In this way he came to know the people just as they lived, and they learned how sympathetic Washington was, and how he was trying to help them. Most of those he visited he found living in one- or two-room houses, with fat pork and corn bread as their principal food. But they always treated him kindly and entertained him the best they could. One thing that distressed him was the discovery that many of these people had been persuaded to buy such things as costly sewing machines and organs, when they didn’t have enough to eat and to wear. At one place where he took dinner there were four in the family, and when they sat down at the table, he found that there was but one fork for all five of them. Their lives were filled with much drudgery and hard work and almost no opportunities for improvement. It was nearly impossible for them to make a living, much less save any money. Their schools, if they had any at all, had very short terms and were taught by teachers who knew very little more than the children. It was a discouraging situation to any one except a man like Booker Washington. “These are my people,” he said. “They need help. They need education and the kind of education that will give them cleaner and happier homes, healthier bodies, better schools, and better life in every way. I am going to help them.” The school opened on July 4, 1881, with thirty students. Washington was the only teacher. A large number of students wanted to enter, but he decided not to admit any under fifteen years of age. Some of these students were boys, and some were girls; some were grown men and women. Most of them had been teachers. None of them was very well prepared, however, for they had been very poorly taught. But the teacher found all of them eager to learn and ready to work. Soon there were more students calling for admission. Within six weeks there were fifty students. It was necessary to have a new teacher, and the person secured for this work was Olivia Davidson, who afterwards became Booker Washington’s second wife. She was a great help to him, and she agreed with him that they must do something for the students besides merely teaching them books. Washington says that they wanted to teach them how to be clean; how to take care of their teeth and clothing; what and how to eat; and how to make a living. All these pupils lived on the farm, as did nearly all the people of the South. Washington wanted to so teach them that they would continue to live among their own people and their lives would be happier and better in every way. He did not want them to get a false idea about education. Many of them had the wrong impression already. They thought that getting an education consisted in reading big books and then of being able to earn a living without work. Both of these ideas were wrong. He wanted to teach them something that would make them useful and happy and prosperous on the land in their native state.