The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-03-24
IN InE CITY STREETS
The Contrasts of Splendor and Woe
Seen Upon Them.
Or. TnImnse Says They Are Unlike
the Democratic Gospel of Christ
Their Shams, pretcnsions and
Temptations.

Warrington. March 10. Copyright, 1S99)
In this discourse DR.. rulmage, who
has lived the most of his life in cities.
draws practical lessons from his own
observation; text, Proverbs l:2O:
wisdom cricth without. She uttereth
her voice in the streets"
We are all ready to listen to the
voices of uature-the voices of the
mountain. the voices of the sea. the
voices Of the storm. the voices Of The
star. As in some of the cathedrals in
Europe there is an organ at either end
of the building, and the one instrument
responds unsteady to the other, soin
the great cathedral of nature day re-
sponds TO day. and light TO night, and
flower TO flower. and star to star in
the great harmonids Of the universe.
The springtimc Isl an evangelist in bios
SONS preaching Of Gods love, and the
winter is prophet-whitc-hc bearded
denouncing woe against our sin@ We
are all ready TO listen to the voices OF
nature. But how few OF us learn any
thing from the voices of the noisy and
dus.y street. You go TO your mech
anism. and to your work, and TO your
merchandise, and you come back again
and often with how different heart
you pass through the street. Are
there no things for us to learn from
these pavemeuts over which we p1ss?
Are there no tufts of truth growing up
between these cobblcstoues. beaten
with the feet of toll and pain and pleas
ure. the slow tread of old age and the
quick step of childhood2 Aye. there
are great harvestS to be reaped. and
now | thrust in the sickle because the
harvest is ripe. Wisdom crieth with
out. She uttcreth her voice in the
Streets
In the first place the street impresses
me with the fact that this life il n
scene of toll and struggle. by ten
o'clock every day the city is Earring
with wheels and shuliling with feet and
humming with voices and covered with
the breath of smokestacl1s and a-rush
with tratiickcrs. Once in awhile you
find n man going along with folded
arms and with lcisurely step. as though
he had nothing ( o DO. but. for the most
part, a. you find men going down these
streets on the way to business. there
is anxiety on their faces. as though
they had some errand which must be
executed at the first possible moment.
You are jostled by those who have bar
gains to make and notes to sell. Up
this ladder with n hod of bricks, out
of this bank with a roll of bills. on this
dray with load of goods, digging II
cellar. or shingling a roof, or shooting
horse. or building a wall or mendiug
a watch. or binding book. Industry,
with her thousand arms and thousand
eyes and thousand feet, goes on singing
her song of work, work. work, while
the mills drum it and the steam
whistles fife it. All this is not because
men love to toll. Some one remarked:
Every man is as lazy as he can afford
TO be-" But ii is because necessity
with stern brow and with uplifted whip
stands over you, ready whenever you
relax your toll to make your shoulders
sting with the lash.
Can it be that passing up and down
these streets on your way TO work and
business you do not learn anything of
the worlds toll and anxiety and strug-
gle? Oh, how many dropping hearts,
how many eyes on the watch, how
many miles travelled. how many bur
dens carried. how many losses sut-
fered, how many battles fought, how
many victories gained, how many eN-
aspirations endured--what losses hat
lor, what disease what agony. what de-
spair! Sometimes ! have stopped at
the corner of the street MS the multi
tudcs went hither and yon, and it has
seemed to be great pantomime- and As
! looked upon it my heart broke This
great tide of human life that goes
down the street is rapid tossed and
turned aside and dashed ahead and
driven beautiful in it's confusion
and confused in it's beauty, In the car
peted aisles of the forest, in the woods
from which the eternal shadow isncver
lifted on the shore of the sea over
whose iron coast losses the tangled
foam sprinkling the cracked clflswith
baptism of wbirlwind and tempest
is the best place to study God, but in
the rushing. swarming, raying street
is the best place to study man.
Going down to yourplace of business
and coming home again | charge you
to look about-See these signs Of power
ty. of wretchedness, of hunger, Of sin
of bereavement - aud as you go
through the streets and come back
through the streets, gather up in the
arms of your prayer all the sorrow, all
the losses. all the suiferngs, all the be-
reavements of those whom you pass
and present them in prayer before an
all sympathetic God. In the great day
of eternity there will be thousands of
persons with whom you in this world
never exchanged one word who will
rise up and call you blessed, and there
will be thousand fingers pointed at
you in Heaven, saying: That is the
man, that is the woman, who helped