The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-12-29

year l9O9 VIII lead the group III Np'lN
Importance This has been most
notable year. Things have happened
in 1909. Discoveries that THRU the
souls of men around the sphere have
been made Invention. which in itself
is discovery. has gone forward with
seven league strides. Death, singing
its darts every year. hit shining marks
In 1909
The year 1909 has been called the
year OF genius" because SO many men
Of worldwide fame were born therein
This year. exactly a century later, may
be termed the year of achievement
To all time this year win be known
as the one I'm which the north pole was
reached-or discovered" if you like
that better Possibly the pole was
reached IN 1908, but that remains to be
proved. Nobody doubts that Com
'nander Robert f. Peary of the United
States navy actually arrived at the
pole on April 6, 1909, as he announced
TO the world on the 7th day Of ;optcm-
ber ST. days prior TO that date Or.
Frederick A Cook Of Brooklyn had
sent down from the frozen north 81
message that vibrated around the
globe He said he had reached the
pole on April FL 1908 whether DR.
Cook got there or not. the fact remains
that the year 1909 has the imperishublc
honor of announcing tho conquCring of
the worlds top
But let us not permit this prcdomi-
nant pole talk 10 obscure other super
lative affairs of 1903.
Man Flies Across Channel
Let 1t be not forgotten--it cannot be,
th In hn pf
July 1909 A D. FrencLmau named
Louis Bleriot. a man bird. n person Of
daredevil nerve. fearless argonaut Of
the atmosphere. arose from the ground
at Calais in an aeroplaue and flew
across tho English channel to the chalk
cliffs Of Dover. making the distance Of
twenty-one miles In forty minutes,
beating the steamboat time between
France and England by ten minutes,
Even Napoleon RonapaIte could not
get across to England for all his con-
quering legions. yet this t'rcnchman Of
1903. ignoring utterly all accepted and
approved methods Of transportation,
made heroic conquest of the inviolable
air and shot himself by whrrng motor
across the channel
This was one OF the years achieve
ments that make 1t epochal. BlcriOt
proved tha the acroplane, craft
heavier than air. can sustain itself In
aerial flight above an ocean roadway
and make safe landing on the other
side.
What has been done once can be done
again. The acrorla1e is advancing
The Wright brothers. pioneers i'm avia-
tio1. have performed marvels in 1909
Their aviation work In Europe and
America has attained I'm this year a
height of excellence never reached be-
fore. They, too. could fly across the
channel II they cared TO do so. but
these Americans are not spectacularly
inclined. They are thorou, hbred dew
otees to the science of aviation, labor
ing assiduously to develop the aero
plane into a thing of practical value.
Work of he Wrishts.
The Wrights care little for record
breaking They care much for making
their mechanism available for actual
use In transportation What they have
done this year is an earnest of future
achievement. They have demonstrated
concluslvely. beyond cavil, beyond per-
adventure of doubt. that the air Is
navigable by heavier .han air craft.
Much remains to be Gone, but the
Wrights and other aviators have
shown this year that the dream OF cen-
turtles is upon the very eve of fulfill
ment.
The death list OF 1909 IL notable a
great poet a great novelist, n great
preacher, a great general and a great
editor have died These are IN the
order Indicated Algernon Charles
Swinburne. George Meredith Edward
Everett Hale. General Oliver Otis
Howard and Richard Watson Glider
Death Of Swinburns.
Swinburne was first Of these to pass
He died April 10 AT his home, Putncy
England at the age of seventy-twu
one OF the strangest Of human mortal
was Swinburne, Undersized, red haired
uhhandsome. he passed his long life n.
recluse. never marrying His bride
was Poesy, espotised In early youth
Before he grew' his struggling rec
whlskers he looked like a troubadou
of the middle ages. ! have seen m
early portrait of Swinburne by Dant,
q. Rossetti, his brother poet and paint,
er, which shows him TO have been al
most womanlsh In appearance IL,
wore long wavy hair and bis face sug
gested that OF Shelley. though lesi
etherialized The superb masculinlt,
of Swlnburne. however, none who ha
read his poetry can question.
TO Swinburne the English languagr
was music Words were thr1bbin;
viols: syllables were singing strings
sentences were splendid arias o
sound Pre-enlinently he was the mu
sic master of English speech Th
harshnes Of our conglomerate tongu
was toned down and turned 10 melo
dies In his verse No person who ha
written English verse ever capture,
like Swlnburne the haunting wrath
of harmony wandering through tn
Language. nor has any other poe
wrought these elusive ghosts Of speecl
into such masterful music.
There. are poets and poets. Some o
ihsm are poets by brevet OF courtesy
The distinction has been conferred up
on them ny undivining editors Or b,