The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1915-03-05

in reality they are medicine men,
devil men, and they make for super
stition and darkness. They are cheats
and liars. But so debased and degrad-
ed are we that we believe their lies.
They, too. will increase in numbers as
we increase, and they will strive to
rule us. Yet they are liars and charla-
tans. Look at young Cross-Eyes, pos
ing as a doctor, selling charms against
sickness, giving good hunting, ex-
changing promises of fair weather for
good meat and skins, sending the
death stick, performing a thousand
denominations. Yet say to you, that
when he says he can do these things,
he lies. /, ]. H. Smith, say that he
lies / have told him so to his teeth.
Why has he not sent me the death
stick? Because he knows that with
me it is without avail. But you, Hare
Lip, so deeply are you sunk in black
superstition that did you awake this
night and find the death stick beside
you, you would surely die. And you
would die, not because of any virtue
in the stick, but because you are a
savage with the dark and clouded
mind of a savage.
"The doctors must be destroyed, and
all that was lost must be discovered
over again. Wherefore, earnestly,
10 fof ft,r til.
you must remember and tell to your
children after you You must tell
them that when water is made hot by
fire there resides in it a wonderful
thing called steam, which is stronger
than ten thousand men and which can
do all mans work for him. There are
other very useful things. In the light
ming flash there resides a similarly
strong servant of man, which was of
old his slave and which some day will
be his slave again.
Quite different thing is the alpha
bet. 1t is what enables me to know
the meaning of fine markings, whereas
you boys know only rude picture writ
that dr. cave on Telegraph hill, where
you see me often go when tNe tribe Is
down by the sea. In them is great
wisdom. Also with them, have
placed a key to the alphabet, so that
one who knows picture writing may
also know print. Some day men will
read again; and then, If no accident
has befallen my cave, they will know
that Professor Smith once lived and
saved for them the knowledge of the
ancients.
There is another little device that
man inevitably will rediscover. 1t is
called gunpowder. 1t was what en-
abled us to kill surely and at long dis.
tances. Certain things which are
found in the ground, when combined
in the right proportions, will make
this gunpowder. What these things
are have forgotten, or else never
knew But l wish I did know. Then
would make powder, and then would
certainly kill Cross-Eyes and rid the
land of superstition"
after am man grown l am going
to give Cross-Eyes all the goats and
meat, and skins can get, so that he'll
teach me to be Doctor" Hoo-Hoo as
serted. And when know, I'll make
everybody else sit up and take notice.
They'll get down in the dirt to me,
you bet"
The old man nodded his head SOL
EMMY, and murmured:
Strange it is to hear the vestige
and remnants of the complicated Ar
yam speech fall from the lips Of a
filthy little skin-clad savage. All the
world is topsy-turvy. And it has been
topsy-turvy ever since the plague"
"You won't make me sit up" Hare
Lip boosted to the would-be medicine
man. If paid you for sending of
the death stick, and it didn't work, I'd
bust in your Northumberland, you
Hoo.Hoo, your"
I'm going to get Granser to remem-
Der this here gunpowder stuff" Edwin
said softly, land then I'll have you all
on the run. You, Hare-Lip, will do
my fighting for me, and you, Hoo
Hoo, will send the death stick for me
and make everybody afraid. And IL
l catch Hare-Lip trying to bust your
head, Hoo-Hoo, I'll fix him with that
same gunpowder Granser amt such
fool as you think, and I'm going to
listen to him and some day I'll be boss
over the whole bunch of you"
The old man shook his head sadly,
and said:
The gunpowder will come Moth
ing can stop 1.-THE same old story
over and over. Man will increase, and
men will fight The gunpowder will
enable men to kill millions of men,
and in this way only, by fire and
blood, will new civilization, In some
remote day, be evolved. And of
what profit will it be? Just as the
old civilization passed. SO will the
new. 1t may take fifty thou
sand years to build, but it will pass.
All things pass. Only remain cosmic
force and matter, ever in flux, ever act.
ing and reacting and realizing the
eternal types--the priest, the soldier.
and the king. Out OF the mouths of