The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-05
The Vanishing World.
BY "PUsH."

he heard them utter commonplace re- marks, he learned of questionable things some of them did, and the greatness of the great seemed to dwindle before his eyes. until, in many cases, 1t entirely disappeared, while with all 1t dlmin- ished like snow before the sunshine.
 Then, when Walter went into busi- ness, every day he glanced at the paper and thus had a general glimpse of the whole world; he entered into touch with many at a distance by mail and telegraph. and he came to consider it matter of course to talk with friend or business acquaintance q mile, or even many miles, away. Sometimes he would get on the cars go to led and awaken sev- eral hundred miles from where he went to sleep One day he was sitting at tho table with his wife--yes. he was married then, though as he looked back the length of the years appeal d to vanish and it seemed to him 1t was only little while since he was tho f,e-year-old boy first noticing that the heaven was domed directly above him--Walter said to his companions
 Did you ever think, i.y dear, from how far we draw our suppl s? Here on
 
 China, sugar from tn South and raisins from California. table linen from the East. cutlery from En~land and china l ware from Germany"
 ''Distance ms to be vanishing in these wonderful days,' returned the wife. "The world is not very large any l more"
 In his business relations Walter came | ,4f l,a know how to overcome An .e ap- preached some of them they melted away and he r1arveled at 1t. More than once he was reminded of the lions In the path the Pilgrim ; progress, which, on being approached. were found to be chained. Though often worried, he managed to pass all that impeded his way. and now. as he loo ed back at them. they were gone-all nlshed away.
 Walter had children. and 1t seemed to him the years passed more rapidly than they used to do It was not now very long time from Christmas to Christmas. Almost before he knew 1t his babe was no longe with him. In It's place there was Il faxen-haired schoolgirl; but the babe was n here to be found. In like manner his boy in kits was gone be- fore he realized it. and all that i-- mained was tall youth who answered to the same name.
 Walter returned for visit to the home of his parents. There was the old schoolhouse md the brook. where he had played In childhood; but the brook and the hills were smaller than he sup posed. He asked of his old playmates. This one was in a far land, this was Judge Somebody, another was dead, q fourth had trave q far and perished in a foreign war. In the town where he was born and had been reared most of the people were strangers to him. Many of the houses that were once Ia mlliar had been replaced by others. Tho trees were bigger than they used 10 be. He began counting over the friends he had known who had passed the change called death. and was astonlsheu to find that he had nearly as many ac- ouaintances on the other side. as re- mained on this. The world he had known had almost vanished away.
 us," he exclaimed.
 Yet 1 don't know as to thi- Life and time and lov and good were with him yet, and 1t was what he had once thought realities that had become shnd- ows The years had become transpar- ent to him, and through them he could tbo sbo d moon noe' seemed seer to follow him as he walked and why the horizon vanished before him. He could ono more see those he had known of old-the house about which were woven so many glo- rifying dreams. the school. now Lied. for him. with memory pictures. and the faces, oh, the faces! Yes. and the fairies They. too. came to him now. together with santa Claus and Rob, inson Crusoe" and "Sinbad the Sailor" and Aladdin" and tho children of won- derful old Mother Goose" He had thought them gone. but here they were once more. Perhaps thev would van sh again. as they had vanished before. as the great world itself must some day vanish to the soul breaking from the prison Of clay, the ildhood of It's ex- perience. but TOW they were u re. and they were real. II had learned that much he had thought was true was gone, and now much that he had thought was unreal vas really true. And Walter was reminded of the words of the Scripture:
 We look not at the things that arc seen, but at the things that are unseen; for the things which are see.. are only for a time ltemporaD. but the things which are not seens-re eternal.