Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-09-23
Hixh-Flyfng ana Its Dangers.

/ from risking everything they have In
| h;gh .dying ventures. The experience Of
others viii be vainly cited to persons who
are for the time 50 far controlled by an ill
reguIated ambition as to be unable or Hn-
| WILING to recognize the need OF special
skill and training for reaching the heights
| of worldly success. or ofmaintaining their
equilibrium when they get there. Pig
mics are pigmies still, though perched on
| Aims ,, and the same intellectual weakness
| or want of balance which makes person
undertake a task for which he is united
disaualifies him for profiting by any tenn
| porary success which he may happen 10
attain. In fact, this very success is apt to
hasten his downfall by wholly unsettiing
his Judgment and leading him on TO
greater recklcssness.
The experience of most persons who
have made fortunes or regulations sudden
| ly by single lucky hit instead OF by
| long, and laborious, and intelligent exer-
| ton, attests the justice of this view. The
great railway kings, as they are sometimes
called, the monarchs Of speculation on the
stock-excnange, usually die poor. This
was shown not long ago by reference to
numerous cases in this country confirm
ing the conclusion drawn from the career
of Hudson and other great operators IN
England. cit takes" said shrewd old
Nathan Rothschild, "a good deal OF wit
to make money, but infinitely more to
keep it," Men like Rothschild, and the
Earrings, and Vanderbilt are something
more than spectators in the securities In
which they deal; and the ample knowl-
edge which they possess of the intrinsic
value Of their property distinguishes their
operations from the gambling ventures
Of mere stock jobbers, no matter how ex-
tensivc.
Ii is curious to see at how early period
In human history the passion for high
flying was developed, and how the merely
physical aspects of it were only one phase
Of the ambition TO soar. Is not the myth
Of Dgdalus and his son Icarus most
felicitous illustration of the way In which
such undertakings originate, and some OF
the participants in them come to grief?
They sought TO escape from the anger Of
Minos rs so many people try TO escape
from the unpleasant surroundings for
which they are themselves SO largely re-
sponsible. Those wings which DRdalus
made were ingenious contrivances, no
doubt, and enabled him TO arrive success
fully at Cuma. He knew the dangers OF
high-fying, and kept within prudent dis
lance of the earth but his less discreet
son Icarus fews so near the sun that the
wax which fastened his wings to his body
melted, and brought him down, not to the
earth, to be sure, but TO what was never
theless a damper of his hopes and extin.
gushcr Of his life-the sea. The youth
had been warned by his. father Of the
danger of high-hying, but to no purpose.
Judged by recent occurrences, the young
fellow, overcome by the vertigo of high
regions" had that morbid and uncontrolla-
BILE impulse TO go higher to which Nj. lis
sander attributes the fate OF his associates
in the Zenith balloon Whether we re-
gard the story from the view of Pal9phatus
as meaning the invention of sails,
or look upon il in the less practical aspect
suggested by Lucian as a case of intellect.
ual high-fying, matters little as TO the les
son TO be derived from it, The reckless
sailor, whether in air or water, runs sim
liar risk as the young Icarus, who, on Lu-
clans showing, learned astrology from
his father, but, not having the masters
skill and knowledge, "soared above plain
truths into transcendental mysteries, lost
his reason, and was drowned in the abyss
Of difficulties" In any aspectof the affair,
il illustrates the dangers OF high-hying,
whether incurred through congenital
weakness, lack Of proper parental educa.
ton or supervision, or the headstrong folly
Of youth, which Of itself must have some
antecedents in defective training, wheth-
er by individuals or society, to account
for IT,
A very curious feature Of high-iiying
ventures is the way in which persons of
marked ability are sometimes led into
| them, although the goal of their ambition
Is in an opposite direction from that
where they have achieved reputation and
success. rhe laurels of Miltiades keep
awake youths whose capacities are any
thing but warlike. Frederick the Great,
on the other hand, thought more Of his exc
cradle verses than of his splendid victories,
| and Richelieu was eager to be esteemed a
poet, Notwithstanding his pre-eminence in
craftsmanship.
| AS general Arule, in high-hying vent
ures, whether in real or ideal balloons, it
| Is the coming down that is the most dan
| gerous part of the business. In ascending
everything is attractive up to that height
at which descent Is rendered necessary
by the impossibility of keeping human
nature in equilibrium in the thin atmos-
phere. The insufficiency OF pressure
| from the outer air, which ut great eleva-
| tons Is not enough TO counteract the dis
tention of the liquids or fluids in the
aeronaut's body, is paralleled in the case
| OF the high-fier in everyday life by the
absence Of that common sense the pres
ence of which is so necessary to keep
human beings from soaring 10 too giddy
heights or to preserve their strength and
vitality when they get there. OF course
there is reason for risking something in
these upward flights, but only when the
value of the object to be attained is COM
mensurate with the danger incurred; If
| the interests of science or OF humanity de
mand the venture, the lives, regulations
or fortunes Of individuals should not be
| regarded as of paramount importance.
Yet even in such cases the danger should
be lessened by every precaution which
knowledge and skill and training can
| suggest. Experience shows that il is only
when daring degenerates into foolhardi-
| ness that serious accidents are likely to
| occur. High.fliers in everyday life are
| like Pilatre DIES Roziers, who had
m0ntg0Lfere or balloon filled
with hDf air from "a fire auspan.ad