Milford chronicle., 1904-08-26
An Airship Tour.

1 step INTO Lle dlISulp ul DdulOs-Ou u
mont, that wonderful wizard of the
air. The Brazilian aeronaut says
"Where would you like to go? Would
you like a sail over the waters of the
Mediterranean? Would you like tC
view Paris from a height higher than
the Einel tower? Would you take a
sightseeing trip above the buildings OF
the st. Louis worlds falr?" But l am
ambitious, and, forgetting the limita-
tions of my body, l say: Nay, not any
of these Journeys would l go. But as
a sailor might sight the cleaning eye
of a lighthouse from afar and head
toward an open harbor, l would head
toward the lighthouse of some star.
would explore an unknown world.
With that request a smile twitches the
corners of my companions lips. The
machinery of his airship begins to
throb. We mount higher and higher
and higher until it seems the blood
must burst from my agonizing brain.
"What is the matter?" l cry Turn
the ship, turn it, or l shall dien' With
that Santos -Dumont turns the airship's
rudder, and as we begin to descend he
says: i took you on this journey to
prove to you that it is an impossibility
for man TO live far above the earth.
When the air becomes rarefed there is
not enough substance there for man to
breathe. God has dccreed that phys
ical man never can fly like bird away
to the stars. lie is free to live in this
air only as he breathes that air when
his feet are planted upon the solid
earth"
Down into the shaft of a coal mine l
descend. Farther and farther l 20
until the darkness seems to be hurled
at me. l cling in dumb fear to the
miner by my side. We go down and
down until the heat becomes like the
blistering sands of the Sahara desert.
Fresh air from above is now pumped
to my painting lungs. But the heat
grows more and more intense until it
seems l cannot live. suddenly we come
to the end of a long coal shaft. why
not farther?' l ask my guide. HAS
the coal vein stopped here" NAY"
is the answer. "the coal is just as rich
farther on. but it is an impossibility
now to work it. The farther we bur
row into the earth the hotter it be
comes. God has decreed that physical
man nust live on the earth's surface.
He may pass around the surface Of the
earth, but cannot 90 through it. He
can never tunnel his way from New
York to Peking." What is true of the
air and land is true also Of the sea.
In that wonderfully interesting book
called "Inua Mundl' the author de-
scribes one Of the pleasures Of heaven
as walking through the crystal halls
Of the river of life. We know not
what may be the delights reserved for
us in that celestial sphere. 1t may be
ours to pass dryshod through the river
of life as the Hebrews passed through
the Jordan. But while we are in this
mundane life we can never explore the
crystal halls of the Atlantic ocean nor
sail through the ether of the skies. II
man leaves his natural element he dies
as surely as did the fish we caught
out of their natural element. Physical
man has his limitations of life If we
would physically live we must obey
certain physical laws. We cannot eat
pebbles like an ostrich. We cannot
hibernate like a snake. We cannot
drink in water like bluefsh. We can
not eat grass like an OK. We cannot
breathe the foul and fetid air of a
miasmic swamp as the firefy, with its
little lantern makes its home among
the bogs and calls the green slime its
playground. Physical limitations hem
in the liberties of physical man. We
can live our physical life only as we
obey Gods physical laws.
Our Social Limitations.
We also have social limitations. By
that l mean in the liberties of social
economies. Every mans liberty ends
where his neighbor's liberties begin. As
a citizen of the United States l have no
right in the sight Of the law which is
not possessed in an equal degree by ev-
cry other private citizen Of the United
States. Neither has any other citizen
of the United States a social right which
1 as an individual citizen do not pos
sess. In other words, my liberties are
mine only as long as l do not transgress
the rights of my neighbors.
Let me illustrate my thought by the
civilized laws of our country. America
is called the "land of the free" But
freedom does not mean license. For the
benefit of our social life we have estab-
lished restrictions on liberty, and those
restrictions must be obeyed l see a
ship sailing hither from the orient 1t
IS magnifcently furnished with lavish
splendor. 1t is owned by an oriental
gentleman Of high caste who is coming
to live among us. He has heard that.
America is the land Of the free and sup
poses that here a man may live as he
pleases. He has on board eight wives,