The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-31
The Sea and Its Uses,

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the earth itself from becoming waste
and desert. It is the worlds foun-
tain of life and health and beauty, and
| if it were taken away the grass would
perish from the mountains, the for
ests would crumble on the hills. Wa
ter is as indispensable to all life, veg
etable or animal, as the air itself.
This element Of water is supplied en-
tirely by the sea. The sea is the great
inexhaustible fountain which is con-
tinually pouring up into the sky pre-
cisely as many streams, and as large as
all the rivers of the world are pouring
into the sea-.
The sea is the real birthplace Of
the clouds and the rivers, and out of
it come all the rains and dews Of
heaven. Instead of being waste and
an incumbrance, therefore, it is vast
fountain of fruitfulness and the nurse
and mother of all the living. Out Of
it's mighty breast come the resources
that feed and support the population
of the world. We are surrounded by
the presence and bounty of the sea.
1t looks upon us from every violet in
our garden-bed from every spire of
grass that drops upon our passing feet
the beaded dew of the morning from
the bending grain that fills the arm Of
the reaper; from burst presses and
from barns filled with plenty from
the broad foreheads of our cattle and
the rosy faces of our children.
1t is the sea that feeds US. 1t is
the sea that clothes US. 1t cools US
with the Summer cloud and warns us
with the blazing fires Of Winter. We
make wealth for ourselves and for our
children out of it's rolling waters,
though we may live thousand leagues
away from its shore, and never have
looked on its crested beauty or lis
tened to it's eternal anthem. Thus
the sea, though it bears no harvest on
it's bosom, yet sustains all the har-
vests of the world. If like a desert
itself, it makes all the other wilder
nesses of the earth to bud and bios
som as the rose. Though its own wa
ters are as salt and wormwood, it
makes the clouds of heaven to drop
with sweetness, opens springs in the
valleys and rivers among the hills.
The sea is a perpetual source Of
health to the world. Without it there
could be no drainage for the lands.
It is the scavenger of the world. The
sea is also set to purify the atmos-
pllere. The winds, whose wings are
heavy and whose breath is sick with
1.-The malaria of the lands over which
they have blown, are sent out to range
over these mighty pastures Of the
deep, to plunge and play with its roll
ing pillows and dip their pinions over
and over in its healing waters. There
| they rest when they are weary there
they rouse themselves when they are
refreshed. Thus their whole sub
stance is drenched, and bathed, and
washed, and winnowed, and sifted
through and through by this glorious
baptism. Thus they fill their mighty
lungs once more with the sweet breath
of the ocean, and, striking their wings
for the shore, they 60 breathing health
and vigor.
The ocean is not the idle creature
that it seems, with it's vast and lazy
length stretched between the conti-
nents, with it's huge bulk sleeping
along the shore or tumbling in aimless
fury from pole to pole. 1t is mighty
| giant, who, leaving his cozy bed, comes
up upon the land to spend his strength
| in the service of man. Thus the sea
keeps all our mills and factories in
motion. Thus the sea spins our
thread and weaves our cloth.
It is the sea that cuts our iron bars
like wax, rolls them out into proper
thinness or piles them up in the solid
shaft strong enough to be the pivot Of
a revolving planet 1t is the sea that
tunnels the mountain, and bores the
mine, and lifts the coal from its sun
less depths and the ore from it's rocky
bed. 1t is the sea that lays the iron
track, that builds the iron horse, that
fills his nostrils with fiery breath and
send his tlreless hoofs laundering
across the longitudes. Iti the power
of the sea that is doing for man all
those mightiest works that would else
be impossible. e.-Swain.