The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-10-21

Well. some folks is softer.
/ Mulishness don't never pay.
If you must. you gotter.
Might as well Just take the pill
Though it's hard to swaller.
/ Got no sugar on 1t. still,
Tain't no use to holler.
| Gulp and get it off your mind
Makes it wusS to potter.
| One things mighty sure. you'll find:
| Chicago News.
| Under Water for Centuries.
| Caligula, the spendthrift emperor of
| Rome who raised his pet horse to the
consulship, is said to have had two
magnificent floating palaces on Lake
Nemi. about seventeen miles from the
imperial city. According to the early
historians the decks were of larch-
wood, sheathed with thin strips of
porphyry and serpentine; the doors
were inlaid with gold and ivory; there
marble, crowned with wonderful hang
ing gardens-all in the extravagant
Greco-Roman style. These ships,
! there is reason to believe. are still in
existence in the depths of Lake Nemi,
and commission of prominent engi-
-neers and afchaeologists has been ap-
pointed to discuss the best way to re-
| cover them.
| This is the fourth attempt which
the world has made to raise these ia
| nous ships. Cardinal Colonna. in
1431 employed divers from Genoa.
who brought up planks sheathed with
copper. There was a second attempt
century later. In 1897 Annesio Fus-
| conf spent $4,000 in an effort to raise
the boats. half of this sum. however.
which prelates. diplomats and noble
men toasted the success of the af-
fair.
In 1895 diving bells were used and
a careful examination made. 1t was
found that one ship was 200 feet In
length by so feet beam, lying with its
prov downward on the steep side of
the lake. $50 feet under water The
other ship, which was still deeper,
was found to be $50 feet in length.
Some beautiful fixtures were recovered
but the owner of the lake refused to
allow the ships to be torn to pieces
and the project was finally abandoned,
though not until the appetite of the
archaeological world had been keenly
whetted.
Lake Nemi is the crater of an ex-
tinct volcano about three miles in df-
ameter and 500 feet deep. The pres
ent plan is temporarily to lower the.
level of the lake by about $50 feet.
to be torn between his desire to see
the great ships recovered and his I'M
willingness to disfigure the whole
countryside with these hydraulic oper-
dlAOno--(HtCdSO IOSl
Human Race Lives Longer.
A German scientist DR.. Emil KONG,
has lately undertaken to prove that in
highly civilized countries man has
abused his constitutional strength, and
consequently is more susceptible to
disease than he was in earlier times
There is obviously something to be
said for this averment, but, consid-
cred as whole. the facts do not bear
it out
1t is unquestionably true that as
civilization advances human life be-
comes more complex, and the pres,
sure upon mans physical resources
tends to become more intense. 1t is
also true that certain forms of dis
ease, such, for example, as cancer and
heart weakness, appear to be more
prevalent than they were a century
ago-we say appear" because only
in a comparatively recent period have
the statistics of mortality and its
causes been trustworthy and exhaust
i've.
The official records of Geneva,
which have been kept carefully for a
long period, prove that the average
duration of human life is materially
greater than 1t was $50 or 100 years
ago. Not only the average length of
human existence, but the retention of
physical and intellectual vigor, or
what is called the prime of life, tends
to be prolonged. The age limit of
usefulness has in practice been pushed
forward.
The fruitful activity of men over so.
and even TO- years of age, is a phe-
nomenon far more frequently OBJ
served today than it was 100 years
ago. Napoleon's career was over at
40; Won Moltke's can scarcely be said
to have begun, so far as great achieve
ments were concerned, till he was
nearly 20.
What is true of war is true of d.
field of work in which mental and
physical energy is indispensable.
When, in a word. we examine impair
TALLY all the data, weighing accurately
all the evidence pro and con, we seem
justified in taking an optimistic rather
than DR.. Konig's peSsimistic view of
the effect of civilization on the bodily
well-being and longevity of man.
New York Sun.
Get Old Airship Patents.
Regarded as a dreamer during life,
Dr. Arthur de Bousset, who died three
years ago, provides in his will, filed
yesterday, material for romance of
the skies The beneficiaries under his
will believe the patents he had taken
out on airships and devices pertaining
thereto, hitherto considered valueless,
have become of immense value through
the recent developments in aviation.
If their belief proves we'll founded those
who cared for the aged inventor in the
last years of his life will become
wealthy.
DR. de BousSet who was rs years Old
when he died, in the home of Charles
A. McCready, broker, with offices in
the produce exchange, was well known