Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-05-01
A Local COrrespOR dent Loose
Easter, Personals, &c.

A Local COrrespoR dent Loose
Easter, Personals, &c.
On the morning of the 18th ult. your
correspondent broke bounds and rejoiced
in freedom for a little time. His es-
cape did not alarm the community to
any great extent, as he was safely
housed before they were aware he was
at large, and also that unlike the other
monkeys at the "ZoO," he was not dispo-
sed to run a muck" when the cage
bars were broken.
We had three objective points in view
Columbus, GAINESVILLE, or Wheeling
with the purpose, not of writing any
thing descriptive of scenery or cities, for
travelled public, but to attend the East
er services, and meet with friends in
some of the places above named-and we
hope that brief personal mention, and
description of Easter ceremonies may
not prove uninteresting to the general
reader
Upon calling at THE CHRONICLE office,
we found Messrs. A J. and G.. E. Hughes,
and Mr.. J. P. Hall, editor pro-tem), bu-
silly engaged making up the next issue,
and conversation naturally turned to a
discussion of THE CHRONICLES new
dress, and all rejoiced that it had met
with such universal favor. After par
taking of an excellent dinner at the Ma
tiOnal Hotel-kept by a gentlemanly and
accommodating landlord, Mr.. Thomas E.
Clark-we looked toward Wheeling. On
the way we met Saul K. Ruggles, Esq,
and Mr.. Ramsey, of Cleveland, who are
introducing the ~Silvertype" pictures,
and their sample pictures were kindly
shown us. We reserved an opinion, and
upon interviewing gentleman from the
East with good knowledge of art, he
assured us that he believed it to be one
of the greatest inventions of the age. On
reaching the city we found those whom
we desired to meet, and all looked for
ward to the coming of the Easter morn.
This Christian festival dates back to the
beginning of the world. "The Pagan,
Egyptian and Persian and Norseman,
knew nothing of God or of each other,
but all saw in the budding spring an ev-
idence of immortality, and rejOiced
thereat."
1--WE are all of one blood after all. 1t
is only a man in different dress, with
somebody who loves him, and with his
dead buried under the earth, and that
horrible doubt in his mind that he too
going down to the grave, may find moth
ing beyond but death and corruption -
Christ's resurrection was the glorious
consummation of all our hopes. There
is not one among us who will not die;
and if Christ be not risen, there is not a
man who can hope to rise again. Why
not make real to ourselves this one SUI
preme hope of prayers, sermons, flowers,
anthems and signs of joy. Mankind can
afford to spend one day in the year
thanking God that he has made them
immortal"
We believe in the keeping of days; they
are the golden milestOnes along life's
pathway. We do not admire the wit (of
one well-known to us), who headed his
letter "Washing Day." in derisiOn of a
Christian gentleman of another creed.
But there are few of us who do not
in some way keep our Easter morning.
When life is too broad problem for us
to reconcile with Gods goodness, when
our.own hardships are greater than we
can bear, when we go to Goods Acre
and stand beside little green hillock
which has more meaning to US than all
the earth besides-then we sing a
(paan) in our souls to HIM who died
and rose again. Sometimes we stand
beside the grave of buried hopes, for
which there is no resurrection. The
caterpillar and the butterfly are not typ
ical-there is no cessation of life. Nei-
ther the tree or shrub, which are only
dormant. The dead chrysalas never be-
comes butterfly, and the dead tree
IleUer blooms again. The mystery is in
Christ's body and ours.
Easter morning broke cold and the
sky partially clouded. Long before day
break the Moravians had gathered in
Gods Acre. as they call their grave
yard, and there with bowed heads sat by
the graves of those they loved, and when
the first glorious ray of light gilded the
little mounds, there arose a triumphant
hymn of praise to the risen Christ.
At 1890 we attended service at st.
Joseph's Cathedral. Were we to attempt
a description of the beauty of the deco
rations we could but fail. Lilies and
carnations, and all floral tributes lay in
profusion upon the affairs and the cross
es; star-areh surmounted by cross,
surrounded the altar, and two similar
arches surrounded the image of st. Jo-
seph and the Virgin. These arches
were formed of slender tubes for the
transmission of gas, and were perforated
at regular intervals, and the gas ignited.
The effect was beautiful. Bishop Kain
pontificated, and the glorious Easter
Salutation, Allenia, echoed and re-ech-
oed throughout the Cathedral. When
the house was filed with incense, q