The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-29 00:00:00

CHECKS REQUIRED AS WELL AS
INTLLLECT.

(Front the Anglo American Times)
The Rev. Newman Hall, in the pleasant little
volume of his travels in America, just published,
tells a story of how he was walking along what ap-
peared to be a good side path at night, when he sud-
denly found himself in the air making a rapid descent
down somewhere, but he narrowly escaped with a
sprained wrist. On inquiry he found that the path-
way had been cut across to lay pipes, and had been
thus left open to catch any unwary wayfarer. His
complaints of such a state of things were received
with surprise at his making them, and he was told
" You Britishers have no intellect." In explana-
tion, the American went on to remark, "In this
country we leave men to take care of themselves,
to use their intellect ; if they do not, they have to
take the consequences. NA, ith you the case differs,
as you are taken care of and are not required to use
your intellect. If an Englishman asked me to go
down a mine in England I would go without taking
any trouble to see if all is right, for he is respons-
ible; but in America I would inspect the rope, the
engine, and ascertain if all was safe before I moved."
Although it may be right to make men in a young
country over which a supervision cannot be ex-
tended, to look out for themselves, a recklessness
has been generated which has led to great loss of
life. A day never passes without some such sacri-
fice. For instance, a bull got out of the Forty-
second Street slaughter-house, trotting through
Third Avenue, the Bowery, Baxter, and Roosevelt
Streets. Here was a glorious occasion, a veritable
"bull," not the shams in Wall-street, and away went
the " bear"-baiters after him. As might be anti-
cipated, the animal thus pursued became infuriated,
and the excitement grew apace. Armed policemen
turned out, and these guardians of the people's
lives began blazing away, and the New Yorkers
had in consequence to exert all their intellects to
escape the bullets, then flying in every direction,
adding to the danger of being gored a further
pleasing excitement in the danger of being shot. In
Chatham-square, the animal dashed at the masses,
by whom he was surrounded, and bursting through
them in spite of their pistols and weapons of all
sorts, rushed into Roosevelt-street. There, a bar-
ricade of waggons was constructed to " corner"
him, but before it could be completed the mob had
started him, and away through the town he went,
till, after scouring many more streets, he was killed
at the corner of Chathatn-street. The papers con-
gratulate the public on the comparatively few
casualties which resulted. John Anderson, a sailor,
was, however, dangerously hounded, the bullet
lodging in his lungs ; the bull himself floored many
citizens, and many more had their clothes riddled
with bullets, but all were well repaid by the excite-
ment of this buffalo hunt through the streets of
New York. Take another, and a really horrible
instance, that of the Indiana disaster. This pleasant
little affair, which put 27 persons to instant death,
wounding some GO more, sprang from the desire of
Mr. Sinker to win a prize in a race with another saw-
mill, to decide which could cut up most lumber within
a given period. The race commenced at half-past
one o'clock, and before the period expired he had