Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-05-17
inability Of Humanity 10 Safeguard Itself.

Inability Of Humanity to Safeguard ''se''.
One reading the account of the awIul
death which lurked in waiting Tor the
two men seeking their homes in the CITY
Of Chelsea. last Friday night. is forced
To admit that our wonderful progress
IL Invention and material comfort IS
not perfect: that there is no occasion
for us to lock patronizingly on future
generations in the belief that they VIII
find little, il anything, in which to I'M :
nrove on the present. We consider TINS
an are OF deeds, rather than woias,
but it seems as if few words are
needed to express horror at the made
macy of some of our deeds, when II IS
possible for people quietly walking
along the streets of modern city sup
piled with the very latest inventions
and safeguards to life and limb, TO sud
denly find themselves encircled by ceai5
of deadly wire. before invisible, and to
he roasted alive We have pity for the
dweller in the Indies, where serpents
lie outstretchcd in the pathway, to dart
the fatal venom into the human being
that chances to pass that way; we con-
template with horror these who thread
the mazes Of the jungle, subject to the
deadly embrace of the great snake that
entwines and brushes the life from its
victim, or to the stealthy approach OF
the gigantic feline, which tortures the
man as the cat tortures the mouse.
We shudder to think of the dangers
lurking III the paths of our tropical
cousins, whare the stiletto is the favor
lite weapon of the ficnd who dogs the
footsteps of his victim, and where pes
thence is inhaled with the cdor OF
the flowers opening to the morning
sunshine. Thinking Of these things, we
are wont to congratulate ourselves
that we do not live surrounded by such
dangers.
Almost daily in the big city some poor
unfortunate meets with as horrible a
death under the wheels of the passing
street car as was eyer inflicted upon
the benighted Oriental who was crushed
under the wheels of the Juggernaut.
Only a few days ago, in city that
prides Itself on it's surveillance for the
safety of the public, between one and
two hundred persons We're roasted alive
because the ordinary precautions for
exit had not been provided. In every
city and hamlet where there are cleo
tric lights, or electric cars, and tele-
phones, there are, jangling on their in
secure fastenings, innocent looking
wires that some passing gust of wind
only has to blow down and across the
trolley wire Of the electric road or over
the light wire, whore ii soon chafes its
way through the insulation when it be-
comes an unseen and absolutely deadly
Unread III IRON tllluti lilc ieet VI Itiosfiifcs
horses and human beings. Little,i if any
thing, is done to provideagai this dan
ger, although such provision can easily be
made with a considerable degree of
safety. How many towns require the
trolley wires to be safeguarded and SUI
pervise the putting up of the telephone
wires? In this city. not long ago, prl-
vate telephone wire blew across a troll
ley wire and nearly proved the death
of some of those passing along the
street. Nothing but good fortune pre-
vented. and good fortune isn't safe TO
rely upon. 1t certainly seems that hu-
manity is unable to safeguard itself
It's new inventions and newly discov-
cred drugs contain dangers formerly
unknown. That which brings light and
cheer to the home is IA current of death:
that which alleviates pain and cures
some disease seductively lures the pa
tient into a habit that robs him of al
most every semblance of the soul, and
leaves behind only the disgusting feat
of