Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-12-29

that force. which has not yet yielded al
It's secrets TO man. It is a speaking
commentary on the rapidlty with which
electric inventions have been adopted
and asslmllated that the two foremost
In their promulgNion, Edison and Bell
are still living and hardly past hale
middle age. To the ofe we are indebted
for hundreds Of inventions, by which
he has established a record positively
unriyaled In this or any other century
to the other the world points as the
chief promoter, II not the actual IN
ventor. Of the telephone, which was
first exhibited to the public In 1871. The
same year brought forth Edlson's pho
nograph, and two years later the first
electric railway was constructed and
exhibited in Berlin. This was followed
closely by Edison and Fields electric
railway. and today there Is no impor-
tant town or city without its system OF
transit by the underground or over
head trolley
The electric light was produced by
Davy IN 1913, but for many years was
regarded merely as an experlmenter' s
! plaything until suddenly there leaped
out the are and incandescent systems
which have converted night into day.
The recent advance In electric sci
ence has been by leaps and bounds, yet
| each succeeding stage in its progress
/ has been the result of long studied prin-
| ciples each new discovery rendering
/ that which followed easier Every In
/ dependent worker has aided every 9TH
er until the cumulative product Is ap-
parent at The end Of this. the worlds
most wonderful century.
/ Even IN o cursory review ~ the cen
/ tuy's achievements mention should be
made not only OF what II has done for
America, but what America has done
for the century Il is patent to all
that no notable discovery or invention
/ has been made that an American did
not have a hand IN, And this Is stat
I cd not IN the spirit OF Boosting, but as
/ simple fact Not alone In the realm
/ Of science, but In art and literature.
particularly in the latter, have Amer
leans won the recognition of the world.
| The first book was printed In the colo
MES In 1882 not long after the first coll
lege was established, yet It was not I'M
Oil well into this century that dlstinc-
lively national literature was evoked.
But II Is no longer the vogue IN Europe
70 ask who reads an American book
There are names In our literature that
the world viii not willingly let die, and
the promise for the future is even
greater than when Irving and Prescott.
Bancroft and Longfellow, wrote.
The list Of our authors who have
achieved universal fame would IN itself
MI columns; equally true Is It OF those
who in other walks Of life have won
renOwn.
The very fullness OF this century Is
provocative Of dIscouragement. for.
after the wonderful things that have
been achieved, what viii be left for
coming generations TO do? History
teaches that the pendulum OF progress
swings only so far onward. then swings
back; but, again. history has never
shown US another century so charged.
so vital, with the spirit Of progress. IL
cannot be that all these inventions.
these discoveries, shall go for naught |
There Is no domain, except that OF the !
air. In which man has not apparently |
mastered nearly all the great mysteries. |
The age Of iron has been succeeded by /.
that OF steam, Of electricity. OF the 1
Roentgen rays, and. reaching forward /
for new worlds TO conquer. II Is not .
improbable that man will take hold Of |
the ethical and spiritual problems |
which have been waiting since the birth /
OF time for their solution. Humanita-
rlanism-that kind which makes for
philanthropy-has reached higher
plane than ever It held before, and II
may be that, standing on the threshold
OF new century with material and
physical questions no longer 10 be set
ted the great minds Of earth viii pom
der the well being Of their fellow men.
Mankind In the nineteenth century
has done a great deal for the advance
ment OF the twentieth: II would seem
the eminently proper thing for the
twentieth century 10 lake hold and do
something for mankind. Turn about h
fair play. FREDERICK A. ODER.