The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-04-06
Tl}e Sa5ccGr55)'l1 anil SSzz(e}r5.
TEWBERRX, S. 6.
Some Curio.ities Of Civilization.
New York tinralI

~ men we say tUaI tHe race Is getting
better, is slowly climbing the golden
stairs Of progress and is HOW within
hearing distance Of the ideal govern
ment and society, what do We mean =:
We don't mean that every man and
woman is better than any man and
woman Of the past, hut that lncen-
tives are stronger than formerly, and
that il men are not better than their
ancestors it is their own fault and not
the fault of the time in whicn they
live.
Civilization always has been and
always will be very interesting con-
gioiaeration Of the best and the worst.
But there is this difference between
the past and the present--that while in
barbaric days the bulk Of the popula-
ton were on low plane and only a
few Of the more gifted were on 4 high
plane, in these days tie situation is
reversed and the bulk Of the people
are on a high plane, while q ragged
remnant still live the life Of savages.
The contrasts which our civilization
affords, therefore, are worthy Of q mo-
ment's observation. Some Of them
are 50 startling and thrilling that We
wonder how such diaoolisln and such
heroism can exist side by side.
One woman, for instance, educated
IN III the rehnements Of polite life, the
happy possessor of rank and fortune,
trices up her infant who has disturbed
her by its cries to ring in the wall
and leaves it there until the little one
on being taken down is found to be
dead. The story is incredible but true.
That mother in costly silks and jewels
is lower down than the Zulu Of Central
Africa who has yet to hear the step Of
the advance guard Of civilization.
Another woman who has the entree
to the best society, but Tho feels the
pangs which accompany slender in
come, deliberately converts herself into
a thief and steals the diamonds which
belong to her most intimate friend,
is arraigned like common pickpocket
and sentenced to z term Of inprison-
ment at hard labor.
The world is going to the bad ? 1t
is sliding down hill into the abyss Of
of moral chaos? These incidents and
the many scandals in high life show
that the whole structure of society is
rotten? Not quite. Let us look at the
other side.
Bridget Tanning, servant in q small
family, hears the cry Of "FiTe' Self
preservation will prompt her to look
after her own safety alone? Not bit
of it. There is child in the apart
ment, not her own either. The crack
ling flames are so close that death
stares her in the face, but she does net
falter. She fastens clothes line, then
takes the baby in her arms, winds the
cord about her leg TO keep it from
slipping, and though it cuts in to the
bone reaches an adjoining roof, forty
feet below, in safety. Her fellow SER
want, Sarah Curran, with equal hero
ism, throws a mattress from the Win
dow to break the fall OF child and cook,
then finds herself hemmed in, and is
only saved by the daring Of the fire.
men.
Once more. A relentless mob in the
West, enraged at the crimes committed |
by a negro, skinned him. It was an
incident which would have graced the
annals of our Indians in the last CEN
tury, an act so appalling that even the
believer in progress sighs, and the pess-
imist thinks his case is proved and
that the world is not merely going but
has already gone to the bad. If you
add to all this that murders are con-
tinuous, thai murderous cranks are
rampant, that the whole fabric of the
law seems to be constructed for the
purpose of protecting criminals, the
seems rather discouraging.
But, there is good cheer in the fac!
that every age is the battle field for
opposing elements. The contest is
fierce, bloody and determined. Evil,
in thousand shapes, hurls its army
against the good. The good some
times wavers, but soon narshals its
forces aud drives them against the en-
emy with the irresistible energy of
thunderbolt. The rattle of spears, the
flashing Of swords, the impact of COL
lision blind the eyes and deafen the
ears.
If we look back for g century we dis
cover that the enemy's ranks are be-
ing slowly thinned, and his onsets
are made with less and less courage.
Here and there he wins. but it is on
the sliirmlsh line. The fortune of war
IS against him, for the sum total of
honor, integrity, happiness, law and
'rder, philanthropy, charity and all
he influences which go to make ma
ions prosperous and contented has
been amazingly enlarged, while public
opinion frowns more loweringly on
IN every form of criminalitv. Nal {
easance is shorter lived than formerly
md justice is gathering courage to
pen prison doors for the law break 5
RS. {
Il is hard struggle, but in the long
un evil goes TO the wall. Carlyle .
nee summed up our personal duty in ]
single sentence by saying, Make t
o"TSe'f a good man and You'll be sure r
heres one rascal less in the worid.n
Suggestion. y