Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-11-03
PROGRESS OF THE AGE.

Persons unaccustomed to estimate the
results of science in Fastening the ad-
vancement of mankind in the path that
leads to mental and, through that, to
physical emancipation, are amazed. and
often incredulous, when suddenly con-
frcnted with the leading facts.
When, for instance, we tell them that
the machinery of England alone performs
for the comfort of mankind, for their
clothing, housing, nourishment, provision
with fuel, transportation. etc., the work
of something like 100000 horses. and
add that this total is equivalent to the
labor of, say, 6O.oOO.oOO men. or nearly
twice the population of Great Britain.
! and about the same as the working ratio
found in the whole population of Europe
they are startled. Nevertheless, this
is the plain truth, and the grand total OF
machine work done to-day is much beyond
the ratio of human toll yielded by the
whole population of the globe. If we,
then. add the unassisted labor of men,
we find that the result attained Is as
though the inhabitants of our earth had
been doubled in number. Now, the most
of this grand result has been attained
since the application of steam, and. con-
sequently, in the present century. What
then may we look forward to for the next
fifty years? AT the present rate of ac-
CELEBRATED invention and adjustment of
steam, air, water, chemical, and magnetic
power to the freshly arising necessaries
of the hour, we shall, in following out
the reasoning already exemplihei, have
as it were. quadrupled the actual popu.
lation of the globe by the close of the
,, year 1899.
What then? The Imagination pause'
as it tries to scan the future of mans
possible achievements.
But what the uses of steam science IL
l all other branches of knowledge has ad
II vanced. Improved agriculture has brough
. us vastly enhanced production and ney
commodities. Mankind are, in the ag
Il gregate, much better clad, fed and houses
" than they were fifty years ago. Bette
'r meat, butter, milk, cheese, fruit, vege
tables, grain of all kinds, and more
u them, in larger variety. are among thel
'e acquisitions. Beet-root sugar has becom
e. common article, supplying millior
y who once had no sugar at all Came
provisions extend wholesale food to tt
az uttermost ends of the earth. Mechal
ical appliances procure fresh water
H. the wastes of Sahara.
Chemistry has given us new drug
Ia' new dyes, new forces and metallurs
ITS has discovered endless resources OF e
ordinary and the useful metals to susta
me the manufactures that steam extend
vas while supplying and creating wan
~ together.
my In the meantime intelligence and
Ike formation increase among the masses
mankind, and. while exploration pei
'nd trates every region hitherto hidden,
the printing press comes fastening on
wings of steam to instruct, and electr
I'D ity follows to give speech to the remot
ltly tribes. Humanity discovers its broth
her hood; its mutual dependence its reas'
le. for common feeling and common destl
raw and from island to continent. and II
my shore to shore thrills its universal spec
as The whole earth has found eyes to behe
understanding to comprehend, and
doW voice to utter the sympathies and 10
the ings of our common family while ex
very ing in all tongues and for all races
worship of God.-M Z. Mercan
ny Journal.
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