Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-03-05
AGE OF LIGHT METAL
The Word Shall Shine With New
luster.
CENTURY HOPE
Professor Ridpash Foresees Great
Ihings--seeret@rs Noble GA the
Development 9th West.

Among the greatest changes which tie
ff.h Columbian year VIII discover will be
IN. substitution Of alulnlninfa for iron and
OF sound for sight la tho work Of learning
These thing~ civilization demands aud will
fad In the Twentleta century. Both u
these sut<titutions imply striking change
IN the relations Of nan 10 the laws II his
environment.
The progress u the human race has been
marked and recorded every stage By tho
use q materials found n the earth The
present civilization Of Re world is founded
OF iron For nearly stoo years iron has
tsen the most important material sub
stance IA the arts 81 life We live In an ago
Of iron The whole present fabric IL buiided
almost exclusively On this coarse. strong
metal The age Of iron marks the first
srnergencc G. mankind iafo the conscious
state. Before the epoch Of national con-
s<iousne~s there had been two ages of stone
barbarian has always had stone for its sub
stance and syrnboL Ia the intermediate
stages Of man life the race advanced to cop
per and thea to bronze There was a brief
copper age and then longer age OF bronze.
Finally came the age OF iron IL has been
the age OF hattie and power and conquest.
Civilization has caught her hue and quality
from that material substance To which she
has owed Der preservation.
We are not TO suppose that the age
o. iron will last forever. Nothing lasts
forever AL things obey the law Of evo-
luton and transformation. Just rs stone
and bronze have given place 10 iron, 80
shall iron give place TO aluminium The
people will not call IL aluminium or alum
inrni, but alum-for short. There will he
m age OF alum surprising all the pre-
vious ages OF mans development. The age
OF power and conquest shall yield to an age
Of glory and enlightenment. and Of that
age aluminium win ~ the shining symbol
That beautiful, universal! and everlasting
metal constituting IA 1t does no large part
Of the earth's surface and body. viii bear
mp the whole stupendous fabric OF knowI-
edge and progress which shall riSe around
our descendants In the closing decade Of the
Twentieth century.
The world shall shine with the new lus-
Ter OF its principal metal All things shall
became whittier than silver All the exteri-
or aspects Of life shall be FURNISHED to
trightness The houses and cities Of men.
built of aluminium. shall fash in the rising
sun with SURPRISING brilliancy. All spires
and walls. all gsteways and porches. all
bridges and temples all moving enginery
and farof battlements shall blaze with
spiepdor BETTING the new dawn Of the
ages to come.
The second great change from the fourth
70 the fifth Columbian year will be the sub
stitutaou OF sound for sight IL will be tho
restoration OF the human ear to its rightful
office a. the organ Of enlightenment and
learning The sound wave il TO be substi-
tuted for the light wave as the vehicle Of
all our best information and intercourse
The ear In TO take the place Of the eye for
the interest aud instruction Of mankind
A most unnatural thing has. happened in
human development The life Of all ages
las been instructed by sound.
All mothers. from the mother bird to the
mother woman. teach their offspring by
sound. by utterance. But instead OF con-
tinuing this natural process of instruction
10 the complete development Of the mind
m abnormal method has been substituted
The youth mt n certain age Is led into
world OF science and there dismissed to
acquire II he can the painful use Of mean
inslcss hieroglyphics There he must study
with the eye. learning the sense Of crooked
marks which can at most signify no more
than words Alas. how much Of energy
and life and thought have been wasted in
the instruction Of the mind by characters
and symbolsl How The sys Of mankind
have been dimned aud eciipsed aud the
faculties oveFheated BY this unnatural proc
esx OF iearning
Man begins his requirement Of knowi-
sdge with words. and he ends with words.
But al unnatural civilization has taught
him TO walk the greater part OF his intel
iectuai journey by means OF arbitrary sys-
tems OF writing aud printing The 9th
Columbian year will see him un.augh;-a
hard thing withai--afd rrtsuglt on na-
lures plan of utternnce Nature teaches
by sound only Arssnciailry writes a scrawl
Natures book IL a book Of woTds Mans
book IL stil a book Of signs and symbols
Aatur's book uttess itself 70 the ear. and
mans book blinds the eSes and oveTheafs
the imagination Natures method il TO
teach by the ear and 10 save the sigh. for
the discovery OF place snd beauty.
The ff-h centennial II our discoyerer viii
bring us the sound book in sonae form. and
With that the intellectual equiposse Of man
kind will begin TO te restored The Use ~
tie eye for the Offices Of learning Ia place
OF the stronger ear has dsssroyed the RAUL
Lsrtnn Of the human mind That eqni-
Ehriun must be restored The mental dis
sases and UNREST o. cur race are largely
attributable To tho overesci;anrnt of the
faculties throu zh zges IL seeing
The ses OF hssgtng Is to come with the
J~entieth century That age will restore
the naiassoc. Memory. almost Obj terste'l.
viii come again The perceptions will cool
be Imagination viii bercne calm, and the