Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1872-01-24

In What have the MOdernS Ia
eelled the AnelentS ?

g and practices which have gone into di
10 use, aud, IN some instances, iorgotiulncs
either fIvm the poverty Of their utility
e or from the invention Of superior insirI
x ments for the accomplishment Of Of thos
is purposes for which they we're designed
I Among the more prominent objections /
:. be mei under this head, is the siaiemeu
d that the moderns are inferior TO the au
e clients in their knowledge and ability Il
c tempering metals. We are told on yer,
good authority that the stones for con
structing the Pyramids and other stupen
/. dous structures in the East we're cut will
instruments made from copper, aud iha
the ingenuity of the present age is unabl,
to give a sufficient degree ofhardness and
tenacity TO metal, TO render it seryieeablG
for similar purposes. Now admitting all
this to be true, is il fair to suppose that
any great amount Of labor will be bestow.
ed upon so bootess an undertaking, when
instruments can be made ofsteel, embody-
ing all the utility ever claimed for copper
chisels &c, and that. too. at no greater
expense than the requisite bulk of crude
copper? but it is urged that we are de-
generating in the tempering Of steel, and
the changes are sounded upon the superb
ority Of Damascus and Tolcdos sword
blades. Consider the efficiency of these
when matched against the needle gun and
Mittrelleusc, aud tell us their value. Sup.
pose for the sake of the argument that
coming generations should forget the pro-
cess of applying the electromagnetic force
to the propulsion Of heavy machinery,
which, though now known, is attended
with too great expense to be useful, what
would be the loss? The genius of inven-
ton is governed by utihty, and men are
lew who will bestow time and labor upon
an undertaking, the accomplishment OIL
which supplies no want, aud promises no
reward.
Visit the Patent Offices of different
countries, inspect the models of machn-
cry, and note the improvements that have
been made upon the first rude specimens.
Inspect some Of our mammoth manufacture
les. Let us enter a well-known iron and
steel establishment in Germany. We
must not promise to return directly for
the works cover an area of more than
seven acres. Do not start at that terri
bic thing" for it is only the drop of
slxty-ton till-hammer fashioning a plate
weighing twenty tons or more. See how
easily that ingot of steel weighing thirty
tons is swung to its place. If we had
come yesterday or tomorrow, we might {
have seen them handle one of forty tons, ;
as that is Of no unusual occure nee. May l
we not imagine that if an Ancient Greek |
should be transported from his Elysium {
to this place, he would at once begin TO
talk about Titanic" machinery, and the I
"iorges Of the Cyclops," and would he
not look around to see if he could not find r
some OF the thunderbolts of Jupiter ready a
for shipment to His Olympian Majesty? q
Ii the Roman no longer drains mountain U
lakes to facilitate his conquests or demon. ?
strate his engineering skill, his descen. S
dents tunnel Mt. Cenis and cause the wa
ers Of the MEDITERRANEAN and Red Sea TO t
,ele- brated their nuptials at the middle of y
.uez. If he no longer constructs "Apian i,
Ways" and colossal aqueducts, the re- Il
'resentatlves Of his barbarous enemy and p
onq ueror unite continents with lcgth. "
ng, sail the ocean against wind and tide, 81
nd cross continents in chariots without O
orses. If no Cheops marshal his lOO,- W
'OO workmen for 30 years in the construc- "
ion CT a pyramid to tell to future gen. III
ratlons the story of his misguided ambi- Of
ION, if no royal line devotes the income of to
state for centuries to the erection of ii
lagnlhcent temples capable of enduring the
av ages OF time through hoary ages we
% settle and develop powerful states in
decade, and build Chicago in forty
ears. We leave this branch of our sub. p
ect with the query TO whom does the p
lead of excellence in enterprise and the 50 !.
echanic arts belong? 1t
Thus far we have considered our sub. OF
'ct intellectually rather than morazlu ~
ut now we propose to turn our attention "a y
Inc comparative virtue aud integrity of - -,
le present age. The prevalence of !,
flme and corruption affords an ever ready "A
'iteri on by which those who Jump to con. i
uslons with no comparisons with past IL
ses, condemn what they regard as the in. a a:
'easing profigacy of modem society IN
-voldlng general assertions and sween. ma
g contradictions, let us reach a concln. IN
on indirectly. Human governments are te
ecomllng more and more liberal. To ca
low the truth of this assertion we need d.
1t 60 back through the dark ages, and VI
'ope about in heather barbarian. Only Al
70 centuries ago every government Of c.p
urope was despotism, and the Pope of ITO
ONE the most absolute potentate on the 0"
zee OF the globe while to-day only two ro'
'soiutc governments remain, and the ca
0ntlhcai chair is occupied by an imbecile 'n y,
q man IN second childhood, whose tenn all
'fal power does not extend beyond the IN
'or OF the Vatican The expulsion of TO
e herman residents from France DURING Gre
G late war elected protests from other the
untries as severe and unnecessary the
easure, but what would have been the wa
suit II the French had adopted the poll. Inc
OF Mlthridates toward the Romans col
Il chrlstendom would have arisen in col
ms 10 take vengence upon the perpetra-
rs OF SO inhuman butchery. Among
. results growing out of this favorable
ange IN government, let us observe - we
ist' Wars have become less frequent, ba,
q are conducted upon more humane tv
lnclples. The temple Of Jauns was fro