The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1867-02-01
Coming to the CitY.

Sh A>otHlliS IL LIoiC COlIlIuUu tlldu Ill
saying, as people apply to you for help, g.
thought where there were so many people
there must be something for ME to do
Yes; there is something for many to do
starve. But they do not find it out, ant
SO call that are distressed, and all tha
are in debt, and all that are discontented,
flock as they did to David at the Cave
Adullam, and are not as well cared fol
when they arrive, as were DayiFs fol-
lowers
To the inexperienced there is a curiou.
fascination about a city, and they only
take in its greatness and glory and extent,
and feel as if they should be in some mys.
ferrous way part of the great whole
And so they are; but if they could see
the substra,um of misery upon which the
foundations rest, they lid take care
and keep out Of the way Of becoming a
part of it.
And yet they come crowding in-young
men, many Of them to 60 to destruction
yOun. women, to something worse than
destruction widows TO starve, and chill
dren to he starved. OF course a few sue.
ceed, and few have great success-ii
success means gathering money. But one
is reminded of the Suez Canal, which i.
said TO have hidden under its banks sixty
thousand tolllng slaves, who dug awhile
and died.
1t is worse for women, for the one
great temptation always besets: and then
The fall is desperate and hopeless. They
find every avenue of labor crowded; skill
ed labor always commands price; so ii
does elsewhere, and if they were skilled
they would have succeeded at home.
a woman makes her way to You and
applies for help. She Is widow times
were dull i'll the country, where she was
known. and according to her story, friends
advised her 10 come away. She sells her
little possessions, or brings part, and
sets cut for city life She can work ;,s :,
laiiorc>S, but nobody knows her; the
shops will not trust her with work her
rent is high, fuel and food are dear, held
at Il rate she never imagined her chill
dren sutlcr, and one Of them is ready 10
die What can You do for her /! Paw
her rent and support her and her children.
make paupers of them; or, if you can't
afford 10 support them, which is very
likely, tell her SO and let her 90 1t i,
vain to tell her she should not have come :
too late for that She has no money TO
20 away, and nothing TO begin with in her
old home; and there she is, too proud 10
own her mistake, and to 90 back poorer
than she came. No; she must add to the
burdens of those who already have a
heavy load to carry. And she is one of
the hundreds. As to men, there are 9th
er things TO he looked at than merely the
amount OF money man may earn here.
even il he succeeds in finding employment.
1t is the most torlorn place to bring up a
family. n man must either be mile.
away from them, or have them living in :,
crowded. unwhule>ome street, where no
breath OF the pure air of heaven can ever
penetrate, and as the warm spring day.
c. me, and all nature rcvives in the coun-
try, the city becomes more and more moi
some and sickening Said a young wo-
man who had made the mistake of the ex-
change: 81 put my head out of the win
dow for 4 breath of fresh air. and the air
is anything but fresh SO the children
droop and die, ard the older people strus-
gle on. 1t would hardly be believed the
proportion OF children who die in int;ln-
cy.
How different from the pleasant. quiet
little home man may have in Il country
town or village, with the power of beine
there morning, noon and night, and with
pure air and green fields within reach.
There Is something more TO life than St
many dollars Il week.
But there are traps also open for tn,
unwary. and many young man never
gets 50 far as 10 have any ones interest t,
consult but his own. Forlorn and lonely
even if he has employment through til,
day. what resources has he but the then
tire, the saloon, the billiard room, the
gambling house ? - things which stea
away his money; then drinking, vice, de
struciion. All this has been told owe,
and over again-and who will believe it
For, dead men come back TO tell n,
tales, and the grave hides all these thou
sands OF victims. a man who has bee,
i'll mercantile business in :. large CITY
wrote record OF his experience, an,
about one in ten of his associates escape,
ruin. A heavy tribute to pay TO the 90,
mammon.
! AS to young girls who 90 to city a!on
and untriended, and many do-have no
they any one to warn them? They ar
SO desperate and helpless; better leap OF
precipice, better plunge into the deep
dafk liver, tiian 20 10 4 city frlcndlcS
and alone. There is employment for skill
ed labor, and little for any other, Will
Snares and pitfalls abound on every side
Those who escape do SO as by miracle, O
the special care of Providence. Thos
who do not, count by thousands, with tn
most pititul tales to tell, utterly ruine,
and undone. Here we know only the ex
ceptions-a dark and hideous grave hide
the rest.
Is the picture too dark Not fo
truth; though it may be for your fan
cy.
When l was child, always skippe
the moral of a story. The moral of TIN