The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-10-07
CHAPTER I


MYSELF.
I Professor Hated Gorgensen, specta
cled. round shouldered. very bald ant
past threescore and ten, wheeled hi
sqneaking chair round SO as to face my
mother, who in her timid way believed
in the startling theories of the dogmatit
crank, and who, with feeling akin tt
awe, had brought her little boy-mysel1
for him to pronounce upon.
| "Yes, madam" he said, his thin lips
moving with peculiar energy, which
showed tho single snag in his upper
! jaw, "any man with common. sense
who will devote three minutes thought
to the matter will not. dare disnutA it -
II always believed what you said,
professor. but my husband
| "Paffl Your husband is fool. like all
husbands ="
| ! looked sideways at mother, wonder
ing how she would take this reference
to my father. She said nothing in the
way Of protest. Perhaps sho did not
catch the full meaning Of the words.
Possibly she caught and believed them.
otis as simple as that two and two
make four. In round numbers there are
1000, 900, 900 of people in the world.
They have all been modelled after the
same image. Tho average length Of life
is 3S years, SO this 1900, 900, 900 is re-
newed three times century. Since the
creation, 6,000 years ago, it has been
renewed $4,000 times''-
But" ventured my mother in a
quaking voice, "there have not always
been 1900, 900, 900 Of people on the
earth. You know that at first there
were only two-Adam and Eve-and a
coed many years must have passed be-
fore the number became as great as it
| is now" ... .-
The professors jaw dropped, and his
little gray eyes twinkled behind his
| spectacIes. He was overcome for the
moment with admiration for this timid
woman that had dared to throw an OBJ
stacle in front Of his juggernaut Of logic.
Madam, you're not q fool, which is
more than ever said Of any other wom-
an, but if you had held your tongue
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, 000,0 900. I've figured it
all out. Making allowance for all this,
the total population of the world since
the creation has been about 10, 900, 000,-
10000 Do you realize it?" he demand
ed, leaning forward, with his hands on
his skinny knees and glazing through
his spectacles.
"Oh, yes. of course"
"Well, then, all 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 I
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 mass Of
terms. with nothing tangible in the way
Of understanding Astronomers talk
about the distance of heavenly bodies,
tho 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,
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, a nose, mouth and
features and form of the face modelled
after one image. Now, while we see
marvellous variety among the faces
which we meet OIL the street, never en-
countering two that are exactly alike,
it is still evident that there must be q
limit to this variation. 1t is not infinite.
Do you follow me?" suddenly thun-
dered Professor Gorgensen in such ex-
element that my poor mother gave
slight start and exclamation, while I
looked round for some way Of escape.
"Oh, yes; oh, yes; certainly un-
derstand you.
"Paffl l doubt it. But you know as
much as any Of your sex. have figured
the whole thing out. l have made q
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, 1--WE
meet two persons so alike in appearance
that their most intimate friends cannot
tell them apart Nevertheless there is
difference which manifests itself, after
time, if not in their looks, in their
disposition, but what ! am striving to
impress upon your understanding is
that this variation has its limit. When
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 20 back to the beginning and re-
peat itself"
my! And you have figured it all out,
professor
II have" was the impressive answer.
II am the only person that has done 60.
The vanishing point is at the number
1928, 845, 1898. In other words, that num-
Der of men and women can be born and
may grow up with enough variation in |
their looks and disposition to be distin-
guishable from each other, but when
one more individual is added to the
number no must he reproduction Of
one of tho vast multitude have named"
My mother showed d surprising apt
ness in following the amazing theory
of Professor Gorgensen.
"Then there are a good many people
living today who are exactly the same
In every respect?"
Precisely"
"But what about the different races?
II the two reproductions Of each other
belong to different races
"They would not be exact reproduc-
tions You missed the finest point Of
my beautiful and exact theory. My cal
culation incl,.dcs color race and all pre-
vious conditions Of servitudc. Now, ap-
plying tho truth I have discovered, it
follows that at all times every man and
woman in thu world has 10 or 1 nor. |