The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-04-04
ruE WEEKLY IxTELLrGENCER.
THE EFFECT OF CIRCUM-
STANCES.

As an illustration Of " how cireum-
stances alter csses, we observe that q
great hue and cry was lately raised in
England over the introduction Of the
the steam whistle on the English
locouotises. which by the way
they term the American demon.
The voice Of the press and popular
elamor united in the crusade for its
suppression. TIL, plsawas that this obs
treperous screamer is nuisance and
Jars TO distraction the nerves Of q
quiet.loving people.
In this country the CHEEKY yell Of
the steam engine is not generally re-
garded with any such sentiment of hor-
Eor 1t is not that English nerves III
general are any more finely strung than
American, but this difference Of senti-
ment indicates in . degree the con-
trAst Of temperament between the Eng
lish and their American cousins. which
Is due solely to difference Of circun-
stances. The Islanders, accustomed TO
The din and clashing Of competition.
and the uproar and jostlipg Of over
population. crave quiet and seclusion.
But to the tenents Of the wide prairies
and the monotonous forests, the steam
engine Is . stout alley in the struggle
with nature, and the locomotives ju-
bilee shout on coming and departure is
to them q hurrah of victory. I. may
bs conceived that the rushing vebe-
Gence Of the joyous roar swskens a
responsive thrill in the throbbing
pulses of young and enterprising
nation.
A French writer declares-"wher-
ever you may locate in the outskirts of
. capital. a railroad depot. it is the
death OF a suburb aud the birth Of d
city. 1t would seem as though around
these great cen,ers Of the ,ctivity of
nations, at the rumbling of these
mighty engines, at the snorting of these
giant draught-horses Of civilization,
which devour coal and spout forth fire.
the earth. teeming with germs Of life,
trembles and opens to swallow old
dwellings Of men aud to bring forth
new: old houses crumble, new houses
spring up. The old, narrow streets
give way, vioiebtly traversed. as they
are three or four times a day, by those
streams of diligcnces. hacks aud omni.
bascs. which, in course Of time, push
back the houses right and left, for
these are things that sound strangely
and yet are precisely correct. and just
~ the remark is true. tina, in large ci,
les, the sun causes the fronts of houses
looking south. to vegctate and grow
% il Is uudeniablc that the frequen,
passage Il vehicles widens the streets
The symptoms Of a new life are evil
dent. In that old quarter. and in its
widest corners. pavement is beginning
to appear. sidewalks are spring'ng up
and stretching to longer aud longer
distances. even in those parts where as
yet there are no passers by"
The triumphant salute of tho incom
ing train on tho advent OF the frs, line
Of railroad 10 new town on the from
tier can be hkened 10 nothing more
truly than the arrival volley Of an army
Of rescue to issgured garrison. 1t is.
in its way, a. welcome u greeting to the
ears Of the pioneers. as the sound Of the
Highland haS-pipes, at the head Of
Havelock's relief party. playing The
are Coming" to The famished
defenders OF Lucknow, so long bose, by
the fenai.h Sepoys in 1856.
on the same principle, the ,lenizens
ef trim. highly cultivated localities dote
oa wild mountains aud woods and lone
~. picturesque landscapes The British
and Eastern American eockneys 30 wild
over the Alps and Adirondacs tile sol.
itude Of the Nile or of Norway; while
IN enterpEising pioneer Of the wilder
mesa is unsafferably bored by the un-
productive wastes that surround him
and he aches until he b,nishes thepen.
live romance of pie,aresQueness from
woodland and waterfall by reducing
them TO the sssii aad economical order
u things In which he was accustomed
in bis earlier home In bis eyes. there
% more Of iieAlity in the order by
beauty of fields Of grain. the busy ela,-
Ter Of factory wheels. AMI the stately
ships as thy go oa 10 their haven az
Ger the hill" To such men there is
more Of concrete con,fo,, in palace cars
han On demonstrates back, 10 cushioned
,sats q, the opera ball than in Alpine
rAAiess. and in the numerous little con-
vcnienccs thai can only be enjoyed in
weis-sestlcsi status of civilization. than
Ia the beet appeiated lodge it, sone
gast wilderness some toan:ls - con-
Is.~s,,t~ ~ shat, ,bss ,..>a.s .~s~