The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-06-08
BELLEFoNrAINE LOGAN COUNTY, OHIO,

the salvation OF man. Tonight |, who
look into eternity in a sense which |
will not stop to explain, feel the bit
terness which comes from the knOwl-
edge that l have broken that law and
have not lived for those things which
alone are worth living for.
But God has sent me here tonight
with message to the people which my
heart must deliver. 1t Is duty even
more sacred in some ways than what
l owe to my own kindred. l am aware
that the hearts of the people are shock
ed into numbness by the recent horror
l know that more than one bleeding
heart is in this house, and the shadow
of the last enemy has fallen over many
thresholds in our town. What! Did
I not enter into the valley of the shad-
ow of death myself as I stumbled over
the CHASTITY ruins Of that wreck, my
soul torn in twain for the love of three
of my own dear children? Do l not
bitterly weep and lament and sit in
blackness of horror this night? Yea,
but, men of Barton, why is 1t that we
are so moved, so stirred, so shocked, by
the event of death when the far more
awful event of life does not disturb US
In the least?
1--WE shudder with terror, we lose
our accustomed pride or Indifference,
we speak in whispers, and we tread
softly in the presence of the visitor
who smites but once and then smites
the body only, but In the awful pres
ence Of the living image Of God we 60
our ways careless, Indifferent, cold.
passionless. selfish.
II know whereof I speak, for I have
walked through the world like that my
self. And yet death cannot be COM
pared for one moment with life for
majesty, for solemnity, for meaning,
for power. There were Is persons kill
ed In the accident. But In the papers
this morning read in the column next
to that in which the accident was
paraded In small type and in the brief.
est of paragraphs the statement that
a certain young man In this very town
Of ours had been arrested for forging
his fathers name on a check and waf
In the grasp of the law.
"And every day In this town and ir
every town all over the world events
like that and worse than that are oi
frequent occurrence. Nay, in this very
town of ours more than rs souls are a.
this very moment going down into 9
far blacker hell of destruction than ths
one down there under that fatei
bridge, and the community Is not hor
ings have been held in this town with
in the last % years over the losses o
character. the death of purity, the de
struction of honestly Yet they hav
outnumbered the victims of this lat,
physical disaster a thousandfold.
"And what does mere death do? I
| releases the spirit from its house o
earth, but aside from that death doe
nothing to the person. But what doe
life do3 Life does everything. It pre-
pares for heaven or for hell. 1t start
| impulses, molds character, fixes char
acter. Death has no kingdom withou
end. Death Is only the last enemy O
i tu0 uIdAy SucuiSS tu1l ukS hhOWk
Death Is q second; life IS an erern1ty
o men, brothers, If, as l solemnly an
truly believe, this is the last opportu
nifty I shall have to speak to you Il
such large numbers, l desire you t
remember, when have vanished froI
your sight, that spent nearly my las
breath In an appeal to you to max
the most of daily life, to glorify Go
and save men.
"The greatest enNmy Of man Is nc
death; 1t is selfishness. He sits on til
throne. Of the entire world. This yer
disaster which has filed the town wit
sorrow was due to selfishness. Let U
see If that is not so. 1t has been pro-
ed by Investigation already made tht
the drunkenness Of track inspect(
was the cause of the accident. Whs
was the cause of that drunkenness
The drinking habits of that inspectO
How did he acquire them? In s,
loon which we taxpayers allow to ru
on payment of certain sum of none
into our own treasury.
$50, then, it was the greed or selfisl
ness of the men of this town whic
lies at the bottom of this dreadful di
aster. Who was to blame for the di
aster? The track Inspector? No. tt
saloon keeper who sold him the Liquor
No. Who then? We ourselves, n
brothers; we who licensed the selliI
of the stuff which turned mans bra
into liquid fire and smote his jud
ment and reason with q brand fro
out the burning pit.
"If had stumbled upon the thr
corpses Of my own children night b
fore last. I could have exclaimed
, justice before the face of God, I ha
|, murdered my own children, for w
, one of the men Of Barton to vote f
the license which made possible t
drunkenness of the man In whose ca
were placed hundreds of lives.
For what Is the history of this cas-
Who was this wretched track
spector? A man who, to my oy
knowledge. trembled before tempt
l ton; who, on the testimony of the fol
. man at the shops, was and always h
been a sober man up to the time VIII
t we as a municipality voted to repla
4 the system Of no license with the {
] loon for the sake Of what we thoug
3 was a necessary revenue. This m
v had no great temptation to drink VIII
: the saloon was out Of the way.
j very absence was his salvation. B
b its publics open return confronted
v appetite once more, and he yielded a
Y fell.
"Who says he was to blame? w
l. are the real criminals in the case? Y
+ ourselves, citizens; we who, for
h greed Of gain. for the saving Of IL
e which has destroyed more souls in
>. than any other one thing, made pos