The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-04
GRowIxG BIGGER AND BETTER.


! One often hears regrets for the passing
of the good old days" when men were
| strong physically and morally, and Ia
/ ments for the degeneracy of the present
I times. Is it true that the human race is
Tetrograd ng, and that he sons of today
are inferior to the fathers Of yesterday or
the grandfathers Of the day before? Is II
true that we are living in an age Of weak
ness and vice such as would have shock
ed our forbears? Prof Magee, of the Ma
| tional Bur au Of Ethnology says that just
the opposite is The fact; mat we are DIV
ing in the best age the world has ever
! seen, and that the men and women OF the
present are harder Of bone and snew,
stronger of intellect larger of stature, and
live longer than those OF former times
And not only that, but it is reasonable 10
expect that future generations viii show
quite as marked advances over the pres
ent as the present does over the past. The
evolution of mank nd is always forward.
The sum of knowledge of good is being
always added to, and each succeeding
generation profits by what the one pre-
ceeding IL learned.
The life insurance business is very old.
II was pracuced by the ancients, and at
tanned to considerable Importance in the
city of PompeI. Not long ago a set of act
uary's tables was unearthed at P0mpeii.
The tables had been carefully worked out,
noting accurately the reasonable expecta-
tons of length Of life of the people among
whom the ancient insurers did business.
Compared with the table of expectations
under which the insurance companies of
the United States are now writing POLL
cies it is found thai the expectation of
life of the average American citizen Of the
present time exceeds by eleven years that
of the citizen of ancient Pompeii. Does
that look like physical degeneracy? In
this connection, by the way, it is of INFER
est TO note that the Americans reasonabe
expectation of life is higher than that of
any other civilized person in the world 1t
is higher by two years than that of the
Englishman, and by four years than that
of the Frenchman, German and Ital an.
In the matter of stature. Prof. Magee
asserts that the average American of the
present is a much bigger man than the
average Pilgrim father viii e the aver
age Englishman cannot begin to get into
the armor in which his ancestor fought
in the Battle of Hastings; and the Ameri-
can is an inch taller than the Englishman
who in turn is an inch taller than the
average continental. There appears 10 be
more hurry, hustle and fierce strife in
commercial affairs now than in former
days. This, however, is not because the
people are burning themselves out in a
mad rush, but because they have more
energy to expend than was possessed by
the people of former days. And here again
the American eXcels He walks faster,
talks faster and thinks faster than the
Englshman or the dweler in Continental
Europe.
Some persons think the consumption of
intoxicating beverages is ON the increase,
and that 1t is mere a matter Of a short
time before the civilized races will become
hesoLted guzz,ers. Hardly anything could
be more erroneous. Even persons who are
not very Old can remember he time when
It was not uncommon for the Judge, the
lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and 9TH
CT prominent citizens to dr. nix in harrooms
if they should be seen drunk But is any
such thing to be seen row? The Court of
Charles ii Of England was notorious for
it's drunkenness and debauchery; is it con-
ceivable that similar conditions could OBJ
tain at the present time? Years ago ii was
not an exceptional sight in Washington to
see Representatives and Senator'S drinking
and drunk in saloons and around gamb-
ling tables. But open intoxicad among
the national lawmakers is now an ext EN-
rarity, and the member Of Congress- WHO
exposes himself in a drunken state at onae
becomes a marked man. The spirit OF
this age" says Prof Magee, SIS against
over-indulgence in strong drink. Slowly
but surely drunkenness and lewdness are
becoming things of the past" And we have
no doubt that he is right. The human race
is growing better all the time and t e
white American is leading in the march of
physical, mental ard moral progress.