Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-06-12
ANECDOTES ABOUT STANLEY.
His Conscientiousness in All His
Undertakings.
Explorations Not Made for Money.

Perhaps the most striking testimony
to Stanley's personal character and inhu-
ence is the regard in which he is held by
the officers of his staff, DIR. Parke. Mr..
Nelson and Mr. Stairs, the men who
crossed Africa with him and whose lives
he held so long In his hand. Their conf
dence in him is unbounded. Dr. Parke s
deliberate belief was that no man but
Stanley could have led the expedition
through the country with success. Il
trembled,' he said. for the lives of all of
US, during Stanley's long illness in the
forest ON the Upper Congo, because |
knew that if he died, there was little
hope for us?' When he was asked
whether he was prepared to cross Africa
with Stanley again, he replied, Yes.
, certainly, with the most entire confidence.
| Nelson feelings were the same. He had
implicit reliance ON Stanley, yet in GER
tain way he disliked or dreaded him. The
reason of that was his conviction that if
Stanley believed that the life of any mem
Der of his staff formed an obstacle to his
mission, or interferred with his success,
he would unhesitatingly sacrifice him.
Indeed, Stanley's sense of duty-of do
ing that which he had undertaken to do
is consuming, almost beyond belief. He
avowedly makes Wellington, and Horstio
Mel son, and George Washington his mod
els In that particular, and he is never
tired of extolling their example. Refer
ring In one of his letters to the case of an
officer In the American army who had
Shrunk from taking a certain fort, out of
.egard for the lives of his men, he said:
His duty was to obey orders, whatever the
esult. He was told to take the place and
should have done So He has an un-
comfortable feeling that the sense of duty
is declining in the present age. 1 have
had 500 officers under me, he said to me
one day, and not ten of them knew what
duty meant | have listened to hundreds
of sermons in England and elsewhere, and
in not one of them did | ever hear tie OBJ
legations of duty ext oiled or enforced.
Akin to his regard for duty is his re-
gard for truthfulness. One day at Cairo
he remarked, in conversation, that the
nearer he got to Europe and civilization
he found the more lying, and the nearer he
was to the heart of Africa truthfulness in
creased. His English friends rather re-
sented this as an aspersion. They asked
him whether he meant his remark to ap-
ply to individuals, or to human nature in
general. Stanley flushed up and said
l.
al observation And the observation, as
such, was perfectly warranted. Civiliza-
ton certainly lends itself to diplomacy
and duplicity and in that respect STAN
ley's remark showed his knowledge of hui
man nature.
The confidence which Stanleys staff
felt in him was shared by the Zanzibaris,
who formed his escort. They loved him
and trusted him implicitly. He was al
ways much more anxious about them and
their comforts than about himself When
food was scarce, ne was more concerned
for his men than for himself or his staff
He managed them splendidly, often
leaping and dancing at the head Of the
column to keep up their spirits, and eall-
ing out to them, Come on boys, we shall
be all right soon. Indeed, he acted con-
stantly as if he were their friend and not
their master.
"He managed the natives among whom
they travelled with equal skill Once,
when they were almost destitute, of food,
they came to a native village where they
hoped to find some. Their getting sup
plies depended on their conciliating the
people. Stanley took care not to precipi-
tate matters. He sat down quietly in
the midst of them, smoking his pipe and
spending hours in palaver. When he had
made them his friends in this way abund-
ant supplies of food were forthcoming.
and all we're satisfied. The native feeling
about him was shown strikingly on one oc-
casion when his black servant, to whom |
have already referred, came to him and
told him that black porter, who had been
wounded with an arrow, had shot himself
and had died: What right had he, the
boy said, to kill himself? He no white
man. The boys feeling was that the
man was not his own property, and with
out Stanley's permission he had no right
to make way with himself.
STANLEY is unstinted in his praise of
DR.: Parke, who is something more than a
skillful physician and surgeon He is
singularly supplemented and unselfsh
man. He is quite young, being only q
years of age, but has discretion beyond his
years. When Stairs was wounded in the
breast with poisoned arrow, Parke suck
ed the poison from the wound The hero
ism of Stairs then came in. The poisoned
flesh had to be cut away-a most painful
operation, in which chloroform would have
been great relief, out when Stairs learned
that there was only one small bottle of
chloroform left he declined to use it, in
sisting that it should be reserved for the
natives. He then underwent the operation
In full consciousness and with scarcely a
murmur. In treating the native women
Stanley says Park showed as much deli
cacy and fine feeling as he could have
shown to the finest ladies in London.
There is common belief that Stanley
has made money by his expedition, and
that large share of the Emin Relief Fund
has gone into his pockets. That is an en-
tire mistake. The truth is that he under
took the work at great pecuniary sacri-
fee. When he was asked to take COM
mand of the expedition he had lecture
engagements in Africa fixed which would
have brought him $4,000 at least These
engagements he at once cancelled. at the
risk of offending thousands of his country
men. He has not accepted sixpence of
| pay for all he has done. The expedition
has caused many thousands of pounds.
but not penny of it has gone Stanley's
way. Nor is that all. He was Of
fered large sum by a London daily
newspaper for any letters he might
send home from Africa He refused
the offer, saying that his letters would be
addressed to the Emin Relief Committee.
When his letters began to arrive a news
paper syndicate was formed by seven or
eight of the leading journals in England
and Scotland for the purpose of taking
over the letters from the Committee for
publication. The Committee realized from
| this transaction the sum of $4,000
When Stanley reached Cairo that sum was
placed at his disposal He was told that
| he had earned If II q refused IN take If