Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1878-09-05
Educational Column.
J. +. LANGENBAUGH.


LABOR-sAvIyG MACHINERY FOR THE MIND.
The many automatic contrivances
OF mechanical inventions which dis
tinguish and magnify our age have
accomplished a wonderful work in
elevating the condition of the laborer,
In augumenting and cheapening pro-
ducts, and In advancing civilization.
But still more has been accomplished
In these directions by improvements
In the appliances which assist the
mind In expressing its operations.
What a protracted. tedious, and
painful process every arithmetical
calculation would be if the Roman
method Of enumerating by means Of
alphabetical characters and combi-
nations should be substituted for the
Arabic figures. What complicated
piece Of mental work would be any
considerable sum in addition. What
labyrinthine and puzzling opera
ton would be the extracting Of the
cube root OF any number. How in
tricate and awkward would be the
reckoning, and at what lose Of time
and labor, IL we were compelled to
keep all commercial accounts by the
long method of notation instead Of
the short one. Who would volunta-
rily go back to the Roman system?
Yet, when it was superseded by the
Arabic figures now In universal use,
a substitution was accomplished
which involved the same principle
as when some machine superior to
another. drives that other out OF
vogue. 1t is an easy task to learn to
read books composed In the English
language, because those books are
printed in words made up from an
alphabet Of twenty-six letters. But
suppose that. as In China, we had no
letters, and that every individual
word was represented by a distinct
and separate character. What long
time it would then require to learn
merely to read and write. How many
years would be occupied in acquiring
simply the means of knowledge, be-
fore any effectual and fruitful at
tempt would be made to acquire
knowledge itself. Under such a sys-
tenn OF language, where would be our
learned men, the cause Of general
education, the newspapers and peri
odicals that 60 into almost every
house in the land, the rapid advance
In scientific development, the intelli-
gence and power OF the masses VI the
people? The vast superiority OF our
alphabetical system over the word
sign-system Of the Chinese. lies in
the fact that the former gives the
means Of doing that with compare
tive ease which, under the latter. can
be done only with extreme drudgery
and large expenditure Of time. The
learner under our linguistic forma-
ton saves that unnecessary excess
OF time, which, II rightly employed
will elevate his mind, and therefore
improve his condition. Just so it is
with all tools and machines for di-
minishing bodily exertion and snort
ening the process OF production. The
principle involved in the Chinese
logotypes amounts to the same thing
as IL there were no machines or en-
gines for decreasing manual labor
indeed, 1t would not be possible ia
trace out to their end the multifari-
Gus and multitudinous influences
which the alphabet and Arabic fig-
ures have brought into action foI
the welfare OF society. Labor sa-
wing machinery for the mind is still
more important than or-savine
machinery for the body.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
The Commander-in-Ch Chief of the
Armies Of the United States Is the
President. Hence in the war OF the
rebellion, General Grant though the
military superior Of General Sher.
man exercised over him no suthofi.
ty. Both General Grant and Gener.
al Sherman reported TO the Secretary
of War, and each had command over
his own forces, subject only to the
orders Of the President. II. however
in the course of the war. the two ar
mics had been united, General Gran,
would have assumed the command
OF both.
There are five oceans, namely
The Pacific, Atlantic. Indian. Arctic
and the Antarctic or Southern ocean
The latter is not properly separate
ocean, but q combination OF the
southern parts of the three great
oceans. The Antarctic ocean hal
never been explored. and Is remarka.
BILE for the intensity OF it's cold, and
for the number and size Of icebergs
GLACIERS
are vast river-like fields of ice. They
are formed from snow, In the high
mountain valleys In the regions o.
perpetual snow, which IL solidified by
the pressure OF its own weight an(
by melting and freezing. In the
temperate zones they are found ir
the highest part Of the highest noun.
tains. as In the Alps and the Him.
alayas.
The first circumnavigation of the
globe was made by Magellan, Por.