The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-10-14
OF HISTORY.
Crete Was the Island Stepping Stone
hu Mhich Ciuilixa&ian Came

JCrete Was the Island Stepping Stone
by Which Civilization Came.
London Express: IL is a commonplace
that history is constantly engaged in de-
throning the idols of our fancy, the Will
lam Tells OF our youth, the Homers of the
King Arthurs of our maturer years. Now
adays we are forever hearing of the
mythapoeic. or myth-making faculty,
which was strong in the youth of the
races and is with us today. The prettier
the story the surer it Is, sooner or later,
to be accounted a fable. This iconoclastic
process has for once been reversed by the
spadework of a devoted Weshman. DIR.
Arthur Evans, in the Island of Crete.
Crete was really the island stepping
stone by which civilization, which halted
long thereon, stepped from Egypt into
Europe. The great palace of Minos-the
original of the labyrinth of the myths
remodeled upon still earlier royal dwell
ings which go back more than 1900 years
before our era. So that civilization
reached the easternmost island of Europe
long ago, and after 5000 years a native
of the westernmost island has revealed
the facts with a spade. II almost seems
a shame that some of these priceless and
unique find of his should not find a home
in the British museum; but, remember
ing the permanent disgrace which at
taches to our possession of the Elgin
marbles-snatched by Lord Elgin from
the ~parthenon-we may say it is right
that these things SHOULD find a home in
Crete. But 1t ugh certainly to be called
the Evans museum.
Last winter the Royal academy gave an
exhibition of what 1t called "Old Masters
4 at Burlington house. In an odd room. by
way of a side show, they arranged some
of DR.. Evans finds at Knossos. There.
If they had known it, was the oldest
master of them all, Daedalus, the founder
of fine art. There is nothing in Egyptian
or Babylonian art to correspond with the
work of Daedalus. Frescoes were there.
showing King Minos' female toreados.
clad with very little else than extremely
tight corsets and literally applied cos
metics-for tight lacing and rougeing, as
these prove. were customs inoculated in
european civilization in Its cradle. mar
velously cut canoes equal to the work
done thousands of years later; delicately
chased jars; statuettes of running boys
ana nying nirds-these were some of the
artistic treasures. Then there was a
plan of Mino's palace. showing the SAN
ltary arrangements conceived by Daeda-
nus, and better than anything we had in
this country until a few years ago. Yet
an odd paragraph here and there was all
tne notlce the professional art critics took
OF the most interesting exhibition that
mas been seen everywhere for years.
since then DR.. Evans has been lecturing
at lne ROYAL institution on the CLAW
archives which he found at Knossos.
HOW ne fnds time to do everything r
Know not. He has been hampered not
only by the weather, but by the lac1, Of
FUNDS, while a German professor. work
ing at thlngs a thousand years OUNCE
IN GREECE, Is literally supported nv the
German government. Our own govern
ment has not given DR.. Evans twopence
70 he!p discoveries which have remade
ancient history. 1A-'0
I I'D aAnnaarc afGof {l,- I--- lI
evolved on Cretan soil from the pict,,r-
esque Writing imported from Egypt. IF
you nave never done so think What the
letter means today. Excepting, perhaps.
the wheel. 1T Is easily the most important
invention in history. So we owe, ms 1ate
tiers to Crete. The Chinese gave ne mr.
instance of what this means. Every one
Knows thai they have made no progress
lot ages. How can they, with an alpha
pet which consists of 5000 pictures and
taxes q lifetime to begin to learne With
letters anything is possible. Today the
represent a man, and besides them an
oplong figure to represent a mouth;
thereby he means "a man who stands
by his word" Letters, as DR.. Evans has,
proved. have a European history alone of
1000 years. vet one-fourth of man-kind
still writes in pict- -es today
l spent a long time studying the muscles
ana Veins of the Cretan foream of 1000
ago. as shown in some of DR.. Nv
ans wonderful photographs. Their ar
is identical to the smallest de-
tail with that Of the surface veins and
muscles In the arm that writes these
words. These statuettes continue, in nv
tho Oldest exact anatomical rec
ords IN the world, and my study of them
leads to the conclusion that in 4,G0c wears
there has been no change in even the
minute details of the forearm of man.
In other words evolution, so far as ~ at
fects the body. has stopped. TIL last
great step was taken when man became
upright and could use the fore limbs l1pon
which his ancestors had walked for writ
ing, fiddle playing, invention and all the
other numberless uses 10 which we nut
our hands. But the Oldest anatomical evil
dence we possess. or are likely to nos
sess. proves that physical evolution has
and doubtless we shall lpse o,r
teeth and nails, and may develop other
things II occasion needs, but the Anal
step has really been taken. The "s,1r-
v1Val of the fittest'' in years to come viii,
the survival of the mentally and
morally fittest. Crete and DR.. Evans. at
any rate, nave supplied us with presum-
i've evidence that no physical change of
real moment has occurred in the hu-
man form during the past. 1000 wears.
This is perhaps the most nlik Of ali
he wonderful discoveries of which DIR.
Evans had only an inkling when he first
pushed a spade into that island hill.