Chapter 4

I think you could not find a busier company of young people anywhere. As soon as one task is accomplished, another is ready to be taken up, and this goes on from early morn till time for retiring. Going into the kitchen you will find a dozen or more girls, with bright and happy faces, doing the homely work of dish-washing and preparing the vegetables for dinner. In the laundry, you are greeted with as many more smiling faces, some singing, others telling funny stories, but all busy at their allotted work. The bell rings for school and you will see them flying from every direction, perhaps having taken a moment to smooth the hair, or arrange the dress. All out of breath they reach the school room, ready for the five hours' work with books, which is the same as any average school in the North. This work being accomplished, they are off to the farm, shops, the sewing room and the cooking class. Here they learn to prepare all substantial food which would be necessary for any table, and become initiated into the intricacies of bread, pie and cake-making.

Our Sabbaths are not idle days either, for with Sunday-school, church service, and prayer meetings, our day is pretty well filled. Some of our girls are doing real missionary work by going out into the neighborhood, to relieve the sick, read to the old and infirm, and to carry food where it is needed. This they seem to enjoy, and it will, perhaps, prepare them for usefulness as they go out to work among their people.

HOME LIFE.

Perhaps, if I give you a glimpse into the home of one of our pupils, you can more easily understand what we have to work against among these people. In a miserable old hovel, of one small room, lives a family of eleven, father, mother, five children, two pitiful little orphans, to whom the mother out of the kindness of her heart has given shelter, and a young man and a young woman as boarders. The mother toils hard each day to furnish bread for the little ones, and does what she can to keep her family respectable. The father is what is termed, "no 'count." He has no regular employment, but, when so inclined, will chop wood, and thus earn a few dimes. Their house is lighted by one small window, in which bunches of rags and papers supply the absence of glass. The room is heated by an old fire-place, which is crumbling to decay. The furniture consists of two straw beds covered with ragged quilts, a little pine table, and four broken chairs. I need not tell you of the moral atmosphere which exists in such a home. Yet this is only a type of the home we see too often when we are making our round of calls.

SACRIFICES FOR EDUCATION.

Our school refuses none on account of age. Pupils are there, from the little three-year-old who attends the "Kinny-garten," as they call it, to those who are forty and fifty years old. I have been exceedingly interested in one woman who is now attending school in the primary room. She said to me: "I done sent my daughters through school and now I thought I would try and get a little education myself."

One of the good brothers well expressed this idea of sacrifice on the part of the parents for the education of their children when he said, "I only wants to be a stepping-stone for my children. If I can help them to rise higher than I have got, that is all I ask."

One poor woman told me she spent less than a dollar per week for provisions for a family of eight persons in order to save money to keep her children in school.

The oldest pupil in my school, a man over thirty years of age, said to me one day, "I wish I could have gone to school when I was young, for as a fellow grows older, his remembrance comes shorter."

* * * * *

OUR YOUNG FOLKS.

Two little girls, about eight and nine years old, have just been to my room. The older one said, "This yere chile wants a dress to wear to Sunday-school to-morrow, and her ma says if it don't fit she can cut it off and make it over." I found among the contents of the last barrel a pretty blue gingham that fitted. I am sure the one who sent the dress would have felt happy if she could have seen the glad look of the child as she received it. I found the older little girl was not attending any day-school, and when I asked her what she did to help at home, she replied, "I don't do nothing, but stay at home and tote wood and notice the house."

The children may be interested in a question asked by a little girl in the third grade. She said, "My pa wants I should ask you whether the children of Israel, that Moses led out of Egypt, were black people, or white people?"

I have been teaching nearly six weeks. The house is a cheap frame one with a fire-place at one end. It is supplied with five benches, two desks and a blackboard. On those small benches twenty-five or more children must be seated. It is hard to keep them busy, as very few have the books which they need. Many are just learning to read, and some of these are making excellent progress.

At first it seemed as though the scholars would fight on the least provocation. If there had not been a few who had attended another of our schools, I do not know what I should have done, but those few did not fight. Their deportment in the school-room was also good. Now there is scarcely any fighting. At first several brought tobacco to school, but it was not allowed to be used, and so is not brought now.

One day a girl was at the board doing a simple sum in addition, three plus four; she put down nine as the entire sum. When I asked her what three plus four was equal to, she said "seven." I then asked her why she did not put that down; she said, "Dunno how to make a seben and so 'lowed dat would do." One young man has come to school but four half days, yet he has learned to write his own name legibly and can read some. He could spell "right smart" before he came.

* * * * *

RECEIPTS FOR AUGUST, 1889.

THE DANIEL HAND FUND,

_For the Education of Colored People._

Income for August, 1889, from the invested funds $4,197.35

Income previously acknowledged 31,302.36

Total $35,499.71

==========

* * * * *

CURRENT RECEIPTS.

MAINE, $468.87.

Bath. Central Ch. and Soc. 26.20

Bath. Children's Loyal Temperance Legion, 2 Packages Books, etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

Bethel. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 18.42

Brewer. Mrs. Catharine S. Hardy (100 of which _for Chinese M. in Cal._) 200.00

Bridgton. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 20.63

Castine. Class No. 9 Trin. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Tougaloo U._ 1.70

Dennysville. Cong. Ch. 18.96

Hampden. Cong. Ch. 11.80

Limington. Cong. Ch. 9.00

North Anson. "A Friend." 15.00

Portland. Seamens Bethel Ch. 41.50

Saco. First Parish Ch. 19.13

Searsport. First Cong. Ch. 21.53

Wells. B. Maxwell 20.00

Yarmouth. First Parish Ch. 50.00

NEW HAMPSHIRE, $737.53.

Acworth. Cong. Soc. 10.87

Amherst. Capt G.W. Bosworth 3.00

Bedford. Milton B. George, _for Clinton Chapel, Talladega C._ 2.00

Durham. Cong. Ch. 21.86

East Derry. First Cong. Ch. 3.83

Hanover. "Susie's Birthday Gift." 5.00

Littleton. Cong. Ch. 11.36

Mount Vernon. Cong. Ch., to const. REV. JOHN THORPE, L.M. 50.00

Nashua. First Cong. Ch., _for Indian M._ 61.50

North Hampton. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 17.00

Pelham. Mrs. E.W. Tyler, _for Freight_ 2.00

Rindge. "A Friend" 1.00

Salisbury. Cong. Ch. 3.25

Temple. Mrs. Lucy W.C. Keyes 0.40

West Lebanon. Cong. Ch. 16.96 -------

210.03

ESTATES.

Cornish. Estate of Sarah W. Westgate, by A.E. Wellman for Trustees Cong. Ch. of Cornish 27.50

Milford. Estate of Lydia H. Frost, by Albert Heald and David Heald, Executors 500.00

$737.53

VERMONT, $340.33.

Berlin. First Cong. Ch. 22.00

Charlotte. Cong. Ch. 20.50

Hartford. E. Morris 100.00

Highgate. Cong. Ch. 4.78

Rutland. Cong. Ch. 50.00

Shoreham. Cong. Ch. 19.00

Thetford. First Cong. Ch. 6.00

Vergennes. Cong. Ch. 20.00

Wallingford. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 45.00

Wallingford. "C.M.T.," _for Mountain Work_ 2.00

West Townshend. Cong. Ch, and Soc. 8.90

Worcester. Ladies of Cong. Go., _for McIntosh, Ga._ 5.00

Woman's Home Missionary Union of Vermont, by Mrs. William P. Fairbanks, Treas:

Manchester. W.H.M. 5.00

Peacham. Ladies 25.00

Saint Johnsbury. Ladies 7.15

37.15

MASSACHUSETTS, $8,192.20.

Abington. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch. _for ed. Indian Child, Fort Berthold, Dak._ 21.06

Amesbury and Salisbury. Union Evan. Ch. 14.50

Andover. "Friend," _for Girls' Dormitory, Macon, Ga._ 1,202.76

Andover. Mrs. Phebe A. Chandler, _for Chandler Normal Sch., Lexington, Ky._ 483.22

Bernardston. Cong. Ch. 7.30

Boston. "Friends," _for Tougaloo U._ 60.00

"A Friend." 25.00

Woman's Home Miss'y Ass'n., _for Indian Sch'p. Oahe Ind'l Sch._ 15.00

Neponset. Sab. Sch. of Trinity Ch., on True Blue Cards, bal. to const. CHESTER G. BARNES L.M. 8.00

Roxbury. Walnut Av. Cong. Ch. 227.54

335.54

Boylston Center. Charles T. White 5.00

Bradford. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 37.01

Cambridgeport. Stearns Chapel 3.83

Campello. South Cong. Ch. 100.00

Chesterfield. Cong. Ch. 10.75

Conway. Cong. Ch. 6.50

Curtisville. Cong. Ch. 20.20

Curtisville. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., _for Oaks, N.C._ 27.41

Dalton. Mrs. Louise F. Crane, 50; Miss Clara L. Crane, 50. _for Tougaloo U._ 100.00

East Bridgewater. Union Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 12.50

Falmouth. Cong. Ch. 39.58

Hardwick. Calvinistic Ch. 9.95

Haverhill. Algernon P. Nichols, _for Tillotson C. and N. Inst._ 200.00

Holden. Two Bbls. of C. and 8.45. by Miss M.A. Perry, _for McLeansville, N.C._ 8.45

Holden. M.A. Perry 4.00

Holliston. "Bible Christians of Dist. No. 4." 50.00

Leverett. Y.P.S.C.E. ad'l, _for Grand View, Tenn._ 11.00

Marshfield. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 131.68

Millbury. First Cong. Ch., (10 of which _for Mountain Work_) 58.40

Millbury. M.D. Garfield, 10; Lizzie M. Garfield, 2 12.00

Natick. First Cong. Ch. 150.00

Newburyport. A Friend, _for Indian M._ 10.00

Northampton. ---- 3.00

North Wilbraham. Grace Union Ch. 17.50

Peru. Rev. S.W. Powell 3.00

Prescott. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. 9.00

Randolph. Miss Abby W. Turner 20.00

Revere. Miss Emily M. Peck, Bbl. of C., 2 _for Freight, for Marion, Ala._ 2.00

Richmond. Cong. Ch. 5.64

Royalston. "Thank Offering from a Friend," _for Greenwood, S.C._ 12.50

Springfield. Mrs. O.C. Hunt 10.00

South Amherst. Cong. Ch. 11.00

Uxbridge. WILLIAM H. SEAGRAVE, bal. to const. himself L.M. 25.00

Wakefield. Y.P.S.C.E. of Cong. Ch. 15.66

Wakefield. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., bal. to const. GEORGE H. MADDOCK L.M. 6.17

Ware. Mr. Anderson's S.S. Class, _for Indian Sch'p, Santee Normal Sch._ 17.50

Warren. Mrs. Joseph Ramsdell _for Chinese M._ 5.00

Warren. Ladies, Box of Bedding, etc.; Mrs. M.L. Hastings, 3. _for Freight, for Austin, Texas_ 3.00

Westford. William Taylor, 5, _for Indian M._ and 5 _for Mountain Work_ 10.00

Whateley. Cong. Ch., 12.84, and Sab. Sch., 10 22.84

Winchester. Y.P.S.C.E., _for Indian Sch'p., Santee Normal Sch._ 70.00

Woods Holl. Cong. Ch. 3.00

Worcester. Polly W. Ames and George W. Ames 6.00

----. "Donations," 100.00

----. "A." 10.00

Hampden Benevolent Association, by Charles Marsh, Treasurer:

Huntington. Second 19.85

Mittineagne 3.57

Monson. Sab. Sch., _for Indian M._ 50.00

Springfield, Rev. Edward Clarke 5.00

78.42

$3,538.87

ESTATES.

Conway. Estate of Ruby Strong, Mrs. Julia E. Tilton, Adm'x., _for Tougaloo U._ 20.00

Cummington. Estate of Mrs. R.P.W. Baldwin, by Ethan Clark, Executor 500.00

Medfield. Estate of Mrs. Abigail Cummings, _for Education, Instruction and Improvement of the Colored Population of the South_ 3,000.00

Newton Highlands. Estate of Miss Ellen Craft, by Miss Emeline H. Craft and Sarah A. Craft, Executors 400.00

Southampton. Estate of Eunice L. Strong, Henry W. Bosworth, Adm., by Charles Marsh, Treas. Hampden Benev. Ass'n 733.33

$8,192.20

CLOTHING, ETC., RECEIVED AT BOSTON OFFICE.

Winchester, Mass. First Cong. Ch., by Miss Elizabeth P. Chapin, Bbl. of C., Val. 50, _for Fort Berthold, Dak._

RHODE ISLAND, $32.00.

Little Compton. United Cong. Ch. 15.00

Narragansett Pier. Miss C. Danielson, _for Indian M._ 2.00

Providence. N.W. Williams 15.00

CONNECTICUT, $1,395,01.

Bridgeport. Sab. Sch. of Second Cong. Ch. 25.00

Colebrook. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 16.14

East Granby. Ladies, by Mrs. Ellen H. Strong, _for Cong. Ind'l Sch., Ga._ 5.00

East Hartford. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch., 31.54 _for Indian M._; Infant Sch., 2.80, _for Rosebud M._ 34.34

Green's Farms. Cong. Ch. 20.00

Guilford. Wigwam Club of First Cong. Ch., _for Indian Sch'p._, and to const. MISS EMMA PHELPS and MISS LOTTIE NORTON L.M's 70.00

Guilford. First Cong. Ch., to const. WILLIAM C. BISHOP L.M. 30.00

Middletown. Third Cong. Ch. 13.37

Hadlyme. Jos. W. Hungerford 100.00

Hampton. "A Friend" 5.00

Lisbon. Cong. Ch. 20.00

Mount Carmel. Cong. Ch. 47.20

New London. "A Teacher and Chinese Scholar, First Ch. of Christ," _for Chinese M._ 5.00

New Preston. Mrs. Betsey Averill, _for Mountain Work_ 10.00

New Preston. Ladies of Cong. Ch., _for Conn, Ind'l Sch., Ga._ 5.00

Norfolk. Young Ladles' Mission Band, _for Indian M._ 42.42

North Haven. Cong. Ch. 57.00

North Guilford. Mrs. Eben F. Dudley, _for Indian M._ 5.00

Oxford. Cong. Ch., to const REV. HENRY M. HAZELTINE L.M. 32.88

Prospect. Cong. Ch. 20.00

Redding. Cong. Ch. 20.73

Riverton. Cong. Ch. 7.00

Salem. Cong. Ch. 11.60

Sharon. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 46.69

South Windsor. First Ch. 11.49

Stonington. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc. 46.50

Terryville. "A Friend," _for Indian M._ 20.00

Thomaston. Cong. Ch. 7.75

Windsor. First Cong. C. 75.00

----. "A Christian Union Reader," _for Chinese M._ 25.00

----. "A Friend in Conn." 10.00

$815.01

ESTATE.

Rocky Hill. Estate of Rev. Asa B. Smith, by Rev. E. Harmon, Ex. 550.00

$1,395.01

NEW YORK, $36,789.63.

Augusta. "Friends," by M.A. Holmes 1.45

Cambria Center. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. 8.00

Comstock. "A Friend" 20.00

Deansville. Cong. Ch., _for Charleston, S.C._ 9.08

Eaton. Cong. Ch. 8.50

East Bloomfield. Sab. Sch. Cong. Ch., _for Santee Ind'l Sch._ 26.22

Franklin. Cong. Ch. 30.06

Fredonia. Miss Martha L. Stevens 2.00

Greene. Cong. Ch. 10.50

Java. Sab. Sch. of Cong, Ch. 10., Juv. Temp. Soc. 1.25, by Mamie J. Lyford, Treas. 11.25

New York. "Pilgrim Church," 20., Rev. Stephen Angell, 10 30.00

North Walton. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. 8.57

Nyack. John W. Towt 100.00

Tarrytown. "A Friend," 50.00

Warsaw. "A Friend," 50., Cong. Ch., 4 54.00

Woman's Home Missionary Union of N.Y., by Mrs. L.H. Cobb, Treas., _for Woman's Work_:

Jamestown. Ladies' Aux. 15.00

Rutland. Ladies' Aux. 5.00

20.00

$389.63

ESTATES.

Fulton. Estate of Mrs. A.B.C. Dada 1,400.00

New York. Estate of John F. Delaplaine, James Cruickshank and Talbot W. Chambers, Executors 35,000.00

$36,789.63

NEW JERSEY, $82.00.

Bordentown. Lambert Bewkes 3.00

Highlands. Rev. H.R. Proudfit 54.00

Perth Amboy. Rev. P. Kimball 25.00

PENNSYLVANIA, $1.00.

Braddock. Thomas Addenbrook, P'k'g. C., etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

New Castle. John Burgess 1.00

OHIO, $164.50.

Adams Mills. Mrs. M.A. Smith 10.00

Bryan. S.E. Blakeslee 5.00

Charlestown. Cong. Ch. 2.50

Cleveland. Hough Chapel, 20., Crawford Road, 20., by Rev. C.W. Hiatt 40.00

Cleveland. East Madison Av. Cong. Ch. 25.00

Cincinnati. Mrs. Betsey E. Aydelott 5.00

Garrettsville. Cong. Ch., 22; Woman's Miss'y Soc., 3.; Y.P.S.C.E. 5., to const. REV. EDGAR S. ROTHROCK L.M. 30.00

Kent. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., by Ada J. Blackmore, _for Memphis, Tenn._ 10.00

Marietta. Cong. Ch. 2.00

Stubenville. First Ch. 10.00

Ohio Woman's Home Missionary Union, by Mrs. Phebe A. Crafts, Treasurer, _for Woman's Work_:

Akron. Aux. 20.00

Harmar. Oak Grove Mission Band 5.00

25.00

ILLINOIS, $491.43

Beecher. Member Cong. Ch. 10.00

Belvidere. Mrs. Mary C. Foote, 5., _for Tillotson C. and N. Inst._, and 3. _for Woman's Work_ 8.00

Chicago. First Cong. Ch., 149.01; Plymouth Cong. Ch. and Soc., 11.60 160.61

De Kalb. Cong. Ch. 18.87

Dover. Cong. Ch., (100. of which from Dea. George Wells) to cont. DEA. J. HOYT, DEA. AARON DUNBAR, JOHN W. HENSEL, J.B. ALLEN and JAMES A. PIERCE L.M's 123.71

Hyde Park. S.S. Class, Presb. Ch., _for Student Aid, Marion, Ala._ 1.50

Joliet. "A Thank Offering, M.T.M." 10.00

Joy Prairie. Cong. Ch. 42.15

Lyndon. J.M. Hamilton 1.00

Malden. Cong. Ch. ad'l. 7.13

Normal. Cong. Ch. 9.24

Ontario. Cong. Ch. 14.34

Princeton. Mrs. S.C. Clapp 25.00

Providence. Cong. Ch. 12.00

Ravenswood. Cong. Ch. 21.01

Toulon. Cong. Ch., in part 10.00

Wauponsee Grove. Cong. Ch. 16.17

MICHIGAN, $61.85.

Ann Arbor. Y.P.M.S. of First Cong. Ch. _for Chapel, Santee Agency_ 13.85

Calumet. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., by Mrs. L.W. Killmar, _for Athens, Ala._ 20.00

Farmington. Mary Erwin 10.00

Homer. Mrs. C.C. Evarts 6.00

Woman's Home Missionary Union of Michigan, by Mrs. E.F. Grabill, Treas:

Grand Blanc. "Willing Helpers," _for Normal Training Sch., Santee Agency_ 12.00

WISCONSIN, $360.10.

Beloit. First Cong. Ch. 169.30

Boscobel. "Coral Workers" by Mrs. A.A. Young 3.00

Cooksville. Cong. Ch. 6.36

Eau Claire. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch. 15.00

Fond du Lac. Cong. Ch. to const. WILTON B. SIMMONS L.M. 43.89

Fort Atkinson. Cong. Ch. 15.80

LaCrosse. Cong. Ch. 51.41

Lake Mills. Cong. Ch. 4.00

Ripon. First Cong. Ch. 20.00

Viroque. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., Box Books, etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

Waukesha. Cong. Ch. 31.34

IOWA, $211.26.

Clayton. N.G. Platt 5.00

Creston. Pilgrim Ch. 1.81

Davenport. Mrs. M. Willis, Box Papers, etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

Dubuque. Y.L. Benev. Soc., _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 8.00

Grinnell. Cong. Ch. 4.92

Maquoketa. Cong. Ch. 5.16

Nashua. Cong. Ch. 10.68

Osage. Cong. Ch., to const. L.A. LARSON and LEE J. LOVELESS L.M's 60.00

Red Oak. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch., 4 Packages Papers, etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

Storm Lake. Cong. Ch. 13.14

Tipton. "L.M.S." _for Mountain Work_ 5.00

Victor. Mrs. C.L. McDermid, _for Nat, Ala._ 0.50

Iowa Woman's Home Missionary Union, _for Woman's Work_:

Bellevue. L.M.S. 4.25

Des Moines. L.M.S. 5.00

Genoa. W.H.M.U. 2.01

Grinnell. W.H.M.U. 3.01

Humboldt. W.M.S. 5.00

Iowa City. W.H.M.U. 25.35

Le Mars 2.10

Magnolia. W.H.M.U. 1.50

Osage. W.M.S. 2.15

Sheldon. W.M.U. 2.00

Traer. L.M.S. 20.00

Dubuque. Y.L.B.S. 4.00

Fairfield. L.M.S. 3.10

McGregor. L.M.S. ad'l to cont. MRS. WILLIAM TROUT-FETTER L.M. 10.58

McGregor. "Thank Offering." 2.00

New Hampton. L.M.S. 5.00

97.05

MINNESOTA, $46.90.