Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-06-11
What Wonderful Progress.

secrets OF nature. Success has obliter.
ated all bounds to aspirations for dis
covery OF hidden laws and development
OF the occult forces OF Nature. 1t has
been regarded, up to the present time
that all earthly effort to attract the at.
tcntlon Of the inhabitants III Other
worlds IN onr planetary sy,tcm-grant
ed, OF course. that they are worlds.
and a. a natural sequence pcoplcC
10y rational bcing--must he mad,
through the SENSE of sight; that tn,
people of Mars, for instance, might h,
able To construct some great landmark
that would he recognizable through
our mammoth telescopes, and by 4
slow process OF evolution of thought
from the most simple means OF cStab-
fishing identify, finally lead up to an
interchange of intelligence between
the inhabitants OF the spheres. 1t was
not deemed possible to communicate
by sound, from the fact that that ave-
nue. to the brain is actuated BY vibra-
lions OF the air, and as there are many
thousands OF miles of vacuum between
our earth and the nearest planet, the
want OF medium for projecting sound
waves was SO plainly apparent as to
discourage all effort in that direction.
But 10 and behold, Science has, or is
about to, bridge that chasm, as it has
many others, by an absolutely new
dlscovery--that sound impulses may
he transmitted over ray of light!
Just as the modern telephone, which
annihilates distance for the human
voice, grew out of a toy continuance
that demonstrated the principle in
volved by reproducing the sound
waves by means of diaphrams a few
feet apart, SO doubtless will the discov-
cry of Prof. Bell that sound may be
carried by beam of light a mile or
mere, result in the perfecting of the
stellar telephone, whereby our Marian
neighbors may be brought literally
within speaking distance of our own
earth!
Verify, we live in an age of progress,
an era-as an old school book sagely
remarked, even in the slow days of
long ago" when the arts and sciences
are making gigantic strides to perfec-
tion." Who can predict what a GEN.
fury, generation-aye, even q year.
may bring forth, in an age of progress
marked by this long procession of
startling wonders?
To hold converse with the inhabi-
tants of Mars is by no means rs start
ling proposition to the present gen.
Grafton as that intelligence might be
instantaneously flashed through Nep-
tunes domains, or clicked over q vast
continent and translated into the
language of diplomacy or commerce,
was to our immediate ancestors. Nor
will it end with present glimmerings
of hope which inspire the ambition of
scientific labor. Each triumph leads
to still wider conception of human
capability. The next cycle of time
may witness an elevation of the human
soul that will bring it infinitely nearer
the abode of the angelic hosts, and
who knows but that the problem OF
aerial navigation may be so plainly
solved, through the aid of our plan
etary friends, that we may be able
to receive and exchange visits with
the inhabitants of the red-hued orb,
and ultimately establish relations of
commerce, if not of social intercourse,
with a people who, all scientific deduc-
tions show, are our superiors in intel
lect as we'll as Drawn. The impas-
stoned rhapsody of the Lyonese lovers
who wondered what star would be
their abiding place when the silken
cord of love had been united by the
knot which Hymen blesses, would
then be a plain prosaic affair, that
would rank no higher than house
moving in May, and true romance
would be literally transferred to other
spheres, as, for instance, the selection
of fair maidens of the love-lit planet to
gladden. the home of some earth-born
mortal who dare lift his eyes to the
boundless universe for q guide, coun.
sellor and friend.
We live in an age of A'eat discovery.
" Progress" is the watchword of the
day. Be prepared to keep step with
onward march that leads to emancipa-
ton from the cares imposed by ignor-
ance of the laws which environ our
nature. Men may be veritable gods, if
the veil be drawn aside little further
and in his hands be placed the mighty
resources which a possession of the
key to knowledge has disclosed.
THERE'S LUCK IN THE NAME
Henry L. Wilson, brother of our
whipper-snapper Senator, has been ap-