Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-07-13


man shouted: "Let me alone, and take
! that thief
| The Waterman grasped the burly fell
low just as he rose to run away; and
then the old man said: 'Take his re-
volver. He dropped it there where I
was standing. 1 am clerk in Blanks
store. 1 bought this new Ratchet, and
was walking along home with my hands
behind my back when this fellow
| stopped me with demand for nv mon
ey. l swung my Ratchet aloft, and re
dropped his pistol There it is.
1t was true. The highwayman of the
park had assaulted an apparently help
less old man, and was surprised with
the suddenness of his capture. He will
probably spend a term of years in the
penitentiary. But that will produce no
reformation. He will come forth as he
entered the jail, natural-born Ish-
maelite, to resume life of lawlessness.
Before he undertakes to assault anoth-
er old man, however, he will warily
watch him and ascertain whether or
| not he has a tOmahaWlz concealed about
his person.
Nobody would expect to find Pata-
| gonia or Abyssinia in the vicinity of the
center of learning, craftsmanship, sci
ence and progress of the western hem
| isphere. The most vivid imagination
would not be likely to conjure up vi
sions of Fiji islanders in all their crud-
ity and nudity within sight of. her
majesty, the Goddess of Liberty, on the
| dome; but here, beneath the blue cam
| opy of heaven, with the light of the
stars for tapers, and the moon for
| lantern, in by-path leading from the
| park to Maine avenue, which is near by
| toward the south, haw-haws and guf-
| flaws of loud and discordant laughter
| attracted attention, and there, like IN
kempt denizens of the Pacific wilds,
| group of men and women were found
dancing and bowling in aboriginal
glee.
The women were from contiguous
quarter known as Louise alley, and the
men were from everywhere. They
were blaclzer than the night, shamefully
Indifferent to their conditions. They
were black women of sin and black
men of wickedness. 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. For our Washing
ton police force is composed of humani-
tartan philanthropists who never inter
rupt orgies of any sort, unless some
tragedy results, and then they make
arrests as a matter Of necessity. These
| people were hilariously full of five-cent
| whisky, or three-cent gin; but there
seemed to be no law violated, and no
| reason on the statute books for the pre-
vention of their degradation, nor of the
| contamination of their influence. You
will not wonder that said above that
| women and children cannot enjoy these
| parks of the Mall after 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 who was decently clad
were the blue uniform of a sailor in the
navy of the United States. He was
| dancing with the others, out in the
night within mile of the navy yard,
as wildly and frantically 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 a scene All of these creatures
were bereft of true reason, and were
| entirely under the influence of the
demon of the still. Through the trees
I could see the cleaning spire of the
| Metropolitan Methodist church, where
! Bishop Newman preached so long, and
| beneath whose eloquent ministrations
tens of thousands of dollars had been
contributed to send abroad for the sup
port of the missionaries in foreign
| lands.
Within five minutes walk, in the
direction of any point OF the compass, a
man might come to the door of some
Christian sanctuary where other tens
of thousands of dollars have been raised
for a similar purpose, and yet, we have
heather so near home. Why is it that
the eyes of sanctity SO often look over
the heads of these creatures of God and
stretch aud strain their visual power to
see necessity for PROSECUTING in coun-
tries far away, while in our midst is a
lower order of civilization, a thriving
commune of crime which never heard
the story of Calvary, nor ever dreamed
that they have a Father who is the
same Father to whom the white men
| and women cIad In purple ana me linen
pray, and for whose worship they build
houses of worship too fine for our home
heather to enter?
Still the stars were shining, and the
moon was beaming, and me southern
breezes were rustling the leaves over
head as continued a ramble which de-
ve1oped other scenes which deepened
and emphasized the reflections which
have been written above. All along
the Mall there were groups of men with
bottles of liquid damnation which they
passed from lip to lip until stupidity or
| quarrelsome dispositions resulted. Pro-
family polluted the pure air of the syl-
van place and ribald songs which can
not be quoted were sung by the de-
PRAYED human beings who know not
truth and right, but dwell in sin with