“To the despair of his family Booker Washington seemed to go out of his way to find forlorn old people whom he could befriend. He sent provisions weekly to an humble old black couple from whom he had bought a tract of land for the school. He did the same for old Aunt Harriet and her deaf, dumb, and lame son, except that to them he provided fuel as well. On any particularly cold day, he would send one or more students over to Aunt Harriet’s to find out if she and her poor helpless son were comfortable. Also every Sunday afternoon, to the joy of this pathetic couple, a particularly appetizing Sunday dinner unfailingly made its appearance. And these were only a few of the pensioners and semipensioners whom Booker Washington accumulated as he went about his kindly way.”[39] Washington had the capacity of making friends. He had the gift of friendship. His white friends were as numerous and staunch as were those of his own race. His close friendship with such men as William H. Baldwin, Jr., H. H. Rogers, and others has already been mentioned. It would be unfair to him and to them to leave the impression that their relations were merely those of benefactor and beggar. They were friends as man to man. Washington and Roosevelt were friends in the same way. It would be unfairer still to leave the impression that Washington’s friends were rich men only and men in the North only. This was not the case. Perhaps his strongest friends were in the South, many of whom were not in the public eye. He himself records the fact that few men in his entire career were of such genuine help to him as Captain Howard, conductor on the W. & A. Railroad. He did not have an enemy in his own town of Tuskegee. All through the South were men whom Washington counted among his warmest personal friends. [Illustration: ROBERT RUSSA MOTON, SUCCESSOR TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AT TUSKEGEE ] Among his own people, he was no less fortunate in his friendships. He knew and loved Moton and Scott and Banks and Carver and Fortune and Scarborough, and a great host of others. All these were his most loyal and devoted friends. But none of these were really any closer to him than “Old man” Diggs or Rufus Herron or many a lowly man of Macon County. There was such sincerity, such a genuineness about this man that all true men were drawn to him. Washington had a keen sense of humor. This is the reason he was always so even-tempered. He kept perfect control of himself at all times, and it was largely his sense of humor that enabled him to do so. He saw the ridiculous side of things. He could tell perfectly side-splitting stories, particularly about his own people. These stories were always clean and without a sting, and always had some point to them. He was thoroughly good-natured, and every one in his presence felt refreshed and happy by reason of having come in contact with him.