St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-11-01
MUNIFICENT BENEFACTION
Given to the American Missionary Asso
fafT


Given to the American Missionary Assoc
citation.
In the course of an address by Secre-
tary Nj. E. Strictly, ID. D., delivered at
the afternoon session of the American
Missionary Association, Thursday, the
following statements were made, amid
loud applause
"The American Missionary Associa-
ton has this week received the largest
gift ever made in this country by a
living donor to a benevolent society.
Daniel Hank, an aged resident of Clin-
ton, Conn.,, formerly a merchant in the
South, has given to this association
81 ,OO0, SOAPS in interest bearing secu-
rites to be held in trust and known as
the "Daniel Hand Educational Fund
for COlored People," the income only
to be used for the education of cOlOred
people in the southern states. Mr..
Hand, having made his money in the
South, and having seen the ignorance
and consequent suffering of the colOred
people there, felt that he could not use
it better than in providing for their
education, and has chosen to entrust to
the American Missionary Association,
whose work is so largely devoted to
the elevation of that people, the care
of this magnificent gift, SO practical
and useful in its design, and the dis
bursement of it's income in accordance
with the provisions of the trust"
There is an interesting story back of
Daniel Hands gift. When the war
broke out, he was thriving whole
sale grocer at Charleston, S. c., and
was forced to leave hurriedly. He
left his property in charge of his clerk,
George Williams, telling him to use it
to the best advantage until Hands re-
turn. Hands supposed property had
been confscated by the Confederates,
and he made no inquiry regarding it
for over 20 years. He was greatly
surprised, therefore, to learn that Will
liams had sold the Charleston property
and invested the proceeds in pine tim
Der lands, which increased in value to
a wonderful degree, and Williams
faithfully held the profits in trust,
waiting to hear from Hand. In 1887 a
settlement was made, and each man
cleared about 81 ,OOO,OO0 The settle
ment of property and arrangements
for the gift were conducted by Judge
Luzon B. Morris, now democratic can
didate for governor of Connecticut.
Discussing StanIey's Fate.
1t is now more than fifteen months
since Stanley disappeared from the
sight of men. Favorable and unfavor-
able reports and rumOrs concerning
him have been received from time to
time and discussed and forgotten, and
the world is left, after all, wholly in the
dark. The mere lapse of time would
not of itself be an argument against his
safety and final temperance; but it is
disheartening when taken with the fact
that his fate has been from the begin
ming, in the hands of Tippu lib. This
man, the most powerful of the Arab
slave traders-for, though not of pure
blood, he is virtually an Arabs held
to have been completely won over by
Stanley. Admitting this, it does not
follow that the other slave traders SYM
pathize with Tippu Tib. 1t is, on the
contrary, quite conceivable that they
may have been too strong for him, and
prOmptings of an obvious self-interest,
may have led him to reconsider his
change of heart. In this case the odds
would be tremendous against the ex
plorer, who had plunged into the will
derness relying on the good faith and
sense of honor of a man who had grown
rich and powerful by hunting slaves.
The danger from the Arabs is beyond
question. They are resolute and in
telligent, and they know that Europe
an supremacy means the speedy sup
preston of the slave trade, and a check
to MahOmetanism.
1t is assumed by some that there is
little to be feared from the negroes.
Professor DrummOnd says in his
Tropical Africa" that he one day
went so far as to ask his carriers why
they did not kill him, single man
among so many. The answer was
that the white men were spirits, and
that no negro would venture to kill a
spirit. The annals of African discOv-
cry present an instructive commentary
on this text, and afford little comfort
to those who would like to believe that
the native Africans, if unprOvoked,
may always be trusted.
ProvOcatiOn, however, there is sure
to be, if not for one cause, then for
another. DR.. Junker, Emin Pacha's
companion, speaking before the Swed-
ish geographical society few weeks
ago, expressed a firm belief in the safe
ty of the expedition, and accounted for
the non receipt of intelligence by say
ing that Stanley would have to obtain
food for his men by force, and would
consequently be unable to send mes
sengers through the tribes thus reused
to hostility. If this explains the lack
of news, it does nothing to lessen anx-
iety, and the report, unhappily con-
firmed, of Major BarttelOt's murder,
reads like the first act of a dismal trag-
edy.