The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-04-14
THE HOME CORNER.

laughed gaily at the quaint conceid
ana tnen, as the gentleman was very
much In love with one of the ladies.
ne proposed that they go down the
longer side of the street.
w
Madam, the Greeks are at vour
)" was the sarcastic reply of
certain individual. years ago, when
he was being importuned for mission-
airy money for pagan Greece; and he
pointed to the beggars on the door
steps as he spoke. He had no idea,
perhaps, that he was furnishing the
world with a keen and dangerous
weapon against missionary work. 1t
would be impossible to reckon how
many men have excused them
selves from contributing to the
cause OF missions with this pol
ished and somewhat Illogical
piece of borrowed wit. The
expression is not without merit. Tt is
always ready for any emergency: il is
orlghg and witty and gives one a
iee!lng OF satisfaction almost as though
ne mad originated it; and il is q great
saving to the pocket. A goodly num-
Der OF the citizens of Austin have kept
shls ponshed shaft always ready, and
nave used 1t effectively on many oc-
casions. They have called attention
10 the Greeks at the door many, many
times. Whether the Greeks, at home
or abroad, have ever been benefited
by this friendly notice is quite an
other matter.
~
LII would be interesting to inquire
what particular Greeks are at the
door OF Austin; or, indeed, if there are
any Greeks at all. Some of us make
the mistake of supposing that mis-
sionary work is all church work, and
that we can turn it all over to the
churches, and shake ourselves free
from all responsibility. But If there
IS work to do in helping the weak, in
nealing the wounded, in soothing the
FAINT and despairing spirit, that work
uoes not rest upon the church alone,
ana IL would be we'll for us to change
the phraseology a little and inouire
what Greeks are at our doors.
Nv
No one doubts that poverty is hard
to bear; yet there are things harder to
be borne than mere abject poverty.
Is there in Austin single industri-
Gus, Woodworking man, who is with
out employment, and who walks the
streets YEARLY, from day to day, look
ing for work and unable to find it,
while his family grow ragged and
hungry and debts accumulate in spite
OF all MS efforts to keep them down?
Citizens of Austin, the Greeks are at
your doors.
Is tnere anywhere, through all the
length and breadth OF the city, girl
that is growing up under evil influ-
ences; boy that finds his companions
and spends his life on the streets, who
haunts the doors of saloons and gam
bling houses, and draws in corruption
with the very air he breathes? 1t
would he well for us to look, some
times, and see who is at our doors.
~
LIS there, in all the city, tired and
over-worked girl, whose very look is
pathetic appeal against her rugged
and cheerless lot; who works faith
fully, and always does her very best;
who knows that she does better work
than her male companions, and that
she receives less than half the wages:
who gives her whole time and
strength to her labor, and earns bare
~ enough to sustain life and keep
herself decently clad? Oh, yes, the
Greeks are at our doors, here In Aus
tina vast multitude of them. Is any
one doing missionary work around
our city doors?
".
1t is a sad fact that many dis
couraged man goes about his
weary march for employment, day
after day, and is never cheered by (
kind or friendly word. Wherever he
goes, among business men, he is dis
missed coldly, curtly, sometimes
rudely, and is told with impatient
emphasis that the places are all filed,
and there is no need of him. Bust.
ness men of Austin who are always SO
ready to cry "The Greeks are at your
DOORS" when asked for missionary
money, be ready to recognize the
Greeks when they come to you. KNIT
words cost 80 little, and they have
such powers to soothe wounded
heart.
There is time for all things, it is
said; when is the time to take cogni-
zance of vice and crime in the
young? Have we not heard Of cases
where boys and girls were left to their
training of immortality until they
grew old enough and vicious enough
to commit some act which placed
them in the grasp of the law, after
which cities arose In their wrath and
gave them their undivided attention.
Swindlers, house breakers, murderers,
n snNs rke.E. In. -.