Democratic messenger., 1908-04-25


tecond the door Is slammed shut ana
the train starts What is the mat
ter?" you ask the conductor. why
are you In such hurry to be on He
says. we must 90 through the tunne
OH the very minute of the schedule
There are hundreds of trains passing
over these tracks every day The varia
tion OF few minutes IN passing might
mean collision aud the loss Of thou
sands OF lives" All they talk about
the outrageous number of people killed
In railroad accidents but II IS per
petual wonder TO me that the number
Is not much larger
The most stringent precautions have
10 be taken TO keep the railroad sched
nles correct The other day | was in 8
jewelers. store In this city While |
stood by the counter young man
came In and said; How about that
watch Of mine; Can II stand the rail-
road test?" What do you mean by
that" | asked. us the railroad name
watch any different from any othel
persons watch?" Yes" the jewelei
answered Every railroad man must
own n perfect watch II must not vary
In its time quarter Of a second u
week Each day the time Is sent over
the railroad lines And each railroad
like the Santa Fe. has nm official called
the watch tester whose business Is 10
do nothing but test watches So i'm
portant is his position that this official
Is paid by the Santa Fe railroad 5000
per year. II II was not for the perfec
tiOn OF the watches there would he
thousands upon thousands Of lives
sacrificed each year by collisions"
When you begin TO realize that life
and death hang upon the revolving
wheels OF little watch as well as up
on the great driving wheels Of loco
motive. do you wonder that we have
accidents? Then consider the perfec.
tion OF machinery aud the perfection
OF materials as well ~ the perfection
OF the calculations Of time necessary
TO safeguard the lives OF the people
who travel. When | am passenger
on steamboat | spend hours ,lown In
the hull watching the moving machin.
cry. When am passenger upon the
railroad train ! try 10 sit upon the
platform OF the rear car and watch
the receding rails ms the revolving
wheels carry us over them. never
go up into high building but al.
ways think. This high structure is
erected story upon story" One bolt
Of that steamboat machinery out Of
place. one rail OF that track spreading.
one girdcr Of that building sagging
would mean death 10 scores. perhaps
hundreds. Of human lives.
The Danger From the Elements
Then from studying the dangers
which surround us everywhere and
from which we are saved by human
care | would have you turn your minds
TO the dangers which threaten us from
earthquake and tire aud lightning and
tornado aud tidal wave All. We may
be able 10 guard against dangers arts.
Ing from human rrailties, but who can
fight the elements when they begin to
rear and plunge and 10 kick and 10
snOrtI The hard surface OF this earth
Is only AS the she'll OF an egg Is to the
inside of the egg. The internal fires OF
the earth may burst forth at any time.
The tornadoes ana cyclones are ready
10 beat US down from above. There
needs but little shifting OF the earth's
surface aud great tidal waves would
submerge our coast cities. Dangers,
dangers. dangers. are everywhere.
Thank God that he has cared for us
and protected us from physical de
struction or. what is worse. from phys
ical mutilation and agony. Every day
and hour of our lives we have been
surrounded by perils from the forces
of nature. We, like Paul and his fel-
low voyagers on the Acxandrian corn
ship. have escaped safe 10 land"
But there is still another fact to
which want to draw your attention In
reference to this text I want you to
focus your eyes upon that little word
"all." Luke does not here say. And
Paul escaped safe to land" He does
not say. And Paul and myself escaped
safe 10 land" But he does say. And
so II came TO pass that they escaped all
safe TO land" That meant that II
there were families upon that ship the
father and mother as well as the broth
ers and sisters or the children escaped.
All-yes. all-escaped safe to land.
Have you ever stopped to think how
much you are indebted morally and
spiritually 10 the fact that your godly
father and mother were preserved TO
train your youthful steps in life;
A Narrow Escape.
or course we all know that spiritual
life comes from Jesus Christ alone. He
IL the vine. and we are the branches.
But we also know that Christ works
by human agency. He sends certain
disciples TO us TO lead us To the living
waters In many cases these disciples
are our parents. II we had not been
led 10 the cross by a Christian father
or mother. many OF us would never
have knelt there AT all And yet do