Several of the
teachers, however, who had been trained in the industries at
Hampton, volunteered their services, and in some way we succeeded
in getting a third kiln ready for burning. The burning of a kiln
required about a week. Toward the latter part of the week, when
it seemed as if we were going to have a good many thousand bricks
in a few hours, in the middle of the night the kiln fell. For the
third time we had failed.
The failure of this last kiln left me without a single dollar
with which to make another experiment. Most of the teachers
advised the abandoning of the effort to make bricks. In the midst
of my troubles I thought of a watch which had come into my
possession years before. I took the watch to the city of
Montgomery, which was not far distant, and placed it in a
pawn-shop. I secured cash upon it to the amount of fifteen
dollars, with which to renew the brickmaking experiment. I
returned to Tuskegee, and, with the help of the fifteen dollars,
rallied our rather demoralized and discouraged forces and began a
fourth attempt to make bricks. This time, I am glad to say, we
were successful. Before I got hold of any money, the time-limit
on my watch had expired, and I have never seen it since; but I
have never regretted the loss of it.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173