The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-10-17

the ice must be kept on the hot tenn
pies and the perpetual prayer must go
up from hearts soon to be broken.
Oh, the third watch of the night!
What stnpendous thought whole
city at rest! Weary arm preparing for
tomorrow's toll. Hot brain being cool
ed of. Rigid muscles relaxed. Excit-
ed nerves soothed. The white hair of
the octogenarian in thin drifts across
the pillow. fresh fall of fakes on snow
already fallen. Childhood, with its
dimpled hands thrown out on the pill
low, and with every breath taking in a
new store of fun and frolic. Third
watch of the night! Gods slumberless
eye will look. Let one great wave of
refreshing slumber roll over the heart
of the great town. submeI ging care and
anxiety and worriment and pain. Let
the city sleep.
Those Who Sleep Not.
But, my friends, be not deceived.
There will be tonight thousands who
will not sleep at all. Go up that dark
alley, and be cautious where you tread
lest you fall over the PROSTATE form
of drunkard lying on his own door
step. Look about you, lest you feel the
garroter's hug. Look through the bro
ken window pane and see what you can
see. You say, Nothing. Then lis
ten. What is it? God help us!" No
footlights, but tragedy ghastiier and
mightier than Ristori or Edwin Booth
ever enacted. No light. no fire, no
bread, no hope. Shivering in the cold,
they have had no food for twenty four
hours. You say, Why don't they
beg?" They do. but they get nothing.
You say, Why don't they deliver
themselves over to the almshouse?"
All, you would net ask that if you ever
heard the bitter cry of man or child
when told he must go to the aims
house! oh" you say, they are ytci-
GUS poor, and Therefore they do not
deserve our sympathy" Are they vici-
GUS? So much more need they your
pity. The Christian poor, God helps
them. Through their night there
wrinkles the round, merry s.ar Of
hope and through the broken window
they see the crystals of heaven, but
the vicious poor, they are more to be
pitied. Their last light has gone out.
You excuse yourself from helping them
by saying that they are SO bad they
brought this trouble on themselves. I
reply, Where give ten prayers for
the innocent who are suffering will
1 give twenty for the guilty who are suf-
fering.
The Open Door.
Pass on through the alley. Open the
door. "Oh," you say, cit is locked. 2
No, 1t is not locked. 1t has never been
locked. No burglar would be tempted
to go in there to steal anything. The
door is never locked. Only broken
chair stands against the door. Shove
/ it back, Go in. Strike match. Now,
i look. Beastliness and rags. See those
i glaring eyeballs Be careful now what
you say. Do not utter any insult, do
not utter any suspicion. II you value
4 your life. What is that red mark on
the wall? 1T is the mark Of murder
er's hand! Look at those two eyes
rising up out OF the darkness and out
from the straw in the corner, coming
toward you, and as they come near you
your light goes out. Strike another
match. All, this is babe. not like
/ those beautiful children presented in
baptism. This little one never smiled;
it never will smile. A flower flung on
an awfully barren beach. o Heavenly
Shepherd, fold that little one in thy
arms! Wrap around you your shawl
or your coat tighter, for the cold wind
sweeps through.
! Strike another match. All, is it pos
sible that the SCARED and bruised face
Of that young woman was ever looked
into by maternal tenderness? Utter
no scorn. Utter no harsh word No
ray Of hope has dawned on that brow
for many year. No ray of hope ever
Twill dawn on that brow. But the
light has gone out Do not strike an
other light. 1t would be a mockery
to kindle another light in such place
as that. Pass out and pass down the
4 street. Our cities are full of such
homes, and the worst tine the third
watch Of the night.
i The Criminals Hour
/ Do you know that it is in this third
watch Of the night that criminals do
i their worst work? It is the criminals
watch. At half past 8 o'clock you
will find them in the drinking saloon,
] but toward u o'clock they go to their
garrets. they get out their tools, then
4 they start on the street. Watching on
either side for the police. they go to
their work of darkness. This is a
burglar, and the false key will soon
touch the store lock. This is an incen-
diary, and before morning there will
4 be a light in the sky and cry OF
Fire, fire!" This is an assassin, and
tomorrow morning there will be a dead
i body in one Of the vacant lots. During
d the daytime these villains in our cities
Il lounge about, some asleep and some
awake. but when the third watch OF
4 the night arrives their eve is keen