Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1868-08-17
q = .V4ftE 80 -. 80 -. l..@IIl
Christianity ON Wheels.
from the Ny. Independent,

-
Christianity ON Wheels.
s'E' from the N. Y. Independent:
A party of editors OF the Atlantic States have
lust returned to their eastern homes from a
Journey to the end ct the Pacific Railroad. In
little more than two weeks, with frequent rests
they have travelled full forty five hundred
miles: they had traVersed the ce-dreaded
American Desert" in cars more luxurious
than any crowned King ,ot Europe can COM
mapd: and, hundred miles beyond the sum.
NIT Of the Rocky Mountains, they had witnes-
sed the gradual welding OF the great iron mar.
riage. ring which shall unite in enduring and
traternal bands the Atlantic with the Pacific
communities.
What report do they make to US of their
wonderful journey? They tell US Of wide and
fertile lands that are standing all day idle for
the want of men to till them-lands capable
of supporting in ease and even afHuence all the
struggling poor of our Eastern States.o They
tell us of rich mineral regions, with no living
soul to explore them-regions rich IN coal, 10
iron, in gold, ,Fin silver, and in precious stones;
but .desoIate and unproduetiye, because the
working men Who are fighting fierce hattletor
their daily bread in the older: States will not
or cannot come and gather up the treasures
that nature has stored away IN the distant
West. They tell us that the great American
Desert, which once monopolized SO large
slice of our Western maps, is nowhere to be
found and where geographers3 used to
place it, there <isz an arahle and pastoral re-
gion of boundless extent and excellent promise
that the climate is the most saluhrious on the
continent, and that nothing is needed buthonest
and industrionssme men to change the plans
from alonely Nj ilderness into D bloss oming gar
den. What the Mormens> have done In the
Salt Lake Valley surely Christian emlgrants
can accom- plish IN the country east Of lt-a dis
trict equally productive and more accessible to
the markets ofthe world, fhespies who went
into Canaan and brought back glowing reports
of the promised land have been riYaled and sur
passed by the, editorial company, as tar as they
speak Of the material resources and condition OF
the West 2iE21:S!-- =. u
But they tell things quite as dlscouraging of
the moral condition Of the frontier men as
their reports of the frontier land IS encourag-
ing. As the railroad pushes, with giant
strides, inland and still further inland, cities
rises and flourish, and decline and tall, between
Christmas and July. ''They come like shadows,
and so Depart A year ago, for example,
desolate prairie, unbroken by a plough and un,
disturbed by the sound of hammer, formed
the sites of Cheyenne, Laramie and Benton
the three far Western ''cities' on the Union
Pacific Road Cheyenne has since claimed a
population of over ten thousand, and to-day 1t
has at least four thousand citizens. The his
tory of any one of these places is the history OF
them all; or, as2Benton is the youngest OF the
new ''ciGes of the plain, we select 1t as the
type of these mushroom municipalities. lt ls
situated near the end OF the road-seven hun
dred miles as the bird flies westward from the
Az. h. o1i foH ho
town. it was two..weeks old. Its population was
fifteen hundred. It was entirely formed OF
large tents Every other tent was either a
gambling den, or drinking saloon,' or a
dancing hall-with adjoining chambers that 60
down to. hell. There were sixty woman IN the
town, not one of them virtuous all OF them be-
longing to the vilest grade of criminal lite.
Every night inthe large tents they are hund.
red feet long by sixty wide) there are lewd
dances, and drinking and gambling, and every
variety of obscene and criminal indulgences.
Every man goes armed every man and every
woman drinks; every one of both sexes CANDLES;
and, of course, fights are frequent and murders
not uncommon tIt was said Of Benton that,
although only fortnight from tho prairie, IT
had already 'tstarted quite lively grayeyard.'
Such law as lis ssregognized Gacknowedge soniy
one capital offence If a man kills his neigh: I
Dor, be goes ,unwhi ipped Of justice the corpse
is buried, the murder is talked Of tor an hour,
and the offence is forgotten before the grasses
spring oVersthe new-made grave Butlt atman,5
in a moment of temptation, steals horse,2 Or
cuts with felonious intent into a. canvas store,
he is seized, tried By a mob, and hanged With ,
out benefit Of clergy, Fifty, howeve ,coarsely;
these fugitive cities are called 6 Hell on wheels,
They are the sftest types eot fendish lust and:
cruelty incorporated In municipal bodies that
exist on the American Continent. .iToGt a.t.s1 q
Dooes the Christian Church owe nothing to-
these frontier people ?: They are, not wholly
beyond our power Of benefaction. Surely: /:
while the mercantile communities OF the East
pour out their. treasures to make pathway
tor civiizationto the Pacific coast the ChIls :,
tlan Church, without distinction OF denomlna-.
tiob, ought to do something to bring the labor Dr.
ers who are executing the great work; within
the pure circle OF social and religious Christian
Influences Against s'Hell on wheels. It. Is
our duty toopposea Christianity On wheels; to-
follow up, and fight the good fight Of religious
warfare from station 20 station with the wan
dering bagnios, and bar rooms, and gambling
dens which are so prompt to keep, step with
the rapid strides, OF advancing cl7llzatlon. 0fe
MOT CsE ..aef;az14gf ,,saa .s.asalssasa}.3
The firm of SANFORD q MAKELY is dis
solved by mutual consent. Hon k-&
u. PeSANF0RD 81 ~CO. wilE-carryI On the