The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-23
WHERE DID WE sTARTr


 WHERE DID WE STARTf
 | Where did the human race first appear
 on earth? is a question that has been discussed by scientists and theoloeians
 for years. without any prospect of set l tiement 50 far as now appears. Of
 course the inquiry depends on the ad-
 mission that the Mosaic account is cor
 rect. If we adopt the theory of the tevoiutionists that man grew up by ! gradual stages from some original pro- | toplasm. then we may as we'll admit that millions of years may have elapsed since the process began. and that 1t is as likely to have begun in one place as another. This Is question we have no intention of arguing for 1t is one about which dis cussion is practically endless and on which no agreement will ever be reached in all probability. The present ground of argument is based on the theory of the unity of the human race. and of Adam and Eve as the sole progenitors of the human family. The immediate cause of the discussion is the declaration recently made by Professor Dyche of the Kansas University. that the Garden of Eden was situated at the North Pole. This is not new, it is true, for the same theory has been advanced time and again by students and investigators who have not been satisfied with what is written, but delight to dig and delve after hidden things and thus arrive at the ultimate origin of things. They contend that the earth was originally mass of molten matter that it began to cool at the poles and naturally would have first become cool enough there to sustain human life. This might be admitted, but then here come other scientists contend that the earth was formed millions of years beffre Adam was created. admitting that he Twas the first human being, and con- sequently, large portions of its surface must have been fitted for animal life be- fore man was placed on it.
 But if this theory is admitted why not the South Pole as we'll as the North one? We suppose our Kansas professor settles that to his satisfaction, as we have not read his arguments in full, and do not know what arguments he uses to prove that the Northern axis of the earth was the place where our first parents set up housekeeping and began their work of peopling the earth. If he settles that question satisfactorily. he has done something no other person has done, and, to a certain extent sfmplifes a much mooted difficulty.
 There's one thing about this theory that is in it's favor, and that is the facility with which the inhabitants could spread to every part of the earth as 1t became habitable. Unless there were impossible streams or other waters to hinder them they would find their way downward in all directions as drops oi water travel down an open umbrella and would simultaneously colonize all the land in the four quarters of the globe. This Is a strong argument when 1t comes to deciding how people of apparently similar races were found at places separa- ted from each other by oceans impassa- ble to men in their primitive condition. But it must be admitted that it will
 take something far moro substantial than | the theories of a college professor to
 satisfactorily establish the beginning or starting point of humanity. His claims | may stimulate search for the North | Pole, and when that Is found there may | also be something found which will prove former occupancy. The stone axes with which Adam killed his game. and the I flint knives with which he and Eve dressed the animals would be good evil l dence. The implements used by them in cultivating the earth, or the stone l club with which Cain slew his brother | would be admitted as presumptve testi- mony in any investigation. In fact, there might be, if Professor Dyche is on Governor Aycock of North Carolina in speaking the other day on the subject of negro education cited the fact that the
 negroes were generally taught to read and write before the Civil War" This Is one of those facts which is untrue. At any rate it was not true of Alabama. whatever may have been the case in North Carolina. Occasionally a negro was taught to read, and sometimes one was taught to write, but 1t was very rare in- deed that slave could do both. It was illegal, in some of the States to teach slaves to read or write, and the state ment of Governor Aycock that this was generally done betrays a woful lack of information.