The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-26
A NEGRO MISSIONARY
VI. H. SHEPPARD SPEAKS TO MONT GOMERY AUDIENCE.
Al Dexter Avenue Baptist Church He Talks of Thrilling Experiences fin the Jungles of Cen-
 tral Africa.

A fair-sized audience of negroes was fascinated last night by lecture rom Rev. W. H. Sheppard. the Alabama ne- gro missionary to Central Africa, which was delivered in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
 The lecture was on the subject. Mis- pfonary Work as Carried on in Africa" and in his discourse the speaker pur- sued a narrative of his wonderful ex- periences in the independent Congo Free State During much of tho time the noted negro missionary has been In :, Africa he was thrown with Rev. MT. Iapsley, of Alabama, who died Of fever while serving in the enlighten- ment of the natives.
 sheppard's lecture was very much the same that he delivered about a year ! ago in the Central Presbyterian Church in Montgomery. The missionary Is an Interesting talker, possessing the nec- essafy qualities for holding his hearers rapt in close attention. There Is just ; enough sprinkle of humor in his speech to refresh his audience and prepare 1t for what comes next. The humor IS not hackneyed, but ingenious, and is rarely heard from the lips of one of his race,
 Tn telling of his diplomacy, for in- stance, in tanning the cannibals of the 4slated regions of Central Africa, Shep- pard alluded to the anomaly that these man-eaters nave so many admirers. Most foreigners admire them for their celerity of. foot and ability to outstrlp greyhounds in the matter of leaping.
 T admire them, too" said the lectur- CT, but be sure l. admire them when s they are farther away The longer the distance between me and these man. eaters the more I admire them"
 The missionary told Of an expedition he and some converted natives under took to rescue a throng of fellow tribes men that had fallen into the hands oE cannibals. The large forces of canni- bals who happened to be armed with guns had not been estimated right by the missionary and the little band oi eleven natives who had volunteered to go on the expedition. They hoped tc be reinforced on the several hundred miles of journey by other members oi the tribe but in this they were ike wise disappointed inasmuch as they were surprised by a detachment ol armed cannibals, superior in numbers far in advance of the stockade whicr was the objective of the missionary anc his followers The detachment swoop ed down upon the little band before they knew 1t and a row of gun muzzles were covered upon them while theiI owners war-whooped in deafenine elee Sheppard dropped upon his knees and in the correct language began tc plead for his life and the lives or nls band. There happened to be one can nibal in the crowd whom Sheppard's wife had befriended two years ago hun dreds of miles away at station oi missionaries The gratitude of this ont man spelled the fate of the little band He commanded the guns of the other cannibals to be grounded and the party was conducted to the bloody stockade or the kitchtA. of the cannibals. where 600 hundred human hands, barbecueins over the inside trenches told Of halr as many murders within the preceding feW days to satiate the atrocious appetite. of the man eaters. And they hac scores of live tribesmen left for th' future Iarder. By pleading and diplo macy and with the price of shells, whicf is currency in the Jungles, ShepparC and his crowd managed to get to safe ty out of the stockade in time to ge ehe warning to the nearest station 1o' miles away Soldiers of the converted clans were rushed to the stockade ant all the cannibals were captured befor, the other trtbesmen were carved ane eaten. Those fellows who did not g to fill the provender of the cannibal' were grateful to Sheppard, before whos house they piled a mountain or peanuts as a token of appreciation.
 The speaker narrated the uifttcuItlei of first encountering the natives or AT rica fifteen years ago, when the mis sionary work began. They were tn' target of poisoned arrows on every sid