Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1892-10-22

yours or mine. 1t was To doa little some
thing toward beating back that arch
angel of wretchchnesS and horror that
We went. and We have now to report
that. according to the estimate Of the
Russian famine relief committee. we
saved the lives of ~. 900 people.
RELIGIOUS rEASANrRY.
As AT the hunger relief stations the
bread was handed out-for it was made
into loaves and observation-disclosures ,co-
pie would halt before taking il and re-
liSiously cross themselves and utter a
PRAYER for the donors. Some of them
would come staggering back and say,
PLEASE tell us who sent this bread To
u.s. And when told it came from
America they would say: What part
of America: Please give MS the names
of those who sent it," All God only
knows the names of those who sent il,
but he certainly does know. and many a
prayer is going up. warrant you. day
by day. for those vino sent flour bv the
ship Leo. Perhaps some of us AT our
tables rattle off = PRAYER that may mean
nothing. although we call il saving
grace. but warrant when those people
who received the bread which saved
their lives said grace" it meant some
thing. Our religion may not demand
that we cross ourselves" but | have
learned that while crossing ones self in
some cases may mean nothing but mere
form | believe in most eases it means:
'Oh. thou of the suffering cross of Cal
vary, have mercy on me and accept nv
gratitude. Prefer your own form of
religion 10y all means. but do not dcpre-
ciatc the religious forms of others. From
all can learn there We're several good
people before we were born. and rather
expect there will be several left after we
are dead. have travelled in many
lanGs. but tell you plainly, rs told
Emperor Alexander Ill in the palace 1T
Peterhoff. that had never been so i'm
pressed with the fidelity to their religion
of any people rs by what bad seen in
Russia. and especially among her public
men.
said - :.tfully to Il Russian when
saw him cross himself, What do YOU
do that for: oh" he said, when
do that always say. God have mercy
on me!' | hold in my hand something
very suggestive. What does that black
and uncomely thing look like: That is
what is called hunger bread from Rus
STA: that Is what millions Of people lived
on for months before help came from
England. Scotland. Ireland and Amer
lea: that i, mixture which seems To
have in 1t Not enc grain IF susienance Il
Is a mixture Of pig weed and chaif and
the swrepincs of stables. That is some
thing which if dropped in the st~"ci
yCur dog or eat might sniff At but would
not eat. That was tine only food on
which millions of men and women lived
lou must LOOK al that hunger bread Of
Russia before you can get proper apprc
citation of what an attractive and beau
tiful thing a good loaf of bread is. Ii Is
So common 10 Ms we cannot realize lis
meaning. Stop and look ut it in bak
cry window or see it on your family ta-
BILE mean an honest loaf of bread
white rs a ball of packed snow, with u
crust brown rs the autumnal woods. and
for keen appetite more aromatic than
tiowers--a loaf of bread rs You remem-
Der il in childhood. when the knife in
the hand of your father or mother cut
clean through from crust to crust and
put before You, not a quarter of slice
or Il half a slice. but full round slice
and another and another just suited to
boy always ready 10 eat and for the
most time hungry. even in Il well sup
piled house remember and Won re-
member. if you had healthy childhood,
just how it tasted. My. My. Plum
pudding does not taste as good now as
that plain bread then. 1t was then
bread 1T the table and bread between
meals. and bread before breakfast and
bread before going To bed.
TIE POETRY OF BREAD.
Why does not some poet ring a canto
on loaf of bread. or some modern RIA.
phael paint it. or some historian tell its
history: Not like many articles of food
pretcntious. and iced all over like we'd
ding cake. or dotted with fantastic in
gradients. but that grandest product Of
the earth. that richest Weld of the -four
mill. that best hcnediction of Il hot oven
ii Cod given loaf of bread. But the
rhythm of il. the luxury of it. the mean
ing of il. the lenrdictiun of it. the divine
mercy of il. only those know who have
teen famine No wonder Christ put
this food into the sacrament and said of
u broken loaf of bread. This is my
body" Thank God that ever saw that
trauscendent and compact kindness OF
the infinite Coda loaf Of bread. And
it WAS our joy this summer To hand over
Il. 8 IL.
many thousands Of Russians with such
IA beatitude But have been asked
by good people III Great Britain and
America again and again. Why did not
the prosperous ueople of Russia stop that
suffering themselves. making it useless
for other nations 10 help: And | am
always glad when hear the question
asked, because it gives me an opporiu-
nifty of explaining. Have You any idea
what il requires To feed twenty million
people? There Is only one being in the
universe who can do it. and that is the
Bcin. who this morning breakfasitd
sixteen hundred million of the human
race The nobility of Russia have not
only contributed most laviShly. but
many of them went down and s.aid for
months amid the shaStlincss and the
horror and the typhus fever and the
smallpox that they might administer 10
the suffering. sat AT tine dinner table
in the house of one Of our American rep
rcscntaiivcs beside a baroness who had
not only impoverished hr estates tv her
contributions To- the suffering, hut who
left her own home and went down in
To the worst uf the misery until pros
traicd with fever. then reviving and
toiling On until Frustrated by the small
pox. She had conn, home Ia get a little
strength. and in ii few days she was
going down again To the suffering dis
tricis. and she commissioned me 10 exc
cute in America Il literary enterprise 10y
which she expects with her pen more
money all of which is 10 20 for bread