New-York tribune., 1898-11-30
THE POWER or THE ELEMENTS.

Civilization does not amount TO much IN the
TOGO of nature When the elements are I'M
chained man is only less helpless with his ma
cbinerv than he was with his blanket and rude
hut 4 few hours of snow and wind In this city
made traffic almost as difficult as in the Maine
woods TIE trolley in front Of ones door was
about as useful as country wagon-track ana
three million people were as much at the mercy
of the storm as il they were scattered over Il
vast expanse of territory under primitive con-
a,tions In n way they were more at its mercy.
for nobody is SO helpless as the city man who
depends for everything on some complicated
machinery with which he himself has nothing
10 do whose food must be brought to him or ne
starves. who depends on steamppe under the
street for his heat and a water-pipe nifty miles
long for his drink. who cannot be sure Of the
most necessary articles TO sustain life II the
trains are blocked long enough for him 10 con-
suIne the small store at hand
The farmer gets showed in sometimes. but he
has wood in the shed and coal in the bin, and a
cellar and barn full of food and we'll At the
kitchen door The individual city man gencr
ally lives from hand to mouth. To him suii-
cent unto the day Is the evil thereof ana his
daily bread Is actually daily bread. He must
be in constant communication with his base oi
supplies And the city. as a whole, simply re-
fleets the individual. for II would soon he help
less cut off from the country which supplies us
every need With the growing complexfy oi
civilization the greater Is the dependence ol
man on appliances which are at the mercy OF
the elements A foot of snow would not block
a country sleigh. but II almost paralyzcs the
traffic of our crowded streets
New-Yorkers have felt some inconvenience
from the storm but they have no such tragedies
10 mourn over as have the people OF the New
! England coast. The loss OF the steamer Port
! land takes rank with wrecks or the great ocean
! steamships as terrible and hcaribreaking as
astcr The Portland was stanch v"ssei pc
,ouqinp 70 a line of excellent reputc. and there
Is no reason 70 suppose that the utmost OF hu-
man SKIN was not used to save her and her
people who are all thought TO have perished
Her fate brings us face to face again with the
| awfulncs. of Nature and the helplessness oi
man We rarely think OF these coastwisc
steamers which ply so freely from harbor to
borhor as subject to the constant peril of the
deep like the ships that cross the ocean y
,rip to Europe common as IL is now. neverthe
less is one likely 10 stir every Imagination tc
realize the dangers of the sea. But one takes a
! boat from Boston 10 ioi'HiHu Vi ->'"-i -io'h ~
Providence with the same thoughtlessness thai
one lakes a streetcar But the passengers WIG
set out from Boston on Saturday night fount
themselves. when scarcely out OF the harbor. al
the mercy OF the waves 2nd as helpless a
though shipwreckcd in midocean.
No sea IS smooth enough, no harbor locked
enough. no land so safely lying as to give 'ai
freedom from danger The greatest ship anC
the best built house only give him screen, not
n shield. against the power OF the universe
which al any instant may crush him. The t'l'
furry Of wind and snow on Saturday night wa'
only trfing fling OF Natures force. II only
limited Of the powers OF destruction about us
Yet before II man was tossed about helpless an'
left perhaps more humble. less inclined to thlnl
OF himself as the master OF the world, more In
cned TO think Of himself as creature much II