Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-20

aware OF II. yet countless millions have
been informed OF the penetration Of man
for the first time 70 the earth's axis. When
discovered America. he, himself,
did not live to realize IL. and Il took a CEN
fury for his achievement to become Of
common knowledge or to find its place IN
the Biographies. In our day, the success OF
a sortie to the pole Is made known all over
the world to every one who cares to read
almost simultaneously with the announce
ment OF the returned explorer. And what
were the by-products Of ignorance thus ex-
ploded? The primitive idea was that the
earth was a flat area OF solid ground sur
ronded by water and supporting the heav-
ems. According TO a medieval theory. the
earth consisted of five zones, only two Of
which were habitable, but separated by an
impa ssible zone of fire and bordered on
north and south with impossible zones OF
ice. The rounding Of the South African
cape destroyed the zone Of fire, but left
the two poles encased in impossible ice.
The imaginary open Polar sea probably
furnished the foundation for the later
theory Of c%oncentric spheres. picturing an
inner surface Of the earth approachable
through the poles and actually led to a
petition to our American congress in 1872
49, 49, hhNAtAA w ~ w. wv ~
ton TO prove the truth Of this prolific no.
tion. All these creations Of ignorance have
been buried past resurrection by the actual
physical human presence at the pole and
the practically universal dissemination of
the news of the event. The butcher and
the baker and the candlestick maker may
debate the rights and wrongs OF rival
claimants with almost as much assurance
as the college professor, because the news
paper accounts have lifted the pail Of dark
ness in which the subject was previously
enshrouded.
The progress recently made in aerial
navigation permits of a very similar OBJ
ject lesson. The newspapers have chron-
icled far and wide the measure of success
attained by dirigibles and by aeroplanes.
When the Hudson-Fulton celebration was
impending, diligent search Of old files for
contemporaneous descriptions of the Full,
ton exploit disclosed the fact that. al
though several newspapers were then being
published In New York, only one of them
even mentioned the steamboat trial, and
that devoted to 1t but a few lines. This
notes one OF the defects Of the newspaper
historian-lack of perspective-but It also
emphasizes by contrast the great advance
made in a short hundred years.
nat lHb IHOueIl newspaper mas Ih
faults. none would deny. It is charged with
grasping at the sensational and. exceptional
with too much avidlty. The accusation is
made that 1t sometimes invades personal
privacy and dilates on divorce scandals,
yet one of our own learned professors in
sists that the growing number of divorces
Is ascribahle to emancipation from ignor-
ance. and Is therefore a sign OF social prog
ress, rather than a social ailment. We de-
plore that some newspapers are too often
tempted to go to extremes in everything
and TO exaggerate the less important ut
the expense Of what proves to be the more
important. But the newspaper is itself
constantly tested in the fiery furnace Of a
discriminating public opinion, a public opin-
ion becoming all the time better educated
and more exacting. KS the level of popu.
lar Intelligence is raised by the combined
efforts of press and pulpit, school and uni
versity, the standards of all these agencies
are bound to be elevated along with it.
Ignorance alone. like a dismal swamp, fur
nishes the breeding places of noxious crea-
lures, and each time ignorance is put to
rout, the circle of intelligence is, widened
and the power for evil of ignorance is
weakened.
truth crushed to earth shall rise again:
Tn eternal years of God are hers; .t.
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain.
AND dies among his worshippers.