Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-06-02

introduced in the western world, the
Incapable of producing e. Europe did
not receive II until the Middle Ages,
and then it came through the Sara.
Gems, who brought Il from Arabia.
And even the Arabians got these won.
dertul numerals from India. which Is
nearer sim 10 the heart of Asia
without the alphabet and the mum.
erals OF modern commerce. we literally
would not exist, The city of Chicago
would he q prairie waste and the
Plymouth rock itself perhaps would
stu be impressed by the feet of white
men, But this is merely the beginning
OF the list OF things that have come
out of Asia The mariners compass
alone made the navigation of the wide
oceans possible thus bringing about
me discovery OF America by Euro.
Veans; and the compass we owe to the
Chinese. whose knowledge of the mag.
netic needle 'an he traced back to the
second centu after Christ, Gunpow.
der, too, orig ,a'ly came out of Asia
and gunpowdcr Is the foundation ot
modern war splendid as these tnven.
tions were, another ranks with them
in its vital Importance TO all advanced
civilization and that lis the art OF
printing. This too, came out OF Asia,
To modern printing the Semitic sys.
tom of phonetic writing, by which the
language can be represented through
two dozen signs, and cheap writing
or printing material, are essential
The idea of printing IL very old as
may be seen in the ancient Rahylonan
mint stamps and cylinder seal signs
The next great step was the invention
of paper, The writing material of an.
cient Greece and Rome was too costly
To- be extensively used and the art OF
printing would have died In It's infancy
had not the genius OF tho ksiatlc
again supplied the want OF mankind
We are indebted to the Chinese for
our modern paper The immortal In.
Nention was made by Tsal lun, about
100 A. H. He was the director of the
Chinese arms factory Of that day.
Finding silk too costly and bamboo In.
convenient, he hit Uron new mater.
ial made out " rags fsh nets hemp
and bark Thus paper came out Of
Asia, Printing on paper soon devel.
oped In China, as a consequence, the
art of printing from plates was In use
nj the end Of the sixth century. In
our ignorance we westerners long
credited the European Gutenberg with
the invention OF printing with movable
types, burt that, too, came out OF Asia.
A Chinese named plshong invented
movable types In the middle OF tho
nth century. or $50 years before Gut.
enberg was born Let us remember
ptshong and Tsai Lun
Nor Is this all that has come out OF
Asia. Some small things are our pas
times, such as playing cards, checkers
and chess, which camo from the Mo
hammedans Of the nearer east, even
the food of hens eggs we owe 20 In.
dia, whore that particular fowl was or.
lginally developed. When you SEQ
tulip with its brilliant colorlng the
coming spring, remember that Il came
out of Asia From these we may as
cond again to more important things
such ns the extraordinary decorative
art of the Japanese, which has aad 80
far-reaehing an effect upon our modern
culture. China gave us silk and norce
lain II is even true that the pointed
arch. which made Gothic architecture
possible. was first developed In the
~ ~ Ia, Mia anl -t,t hn
embraced In the orient rather than IN
the occident, The choicest products
of the oriental textile industry cannot
he oaualed with our western science
and invention, as the oriental rugs In
your homes so easily demonstrate
Then there Is the ideal revolving
stage, for the theater, which one or
two German cities have introduced
That came from Japan or out OF Asia
The seEen.days week came from Bah
ylonla. And do not be surprised TO
learn that the ratio Of 10 To between
gold and silver originated also In
Babylonia. in computations concerning
the revolutions OF the sun, moon and
planets,
Our literature Is saturated with
Asiatic Reni,rs-on needs only men
ton the Arabian Nights and the Bible
The very ideas OF God and the devil
this world and another world which
peryade the great monoareistic re.
ligIons originated in Persia Chris
tianity itself finally, came out OF
Asia. Asia. when all Is told, IL quite
worthy Of the respect OF any man
dwelling In London. New York or Chi
cago. Asia was the cradle of civilian
tion. and II may yet Influence pro
foundly the life Of mankind. Tho very
war we witness IN the far East is pos
sibly a sign Of the awakening Of tn"
oriental world.
Japanese Anthem.
At musical evening last week