The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-23
INCIDENTS
AND OBSERVATIONS.
BY IL. L.. GRAY.

BY IL. IL. GRAY.
III is doubtful whether nature can
furnlSn IN concrete Iorm so strong Il
manifestation OF the oneness OF the
race OF men as uoeS an arUInclal civil
laIlon IN tnat most marked Oh All It's
nyD1u pnenolnena-a mighty crowd OIL
people. mere 1t swings past you, d
Iong and serpentlne monster it's
countless scales shaking with a thou
sand impulses ana cross-purposes, its
separate units alive with color, con-
tending for a moment Tor the notice
or the onlooker, Steauy moving, steady
voiced, speaking language, following
d motive ali It's own. "A moving croWd
is the most Individual, the most sense
less, the most ineXOraDle OF things.
It's march suggests the stollu process
OF continuing llIe, the changing
samenesS of It's ranks the manltold
monotony OF creation. 1he UNITS APP
pear ana disappear; an arm waves
Ior second above the sea of heads eX-
citement in the GESTURE which speaks
OF an angry voice lost III the COM
mon tumult of the herd; a laugh hits
up its personality for an inStants hint
or happiness and hope; down the
strong current runs a slow commo-
ton, transient ripple that closes al
most on itself, when some strong
n,
shoulders neaYing with effort, moved
by some issue that he deems import
ant seeks to oppose his bulk to the
set direction of the stream for a
while the ripple lasts, weaker units
give way, stronger ones battle for a
moment and make grudging room,
wave after wave, calmy impersonal,
urged from behind opposes it's i'm
passive resistance; presently the ripple
ceases, the crowd moves on and the
red-faced man, his eyes cleaning
with the mingled contempt and de-
spair of individual power at the
compelling weakness of the mass,
stands idle on the bank mopping a brow
that glistenS with futile beads of
sweat Again there is hesitation in
the swing of the crowd, for an in
slant a change even in the note of
it's voice, an eddy swirls from the
centre to the edge, woman fainting
with the close hot breath of human
by half a dozen friends-and the
crowd moves on, happy in its unthink-
ing advance from point 10 point of
same eX~ erience.
The impression that the crowd is
itself a creature, that born of the
myriad and diverse intellgences of
its units. it has a brain and COM
posite will of its own, expressing no
one of it's individuals and yet com
pelling ALL is so strong as to become
almost a definite belief 1t is like Il
bar of iron expanding and contracting
as its close packed molecules shove
apart or hug together within the mar
row limits of their freedom The
molecules are there, each separate
and distinct, Yet they may not be
4 1
crowd. the brain of the individual
contributes merely its insignificant
atom to a conglomerate' intelligence
that, theoretically representative, acts
as no one of the minute cells of its
being-iS, in fact, strange endoW-
ment that seems called into being tC
fit its own bulk and its own ire
concilabe constituents. A crowd
composed of men. women and child
ren--brave, tender. happy people
thrown together from the trains. from
the cities, from the wagons of the
country, with a scattering of the vi
cious products of the Slums its units
for the most part, the simple. ordi-
nary. warm hearted run of human
| ity-acts with all the selfishneSs, some
times with all the hard brutality OF
! an unthinking beast. Whoever has
seen a. Child weeping in the middle OF
! q
Where there is elbowrfoonl, where its
cries could fDe self assertive, sympathy
would be quick and universal. In
the crowd, the tide flickers past the
! obstruction, rolls over it, sweeps on
! 1t is so easy for tho unit with the de-
| Ierium of the mass within his veins
to follow on; suffering then is moi
insistent. it goes rapidly to the rear
| it is soon forgotten in the aimless for
ward surge.
Yet the crowd is not brutal as il
seems. 1t is merely a large person
ality. It's purpose is to go on. II
cannot stop-it is as busy. as indiffer-
ent as nature itself. It's mistakes
! however grievous, are but incidents C1
! its career. 1t has no time to repair
Recruits wait by the hundreds to fl
! the gaps. 1t feels, duly that its
purpose is big one; that there is nc
need of haste, no time for dalliance
| Like nature crowd is economical
| in the prodigality of it's waste; il
aims at results, regardless of the cos
of material; it uses, sifts, rejects
ever, it goes on.
| Think of these things and throw
yourself into the current The eTec
! is instant not eXplainable. You are
keeniy alive and yet the spirit of the
| crowd is tugging at your heart, per.
meating your brain. The people tha
swarm about, begin to lose their indi
viduaity. One feels at the same time
strange antipathy and a stranger
/ kinship with the molecules that jostlt
| him as he moves Faces rise up tha
seem to be those of primal enemies
/ others that seem to touch forgotten
strings of sympathy. In the surround
| ing eyes, one sees, slumbering, every
shade of human emotion but chiefly
| the quality of resigned patience
There are of course exceptions. Crush
ed in by the big shoulders of men
/ pocketed as it were in the crush, Il
the sweet and timid face of youns
girl She stands helpless, gaspins
| for breath, her eyes quiet, her moutl
comically resigned. You meet he
ewes and they light up with smile
that is full of brave philosophy
1t is like a drink of water in tn
heat and fever of the rush A littl'
boy goes like a snake between tn
big legs of men, under elbows, sGuirm
ing his way. piece of candy in hi
hand. stopping at intervals to tW'r
ldelightedly the squeedunk that rasp
the ears of the small circle within hi
touch. An old woman. her face con
torted with fatigue. her eyes staring
makes feebly frantic efforts to extrl
cate herself the while she is born
onward like a chip. A tramp. IN