The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1853-06-15
From the Cotton Plant.
Child Lost"
BY SMOKER.

nTOuSH IdSnlOnROle alC OBSCURE streets
up and down dark aIleys-in the midst
of ,oiling industry and vicious idleness-
the bell has rung and the cry "child lost,
child LOST has been heard. Everywhere,
among the great and low. and rich and pooc
the laboring and the idle, those words
lound a response Of whatever sympathy
was possessed or not lost The belated
nurse presses her charge closer. or grasps
the wrists more tightly, as she hurries
home to the alarmed parent. Everywhere
is sympathy and concern.
"a child lost! child lost!! Ai,tle girl
about. five years of age-had on blue
dress with white apron. Has long curl
ing brown hair--large blue eyes and fresh
rosy complexion and is very pretty. Was
last seen in the neighborhood of the Jail.
Lost child-ehi.d lost the voice
and bell die away down the darkening
street. @ 4y-t sa5s'
The man ofbusiness homeward bound,
stops at the cry. The hardened capital
ist who has all day long listened with in
difference to the story Of a sinking frie. 4
the modern Shylock who has lust had his
pound OF flesh-blood and ali; the gam.
bier standing at his den +; giddy worldlings
in their drunken fevels; the toil-worn la
boring Eian the solitary stranger thous-
ands Of miles distant from home and chill
;dreE :. every human heart feels the poten-
cy otthat sad cry, "'child lost-child lost, "
as ii echoes along the crowded thorough
fares Of the thronged city. 1t is getting
darker b!acker. The lamps glow like
stars. The sky is overcast. The rain
comes down--laster-now in torrents
What numberless homes are sad for the
little wanderer! Mothers look axiously
from windows into the streets. Fathers
go and stand upon the door steps. Ever
and anon there comes through the storm
with the careering wind, that faint and dis.
tant sound. "child lost child lost-losi
-lost-lost." Little ones around the
hearth stone stop in their play, and look
grave. The lost child is staggering along
in terror. Its home is desolate.
There must be such thing as an uni
versal human magnetic telegraph. As
tn ough by instinct the news flies from
square to square-into fashionable streets
--down obscure alleys-along highways
and by-ways-to that desolate home and
distracted mother-"Ihe child is found
| the child is tound.' Starting tears gush
forth now from joy. A thousand little ro.
sy cheeks, surrounded with brown curls
and lighted up by large blue eyes, are
kissed and kissed again that night. Eve.
rywhere is JOY. No one enquiries, no one
cares whether the little wanderer was rich
or poor. 1t was child-a human child
II was lost and is found.
In the gush of universal thankfulness
l,ow few think OF the poor child-lost, in 9
depth Of unfathomable degradation-whc
daily meets you at nightfall with hollow
eye and painted cheek who stares at you
trough prison bars; who glares upon yor
from the hells Of crime and public pollu.
ion; who comes up before the face Of the
Criminal Court; who stands between star
ation and crime-between temptation ani
sin between light and darkness. .Chill
lost Child lost" ''The lost is found.'
Beautiful expression of love which cling.
to man, when deserted by his fellow man
Oh i ye whose natures are choaked NJ
with selishness, remember, that He whe
guards you and yours from harm and dan
ger, and returns safely home again those
absent objects of affection and solitude
expects FROM you feeling of pity and kind
ness for the unhappy outcasts of earth
.'lost'' in the most fearful meaning Of tina