River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-07-11

1t was true. The higlAyayman OF the
less old man, and was surprised with
the suddenness of his capture. He will
probably spend term of years in the
penitentiary. But that will produce no
reformation. lie will come forth as he
entered the Jail, nSural-born Ish-
maelite, to resume a life of lawlessness.
Before he undertakes 10 assault anoth-
er old man, however, he will warily
watch him and ascertain whether or
not he has tomahawk concealed about
his person.
Nobody would expeci to find Pata-
gonia or Abyssinia in the vicinity of the
center of learning, craftsmanship, sci
ence and progress of tie western hem
isphere. The most vitid imagination
would not be likely tc. conjure up vi
sions of Fiji islanders in all their crud-
ity and nudity within sight of her
majesty, the Goddess II Liberty, on the
dome; but here, beneath the blue can
opy of heaven, with fhe light of the
stars for tapers, and sthe moon for a
lantern, in a by-path leading from the
park to Maine avenue, (which is near by
toward the south, has'-haws and guf-
flaws of loud and diseprdant laughter
attracted attention, ard there, like I'M
l1empt denizeus of the Pacific wilds, a
group of men and women were found
dancing and bowling in aboriginal
glee.
The women were filom a contiguous
quarter known as Louise alley, and the
men were from everywhere. They
were blacker than the night, shamefully
indifferent to their conditions They
were black women Gsf sin and black
men of wicl1edness. Iniquity is their
portion and crime their pastime. They
were apparently not disturbing the
peace of the neighborhood, and police
interference was not thought of by any
of them; nor by me. Sor our Washing
ton police force is composed of humani-
tartan philanthropists who never inter
rupt orgies of any aort, unless some
tragedy results, andI then they make
arrests as a matter of pecessity. These
people were h. lriousiy full of five-cent
whisky, or three-cent gin; but there
seemed to be no lazy violated, and no
reason on the statute books for the pre-
vention of their degradation, nor of the
contamination of thfr influence. You
will not wonder thai / said above that
women and children cannot enjoy these
parks of the Mall aftS the shadows of
nature fall, because then the shadows
of crime stalk forth and permeate even
the atmosphere.
The only man In The crowd of half
civilized savages whoIwas decently clad
wore the blue uniform of sailor in the
navy of the UnitedI States. He was
dancing with the Oilers, out in the
night within mile bDf the navy yard,
as wildly and frantiSally as any of the
foul and wretched Beings about him.
No man can doubt the stories of dem
oniacal possession (which the Scrip
lures narrate after. having witnessed
such scene. All Of these creatures
were bereft of truS reason, and were
entirely under the. influence of the
demon of the still. Through the trees
/ could see the CLEANING spire of the
Metropolitan Methodist church, where
Bishop Newman preached so long, and
beneath whose eloquent ministrations
tens of thousands sf dollars had been
contributed to send broad for the sup
port Of the missionaries in fore ign
| lands.
Within five minYtes' walk, in the
| direction of any poift of the compass, a
man might come - the door of some
| Christian sanctuary where other tens
! of thousands of dcllsrs have been raised
for similar purpoSe, and yet, we have
heather so near home. Why is it that
| the eyes of sanctit,y so often look over
the heads of these Features of God and
stretch and strain their visual power to
see necessity for troselyting in coun-
| tries far away, Willie in our midst is a
| lower order Of civilization, thriving
commune of crime which never heard
the story of Calvary, nor ever dreamed
that they have Father who Is the
same Father to wtlom the white men
and women clad in purple and fine linen
pray, and for WHOSE worship they build
| houses of worship 600 fine for our home
| heather to enter?
Still the stars were shining, and the
moon was beamiIsy, and the southern
breezes were rustkng the leaves over
| head as | continued a ramble which de-
veloped other scepes which deepened
and emphasized the reflections which
have been writtea above. All along
the Mall there were groups of men with
bottles of liquid dbmnation which they
passed from lip to lip until stupidity or
quarrelsome dispositions resulted. Pro-
family polluted tho pure air of the syl-
van place and ribahd songs which can
not be quoted WIRE sung by the de-
praved human b{ings who know not
truth and right, bit dwell in sin with
out the light of fife. And all these
things were seen. and heard between
the capitol and the monument, on the
Mall which has aeen provided for the
enjoyment of the pure and innocent.
And yet, processing love for God and
man, and with intent TO preach the
Gospel 'to every creature, we will con-
tinue to absolutely ignore these whom
He called "My brethren" forgetting
that iuasmuch asfwe have thus shame
fully neglected tie fallen at home we
have done it unt9IIim.
SMITH ID. Fry.