The herald., 1895-08-25

claiming it for your husband: With best
wishes to you and yours, l am. Very
truly yours, W. 1. SHERMAN.
In the Decem Der .Scribner, 1898, in an
article entitled o the Chesapeake. Now,
den Now den! is spoken of as being one
of the most popular negro melodies IN
the south. While Old Shady was written
to encourage the contra bands to seek free
dom the object of this was to encourage
the freedmen to return to their homes
and labor. Even now, as one passes q
cotton or rice plantation. be may hear
this refrain:
Now. den: now, den unto de cotton,
darkies;
Pow in de cane till We reach de berry bot
tom. darkies.
Ho! we 90 for de rice swamp low.
Hurrah TO de land OBJ Canaan"
But the writing OF popular songs. al
though they did much for the cause of
freedom and temperance, was not Mr..
Hanby's best work. ii Ito be a good
story teller is to be king among chill
dren.' he certainly deserves the title.
His ideal life was the child life. He loved
it tor ils uncon scious sweetness. All the
children who knew him were his friends
and would hasten to greet him when
they met him on the street. Nothing was
too difficult if it Wa, for the little ones.
He would 20 miles to entertain them.
While he was with the John Church COM
pany the Friends OF Richmond. Ind.
collected into school several hundred
of the poorest children OF the city. AL
though no singers themselves, they fully
realized the sweetenng and refining in
fuence of music, and invited Mr.. Handy
to come and sing for them whenever he
could. He was giad of the opportunity
and frequently gave up other things for
the sake of pleasing those poor little chill
dren. He taught them many little songs.
and among others was Chicka-de.de.
which they particularly liked. By and
by those good Friends rented the largest
hall in the city and gave these children
and their friends banquet. 1t was in
the evening, and the hall was beautifully
lighted anu decorated. Mr.. Handy was
invited to sing. | sccomp panied him to
the hall, and never shall | forget the
Their faces lighted up, they clapped
their little hands and exclaimed: "Oh,
here comes Chick dep He sang to
them, told them stories and was child
with them all evening.
While with Root & Cady he devoted a
great deal OF his time TO writing songs for
Sunday and day schools. He was the
originator of Our Song Birds, and, with
Mr.. George F. Root, edited Chapel Gems
andsForest Choir. Many Of the songs in
these books are his. He disliked the roll
licking, hop-sklp-and-i Jump music so
often sung IN Suday schools ana aVoloeu
that style. There is a sweetness and ten
dernesS about both the words and music
of his Sunday school songs that are con-
spicuously absent from much OF the mod
ern music of that class. Mr.. Grswold.
now living in Los Angeles. whose nom
de plume was Paulina. wrote many sweet
little poems for Root e. G Cady, which
Mr.. Handy set to music. Among them
is that beautiful Sunday school hymn,
Lambs of the Inner Fold.
Mr. Handy not only appreciated the
good things produced by others, but
sought opportunities to express his ap-
precation. When Bitter Sweet came out
once wrote Mr. Holland thanking him
for giving to the world such a touching
and beautiful lesson. That Mr.. Holland
valued his letter, the following reply Will
show:
SPRINGFIELD, Mass, Sept. 3, 1860.