Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-07-10
Children's Wrongs.

A CHILD is out of place in a city. No
special provision is made for him in the
piles OF brick and mortar that make up a
metropolis He is trampled under foot by
business, or thrust out into the great GENE
teries in the suburbs, where his ghostlv
gambols will disturb no one In the coun-
try, the child finds buttercups and daisies,
sOWn everywhere for his delight; the wild
strawberry and the chestnut tree scattered
about for his food; and over great green
carpet, sprinkled with fountains the
changeful panorama Of the skies unrolled
to satisfy his longing for variety But
here, the sewer sends out its deadly breath
to poison half the babes who are born,
and it does its work so well that they never
reach the limit of the first year With the
sever, the vendors of poor milk, decayed
vegetables, and unreasonable fruits, and
those who let wretched lodgings to the
poor, combine to make life such a burden
to the children who have passed their first
year, that One-half of them drop it gladly
before they reach the age of five, and go
to sleep with little hands clasped over
heart crushed by practical sorrows. If
King Herod had only been a shrewd man,
he would have built a great city, with
Sixth Ward sewers in it, and would have
compelled the Israelites to live there. The
sewer is mightier than the sword.
But there are other wrongs of children
which belong more particularly to this
season When family blessed (cuIsed,
the landlords call iO with little ones are
compelled to move and seek new home,
they find every child one more obstacle to
their success. In the majority of board
ing hOuses, the injunction is kept perpetu-
ally posted up: No children need APP
ply" In many tenement houses the same
rules hold. Paint, gliding, varnish and
wall paper are of more value than child.
The toiling wife seeks a modest home for
her family, walks YEARLY from agent to
agent only to learn that one house and
another is barred to the little ones. They
are so much trouble; they make so much
noise; they are such nuisance;'so run
the complaints. At last the wearied
was sarcastic when he preached last Sun
day on the theme nearest her heart and
said that "of such is the kingdom of
heaven"
What are we going to do about it?
Clearly, children have no place as yet in
the practical organization of large cities,
and no recognized rights. Nautilus could
settle the question easily; but, then, what
would become of grateful posterity, of
which our orators pirate so often and so
loudly? Already our suburban GENE
teries are inconveniently crowded with
graves two or three feet in length. And
even small funeral is expensive nova
days-N. Y. Graphic,
| GREAsING HORSES FEET.-A writer in
the Canadian Farmer says: II had an
excellent opportunity Of observing the
effect CT greasing the feet whilst working
in shop where horses were shod for a
large undertaking establishment. The
treatment OF the horses by the horse
sheer was the same as that of hundreds of
other horses shod at the same shop: but
the feet Of the funeral horses were creased
every time they went out, to make them
nice and black; and as the fruit of this
practice, the hoofs almost ceased growing
They were exceedingly dry and brittle
The sole was not hard and glossy, as after
pairing, but of dry nature, and in many
cases could be crumbled by the fingers
HARTFORD, Conn, is to ornament its
park with an eightfoot marble figure Of