The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-10-13

Seers, with great humanity waited until
the last moment before departing for
| home. Conductor Al. Barber VINO
| brought in the night exp'ess from the
| Mound city, had several extra coaches at
tached to his train. but the crowd was so
| great that he could not find a seat to res,
his own weary limbs until the train
reached Monm outh 1870 miles
About fifty members of Island City
| Lodge Brotherhood of Railroad Brake
men attended the special railway ser
vices at the Congregational church in
Davenport Sunday evening. Rev Will
liston delivered a sermon entitled Life
on the rail-" which was listened to with
attention. His text was, Many shall
run to an fro" from Daniel 1874. lie
said we are in danger of thinking too
little about each other, and that is miss
chievous, for society suffers just so far
as it freezes into distinct classes, they
fail TO he interested in each other. 1t is
bad for US and bad for you, that we
should let 60 one of the other. You are
perpctually running ''to and fro" and
who stay for so short time in any one
| place that you have little chance to :ake
root anywhere. You have not the best
chance to draw up into You lives what is
good and sweet, those influences that
come only with quiet and fixed
ness and that 90 to make one
steady in his princip pies aud affections.
Pluck Il man up three or four ii nes il
week and keep planting HIM at points II
hundred and fifty miles apart and il is a
great deal harder for him TO blossom and
yield good harvest than il he coLld bat
stay on one spot long enough, at least to
tassle out. The world would relapse in
| barparism without its REGULAR dinner hour
and IL definite bed time. A clean liable
cloth and an orderly meal are part of the
language of civilization and you have TO
| fight for a chance ut such elementary
mcicics. Your dangers lie in this gene al
direction, brothers. f'regularity of life
is likely to breed roughness and reck less
| ness-to lead you to des pisc some vel J
valuable things, to make you coaisc and
hard. unfair to yourselves and unfriendiy
| to those who do not understand how
hard it is for You to do many things which
they find easy enough. and who therefore
are apt to judge you harshly, Rev. Will
liston concluded:
This youngest of the railroad brother,
hoods, at whose suggestion these SERVICES
are being held, the brotherhood Of Rail
road Brakemen, is specially worthy OF
| praise. Till your most excellent soclcty
was formed, young men, an average brake
| man had as little to hope for aud rs much
to dread as could well be apportioned to
one human destiny. First class pcriis and
third class pay abundant discomfort
and scanty praise, hard works and hard
knocks, forgetfnlness from the public and
too little respect from himself! Wasn't
this about the way of it with the crowd
of boys at the brakes and couplers Il few
years ago?
| Now l tell you, my brothers, that he
who has the proper opinion about hin>
self will be the most apt to get the good
| opinion of others. Let a brakeman or
| any other man who thinks enough of
| himself to believe that nc is worth the
trouble it costs to keep him decent, who
holds that his lips are too fine to be
smirched with Il baudy story and his stom
ach too valuable to him to be burned with
rot gut AMI his brains of too much ser
| vice to be traded off at the saloon bar
| let HIM feel thus about himself and he will
| be taken by others, too, at his own csti-
mate. Be your own 'spottcrs, boys,
and make note of every dead head"
that is trying to steal ride in the train
of your ideas and habits, and if ever you
catch yourself knocking down in the
| affair of any irregular passenger of II Vice
| or other meanness, report the case to
| your conscience and get the intruder put
| or without waiting for the next station
| Be your own conductors and superinten-
tendents, and keep the management of
your souls in your own hands. Your
| brotherhood means that you are bound to
help one another and you are doing it
nobly already. like that three starred
motto of yours, benevolent, Sobriety
aud Industry" That means labor, purity
and love, enough to set any man up IN
character and make his life sweet and
honorable. | am glad there are more than
| a thousand lodges clustered under such a
banner, and more than 1000 brakcmen
pledged to practice such "a creed. You
| paid out SO, 600 the first six months Ct the
year to help the sick and the wounded
among You, and soften the cruelty of
death to the bcrcaycd and dependent.
God speed you and your brotherhood.
| Join hands and weave your hearts to
| gether, and help one another to play The
| man.