Carnegie's Wealth.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 222, 26 September 1901, Page 4

Carnegie's Wealth.

FIVE THOUSAND APPLICANTS TO BECOME FREE STUDENTS. ! By Telegraph. Press Association. Copyright London, Sept. 24. Five thousand persons have applied to become free students at the universities endowed by Mr Carnegie in Scotian 1. An American firm doing business in London recently asked its patrons to suggest- ideas for the distribution of Mr Andrew Carnegie’s wealth. Mr Henry I>, Lennox, of Glasgow, advised that the millionaire repay a loan of 11s made by his aunt to aid the Carnegies to emigrate from Dunfermline in 1647. Mr Lennox computed that at compound interest £9 was due. Mr Carnegie has investigated the matter, and found that Mr Lennox was quite right in his claim. The debt will not only be paid, but: the children of Mrs Lennox will be endowed with a sum sufficient to keep them iu comfort as long as they live. Mr Lennox, said in his letter :—“ When the Carnegies lg.ft Dunfermline they were so poor that the mother had to borrow money to take, them to the United States. My aunt, though a poor woman herself, helped them out to the extent of 11s, but the promise to return the loan evidently escaped the memory of the beneficiaries, because they never repaid the sum borrowed. My aunt is dead, but she left two daughters, one of whom is the wife of a humble joiner in Dunfermline, while the other is a maiden lady engaged in a small drapery business in Edinburgh. Don’t you think that if Mr Carnegie knew this he would be willing to do handsomely by his mother's friends ?” Mr Carnegie called in person on the children of his benefactors, and thanked them for the generosity of their mother.