The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-08-01
nnrrnnsno.s INVENTION.
VIVA. tho Printing Press Has nons for
Mankind


Mankiad
Five hundred years ago the literary
Zeltgeist inky-nngcred and forlorn.
cried out for help, and hiC cry was
heard In Germany and answered by the
birth OF Gutenberg In 1891, who gave
to the world. In 1850. It's FIRST COM
ple,cd printing press. says the New
York World -Four men" writes the
German historian Kapp, Gutenberg
Columbus. Luther and Copernieus'
stand az the dividing line Of the middle
agca and serve as boundary stones
marking the entrance OF mankind into
a higher and finer epoch OF Us develop
mont." From centers OF discovery and
invention In Overwhelming circles that
development has gone on But OF all
the means by which the divine fat
LET there be light" has been fulfilled
in It's inner fense-through the long
ages. there has been none In the mate
rial realm that has exerted an influence
ms powerful and far-reaching as the
printing press. Compared with TINS
discovery. which has evolved from the
nehular chaos OF mans thoughts anu
emotions the vast solar system OF
books. even the finding Of a ne" con
tinoni. pal,e In Significance. The pri-
ority Of Gutcnberg's discovery over that
Of Columbus Is IN itself evidence OF It's
vaslor and more urgent import How
ever Il may be now. there was time
when We needed a printing press moro
than we needed another hemisphere.
For there has never been any misoal-
rulaiion IN the order Of the discoveries
and inventions OF the universe The
Edisons and Maxims never could have
been born before the Newtona ana
watts any more than man could have
made his appearance Ia the early pro-
to7oan eras. The wonders OF electricity
and Roontgon rays are the eliminating
uyuries Of invention. 50 20 speak, aud
not its first ncceasities. Added TO all
the bare uulitarian services Il has ren.
dcred mankind. the printing press has
/ enabled man 20 repeat In a spiritual
sense the divine drama Of creation.
I And many an ink-beeottcn hero Is as
living and oGootual an inspiration to
noble dCcda a. though he had lived
and breathod IN human form II Is.
moreover. by means Of their typograph-
zeal cerements that the real heroes Of
. every land aud cline have escaped OBJ
l.yion. Better than an the promises OF
immortality offered 10 Ulysses by Calyp.
81 has been the Immortality conferred
upon him and his comrades by the no
lr.a magical wand Of the printer. Were
our mother island sunk beneath the
ga, wrote Lowe I. Shakespeare would
sim be- an immortal England" On
the other hand. candor compels the
admission that llnful man has made
use Of type as OF every other inyen-
tion-ior base and ignoblo ends. hut
the most plg-headed pesslmist would
hardly maintain that the evil results
thus obtained could be- more than an
inhniicsimal part Of the good ones.
For the printing press has demonstrate
Cd In a most convincing manner that
only what Il good and beautiful Is per.
manent Every vile and morbid book
has died. or eventually viii die. OF It's
own diseases. till at length authors and
publishers will have learned the folly
Of printing such things. Il Is not mere
fancy that sees In the steady external
improvement that has been made on
lhe first hook models a symbol Of an
internal progress In the matter between
tAo coyen OF hookdom. However much
antiquarian rapture We may feel when
we buy a worm-eaten old book In hf-
tccnth century print. we cannot deny
that in their superb typographical ward
robes the books Of to-day as Ear sur.
pass the FIRST Gutenbergon attempts as
tie dainty tinted gowns Of a modern
belle outyie the impromptu makcshlit
u our hg-loayed mother Eve. Con-
corning the respective claims Of Guten.
d berg and Roster TO the discovery OF
movable types. We have no desire 10
bubble. II they had no, invented
something Of the kind somebody else
would have done No about the same
b time OF a little later. be that az IL
may In recognition Of his service 10
. mankind We are willing to pledge Mr..
Gutenberg's health-he surely would
excuse us from drinking Il unless We
followed It mp by swallowing a blottor
in brimming bumper Of ink.