Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-02-25

May the souls of all my tribe defend
me from having to stop many rainy days
in the metropolis. cannot get used to
it. Nor can l get much picturesqueness
out of it. Its physical discomfort out
weighs vastly its artistic aspects. know
well the rainy day of ongfellow-"eold
and dark and dreary," with the ceaseless
rain and the unwearied wind; that is the
rainy day of half-rural Cambridge, and ii
has in it all the elements of melancholy
suffering, which is so akin to pleasure
that you cannot mark where the one be
gins and the other ends. You have
quiet, reflection, self communion. But
there are none of these here. Many hours
before the rain begins to fall the streets
are wet. Why, know not, but the side
walks give every appearance of having
been rained on long before drop drops
Then the trampling of innumerable feet
brings dirt, little by little from the cross
ings. Soon it is half an inch deep, lay
er of stiff and sticky vileness, foulseem-
have opened, one has his boots aud trou-
sers smeared and daubed. The rain is at
first welcome relief from the slippery
mud, and l take it that all men feel an
exhilaration at the beginning of show
er. ! do not know why, unless it be that
human hearts feel the thrill of gladnesS
that runs through Nature at the ap-
proach of the revivifying rain. But this
wears off quickly. The mud becomes
copious because thinner An umbrella
is no protection from either wet or dirt. |
And carrying an umbrella up acrowded |
street is an invention of the devil There |
can be nothing more nerve-wearing and
exasperating 1t throws ysu out of SYM
pathy with the whole of the race. Dirt |
dirt. cold dirty water, atmospheric mug
giness and chilliness with every man of
the thousands you meet declared enc
my-these are few only of the griefs OF
rainy day in Gotham. 1 hope that the
day may soon come when Bellamy's
plan may be adopted, that is of shelter
ing the streets by waterproof awning
The umbrella is the cause of strife. 1t /
exalts individuality at the expense of all
fellow feeling. No man can be a phil
anthrOpist while carrying his own um-
brella in a crowd. Its exolusiveness ex
aggerates his egotism, fires his pride,
stirs up all his aggressiveness, and makes
him think that he is the only right man
on earth, and that every other mans
har is against him. Why not put up a
gigantic cooperative umbrella over the
whole town, and do away with the mil
lions of one-man promoters of discord
and war?
The entire history of the Hotel Royal
fire would make volumes of unsavory
reading. This holocaust not only de-
stroyed lives, but it destroyed much do
mestic happiness. 1t covered up in ash
es many heart-rending> secrets, but it
burned and smoked out many more
The character of the house was notorious
strange scenes were enacted by search
ers after missing relatives. A man found
his wife in hospital mangled and
burned, and he left her with curses
Often relatives of missing women were
anxious that the search should stop, and
the dead lett to shoulder in the ruins
Those who escaped ran speedily away,
for fear of discovery. One over Jealous
stole the hotel register, and it was not
again heard of.
Endless stories are told. A fireman is
said to have found woman on the top
floor, whom on discovering to be his own
iisloyal wife, he refused to remove, and
with satisfaction watched her nerish