Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-03-20
Gsrrssponornrs.
Doing What No Man Ever Had Done
Before.

1t is q trite old saying: "What man has
done man can do.' But this does not
signify that the converse Of it is true
what man has not done man cannot do.
Recently it has come to my ears that .
certain town officer OF q certain town in
Maine has given as an excuse for not
complying to the requests OF certain
petitioners at certain time: 1.-THE like
was never done before" that a certain
lawyer had advised him not to do it be-
cause there was no record OF precedent,
although by virtue of circumstance, which
the petitioners were in no way responsible,
it must have appeared clear to aim that
the refusal would necessitate an un-
necessary expense upon the town and
certain individuals, and create a great
hubbub amoung its people.
1t requires only very small amount OF
intelligence coupled with thought to zee
at once the very absurdity of such an ex-
cuse. My dear readers, look around you,
and see il there is anything, outside Of
natures exclusive work, that is not, either
directly or indirectly, the result OF what
somebody had done that no one had ever
done beforef
What Franklin did with his kite no
man ever did before, and what has been
done since by all the great electricians in
the way Of inventions to harness this
most subtle, mysterious and undefinable
force to the commercial, medical and So
cial use OF mankind, in each and every
improvement, they did what no one ever
did before.
Watt, something over century ago,
while watching the dancing Of the lid OF
the kettle, caused by the escaping steam,
put the results of his thought in the con-
struction Of the first steam engine, and
thus did what no man ever did before.
All those inventors who have SO imA
proved upon this first crude affair, those
ponderous machines which drive the ocean
greyhounds, and those bottom engines
which race over the eBrth with their mile
OF cars, in some cases, trailing behind,
not to mention those several THOUSAND
horse power stationary engines = have
done what no man ever had done before.
Newton saw the apple fall to the earth,
and thought: "Why did the apple fall?"
In this thinking he might not have
thought what no man had thought be-
fore, but what the suggestions OF this
thought led him to discover no han had
certainly given to the world before.
Calico, while watching the swinging Of
the chandeliers in the great cathedral Of
Rome, noticed that they beat equal time,
and from this discovery the modern clock
is given us. While, from history, there
seems to be question as whether or no
Calico did first put into pratical use this
discovery, that does not destroy the fact
that whoever did do it did something that
had not been done before.
When Ericsson invented and built the
turret ironclad, Monitor, for the pur-
Merrimack, he did that which had
not been done before; and the result
OF this doing had great influence in
checking the destruction of the Unions
navy and the consequent advantage that
destruction would have given the South.
ALI the Improvements that have since been
made with this class OF fighting machine
are to the credit OF those who have done
what no man had before.
The whole catenary OF inventions dur
ing the historic age of the earth, which
man has brought forth as aids to his ad-
vancement, forms chain composed of
links that no smith ever forged before.
Back to the earliest period of the his
toric age, when Adam and Eve were found
in the garden of Eden engaged in the SIM
plest form OF tailoring sewing fig leaves
together-up to the present high stan
dard of improvement in this branch of
industry, making clothing, man and
women have been constantly doing : made
necessary by the change OF fashions-that
which had not been done before to their
knowledge.
Even our language, every language,
every word in every language, was coined
by some one for the first time. Without
this inventive spirit OF the human race,
this originality of thought and action,
stepping stones by which alone we can
attain the highest point the limit to hui
man progress. Those who have made the
greatest success in life, and those who
have been of the most benefit to the world,
are those who, in a rational way, have
done the most of that which was never
done before.
The wonderful achievements during the
nineteenth century are wholly to the credit
of that restless, progressive spirit which
pushes forward to invention and develop
msnt, and in no part OF the world, ex-
cept in Japan, has this been more marked
than in the United States.
Yes, the world does move, and all who
wish to keep with this line OF march must
move with it constantly doing new
things, constantly turning up something
new for the world to look at. 1t gets tired
OF old scenery. Men who are willing to
do and dare are much in demand;
we need more of such everywhere,
in every department, that we may
be able to keep moving; while those
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