The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-06-16
TUESDAY,, JUNE 16.
4 SAD DEATH.

The recent disasters which have af-
ficted the country. ~tsueciaIly those of
Gainesville. Ga. and S~partanburg, S. c.,
have brought out and shown how much
acknowledging and 7 u charity there is
in mankind. The call for help for those
in aflictiOn is always responded to with
great magnanimity by the people of this
ountr These two disasters have
brought home to our people the fact
that at any time the most prosperous
and ones OF US may be placed
in a condition in which we Will be com
PEELED TO call upon our friends and
neighbOrs for the necessaries of life as
we'll as for sympathy and consolation.
The Winston Journal truly says of the
lesson such disasters teach us:
The lesson of the great Kansas City
flood and Spartanburg flood is Il SER
mon on the brotherhood IF man, Il pic
lure of n good that lies in human
hearts. In Il great city thousands OF
people We're divided into classes. Some
lived IN palaces. some in nuts. In the
fight for business cruel things were
often done. The ace was SO swift that
those who were up thought little of
those who were down. Men wOrShipped
money and power. Women struggled
for high positions in society. The ave-
nue. forgot that the alley existed. The
people could not have been more surely
wide had some lived in China and
others in Cuba. 1t is the way of the
social system. This of Kansas City
Then came the calamity-the flood
that drowned human beings like rats;
that OOk husbands from wives and
parents from children; hat swept mil
lions of dollars in property into the
rivers mighty NAV, and left thousands
of people homeless, stripped of every
material thing-made paupers.
"What happened then? True man
hood awOke: true kindness came to life.
Every one of the temporary rules of the
social system was swept away in the
muddy torrent. Heroes We're uncovered
by and humanity b~roadened
and widened
The bank president risked his life to
save the IabOrer's child. The lawyer
swan q raging torrent to rescue Il
washwOman. \ ultimate joined hands
with Il congressman and Snatched five
precious lives from the flood. The pres
ident of the Kansas City stock yards,
G. f. Morse: f. T.. Richardson. of the
same concern. and two companions
thought so little of themselves that they
entered the very jaws of death and car
ried thirteen persons to safety. The
humbIest and the highest were on an
even footing. They riSked all and dared
all. because of real humanity and the
brotherhood that knows naught of con-
VentiOns or social distinction.
Homes We're thrown open ThOus-
ands of women became minlsterinS
angels. They gave kind words with
food and clothing. and friendship Wher-
ever it WAS needed
=" Put me down for $500 said u man
to the relief committee At that mo-
ment the walls of his factory were
crumbIing into the flood and years OF
effort and attention to business were
wiped out. 1t WAS nothing Others
had lost all.
There is more Of it, To tell the
splendid story of the virtues shown by
these great caIamities would require
pages.
1T is the story of Kansas City. 1t is
the story of Spartanbure and of every
city in this broad land in time OF
trouble.
The people are all right Business
and social desires may call on them, but
away down in their breasts they are
what God meant them TO be-braTe, un-
selfish and kind