Kenosha tribune and telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1855-1855, 1855-03-22


and strengthen. but in It's yileness OF ex,
posure ana defiance, such evil is IN, OF, ana
before them, and no other prospect. lhey
have no Joyous day OF labor-no peaceful
re It of niyht--no expectations OF better
time. The dense, great city Is but point
of land, this alley, mere speck upon It's
surface. Oh! but what world ills! what
experience is herel Before this point OF
land spreads out the mighty ocean--in!and
the silent and magnificent country, above
all, the uEsleeping eye of heaven.
Fearful pesiIences have frequently swept
up the alley, Teasing rioing ut will. for no
obsructions could be offered to their en-
rance-theirproc none could hinder.
Young AMI old have falleniik weeds swept
by Eurocly don, and ,hey have been borne
away; unwept they fell, unchronicled, aud
no man can tell their sepulclre.
But, in the face of the truth which have
written above, TO the honor of human ma
ture, and the glory of God, may here write
down another fact attesung to the sincerity
of your hallelulah, dear philosopher, the
man c0n outride the circumstances. Vir-
tue, seli-re!ance, selfsacriiice, and hope,
and love; have grown out from The choking
slime that stiles life in Alley Number Ten.
There is a passage in the experience OF
two young girls who had their rth-place
in a region such as this, which is worthy OF
more enduring memorial than | can give,
vet, but for tie fact that with me rested the
obligation OK memorialist, implied in mere
acquaintance with the case, this page had
been unwrltten.
They grew up, these girls, in the vile al
ley, in the midst Gifts overgrowth OF count
less noXious weeds, amid hosts OF children,
grew up from infancy to madenhood.
The Younger Of the two had not discov-
erabIe relation in the world. Who her par
ents were no one could tell She was born
in Alley Number Ten, or in some other like
1t. and her personal associations were en-
tirely confined to the people who could in
habit such lairs and dens as make the dwell
ling places here. And not only was she
alone; an awful calamity had heightened
the triendlessness of her condition into help
lessness She was born blind. Upon the
sidewalks she had spent her childhood, un,
cared for, unprotected. In that desperate
neighbour God she had lived. undetended
by any human hand; guardianship exer-
cised over her there was none, unless The
heavenly angels of love and mercy had
charge concerning her.
The other tenants Of the house, in The at
tic passage way where she slept, were of the
migratory class-a class which remains sta
tionary only in wretchedEess, never in To-
cajiy. for Ike hope OF improving their con-
ditioh is ever leading them from one place
70 another; and they have neither fact nor
hope TO rest in. Bat in that self-same cor
ner, wnere the little unclaimed creature had
crept in the footsteps of an ascending LODI
ger, there, where in her desolate infancy
She had lain herself down to sleep, CROWN :
from that night, because unmolcsted, at
tached to the place, and feeling, as she had
icit towards no other place, secure-there
for years, nj sht after night, through winter
and summer, she had found place for
shelter and for rest.
Vow she had contriveI to live it is a griev-
Gus thing to tell. Food slave had spurn-
cd had been her sustenance! She had ne
yer known IA luxury, and scanty were the
huSkS even that fell To her from The baskets
Of the beggars. II had been mercy TO
her had any hand passionaling her con
dition. led her to the place OF shelter to
which her bel plessnesS entitled her. Her
nakcdnrSs would have been covered, and
food luxurious, End protecting care would
have been her portion and right in the aims
hou~e-but there was no one TO bcstir him
self even SO much rs this in her behalf
though her name and person were familiar
through the length and breadth of the al
ley
She was gentle in her ways, and to be
trusted, and ,aus il had come 10 pass that
she WAS looked upon as the guar liam OF
those children of the ncig hborhood whose
parents were out to daily labor, even when
She was herself little past the years of in
fancy.
She had grown into the occupation Of this
Office, and WAS not only the guardian, but
as such was regarded by the mothers in
her vicinity. In the courtyard, or around
The door step, or on stormy days, upon the
stair, shegathere,i the little ragged creatures
and it was wonderful to see her way oil
mana ing the wild horde.
Nor did her influence cease in this circle oil
infancy. Tired and unhappy wretches found
refreshment in her presence which they co d
not account for nor comprehend. They had
compassion on her, pity for her. and this
feeling reflecte! humanizing influence up
on themselves in turn. Their own griefs, OF
wrongs. or dgradation were rarely the sub
lect OF deliberate contemplation with them
but the hclplessness of the blind Girl was
tho't which they carried about with the 1,
ia their hearts, and salutary. even if evan
eseeGt, WAS The impulse exerted.
What the blindness actually was to Jen
ny. of that they never pondered Whether
the fair inward vision which unquestionably
was hers, compensated for the loss of out
ward sight, was question unraised in their
minds. Among those who like her had always
'hnaoi!ed such quarters as these, there were
not a few who had never seen the sunrise,
nor sazed on thesplendorofthe sunset heav.
ems nor Watched The changing seasons midst
II