The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1911-03-09
Every R0ad Comes 10 A End.
81 K. S.

and every road comes to an end.
Public highways may extend away
out and far beyond the hills, wind
ing in and out along the crooked
streams that follow the valleys; they
cut across the foot hills and through
the mountain pass, crossing turbu-
lent streams by bridge sometimes
and by fordjng, touching town
here and city there, intersecting
with other roads and receiving the
travellers from the isolated villages
and hamlets like great river re-
ceiving the waters from brooks and
creeks and carrying them on toward
the sea. But soon the road, with all
its branches and lanes and by-waYs
will come to an end, and the traveller
must turn and retrace his steps or
sit down at the end of the road and
give up his journey in despair. 1t
is just so with all earthly science,
philosophy, speculation and investi-'
cation. The road of knowledge may
reach out through the valleys of ex-
perience and over the hills of re-
search, to become well beaten and
smooth highways of public travel;
and the young man who starts out
to walk the mental journey through
the land of mystery may at first i'm
agine that the we'll beaten thorough
fare has no end, but reaches out and
on forever.
In little while experience will
dissolve this delusion and he finds
himself at the abrupt ending of all
earthly philosophy. In front is the
great mountain of mystery, with it's
perpendicular walls reaching far
above the clouds of human imagina-
ton and lost in the darkness that
surrounds the great unknown. There
| is nothing to do but retrace ones
steps and spend the balance of life
looking for a path or lane to lead
ones footsteps around the obstruc-
ton that cuts off the world of phil
osopby and science from the un-
known and unmeasured matter be-
.Iyond. Thousands of determined
men have started to cut their way
through this mountain of mystery.
but the pick and chlsel rebound at
, each stroke, the drill point becomes
broken, after which they can do NO
better than to sit down to write
learned and scholarly essays on the
possible conditions we will find on
the other side, if we ever get there
through some strange and sponta-
neous process unknown up to the
present time. Other men dig q
: speculative road around cluster oil
blooming hopes and evergreen de.
lusions and make sort of race track
f for mental dreamers to circle around
! at full speed, even deluding them.
selves into believing they are going
somewhere in spite of all physical
and mental distractions. Every day
they come around to the starting
point and whip themselves into {
D faster canter in order to overlook
!, old land marks and familiar mil,
q posts, and keep up the delusion tina
they are getting there. But roat
that makesa complete circle, whethe.
y physical highway or a menta
= bridal path, leads to no where, ant
cannot be called road of publi
utility. 1t should be called rae
: track, or a speedway, or Graz.
mans tprn pike to trouble.
s The roads / started to talk abou
at the beginning of this article ar
the real roads which men have built
and continue to build additions t
them. in an attempt to reach ney
and unsurveyed localities lying on
. beyond the borders of civilization
2 and the accepted ideas of man