Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-08-15

IA city that has not suffered
from the abuse of trust funds. Where
is the courthouse, or the city hall, or
the Jail, or the post Office, Or the hos
pital, that in the building of it has not
mad political job? Long before the
new courthouse in New York city wal
completed it cost over $12, 900, 900. Five
million six hundred and sixty three
| Thousand dollars for furniture! For
plastering and repairs, $2,37O,OOo. For
plumbing and gas works, 1921 SIT.
For awnings, $23, $50. The bill for
three months coming to the nice little
sum of $13, Isl, 1913, 80. There was not
an honest brick, or stone, or lath, or
nail, or foot of plumbing, or inch OF
plastering, or inkstand Or door-knob
in the whole establishment.
That bad example was followed in
many of the cities, which did not steal
quite so much because there was not
so much to steal. There ought to be a
closer inspection, and there ought to
be less opportunity for eAnbezzlement
Lest man shall take a fve-cent piece
that does not belong to him, the con-
ductOr Of the city horSe-car must sound
his bell at every payment; and we are
very cautious about small offenses, but
give plenty of opportunities for sim
ners or large scale to escape. For a
boy who steals loaf of bread from a
corner grocer to keep his mother from
starving to death, a prison; but for de-
frauders who abscond with half mil
lion dollars, a castle on the Rhine, or,
waiting until the offense is forgotten,
castle on the Hudson!
Oh! is it not high time that we preach
the morals of the Gospel? Mr.. Froude,
the celebrated historian, has written
Of his own country these remarkable
words: From the great house in the
city Of London to the village grocer,
the commercial life of England has
been saturated with fraud. So deep
has it gone that a strictly honest
tradesman can hardly hold his
! ground against competition. You
can no longer trust that any
article you abuy is the thing
which it pretends to be. We have false
weights, false measures, cheating and
shoddy everywhere. And yet the clergy
have seen all this grow up in absolute
Indifference. Many hundreds of SER
mons have I heard in England on the
Divine mission of the clergy, of
bishops, and on justification, and the
theory of good works, and verbal in
spiration, and the efficacy of the sacra-
ments; but, during all these 80 won
derful years, never one that l can
recollect on common honesty"
Now, that may be an exaggerated
statement of things in England, but I
am very certain that in all parts Of the
earth we need to preach the moralities
of the Gospel right along beside the
faith Of the Gospel.
My nearer, what are you doing with
that fraudulent document in your
pocket? My other nearer, how are you
getting along with that wicked scheme
you have now on foot? Is that a
spool ticket" you have in your
pocket? Why, 0 young man, were
you last night practicing in copying
your employers signature? Where
were you last night? Are your habits
as good as when you left your fathers
house? You had Christian ancestry,
and you have had too many prayers
spent on you to go overheard. DR..
Livingstone, the famous explorer, was
descended from the Highlanders, and
he said that one Of his ancestors,
one of the Highlanders, one day
called his family around him. The
highlander was dying; he had his chill
dren around his deathbed He said:
Snow, my lads, [ have looked all
through our history as far back as /
can find it, and L have never found a
dishonest man in all the line, and
want you to understand you inherit
good blood. You have no excuse for
doing wrong. My lads, be honest"
All, my friends, be honest before
God, be honest before your fellow men,
be honest before your soul If there be
| those who have wandered away, come
| back, come home, come now, one and
all, come into the kingdom Of God
/ am glad some one has set to music
that scene in August, 1873 /, when q
young girl saved from death a whole
rail train of passengers. Some Of you
remember that out west in that year
on a stormy night a hurricane blew
down part of railroad bridge. A
freight train came along, and il
crashed into the ruin, and the
engineer and conductor persisted.
The was girl living in her IA
theirs cabin, near the disaster, and
she heard the crash of the freight
train, and she knew that in few mo-
ments an express was due. She
lighted lantern and clamber up on
the one beams of the wrecked bridge on
to the main bridge, which was trestle-
work, and started to Cross amid the
| thunder and the lightning of the tenn
pest, and the raging of the torrent be-
| meath. One misstep and it would
| have been death. Amid all that
| horror the lanterns went out.
Crawling sometimes, and sometimes
walking over the slippery rails, and
over the trestlework, she came to the
other side of the river. She wanted to
get to the telegraph station, where the
express train did not stop, where the
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