The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1856-03-18
rFrom tho n. j. Independent
snow rewcr~~-Thc Locomotive aud
the Rain.
BY HENRY WARD BEEcnER.


Is there any thing in the world so devoid
Of all power as the snow fake? 1t has no
life. Ii is not organized. 1t il not even a
positive thing, but is formed negatively, by
the withdrawal Of heat from moisture. 1t
forms in silence and in the obsourity of the
radiant ether far up above eyesight or hand
reach. II starts carthward so thin, so hlmy
and unsubstantal, that grayitaton itself IL
at loss to know how TO get hold upon 1t.
Therefore it comes down with wayerug
motion, half attracted and half let alone.
We have sat and watched the fall Of snow
until our heads grew dizzy, for il is a be-
witehing sight to persons spoculatively in
clined. There is an aimless way Of riding
down, simple, careless, thoughtless mo
ton, that leads you to think that nothing can
be more "nonchalent" than snow. And
then it rests upon leaf, or alights upon
the ground with such dainty step, 50 soft
y, SO quietly, that you almost pity its virgin
helplessncss.
Ii You reach out your hand to help, your
touch destroys ii. Ii dies in your palm aud
departs as tear. Thus, the ancents feign-
ed that-let me see, what was it that thee
feigned Lots spouse went into salt. Th n
was not it. Niobe TO stone, several into veg
etables, some into deer, but was nobody en-
gagged to a fountain? All yes, it was Are
thusa. But now that we have hit the thing
that dimy foated in our memory, it's not
case 10 the point, so that we will let Arethu-
81 Tow (siide) and return to our snow.
If any one should ask what is the most
harmless and innocent thing on earth, he
might be answered a snowflake. And, yes.
/ III ts own way Of excrting itself it stands
among the foremost powers ON earth. When
I fills the air the sun cannot shine, the eye
becomes powerless, neither hunter, pilot
guide nor Waterman, are any better than
blind men. The Gag ahd mole are on Ii
level of vision. All the kings of the earth
could not send forth an edlct to mankind
saying, .'let labor cease But this light
pumed infantry clears out the fields, drives
men home from the highway, and puts half
continent under bar. 1t is a despiser of old
landmarks and very quietly unites all prop
critics, covering up fences, hiding paths and
| roads, and doing in one day work which
the engineers and laborers Of the whole earth
could not do in year.
But let the wind arise, (itself but the move
ment of soft, invisible particles Of air, } ana
how is the peaceful seeming of snow-fakes
changed. In an instant the air moves There
Is fury and spite in the atmosphere Ii
peits You, and searches you out in every
fold and seam of your garments. 1t comes
without search warrant through every crack
I and creylce Of your house. 1t pours over
the hills, and turks down in the valleys. or
roads, or cuts, until in night it has entrench-
Cd itself formdably against the most EXPERT
human strength. For, now. living In drifts
far and wide, It bids defiance to engine and
engineer.
All these thoughts and great many 9TH
ers we had leisure to spin last night, while
/ we lay within two miles Of Morristown, y
j., beating away at half mile inclined
4 plane heaped with snow. We look upon the
engine as the symbol Of human skill and
power. In its summer rush along a dry
track it would seem literally invlncible il
comes roaring up towards YOU, it sweeps III
gantically past You, with the wild scream Of
It's whistle, waving the bushes and rustling
the grass and flowers on either side, and fll-
ing the air with clouds Of smoke and dust.
and you look upon its roaring course gradu-
ally dying out Of sight. and roaring rs if
some supernatural development Of might had
passed by you in ayision. But now thus Won
dertu thing Is as tame az a wounded bird .
and all It's spirit is gone. No blow sstruck.
HE snow put forth no power. 1t simply lies
still. That Is enough. The lahariug .raglae
eroans and pushes; backs out and plunges
N again: retreats and ru.hes again
Ii becomes entangled. The snow' IS every
where. Ii Ii before it and behind it, 1t pens
erates the whole engine. is sucked up in the
draft, whiris It's sheets in the engine room
torments the numbered wheels, clogs the
joints, and packing down under the drivers
Il fairly lifts the ponderouS engine off its
feet and strands 1t across the track Well
done snow That was a notable victory!
Thou mayest well consent now to yield II
seraper and snow-plow.
In a few weeks another silent force comes
forth. And a noisecss battlo will ensue. in
which this now victorious army ~ fakes shall
be itself yanquished. A rain drop i strong
er than snow fake. One by one the arm
cd drops will desolge the crystals anu let
forth the snlrlr. imnrisnned in tham Do
seendlng quickly into the earth, the drops
shall reach the roots ana give their breasts 10
their myriad mouths. The bud shah open
~ eye The leaf shall lift up its head. The
grass shat wave lts spear, and the forest,
hung Out their banners. How significant is
this silent, gradual, but irresistible power If
ram and snow, Of moral truths in this world
:" FOR as the rain eometh down and the snow
! from heaven, and returneth not thither but
| Watereth the earth. and maketh it bring forth
and bud. that it may give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater; so shall nv word be
that goeth forth out of nv mouth; il shall
not return unto me void, bur it shall accom-
pllsh that which please, and it shall pros
per IN the thing whereto | sent it,;
GES. Wool AND TUE OREGON WAR.-The
Cincinnati Gazette, Of Tuesday, SAYS
eve received, yesterday, our files Of the
0regonan, published at Portland, in the Ter
rltory Of Oregon, from which we learn that
the people of the Territory, and General
Wool Of the general army, have become BIT
terly opposed TO one another. The General
refuses to permit his regular troops to take
part with the militia in the Indian war which
has broken out in Oregon. In some speech
or conversation he spoke Of the Oregon peo-