New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-16
DEFYING EVIL CONDITIONS.

Galveston will be rebuilt. OF that there is no
question 1t would be rebuilt were its desola-
ton far greater than it is. Had every building
been obliterated and every life lost new col
ony would probably have FASTENED thither and
q new city would have been created; and that
would have been done. and the present rebuild
ing will be effected. in full realization OF the
danger there Is of another desOlating storm
Galveston had been menaced and had been
sorely stricken by more than one storm before
that of a week ago And every intelligent man
knows that such menace will be indefinitely
continued and repeated throughout all coming
years. Men can more avert the fury OF wind
and tide than they can control the circling OF
the earth in its orbit 1t is said that the city
will be rebuilt in a more substantial manner, so
as better to withstand such assaults of the ele-
ments That may be. But no architecture can
be strong enough fully to resist hurricanes and
tidal waves Some of the most ponderous
masonry which could be constructed was
wrecked by last weeks storm.
This defiance Of elemental inhOSptality-for
such is in great measure the spirit that prompts
TIE rebuilding Of Galveston-is one OF the most
forceful and strenuous characteristics of man.
We are not sure but that he has a monopoly Of
1t among animate beings For however diff
cult may be the tasks which some ANIMALS
undertake. and however hard their way OF life,
II is to be seen on scrutiny that these are pre-
cisely what they are best adapted to, and are
really therefore lines Of least resistance. But
1t is not so with man. he is adapted TO ease
as we'll as TO hardships. The Switzer who earns
a precarious living among rocks and glaciers
might fare more easily in some level and more
fertile lowland But he deliberately chooses to
remain amid the rocks and ice. So with many
another people They make no effort to gain
more genial chimes or more productive lands or
homes free from the hardships and menaces
which are their present lot. And that is not
because of Incidence or apathy. 1t is because
Of the spirit Of conquest They defy and they
endure. and they triumph. When Nesuvius
overwhelms them with fire they build again
upon the ashes; when wind and wave destroy
their city they rebuild it in the selfsame spot.
1t is a noble characteristic It brings out that
which is best in men. 1t is truism that the
greatest men are generally those who have
overcome difficulties by toll and have won
battles by their valor. That is recognized in
the individual life Equally true is it that the
the highest general standard of humanity. are
developed in countries and nations set in tenn
pestuous climes and subject to the buffetipgs of
both man and nature. There is a tonic in n
storm. There is inspiration in a struggle
Summer isles of Eden produce fine birds and
flowers and fruit, but poor kind OF man. The
fight against such foes as those which over
came Galveston may seem to be against hope
lcssly unequal odds Yet even in such an ex-
IRENE contingency ii may we'll be that the gain
Of the struggle is greater than the loss. even 10
the apparent loser There is such a pecan as
40 victis!'