Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-18
TIE KINGS HIGHWAY.
Epitome Of Rev. Harsha's Sermon to
RnilrOnn Mon.


| RaiirOad Men.
1--WE win 90 by the Kings highway" wa
| the subject of the Rev. W. j. Harsha's dis
course last night at the First Presbyterian
| church.
1t was a sermon to railroad mcn, aud
goodly number of those individuals were il
| attendance.
| The subject of the reverend gentleman.
| theme was taken from Numbers coli.
Among other things the speaker said:
"Chrst is said to have known intuitvclS
what was in men, commenced the minister
| after announcing his text. But we
| have to learn it by looking at the things man
| can do. And of all the things which show
| what man is capable of ! know of nothing
| more striking than a railway. Let human
| being stand ont there at prairie railway
crossing when the limited express thunders
by. Look ut him-at his hand which has
made this Wondrous train at his brain which
has conceived it. Are YOU not amazed at his
power' Man can lay hold of the winds of
heaven. the lightnlngs of the clouds, aud the
riches in the bowels of the earth TO lcngthen
his arm, intensity his voice and do his will
"A few months ago the idea of vestlbuled
car was suggested. Go TO union depot and
count how many sccpers are already vesti-
buled, and you will have Il new appreciation
of what is in man.
"My text implies that there was choice of
routes through the borders of Edom.
don't suppose that there were placards to be
seen N stations recommending this or that
line as being the shortest, smOothest and
safest from kadcsn, where the lsraelites
were, to Mount Hor, to which they wished
to CO. We know that there were sign boards
marked Refugee on the roads leading TO the
cities where the poor criminal would be safe.
But 1t is enough for our purpose to note that
my text refers to the nearest thing to rail
road in bible tunes, and that it indicates that
the lsraeltes had made up their minds what
line they would patronize. They would not
go haphazard across the fields, nor would
they take one of the by-ways or foot paths.
we will so by the Kings highway they
said. When there is a journey before you it
is a great thing to know by what road you
will CO. as shall hope to show you before |
am done. Nothing shows the progress of
the race more vividly than the comparative
equality at present of rich and poor on a
train.
addressing you who devote your lives to
railway business, | want to speak. first of
all, OF some things of a historic nature sug-
gested by your employment. wish could
flash before you the changes to science and
humanity that have come about through the
railways. He is not very old man who
rode upon the first train drawn by steam in
this country. And yet what a mighty separ-
alton in customs does his short life indicate.
81 wish ! could describe some of the jour-
neys of individuals in those old days. just
picture to yourself what Abraham's trip out
OF Ur OF tne ChhldecS lonely, llreSOme,
afoot was; and then by contrast think of
what it would have been had there been
railroad running down to Hebron. You read
of Nap0ieOn's awful retreat from Moscow;
but that retreat would never have taken
place had there been railroads connecting
that great city with the Rhine frontier.
Railroads, as General Wolseley says, are
the most powerful aid in modern warfare.
Railroads are fast making famines impos-
sble. Railroads would soon sweep pes
nH 10 / ms of
use them for the benefit of mankind.
Don't forget that you are part of the most
marvellous movements of modern times. You
have hand IN emigration. You are factor
alive our great cities. When the ink
drlps off your pen in an Office i'll
the Union Pacigc, or B. Il NJ. headquarters
try to elevate your tired brain into some
cheering conception OF what the great sys-
TEN, Of which you are a part, is doing and
can do to bless mankind, John the Baptist
was sent to cut down the hills and fill up the
valleys, anddisturb the inequalities before
the feet of the Master. | never see a rail
way running with such gentle curves and
such easy grades through landscape with
out thinking of him and wishing that more
young men would smooth the way of Di-
vine Saviour to the guilty hearts of repentant
sinners.
sin the second place / want to speak to
you of some things of scientific and re-
iigious nature suggested by your employ
ment. There are three things dreamed of
by ancient philosophers and measurably at
tanned by modern science. They are the an
Inhalation of space. the redemption of time
and the correlation of force. These are the
things with which railroads have to do.
THE redemption of time is also your busi-
ness 10 redeem the time is biblical
phrase and christian idea and duty. 1t
means to buy Dac kfrom the world certain
moments and hours aud devote them to
Gods service IT implies setting new val
-,
priced and 20 recommend us to God Now 1t
seems to us that railroading gives us an ex-
ample of how time may be improved in value
and Importance. Five minutes means mere
to an engineer than they do to sleepy
farmer before whose cottage the locomotive
runs.
"rhe correlation of forces is also shown in
your work. You see how steam expansion
may be changed into speed And one OF the
wonderful scientific conclusions now is that
chemical force may be changed into vital
force, and physical force into intellectual. So
of all the forces You can change one into
the other. How then can you deny a mira
Gle: How can you say it is impossible for
God to change his will power into destructive
power! How dare you scoif and swear when
volcanic fire is stored up within the earth and
lightning flashes outside the earth'
Gentlemen, heaven IS on 1.-THE hills of God"
and there is a steep up grade to il. The
christians route is like the St. Gotnard rail
way, there are tunnels, and dark places, and
hard, painting climbs but By and by you will
come out on the heights. Trust IN God and
toll away and you will come at length into
the mansions Of the New Jerusalem"