. It was two hours before the 
 pageantry would move according to the 
 elaborate program arranged for the oc- 
 casion. There was ample time for the 
 party to make a rapid tour of the city, 
 taking in its principal points of interest 
 and be in their seats at the grand review 
 stand by eleven of the towering town 
 
 57 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 I 
 
 clock, whose clanging tongue and massive 
 hands told the successive hours, whether 
 near or far, by day or night. 
 
 The party rode leisurely to the city 
 square, where beautiful fountains spurted 
 their silvery sprays across variegated 
 erass lawns. In the trees and stunted 
 shrubbery birds flitted and squirrels 
 sported as if they too were animated by 
 the spirit of the Jubilee week. What 
 nature did not furnish to enrich the cen- 
 tral park was amply supplied in sweet 
 music furnished by the park band and in 
 the teeming works of art. "Old Glory," 
 buntings, garlands of roses, festoons of 
 flowers floating from trees or streaming 
 from temporary scaffoldings furnished a 
 magnificent spectacle. Only a few mo- 
 ments were spent in scanning the impos- 
 ing picture. 
 
 The beholders thought the spectacle 
 cjuite as rich and fascinating as that fur- 
 nished by the public gardens of Boston 
 and in some respects superior. It was ar- 
 ranged that the most convenient of the 
 public circles be taken in and a drive 
 
 58 
 
A Sable City 
 
 through Liberia Avenue with a bird's- 
 eye-view of the business section of the 
 city, which would exhaust the margin of 
 time left before the displays of the day 
 began. The broad asphalt-covered streets 
 of the residence section and the three- 
 rowed shade trees on Liberia Avenue, the 
 city's leading thoroug-hfare, did not fail 
 to afford life-material for the pen, ko- 
 daks and brushes of the Eastern sight- 
 seers. The pictures of thrift, push, enter- 
 prise and progress of the infant race and 
 people were eye-openers as they met their 
 gaze on every hand. That the beholders 
 should become inspired as they took in 
 the endless wonders of architecture, taste, 
 genius and wealth reflected from public 
 buildings, private dwellings, beautiful 
 streets and parks and monuments goes 
 without the statement. The colored visi- 
 tors were lost for utterances in the face of 
 the towering object les'sons of their peo- 
 ple's progress. Their white companions 
 shared the emotion kindled by the pic- 
 tures outlined. They were children of 
 the East and were descendents of aboli- 
 
 59 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 tionist stock. Their ancestors were full- 
 orbed and broad-guaged touching the 
 dogmas of Negro equality and human 
 brotherhood and the children wore their 
 mantle with natural ease and dignity. 
 
 The sight-seeing drive which embraced 
 the suburbs with its humbler race popu- 
 lation served as a sort of spiritual and 
 mental appetizer for the revelations to 
 greet the city's guests from the command- 
 ing station of the grand stand. The party 
 reached headquarters a few minutes in 
 advance of the scheduled time and were 
 given right of way by an advanced guard 
 of police whose massive forms sufficed to 
 move and menace the throng that blocked 
 the entrance and to the review 'stand and 
 made standing room almost impossible 
 for miles along the lines of the proces- 
 sion. 
 
 The pageantry was picturesque, stir- 
 ring and bordering on the spectacular. 
 As section after section of mounted 
 guards, uniformed officials, civilians, 
 professional's, mechanics, business men, 
 and common and skilled laborers filed by 
 
 60 
 
A Sable City 
 
 the grand stand cheers rose in volleys 
 from the throats of the onlookers, while 
 waving of kerchiefs and clapping of 
 hands expressed the emotions of the bet- 
 ter favored occupants of reserved seats. 
 
 The personnel of the turnout evoked 
 the loudest demonstrations. The unin- 
 itiated might be tempted to surmise that 
 the color line was drawn, as black horses 
 bearing princely riders or drawing mag- 
 nificent vehicles loomed up in panoramic 
 review. The selection of dark colored 
 steeds and the predominance of swarthy 
 colors as far as was consistent and feas- 
 ible was meant simply to emphasize and 
 capitalize the pre-eminence of this ele- 
 ment in the development and success of a 
 stupendous race idea, the success of 
 which had passed the stage of experi- 
 ment. 
 
 It took six hours for the resplendent 
 parade to pass a given point. There was 
 nothing in the fifty years' life of the city 
 that it did not illustrate in floats, tableaux 
 and pyrotechnical displays during the day 
 or night for the period of a week. The 
 
 61 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 displays would have been more costly 
 and extensive in scope had it not been 
 understood that it was in no wise to han- 
 dicap the overmastering event of the Cen- 
 tennial Race Fair, to which the City 
 Jubilee was but a modest pointer. The 
 local celebration reached its finality on 
 Friday, when a barbeque dinner, speech- 
 makmg and outdoor exhibition of sports 
 wa's tendered the populace and a grand 
 banquet to the distinguished guests. At 
 the banquet various toasts were re- 
 sponded to, but none were characterized 
 by greater brilliancy and eloquence or met 
 with larger appreciation than the speeches 
 of Mr. Lewis and the Rev. Dr. Garrison 
 of Boston, 
 
 62 
 
A Sable City 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 A century's offering. 
 
 The magnitude, contents and magnifi- 
 cence of the First Negro World's Exposi- 
 tion and Centennial Jubilee must require 
 the widest stretch of the imagination to 
 even faintly appreciate that record-beat- 
 ing event. A 'slight idea of the scope and 
 extent of the display can be gleaned from 
 the fact that its site embraced about two 
 thousand acres with twenty gigantic 
 structures whose architectural design per- 
 sonified the picturesque and beautiful. 
 The contour of the site was marked by 
 five irregularly located and gently slop- 
 ping elevations, relics of the mound build- 
 ing epoch, similar in shape and magnitude 
 to the four which outlined the rectangu- 
 lar outskirts of the city. When entering 
 the grounds from the northern corner 
 contiguoiis to the city, the eyes of the 
 
 63 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 visitor falls upon an imposing boulevard 
 whose gradual upward winding ends in 
 a rounded eminence at the center of the 
 grounds. Facing the grand boulevard 
 and entrance is the Administration Build- 
 ing-, a veritable architectural wonder. 
 
 A main picture of central location is 
 the cataract garden. Its slope from the 
 commanding locality occupied is enliv- 
 ened by five great cascades and numerous 
 terraces which give life and poetry to the 
 picture. A huge basin rests at the base 
 of the cascades, forming a part of the 
 lagoon system. But details must not be 
 attempted as casual descriptions of out- 
 lines will suffice. 
 
 Palaces of Religion, of Art, of Educa- 
 tion, of Liberal Arts, of Manufacture, of 
 Machinery, of Electricity, of Transporta- 
 tion, of Agriculture, of Horticulture, of 
 Mines and Metallury, of Forestry, of So- 
 cial Economy, of Live Stock, of Interna- 
 tional Congress, of Anthropology dotted 
 the grounds on every side. Six allied 
 and sympathetic countries having Negro 
 or dark-skinned population in response to 
 
 64 
 
A Sable City 
 
 invitations tendered had buildings in 
 keeping with their rank as nations, both 
 as to outward appearance and inner ex- 
 hibits. The picture of the aggregated 
 buildings, palaces and museums presented 
 an imposing spectacle to w;hich a richness 
 was added to the uniform color of the 
 brown and saffron-like granite which 
 constituted their material. With two ex- 
 ceptions the Haitian Palace was built 
 from the mahogany and granite taken 
 from native soil. The African Museum 
 was constructed from ebony, ivory and 
 marble taken from its soil, woods and ele- 
 phants, and trimmed artistically and with 
 rich effects with minerals from her fer- 
 tile mines. 
 
 The Exposition was a marvel of won- 
 der and magnificence to all who beheld 
 its splendors of whatever land or clime. 
 Its material, mental and ethical side alike 
 reflected the capacity of the descendants 
 of the Dark Continent for such services 
 as Heaven has ordained for the embel- 
 lishment of earth and the betterment of 
 
 each and all the varied branches of human 
 kind. 
 
 65 
 
Key To The Problem 
 
 During the twelve months of its hold- 
 ings the gates of the great Fair gave wel- 
 come to representatives of every national- 
 ity under the sun. Every giadation of 
 sunburnt humanity was there from the 
 Fetische idolators to princes and poten- 
 tates of Africa to presidents and dignitar- 
 ies of other lands. 
 
 As to the outcome of the mammoth en- 
 terprise it might be classed as in every 
 sense successful. Financially it rewarded 
 its stockholders handsomely and justified 
 the fabulous sums involved by ample re- 
 
 turns. 
 
 LOfC. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 nr> 
 
 LEAg'l2