Dear Madam: We the people of this Island give you grate thanks, for what you are Doing for us. as the cormittee We have put Before us, are Doing all in their power and knowdge (knowledge) We Believe, and Dear Madam the committee of the cloth (clothes) Who Went before you with the corruption We Dont recunize (recognize) them in that for We the people of this island are very happy for all that you are Doing for us. Now Dear Madam We ask you, as we lern that the close are stop on account of the fust (fuss) that the cormittee made among themselves this we nows nothing about this nether the cormittee We put before us these don’t no anything about it
This is signed by twenty-two men of the Island.
Scenes of this sort were not of frequent occurrence and were the exception to the rule of general satisfaction which prevailed everywhere. As the months went by, smiles returned to their faces and hope to their hearts, and by every method in their power, they evinced a most sincere desire to do something for their benefactors. Delegations of men and women came from long distances, sailing in their boats days and nights, oftentimes to express their gratitude and thanks.
With the coming of spring, they brought us early vegetables from their gardens, seeds having been furnished them by the Red Cross; they searched the woods and the fields for the beautiful wild flowers so abundant there, till our rooms were filled with beauty and fragrance and our hearts gladdened by their brightness.
I have tried in this very imperfect report to give a little idea of our life at the Sea Islands and the manner of our work. Its great magnitude, its far-reaching results must be imagined, for they cannot be told. The history of philanthropy has few brighter pages to record and its pleasant memories will gladden our hearts long after its weary hours are forgotten.
LEAVING THE FIELD.
If it be desirable to understand when to commence a work of relief, to know if the objects presented are actually such as to be benefited by the assistance which would be rendered, it is no less desirable and indispensable that one knows when to end such relief, in order to avoid, first, the weakening of effort and powers for self-sustenance; second, the encouragement of a tendency to beggary and pauperism, by dependence upon others which should be assumed by the persons themselves. It has always been the practice of the Red Cross to watch this matter closely and leave a field at the suitable moment when it could do so without injury or unnecessary suffering, thus leaving a wholesome stimulus on the part of the beneficiaries to help not only themselves individually, but each other.
Seldom a field, or any considerable work of relief which may have attracted public notice, comes to a close that there does not some person or body of persons arise and propose to continue the work under some new form, but using the former well established sources of supplies; to put out new appeals to old patrons, detailing great need, newly discovered, and thus keep the sympathetic public forever on the anxious seats of never-ending pity and help. We have been compelled to guard against this at the close of every long-continued field, notably Johnstown, where it became necessary for the citizens to organize a “Home Relief” to keep sensational strangers off the ground, and their well arranged “Benevolent Union” of to-day is the result.
The Sea Islands were no exception, and at the last moment of our stay a well-drawn petition was discovered (for it was to be kept concealed until we were gone), and was checked only by the vigorous aid of the Charleston News and Courier, of June 25, 1894, always our stay and friend in time of trouble. I append a letter to that journal which followed a visit from their able correspondent. The last weeks of our stay in that place were passed in Charleston, hence the letter dates from there: