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Show IForgetf ufness of Men and Nations. Only about six or seven years ago a commission commis-sion mado up of medical experts was sent to Cuba to investigate the cause and if possible to find a remedy for yellow fever that had been' a scoiilrge in Cuba for a century; that had more than once swept our southern coast cities and which was a terror around il the shores of the Caribbean sea and down the South American coast to below Rio Janeiro. Dr. Walter Reed was at the head of that commission. Through his efforts and the efforts of his assistants and at the cost of more than one life it was established that the disease was caused by the bite of a mosquito which iiad previously bitten a patient ill of the fever; that this was the sole cause; that the disease could be transmitted in no other way. The result was that Havana was freed from the disease in twenty days and the terror of it everywhere removed. And yet it is not a month since wo read in a Salt Lake daily paper as news that some physician phy-sician in Central or South America had discovered discov-ered that yellow fever was caused by the sting of a mosquito. Between 1861 and 18G5 the government relied upon the gold and silver bullion of Nevada to meet its interest und to reinforce its treasury and keep greenbacks from falling to the level of Confederate Confed-erate notes. But still within eight years after the war closed the government caused the demonetization of silver, at a time, too, when the debts of the country were appalling. When tho war was at its height an engineer of New York named John Ericsson told the authorities au-thorities that he could build a ship that' would be impervious to an enemy's fire with any known cannon. He finally obtained a promise that if he would build the ship and it proved to be what he believed be-lieved it would be, he should be paid for it. He built the ship; it arrived in Hampton Roads just when the Merrimac (or Virginia) had sunk the Cumberland, burned the Congress, and, it was expected, would destroy the fleet the next day. The little new boat drove the monster away,' crippled, and it was blown up a few days later, and by the act took away the terror that was upon our northern coast cities, and served notice on England and France that their fleets as fighting machines were henceforth valueless. But John Ericsson never received the full pay for his Monitor. True, the government, when Ericsson died, sent his body back to his native country in a stately warship, but it never paid his bill. Senator A. A. Sargent framed the bill and pushed it through Congress which made possible the building of the Union and Central Pacific railroads. Years later Mark Hopkins, in a public speech in Sacramento, declared that the building of the road was more due to Senator Sargent than all other men combined, and that he would never accept any reward for his work. But when Sargent Sar-gent wanted a re-election to the Senate, the Legis lature of California turned him down. These instances might be multiplied indefinite- H ly. It is not that men do not want to see justice 'H done, but it is because the great masses of men are heedless, and then what is every man's bus!- H ness is never done. Tho above are examples where public men 1 have suffered, the instances in private life where men's memories fail them so that they forget 'H common duty are multiplied. Indeed, tho knowl- ,H edge of special indebtedness for great services performed is very apt to make the one who has received tho blessing go out of his way to hunt an excuse for hating his benefactor. |
