OCR Text |
Show Aid the Homaltiss. The east has had its fires, iti floods and hurricanes, and the west, also, has occasionally been subjected to great casualties. Au earthquake now and again has Bhakenup the Pacific coast, not unfrequently causing caus-ing large destruction of property and much human suffering. Here and there a mining town in the mountains moun-tains has been suddenly laid in ashes, and the inhabitants found themselves homeless and poverty-stricken. poverty-stricken. Sometimes these catas-trophies catas-trophies have occurred in mid-winter, when the situation of the unfortunate victims has been anything but pleasant pleas-ant even to contemplate. Yet, in almost every instance when one of i these calamaties has visited a Bection, the people of the surrounding region have united in substantial substan-tial sympathy for the afflicted; and the western folks have not heeded sectional lines in the giving of aid. As evidences of this fact, recall with what readiness the west sent its golden representatives to soothe tbe victims of the Chicago and Boston fires, and the deluged inhabitants inhabi-tants along the treacherous Mississippi, Missis-sippi, the fever smitten people of the I south. Tbe citizens of Ihe far west are proverbially liberal and benevolent, benevo-lent, sympathetic and generous-hearted. generous-hearted. They are rough, sometimes uncouth, yet a call to them lor aid, when tbe object is worthy, seldom falls on closed ears. Now they have an opportunity to exhibit this noble quality of the human breast in answering an-swering tbe appeal from unhappy Virginia city. Tho information brought over tbe wires as to the suffering suf-fering is very meagre, yet ws are told that 10,000 people are without homes. It doesen't require the exercise of a vivid imagination to tell us what is the result of tu miner that number of men. women and children upon the streets of a devastated mountain city at this season of the year. The suffering cannot can-not but be terrible to contemplate, And let human aid be exerted to its fullest extent, many must inevitably perish, while thousands will suffer extremely ex-tremely before they can be relieved. San Francisco and other coast cities have already sent assistance, and are gathering additional subscriptions for tbe benefit of tho afflicted. Every town and city in the west should also send something for tbe immediate relief of the sufferers. And Salt Lake, perhaps tbe most favored city of an equal number of inhabitants west of the Rocky Mountains, Moun-tains, so far as great casualties are concerned ought not to be behind its neighbors in the matter of aiding the , homeless people of its sister city. If the municipal coffers are not in a condition to warrant the application of some of the public moneys to this object.let some one open a subscription where the sympathetic can give to their unfortunate fellows in the fallen city. We doubt not that a liberal response re-sponse would be the result of such a move, and hope some one in authority will devote early attention to the matter. |