The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-03-31
NATURE AND CIVILIZATION
The Wants Of Modern Life-StIfed b,
Civilization.


Button, in a page published In every
occurs de LITERATURE sings 8
hosanna to cultivated nature. and an.
pears unable TO find words strong
enough to express his horror of nature
In It's savage state" brute" nature,
as ne calls ii. At the present day our
impression is precisely the reverse of
this. We seek on almost inaccessible
SUBMITS, IN the region of eternal snow,
and in the very heart of hitherto unex-
plored continents, spot where man
has not vet penetrated. and where wa
may behold nature in her inviolats
vlrginlty. We are s:ified bv civiliZa-
ton, wearied out with books, news
papers. reviews, and periodicals, letters
TO write and TO read; railway travelling,
the post, the telegraph and the tele-
phone deyour time and completely
mince up ones life; any solitude for
fruitful reflection is quite out of the
question. Shall 1 find il, at least.
among the tir trees of the Carpathians
or beneath the shade of the old oaks
of the Balkans? Industry is spelling
and sOiling our planet. Chemical
produce poisons the water. the dross
from different works and factories
covers the country. quarrieS split up the
picturesque slopes of valleys, black
coal smoke dulls the verdant foliage
and the azure of the sky. the drainage
OF large cities turns our rivers intn
sewers, whence emerge the germs of
typhu>. The useful destroys the beauti-
ful. and this i 80 general as at times to
bring tears to the eyes. Have not the
Italians, on the lovely Isle of ST.
Helena. near to the public gardens in
Venice. erected works for the building
of engines. and replaced the ruins of a
fourth-century church by chimnevs,
whose opaque smoke. produced by the
dete>table bituminouS coal of the Saar.
would soon leave a spotty trace ON the
pink marble of the doge's palace
and on the mOSaicS of St Mark. lust
a. we see them OH st. Paul'S Cathedral |
IN London, 50 ugly covered with !
sticky StreakS. Ii is true that the |
produce of this Industrial activity be- !
comes condensed in revenue. which en- |
riches many families. and adds conSid- !
erably To the list of the bourgeois pop
ulation inhabiting the capital. Here. |
on the banks of the Rhine. these reve-
nues are represented BY villas and |
castles. whose pseudo Greek or Gothic
architecture peeps out from among
masses of exotic trees and plants in the
most sought-after positions, near to
Bonn. GodeSberg. st. Goar or Bingen.
Look. there is IN immense feudal castle,
beside which StolZenfelS. the Empress
favorite residence. would be
q mere shOoting-box. This immense
aSsemblage of turretS. galleries, roofs
and terraces must have cost at least
fS0.0OO. Has it sprung from coal OF
from BeSSemer steel? Il i situated jusi
below the noble ruin of DracehnfelS.
Will not the dragon watching over the
treasure in Nifelheim's
len. avenge this impertinent challenge
If modern plutocracy? All that | see on
nv way up the Rhine leads me TO reflect
IN the special characteristics of Prus-
ian administration. The works which
rave SO marvelously .'domeSticated'
he river Is TO make it type of what
Pascal calls ''un chemin qui marche."
rave taken between thirty and FORTY
ears. and have been carried out con-
Systematically and scientific
lily. In her public works. aS in her
military preparations, Prussia has sue
'eeded in uniting two qualities which
Ire only too often lacking spirit of
and the love of progress.
The desire to be As near IS possible to
is apparent in the most mi
lute details. Not unfrequently consist
ncy. and a too close following of ira
litions. lead to routine which rejects
Innovations. Great strength is attained.
nd the chances of success are consid-
rably increased if. while one aim j.
,ept always in view. the best means To
'ttain it are selected and applied with
mt delay.-CoHtemporary Rerie1.