The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-06-21
WHO'S WHO?
By HUGO ST. FIEIsTERRE, NJ. D.
copyright, 1897, by the Authorl
CHAPTER !.
MYSELF.


squeaking chair round so as to face my
mother, who in her timid way believed
in the startling theories of the dogmatic
cxank, and who with a feeling akin to
awe, had brought her little boy-myself
for him TO pronounce upon.
Eyes, madam, a" he said, his thin lips
moving with a peculiar energy, which
showed the single snag in his upper
jaw, "any man with common sense
who will devote three minutes thought
to the matter will not dare dispute it. "
Il always believed what you saID,
professor, but my husband"-
"Paff Your husband is fool, like all
husbands y
looked sideways at mother, wonder
ing how she would take this reference
to my father She said nothing i'll the
way Of protest. Perhaps she did not
catch the fall meaning of the words.
Possibly she caught and believed them.
Its as simple as that two and two
make four In round numbers there are
1000, coo, eco of people in the world.
They have all been modelled after the
same image. The average length of life
is 33 years, so this ! 500, 600, coo is re-
newed three times q century. Since the
creation, 5000 years ago, it has been
renewed Is, coo tines
But, " ventured my mother IN
quakiug voice, "thorc have not always
been 800, eco, 600 Of people or the
earth. You know that at first there
were only two-AGum and Eye-aud
4
fore the number became rs great a3 IL
is now.
The professors jaw dropped and his
little gray eyes twinklCd behind his
spectaclCs. He was overcome for tie
moment with admiration fer this timid
woman that had dared to throw an Oh
stacle i'll front OF his juggernaut of logic.
Madam, you're not IA fool, which is
more than | ever said of any other wom-
an, but if you had held your tongue a
minute longer you would have heard
the qualification of my first statement.
OF course many generations came and
went before the population of the earth
reached 1000, 600, 600. I've figured it
all out. Making allowance for all this,
the total population Of the world since
the creation has been about 10, 600, 000,-
O00, 600. Do you realize it," he demand
ed, leaning forward, with his hands on
his skinny knees and glaring through
his spectacles.
"Oh, yes, Of course. "
"Well, then, all l have to say, mad
am, is that you re an Internal sight
smarter than every person ever born in
to this world. All the people that
have known find it rather hard work to
grasp the full meaning of 100. When
they strike 1000, they begin to get
hazy. Beyond that it is all a mass of
terms, with nothing tangible in the way
of understanding. Astronomers talk
about the distance of heavenly bodies,
the velocity of light, the speed of COM
cts and all that without any more real
comprehension of what it all means
than that little freckle faced boy by
your side knows about Ponds asino-
rum. ;"
II didn't mean-that is, of course, l
don't nderstand-but
Never mind +" broke in the profess
or, with an impatient wave of his at
tenuated fingers. 1.-THE self evident
truth is this: Every man and woman
born into this world has, with few ex-
ceptions, two eyes, nose, mouth and
features and form Of the face modelled
after one image. Now, while we see a
marvellous variety among the faces
which we meet on the street, never en-
countering two that are exactly alike,
il is still evident that there must be a
limit 20 this variation. 1t is not infinite.
To you follow me?' suddenly thun-
dered Professor Gorgensen in such ex-
element that my poor mother gave a
slight start and exclamation, while
looked round for some way Of escape.
"Oh, yes; oh, yes; certainly | un-
derstand you"
"Pafl / doubt it, But you know as
much as any of your sex. have figured
the whole thing out. / have made a
mathematical demonstration of it. "
The professor glared at my mother
as if challenging her to dispute his as
sertion, but the frightened woman re-
manned silent and expectant.
"Now and then" he continued, eve
meet two persons so alike in appearance
that their most intimate friends cannot
tell them apart. Nevertheless there is
a difference which manifests itself, after
time, if not in their looks, in their
disposition, but what i am striving 10
impress upon your understanding is
that this variation has its limit. When
a certain number of human beings are
modelled after the one image, point
is finally reached when all possible
variations are at end. The work must
then go back to the beginning and re.
peat itself. "
"Myl And you have figured it all out,
7rofessor?"
81 have, was the impressive answer
81 am the only person that has done so
The vanishing point is at the number
1873, $40, 326. In other words, that mum
Der of men and women can be born ant