Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-02-18
An Io1ua Newspaper Classic.


!
The day was calm, and the sun
warmed the earth; with the evening
the clouds gathered. and moisture. fell
| from them. Darkness followed. and
the wind made mournful noises, in
| the morning the earth was an white
robe. the air was filled with eddylng
snow. so that the eyes were blinded.
and above all rose the voice of the
storm There are perils by land as
we'll as by sea; and there are many
| lost
| 1t is something awful to be lost In
| the storm-.-to know not which way to
go, and yet knowing that to quit the
struggle to find way means surrender
to death.
Happy are they who are well shell
tered from the tempest, secure on solid
ground. abiding in the faith that he
maketh the storm a calm, so that the
waves thereof are still"
And yet, looking out from places of
warmth and comfort, the mind is
selfishly dull that is not turned toward
those who suffer. The snow eddies st
the window, and piles In drifts at the
doorway, but the clock on the nlantel
ticks on peacefully. The feet are given
warm place. and book, is chosen
for companion What does At matter
1t Is day of little business. 1t Is
day to take to ones ease. You adjust
yourself in your easy chair. and the
book takes you off into another land.
where the sun shines and the flowers
bloom, and you follow in a summer
way in the company of lovers. But as
you shift In your chair you catch a
glimpse of the street and see some one
struggling to make his way, and you
say 1t is a bad day to be out, and you
fall to wondering how many are out,
and why?
Il would hasten my escape from the
windy storm and tempest" That Is
what you say; and yet, up and down
the street at lonely intervals. people
pass. buffeted by the wind. pulling
their feet out of drifts to put them
deeper in The mail man goes by.
slapping his empty hand as If he felt
the cold, and you wonder how he can
read the addresses. and you say 1t
would be only respectable for people
W wait lOF tHelT mai, winch you
presume is for the most part of no
particular consequence anyway. Then
comes blowing around the corner the
delivery wagon, with horse the color
of which you can scarcely make out,
and the driver is standing upright
kicking his heels together. You say
people must live. and who could tell
1T was to be such a morning? And
just then Your own telephone gets
busy. A complaint Is filed that the
morning paper is missed, and it is not
believed 1t was stolen and then the
number is changed and an order Is
given for a snow shovel 1t is not at
all a hardship to telephone, and the
telephone is such a convenience when
one wants something and does not
care to go after 1t; and If one does
not choose to go out. and is rather
restless the telephone is a diversion.
But the warmth of the easy chair.
or the CRATE fire, or the faint singing
of the steam in the radiator, or out Of
the book, with It's scene In summer
land, gives the mind sympathy with
the struggling world outside. and you
think OF the suffering there must be
for those who have far to go. and sor
those III clad, and for those who fight
all the time with poverty. And yet
what can you do, more than light a
cigar and look at the pictures in the