The Lake County star., 1877-05-24


A. We hear It every day aud ip every
Nobody to blame y" si,.s n.sal.
!. This seems TO be an age when every.
bQdy - guiltlees Of anything bad, and
when everything happens purely by
IA. = A:pd md; 6 to To-,
merc mel py the weight o. the mill
Hons of tons which have passed over
It, st length succumbs tb the strain
and breaks when some heavily loaded
tr1tn u upon II, and . score of human
beings are hurled into eternity on the
wings Of steam.
always Is q jury Of % Intelligent men"
solemn-s0unding 0aths are adminis-
tered large fees are charged, and wine
nows freely, to stimulate these - intel
ligent men" to verdict Of :. Nobody
to blame.n se .tah lr..-
They talk the matter over, all the
rsd-tape formulas are gone through
with, and In due time the public are
assured that there was positively "no-
body to blame" Oh, no, not ut all
Accidents will happen, to be sure.
Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. The road is in
fine condition; the depots cost mill
lions Of money; the dividends are fat,
the stock Is forty above par, the pal
ace-cars are attached to most Of the
trains, the engineers are temperate,
add the gentlemanly conductors do all
In their power to make passengers
happy, and to render travel on the
road season Of unalloyed beatitude.
Oh, to be sure! ttsSgy
A tenementhouse, built for poor
people; built by contract for Just as
small Q sum In dollars and cents as It
Is possible to build 1t for; constructed
by architects who care only for the
wages they receive, and ordered and
paid Tor by q man whose soul Is so
small that you might put fifteen mill
lions OF them In your eye and never
mistrust there was aught there; this
tenement-house totters and goes down
some day when somebody sneezes, or
there Is louder clap Of thunder than
1t has been accustomed to, and women
ana children are crushed out of exist
life. -
The public are indignant; the land
lord Is meek and innocent, and de-
mands an investigation. His honor
must and shall be vindicated. he tells
you, with the air Of injured inno-
The inevitable inquest is summoned
tho same intelligent men" preside,
for nobody ever heard tell Of jury
that was otherwise than intelligent,
and, OF course, the same result fol-
lows.
Nobody to blame!
Houses sOiU fall down, they tell us
they all have q habit of falling. Ev-
erybody expects them to fall. 1t is the
fashion to build them that way. The
0ld-fashioned method of timbers q
foot square Is absurd-too heavy, too
much space wasted In the walls-too
much material COSTS too much
money. And the report winds up
with illusions to the unaffected grief
OF the gentlemanly landlord - and
to the oysters furnished by the "gen-
tlemanly landlord" to the "intelli-
gent" jury.
Steamboat boilers burst, ami the in.
quest develops the same astonishing
fact-NOb0dy to blame! Just 80, when
old, worn. out machinery goes to pieces
because 1t Is too weak to hold together.
What II q few people do lose their
lives? They have got to die some
time. and there Is always more or less
risk about all these things.
In the name Of right and truth, let
this farce Of inquests cease, If there is
nothing new to come out Of It.
II an inquest is not q court of in
quiry designed to bring the truth to
light, and to cast Just censure where
censure ie due, then what Is It?