The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-05
MANS PROGRESS EVER UPWARD


Trinity parish building, Temple street
MANS PROGRESS EVER UPWARD
And the Flower Of the Human Race Is
the American.
MAN is to-day at the high-water
mark of his development as compared
with the past" said w. j. MCGEE, chief
of the United States bureau of ethnolo-
gy, when questioned on the subject.
Looking forward, 1t may safely be pre-
dicted, in view of the present progress,
that the 1900, 1000 OF human beings
who inhabit the globe are making, that
we are but on the eve of a development
which as far transcends that of the
present as the present SURPRISES that of
centuries since. There is certain
class of prophets and historians which
Is continually trying to impress upon
the men of to-day their inferiority to
their parents In all ways except those Of
material progress. The son, they say, Is
not the, physical, mental, and moral
equal of his father. They look ever
backward for good, and so distorted
does their vision become that in looking
forward they can see nothing but evil.
Now this view is wrong let me empha-
size that point 1t is totally wrong. The
son of tomorrow will prove better
man In every way than the father of to-
day. He will far surpass In the ele-
ments that go to make up real manhood
the grandfather of yesterday. Let this,
too, be emphasized, but do not let 1t be
misunderstood. The world Is moving
onward and upward.
zone of the best indications of the
strength of race all things consider
ed is the longevity of it's peoples. Re-
Gently there have been exhumed from
the ruins of Ponpeii a number of ac-
| tuaries' tables. In these the ancient
italian insurance agents had worked out
carefully the expectation of life for the
people with whom they did business.
| When the italian actuaries' tables were
compared with the actuaries' COM
panies now doing business in the United
States, remarkable condition was
found to obtain at present 1t was dis
covered that the expectation of life of
the American citizen exceeds by IL
years the expectation of the ancient
italian. The average expectation of life
in the United States exceeds by two
years the average expectation OF life in
England. The estlbates fory England
exceed in turn the estimates for France,
Germany and italy and the rest of Eu-
rope, taken as a whole, by about two
years.
another important factor which
must be considered with the question
of the Improvement Of mankind, is that
of STATURE. 1t is fact that the aver
age American Of to-day is a taller man
than the average founder Of this coun-
try. The average Englishman of to-day
lis unable to encase himself in the armor
which his forbears on either side wore
at the battle of Hastings. BY way u
comparison it may be remarked that the
American is an inch taller than the
Englshman, while the Englishman in |
turn is an inch taller than the average |
continental"
"How does the average white man
compare with the savage in point of
strength" was asked.
81 presume that you have in mind |
the Indian and his traditional superb
GRITTY of strength and endurance?" was
the answer. Now, have lived long
time among the Indians. If I know
anybody fancy that it is the red man,
and / can state positively that the white
man is his superior in every way. In
the first place the white man has more
of that quality known as bottom. The
white can lift more, run further and
faster, he can work more, can see
more, and in the course of time and
practice can beat the Indian at any of
his own games. No, on the face of the
1T T., |
Then there is the question Of ath-
letic records. Never year rolls roand
that numberless new records are not
established. AS a rule, the record of
last year is equalled or exceeded this
year We cannot look back to any old
records. They all fall far within those
of the present day Did not the ath-
letes of the new world in competition
against the Greeks at the Olympian
games at Athens, break all the records
of antiquity?
II remember when 7 was a boy an
athletic feat OF the day caused the
greatest excitement. Some champion
walker accomplished the task Of walk
ing 1000 miles in 1000 consecutive
hours. At the time this was the talk of
the country. How many men do you
think there are in this country to-day
who could accomplish this feat? I will
venture to place the figure between 10,-
900 and 100000.
when Herbert Spencer came to this !
some years since, he made the I
that the American people
were running themselves to death. He !
stated that he belived that they would
eventually become crazy,so great must
the resultant nervous strain be from
at the high American speed.A
Mr.. Spencer was wrong. He failed tow
realize that we were going only at our
normal pace. I would lay it down as a
general rule that people on the average +