Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-08
The Upas Tree of Civilization.

The Cpas Tree of Civilization.
The continent is an armed camp Thu
nations labor, as the Jews rebuilt Jerusalem
with a sword in one hand and their industrial
tools in the other. Restless, suspicious armies
are encamped side by side where formerly
nations lived and labored Every year some
one or other of these armies invents come
more deadly weapon than its rival, some
more terrific explosive, some more expedf.
tious mode of slaughter. No sooner does this
happen than all the others hasten to adopt
it, piling on with desperate energy the
panoply Of armor beneath which humanity
is crushed. Amid the ceaseless ebb and flow
Of human affairs, one phenomenon never
varies The sum total expended on making
ready for slaughter constantly increases
Every year more and moro is drained from
the soil in order to feed the magazines.
Every year the barrack gains on the cottage,
and preparation for war becomes the absorb.
ing preoccupation OF great proportion OF
the flower Of our youth
From every able bodied man this armed
peace exacts three four or five years of life
when it is at its richest and brightest When
the youth steps into manhood and begins to
dream of love and labor and of the sweet
joys of home and family, there swoops down
upon him the kidnaper Of Mars and carries
him off to the barracks and the camp. This
vast organization for murder is the upas tree
Of civilization, and all the continent is sick
ening under its fatal shade The first cost is
the cost in actual cash paid down. the second
in life wasted at its prime, the third in the
condition of unrest which saps the sense of
security necessary for the prosecution of
business Business is difficult when peace ID
not worth three months purchase. Every
year commerce becomes more and more in
ternationaL Every year therefore, any dis
turbancc OF peace becomes more dangerous
to the trader. Even the shadow Of war now
produces far more serious dislocation of in
dustry than in old times was caused by the
actual progress of a campaign. For in old
times every parish was a little world in itself,
a microcosm capable Of independent exist
ence, and able to carry on its own business
and grow its own crop if all the rest Of the
world was in measureless confusion Today
all this has changed. A network Of rail ar
teries and telegraph nerves now knits all Eu-
rope into one organisIn.-Pan Mall Gazette.
Fishes Of the Sea.
Though no sharp line Of separation can b
drawn, marine fishes are roughly divided,
for convenience, into three categories-shors
fishes, which habtually frequent coast lines,
and rarely descend to greater depth than
800 fathoms; pelagic fishes, which inhabit
the open sea, most of them spawning thers
also, and the deep sea fishes, which live where
the influence of light and surface tempera-
ture is but little felt The shore fishes, &C
cording to Heilprin, number upward Of 8, 500
species Their northern range extends to or
beyond the eighty-third parallel Of latitude,
but in the southern hemisphere they are not
known to go beyond the sixtieth parallel In
the different zones these fishes are largely
identical in both the Atlantic and Pacific
basins, as well as on the opposite side Of these
baSina
Tropical waters, however, produce greater
abundance and diversity of forms than those
of temperate regions, while the reefs give to
the Pacific and Indian oceans more species
than the Atlantic. Our still very meager
knowledge Of the pelagic fishes is sufficient to
indicate that the number Of such types Is
very limited. They diminish rapidly from
the equator, and become rare beyond tbs
fortieth parallel. OF the deep sea fishes,
Gunther enumerated upward OF fifty forms
supposed to have been obtained from depths
exceeding 1000 fathoms, tventy-six from
depths exceeding 2,000 fathoms, and nine
from ,, 500 tathoms. Other species have since
been obtained one from the extreme depth
ofo QaQ fatho,,c Il and WatAr