The morning call., 1892-01-17
PASS IT ON"
4 Pretty Story Of Wendell Phillips and Niece
Of Jefferson Davis.

After the close Of the Civil War the North
was filed with Southern refugees, many I
them delicate women, reduced from affluence
to poverty, and compelled to earn living
for themselves and their families One OF
these was niece of Jefferson Davis, q
woman of unusual cultivation, who found a
scanty aud precarious subsistence by giving
an occasional lecture before country audi
ence on Southern life. Sheltered and
shielded as she had always been, the strug-
gle with the world was hard. Women were
just beginning to appear on the public plat
form, and the Vas unknown and friendless
but braYely she worked on, asking aid from
no one.
1t was cold clustering January day in
1868 when cold and shivering from an early
morning drive in the rain, and with her
thin wraps dripping. Mrs. III. entered the
Boston train at way station. All the seats
were occupied, some with passengers, some
with bags, bundles and oYerc0atS.
Trembling from weakness and WEAKNESS,
Mrs. H. supported herself against the back
of a seat as the train moved off.
At that moment a gentleman CHANGED to
lower his newspaper, and caught sight OF
the black-rObed woman. with quick ex-
clamatiOn he sprang to his feet, removed a
vaise from the seat beside him, and invited
her to occupy it, AS she sank down ex-
hausted. he carefully wrapped his travelling
rug about her.
She thanked him Tor his Kindness, and ne,
turning to her, said;
Pardon, me, madam, but are you not
Southerner?"
Yes" she answered, 81 am. / suppose
you know it from my speech; many people
have done So"
THE accent is unmstaKable." he replied.
''but pardon me again, are you not long
way from hOme?'
"A long way, indeed" she replied, and
encouraged by his sympathetic voice and
manner, she added, Il lost my all during
the war, and as there is no money IN the
South. l came north to find means 10 support
my fatherless children"
And have you done SOP" he asked in a
kindly manner.
AFTER a small fashion," she answered.
Il have occasional engagements to speak to
country audiences on life in the South dur
ing and before the war"
Did yGu sreak last night?" he asked.
eyes, in Y, was the answer.
And do not want to be impairment,
but | am somewhat in the same business
myself, and l should Ike to know, that is If
you would not mind telling me, how much
they paid you for your lecture"
Five dollars and the fare to and from
Boston," was the response.
Five dollars!" he exclaimed. why, l
always get one or two hundred; and your
lecture must be worth great deal more
than mine, for youcan give facts, while l
can only furnish opinions"
Little as it is" answered Mrs. r., 81
am very glad TO get il; | would talk at that
rate every night during the winter"
For while the man sat in silence; then
putting his hand in his pocket he drew out
a roll of banknotes, and in hestaiing man
neT said:
Il don't want to be intrusive, but one of
the articles of my creed is that a woman is
entitled to the same pay as a man il she
does the same amount Of work. My price
for n nights talk Is $500, and that sum they
paid lie last night at Il; now, if you will
let me divide il with you, shall have had
my share, and the thing will be even, don't
you seeY
After much urging and many thoughts Of
her needy little ones. Mrs. II. was per-
suaded to put the roll in her purse, but it
was not until the end of her Journey that
she examined tbs roll and found it TO con-
tain S100
Some years afterward she discovered that
her unknown benefactOr was Wendell Phil
lps, and being then past the need of help
she PSsayed to pay back the debt.
Don't speak aooHt 1t =" said Mr.. PHILLIPS
81 had entirely forgotten the incident"
That is very probable, she replied, ''but
l had never forgotten it; that money, ana
still more your words of sympathy aud en-
cOuragement were the beginning Of better
days; and l am now abundantly able to pay
back the money"
PISS il on, then, my dear madam pass
1t on TO some one VINO needs it."-YouJh5
COMPANION