The Republican journal., 1873-06-05
A Short Sermon.
TEXT-THE ROLLING MILL

Did you ever visit rolling mill Pol
ished steel cylinders reyolve in pairs, each
pair so geared that the surface in contact
revolves in the same direction. Bars and
plates of iron, blazing with intolerable
brightness, are snatched from a fiery fur =
mace and passed through the rolling pro-
cess, till they come out not much thicker
than paper.
But occasionally the remorseless ma
chinery gets hold of something out of the
way Of its legitimate business. For in
stance. from some village among the hills
comes youth with his beloved to see the
sights. He proceeds to explain:
you see the furnace yonder? Well,
the workmen drag out of the fire a great
bar, white hot scattering sparks in every
direction. They put it into the MILL and
away it goes, coming out as thin as paste
board"
Yes, | see," replies the prudent dam
sci, drawing back q little Yes, but
don't 90 quite 50 near"
"Oh, pshaw don't know all about it?
They stick the end Of tine bar lust here
and" the rest of the sentence is lost in
a shout of agony. The revolving cvlin-
ders have caught the poor fellows ex-
tended finger; and more rapidly than the
eye can trace the words which describe it,
the whole hand, the wrist, fore arm, the
elbow the upper arm, are drawn in and
crushed; the body OF the victim is dragged
up against the cylinders, and then the
arm is torn from its socket and fails in a
shapeless mass on the other side, while
the sufferer sinks writhing to the ground,
| the blood pouring from the wound in
swift jets which no skill can stanch
"But why did the fool stick his finger
into the machine He ought to have
known better"
Certainly his conduct is sopento criticism
Vice and sin OF every description are APT
to catch the unsuspectng victim bv tht
tip Of the finger, draw him steadily anC
relentlessly in among the wheels, and in
the end grind his very bones to powder
For instance, the young man who in
dulges in an occasional glass of gently in
tcxicatlng drink has no suspicion that he
Is thrusting his venturesome hand into an
iron mill which grinds with tremendou.
power. The wheels are polished Sc
bright, and revolve with SO little noise
that they seem harmless. Take care,
says Mentor, but he replies, like the othe
victim, ''Oh, pshaw don't I know al
about it ?"
OF course he does. He knows tina
some people get drawn in and crushed
but You do not mean to insinuatc, now
that he is as weak as they are 4? He as
sures You, with solemn emphasis. that
he should at any time feel the slightes
pinch, he will at once withdraw to d sat,
distance. He intends to do it at the frs
| nf Ia ha i.,r 70, IL
it; he is determined to do it; he know
that he will do it; and on he goes unit
the remorseless wheels etfectually dlspe
his dream of safety.
Dishonesty is another mill which catch
es men by single finger and drags then
on to their doom. Under the influence O
some urgent need, real or imaginary, thu
clerk yields to temptation, and appropri
ates Il few dollars which do not belong t
him. He does not steal the money, re
member; he merely bowows it for a da,
or two, to be replaced as silently as h
took it, accommodating himself and harm
ing no one. But he does not find it con
venient to replace the amount as he ex
pected. Time passes on, and the though
occurs to him that all possible chance o
detection is passed, and that it will b'
perfectly sale not to refund at all. H
becomes more and more reconciled to de
lay. Another pressing call tor none
comes, and he finds it convenient to in
crease the debt Still lis evil practice
are not discovered. He bowows more
and feels less anxious about the time o
payment. Thus, at last, all sense Of non
or is lost fraud has become familiar t.
the mind, and the fatal hour Of discover,
and ruin is not far off IN. Y. Evenin!
Post.