The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-11
MANS PROGRESS EVER UPWARD
And the Flower of the Human Race
Is the American.

From the New Y ork Sun.
''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 Ethnology, when
questioned on the subject. Looking for
ward, it may safely be predicted, in view
of the present progress, that the 1900, co.,
5000 of human beings who irihabit the globe
| are making, that we are but on the eye of
a development which as far transcends
that of the present as the present SUI
| passes that of centuries since. There is a
| certain class Of prophets and histo- ians
which Is continually trying to impress up
| on the men of to-day their iaferiority 10
their parents in all ways except those of
| material progress. The son, they saw 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 emphasize that point 1t
| is totally wrong. The son of to-fnorrow
will prove better man in every way than
the father of to-doy. He will far surpass
in the elements that go TO make up real
| manhood the grandfather of yesterday
| Let this, too. be emphasized, but do not let
it be misunderstood The world is movina
onward and upward.
"One of the best Indications of the
strength of a race all things considered,
is the longevity of its people. Recently
| there have been exhumed from the ruins
| of Pompeii a number of actuarles tables.
In these the ancient Italian insurance
| agents had worked out carefully the ex-
| pectation of life for the people with whom
they did business. When the Italian ac-
| tuaries' tables were compared with the
| actu9rfPS' nipe Anipor
in the United States, a remarkable con-
| dition was found TO obtain at present. 1t
was discovered that the expectation of
| life of the American citizen exceeds by
e'even years the expectation of the ancient
I ---fan. The average expectation of life
| in the United States exceeds by two years
the average expectations of life in Eng
| land. The estimates for England exceed
| in turn the estimates for France, Ger
many and Italy and the rest of Europe,
taken as whole, by about two years.
Another important factor which must
be considered with the question of the
| improvement of mankind, is that of stat
ure. 1t is a fact that the average Ameri-
can of to-day is a taller man than the
| average founder OF this country. The av-
| erage Englishman of to-day is unable to
encase himself In the armor which his
forebears on either side wore at the battle
| of Hastings. By way of comparison 1t
may be remarked that the American Is
an inch taller than the Englishman, while
| the Englishman in turn is an inch taller
than the average continental"
How does the average white man com
pare with the savage in point of
| strength" was asked.
| Il presume that you have in mind the
Indian and his traditional superiority of
| strength and endurance" was the an
swer. NOW, l have lived a long time
anon the Indians. IL / known anybody
fancy that II 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 man 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 globe the white man has no equal
Then there is the question of athletic
| records. Never O year rolls round that
| numberless new records are not establish
ed. As a rule, the record of last year is
equaled 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 athletes OF the new world in
| competition against the Greeks at the
Olympian games at Athens, break all the
| records OF antiquity?
| 81 remember that when I was boy an
athletic feat of the day caused the great
est excitement. Some champion walker ac-
compished the task of walking 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? will venture to place the figure
between 10000 and 100000.
when Herbert Spencer came to this
| country some years since he made the
| observation that the American people were
| running themselves TO death. He stated
that he believed that they would eventu-