St. Paul daily globe., 1888-05-21
history of them in Minneapolis. He

history of them in Minneapolis. He
told of the early ford, and of the ferry,
which is said to have begun very OBJ
scurely in a canoe managed by squaw
of rather desultory habits, and to have
become Il regular institution in 1S47. He
told of the first bridge. built in 1854, and
OF the great celebration over it, Jan. %,
1855. On that day the gratitude and en-
thusiaSm Of the people found express
sion in dinner and dance and more
than a dozen eloquent toaSts and adj
dresses. very interesting to read now.
One orator, for instance, congratulated
the settlers here, because ''yOu have
snatched the palm from the hand of st.
Paul." and he urged them to let the
world know it, and ''use this event
Alright, and give it the proper motor
iety;" for it seems that the modesty for
which Minneapolis has since become SO
famous, was already here in germ, and
had to be eXhorted to tell the
country of its merits. One toast was
to the bridge itself, which was the
first one OH the whole length of the
river and closed with the words: MAY
it stand as long as the waters of the
cataract chant the praises of the great
architect" But alas! only two months
after that orator prayed that the bridge
might be as enduring as the river
three-fourths of its roadway fell from
the cables in storm one Sunday even
ing, and the people had again to get
across i'll any way they could. Trying
times those were for the settlers; and
the same page in the St. Anthony paper
which tells of the fall of the bridge
tells also of the st. Paul stage upsetting
the day before, and ''breaking the legs
of one man in two places and the ribs
OF another, cutting the head of third
and injuring Others" and the accid ent
Is told very tersely without remark, as
II that was no more than what people
expected when they made the journey
to st. Paul. Nor were they much safer
at home; and the same page tells how a
citizen here had been hOrse-whipped by
another for ''mean business trans
action'' three times within a week,
and the last time so that his life
was deSpaired of, and adds that "numer-
GUS persons" saw it without making
any effort to prevent. But the bridge
was mended, and the morals also to a
certain extent, and the change and the
various other bridges that have since
been built the preacher went on to
trace.
But he said this material bridge
building is SXmDOllcal OF spiritual
one, which more concerns the pulpit.
The ancient Roman priests were called
pontiffs-that is, bridge builders-and
after them Christian popes and others
have been called pontiffs. The clergy
ought all to be true to the old name,
and to be bridge builders of better
kind. AS the function of a bridge is to
unite divided districts in closer rela-
ton, SO the best function of religion is
to unite men and sectS and nations in
closer brotherhood. True religion will
seek first of all to bridge the chasms in
society and join men of all faiths
Christian, Jews, heretics and heathen-
in bonds of peace and love. In il
luStration of this universal religion the
preacher made various quotations from
Pope, whose 200th birthday is this week
and who Is worthy of centennial honor.
He also showed how a bridge is SYM
bolic of many other religious truths, as,
for instance, of faith. One can not
stand below and look upward at our
beautiful suspension bridge, traced like
lace work against the sky, with its i'm
mense weight swinging on mere threads
OF metal, and with its hundreds of walk
ers and wagons crossing to and fro SO
fearleSSly, with the river rushing be-
meath, without feeling that it is as true
a symbol of faith as any cathedral or
catechism that ever was made.