Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-09-08
EVOLUTION.
Interesting Examples Seen at
the Columbian Exposition.
Carts and Boats from Year u Down
to Date.
vhs ersaasst csliectiea Ever eAeva uates
ne ersaasst csliectiea Ever eAeva uatel
Oae Rost.


fifSh avenue, from the rude dug-out Of
the autoch,hon to the wonderful ocean
steamer and from tho wooden headed
Gods Of Alaska to the lovely creations In
The art palace. We have here the races Of
mankind from the cultured Brookiynite
down TO some Africans who have no word
for any number beyond hundred; where
man ends the trained animals in the great
plaisance show take up the links, and
Professor Gernier has sent from Africa TO
the congress Of sciences q promise that by
the next worlds fair he will have the lam
gusge of the apes reduced TO writing and
give US an outline Of their civil constitu-
tions and forms Of government.
Those who have read the new Genesis,
according to Tyndall. Huxley, Spencer
and Darwin will remember the statements
interesting. but tough" as Huck Finn
said, that when the primordial ape had
ascended the family tree so high that he,
in = measure. got rid of his tail he de
scended to earth, organized the primitive
commonwealth, developed into an anthro-
poid and by natural selee lion and survival
Of the fittest evolved the anthropomorphic
primordial types-the homunculus, the
prognalhus, the troglodyte, the autoch-
thon and the tarregen. These were the
generations Of primeval man, and terragen
was the father Of the aborigine. Well.
we have them all here. alive or stuffed or
shown in rude carvings by the first men,
who were contemporary with them. and
in the Transportation building we have
the history Of their progress In that line.
And the order Of the use made Of animals
was evidently this: First, the dog and
then the OK, the ass and the horse in sue
cession, with camels, llamas. buffaloes and
elephants in their native regions.
The visitor entering that building at the
north end comes first upon an all-wooden
Mexican cart with two Of those long
horned oxen hitched, and the whole get-up
is 30 comically natural, SO exactly like the
vehicle as saw II in Mexico, that almost
expected TO hear the shrill "Carambai
Viejo, cabron, carrambal" as one hears II
in Mexico. In these carts one finds what
was undoubtedly the primitive form Of the
wheel-that is a cross section cut out Of
tree, the toughest wood the barbarian
could find Of course. It was great day
for civilization when some man invented
a way TO hollow out the center Of the
wheel and make II much lighter while re-
tanning its strength; but when hub, spoke
and felloe were completed there was civil
ization, indeed.
In the same line is the bullock cart from
Siam, the rude country cart from Turkey,
the heavy wheels from Santa Domingo
and the specimens from Malacca, upper
India and South Africa. But all these
have hub and spokes, though Of very rude
construction, which increases the wonder
that the solid wheel should still be in use
in Mexico In brides, saddles aud spurs
all these nations show far greater i'm
provements, which may be due to the fact
that they used them long before they did
vehicles. But the interesting fact is that
in water transportation they reached per-
lection, that is on a small scale, almost at
the start The light boats Of the Malays,
the canoes Of the South seas, the caiques.
the little Siamese skiffs and even the
kaiak (they spell it in several other ways)
of the Esquimaux are about as good for
their purposes as civilized men could
make.
United States Consul Merrill, Of Jerusa-
lem, his sent boat used on the sea OK
Gallile, which he maintains is Of identi-
cally e same pattern as that used by the
apostle ic fishermen Of the year "a and
therea outs. II SO, Peter and Andrew
must ave been very skiiiful boatmen, for
| sho, 4 hate to trust myself in It. He
has a sent complete Jerusalem trans
porta on exhibit, consisting of the leather
bottl ! for carrying oil, wine and water,
water jars to be carried on the head,
water kins, small hand jugs Of terra Gotta,
plaqu and other covers for the vessels in
whicl. food is carried, and n variety OF
baskt = and panniers as used by hncksters.
The ,sence Of ornament on these things
calls . my mind the alleged fact that
there has never been time when art
-four he'd in Palestine and raises the
ques' IN whether the prohibition so long
eufoi ed among the Jews and tacitly nc
cepte by their successors has wrought an
orgal ie change in the people. l do not
Just ow remember the name Of any great
Jewi h painter or sculptor, though there
may e such.
Far more interesting are the palan-
quin sedan chairs and other appliances
used where man is the carrier of man and
won IN, and Of all these the most interest
ing the Madagascar palanquin used by
Mad me French-Sheldon in her long jour
ney Il Africa in 1891. During most of the
time she went afoot, directing the course
Of the column, and only used this palan-
quin when sleep or rest became necessity.
IL is at once light and strong and her four
stal'-art carriers bore her along with ease.
United States Consul Bannister. of st.
Paul de Loarda, has also sent palaDquin
used on the west coast and one OF the
canoes Of the natives there. Other Curl
osities in this line are the mandarin chair
from China, the jinricksha from Japan,
the pretty palaDqain used by high caste
folks in India, the silia or chair In which
the siIiero of the Andes carries travellers
| over the mountains, and the many va
rieties Of chairs, baskets and carriages
As for the housings on camels, elephants.
donkeys and buffaloes, a mere list Of them
would stretch out TO tedious length.
1t is q far cry from palanguin TO a
Pullman palace car, but the railway ex-
bibit In the great annex Is a worlds fair
n itself. The Transportation building
| proper is only go feet long and 2J5 feet
wide, but the annex extends from 1t TO the
west side Of the grounds and covers nine
ceres In it are locomotives from every
firm Of makers in the United States but
| two, cars Of every kind known in the btisi-
aess wiAh every kind Of brake and butter.
and many old relics oi great historic inter
| est. Ali this, however, the public Of today
knows all about. Neither IL 10 necessary
| for me TO set forth the wonderful array d
| skifs. canoes, otItriggers and Nfet1ats
| the models Of the large steamers and sail
| ing vessels. the immense dioramic view
Of all the principal ports in the world, th'
raised maps showing the depths and shai
lows In the principal harbors or the reaill
wonderful and practical illustrations d
steering and determining courses. Over tbs
beautifully carved arch 10 the main en-
trance il a paragraph from Macau.ey Il
tEe effect that next to the art Of printing
| improved transportation has done most Il
eiyilize and hunanize the race, which
| beg leave to condense to o single tex
Easy Communications Improve Goo
Mannerl
7 In the Italian section Of the Hbera
Arts Il shown the evolution Of glass ~
used Tor toilet and decorative purposes
The varieties Of mirrors In sizez am
shapes Is almost endless and the enornou
| curved glasses on each side Of the nortl
entrance furnish continual amusement Il
the visitors. 1t il quite an old device
this Of distorting the human form b,
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