San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-08-22
TURN THE HOSE ON HIM.

A paragraph went the rounds of the
press a few days since to the effect
that in certain town in Michigan,
during the progress of a fire, the man
charged with the crime of setting the
building on fire was being hurried
away to be lynched, when the fire
men turned the hose on the mob and
effectually dispersed them. Water it
seems quenches fire, as well the
hate in the breast of a mob as the fire
in the woodwork of our dwellings. 1t
strikes the Light preacher that the
idea of turning the hose on may not
be bad one, also that its application
might be extended to cover an infinite
variety of cases. The effect of a cold
water douche on a refractory prisoner
is well understood by the jailer.
During the old days in which tor
ture was the rule and not the excep-
ton, the exposure of criminals and
suspects to the dropping of water on
their heads, drop by drop, for long
periods of time, was the severest or
deal to which they could be subjected.
Not the thumbscrew nor the rack
could produce such terrible pain, such
uncomfortable sui bring, such excruciat-
ing torture as e dripping water af-
ter it had been prolonged a certain
period. Nothing will stop two dogs
fighting quicker than to turn the hose
on them from a good strong head Of
water, so that the stream hits forcib-
ly. Nothing will cool the ardor Of two
fighting cocks like a sudden shower
bath. This latter will bring a lazy
boy out of bed in the morning with a
suddenness that is not known to any
other method.
Mother found out the secret of this
application long years ago, as well as
various other disciplinary uses for
cold water that have fallen into desue.
tude, since the days when the fool,
ishnesssthat was bound up in the heart
of the child was only driven out by
the rod of correction. But it is not
alone the corrective, or punitive, OF
disciplinary use of the hose pipe that
is referred to this morning, much less
is it intended TO advocate its use as
an instrument of physical torture.
There is in almost all things a moral
as well as a material side and appli,
cation, and it is to this moral, this
ethical application of the hose pipe
rather than to the other, that the at
tention of the Light congregation is
directed this morning.
The street arabs understand the usC
of the hose pipe. Watch them as 6
new boy comes into their group. Il
they are following their vocation, eth
er as boot blacks or paper criers OF
anything else, and the new conner es
says to share in their work, how SHARP
and suddenly the hose is turned on
There is not a taunt, nor guy in the
whole vocabulary of their slang tina
is not shot at the intruder. Hi
clothes, his hair, his looks, his gait
his voice, his everything is summed
up in an instant and every possible
point of attack seized on. The hosC
pipe of their ridicule, their abuse /,
pointed full at their victim and Their,
is no let up until he is run out of thei
vicinity.
What is done in the green tree il
done in the dry. In the halls of legis
lation it is as noticeable, as in tn
slums of the city. The new membe
has to run the gauntlet of all eyes an
ears, and if there is anything pecu
liar in his manner, or his matter her
quite liable TO have the hose turne
on him. Some question apparently in
nOcent will be asked but it is only til
twist of the thumb by which the wa
ter is turned on in the hose and befoF
he is aware Of it he catches the streaI
full in his face and his breath is fai
ly taken away: How many youn