Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 June 1884 — Our Common Dangers. [ARTICLE]

Our Common Dangers.

The advance of civilization has done much to prolong the average duration of human life. Better food, better houses, a greater regard for the laws of health, and greater security against violence of any sort have made life more comfortable and reduced the danger of an early death. But there is such a thing as going too far. Many noAV inventions and improvements are positively dangerous to human life. Our streets have become unsafe for foot passengers and vehicles. The air above them is filled with a network of wires carrying electric currents of deadly power. If they should break and fall in the street, as might easily happen at a fire, by a load of ice or other causes, it might be instant death for a man to touch them. If a stream from a fire engine should play against two broke* ends of the wire, the electricity would follow the stream of water and kill the firemen. Again, the wires are so numerous in many localities that it would be almost impossible to raise ladders for the rescue of people cut off by the flames. This is the danger overhead. There are other dangers underfoot. A few feet underground are pipes charged along their whole length with steam at a pressure which only a boiler is fitted to withstand. The’result is that these pipes burst and create havoc by an irruption of the street. This has already happened several times. Again, the gas pipes leak, so that the ground becomes saturated with gas. This collects in the manholes of the steam companies and explodes with terrific violence when a spark reaches it. More common dangers are the difficulty of crossing streets through a jam of vehicles, the slipper ness of coal hole covers and the explosion of boilers under sidewalks. We are getting civilized out of existence. —Brooklyn Eagle. “I don’t see how you city folks live with no exercise at all, ” remarked a countryman to his new boarder. “No exercise!” exolained the man; “you never saw a fellow chasing a street carl ” Poverty and pride are inconvenient companions, but when coupled with idleness the depth of wretchedness is attained.