The Washington herald., 1921-06-05

Teuocko oL Lne mOQcrn NOrlQ. lney Wcfo
70 be the ultimate in modern human achieve
ment- When the votes were counted It was
found the palms had been awarded the
wireless, the telephone, the airplane, ra-
dunn, antiseptics. antitoIins, spectrum
analysis and the X-ray.
Can there be anything more remerkablsf
Win the world achieve still greater and
more useful inventions?
Today Q business man In New York may
talk with his partner In San Francisco as
easily and be a clearly heard as though he
were IN the next room. Ships Of the sea are
h communication with each other by means
ef the wireless telephone, and ships IN turn
are guided By wireless, no crew aboard, no
hsamsman, no engineer In the pit. Sound
b pseoeled complstely around the world on
the vtssss vinss Of ether In one seventh
sf second Men ~ abo-s the clouds on
hs0 wings and steel supports. They travel
undR De SEA as Jules Verne dreamed they
would do Thsy fit over the land IN mile
a-minuts an-steel safety first trains or
SoGm at Win o-~ hin and dale In horseless
carriages. They train ne X-ray on an
seoscf through which the eye cannot see and
As csmera records for them what the object
contains They utilize ne priceless ra-
dunn h combating once incurable disease.
In their gayer moments they sit back In
thdr homes and hear the golden voices Of
the worlds renowned singers, or 20 around
the corner and behold the moving panorama
q ths world on the motion picture screen.
What ne1ti Only the other day . passen-
g<r standing at ths rail Of an ocean liner
bound for Europe a. II wended its way
through the New York Narrews was startled
10 hear the voice Of one Of his business as
sociates hurled from the roof Of Q Gotham
akysraper with 50 much force as 70 be heard
miles away without the use Of q listening
Device other than the human earl No
sooner had the lay world stopped gasping
at this achievement before IL turned to read
Inst Thomas A Edison was at work on q
delicate apparatus which he has designed TO
effect tndisputable Communication between
thoss whom death has removed from this
earth and those who yet hvel
How much further may We expect 10 got
Have ws reached the ultimate? Read the
answer Of Or. ". R. Whitney, director OF
research laboratories Of the General Electric
Co., Schenectady, n. Y. DR.. Whitney for
years has been devoting his life to scientific
research and he is one Of those who think
there are stin more worlds to conquer, de-
spite an that has gone before. As he put It
to NE In q recent interview, granted in the
heart Of his laboratories in the Mohawk
VALLEY, 'the untulflled promises In natures
hsoks are greater than ever"
THE writer had gone to him 10 discuss
L electricity a. q career for young men
and women. Was 1t true that modern SCI
entists had "clssned up" everything worth
while In dxht! What more was there for
the young e1perimenter TO do? Wireless,
fuelless, horseless-how many more '1esses'
could be arrived att 1t was along this line
we approached the subject Of an electrical
career for an ambitious student
The regularity with which we conclud.
that further advances in q particular field
are impossible" said Dr.. Whitney, seems
squsled only By the regularity with which
events prove that we are Of too limited
vision. Man seems to be the supreme
mentally elastic organism. He develop. BY
trying novelties and BY taking new paths.
No one knows to what extent he may de-
yelop; but every one knows that through
acquisition Of knowledge or, let me say.
production Of 1t, he may transcend any
physical limits. This will not come sbou,
hy continuous repetition Of what we h,x.
already learned. Monkeys and psrrot, A
n mneh- 1t viii come throuxh III. eon-
ttnual and active appreciation Of new kno,vl.
sdEa.
we dve tn period when the EXTENT and
rate OF Increase IN our mental horizon q.
maximum, when happiness has its rr.n5..,
POSSIBILITIES and when human toll .v.~,
whore b being dspheed and smnlta., :,
beetE lst.nt eneryiea. Never befor. -.
ths fnnvfduai and collective reward for nav
eoUoocos ehort 20 equitable, W.. ar.
served oy caal, Oh, gas and water. WITH
mer Counties accessories, better than .v,r
befora. Within . young mans hfetim. -.
mined more iron, copper, coal and other or,s
produced more gasoline, eas and kerosens
md puf into uss more Of materials Ijk.
cement snd rubber than were produced by
IN tns formsr inhabitants Of tbs siobs. And
son The unfrlhDed PROMISES h natur.,.
beoh1 60 grsater dsan e-r
Woaf prom1sss a,s 1T Z, \. fu,sr,.s,.,
- 70 W~
RAs hovsr- - o.assnsd, Ucsro-
En fn1aso- ~wSo On tsn ths limit. Of
oe mind vhsn 4 b sdHtfhcaily syplied to
matsUf No oas can snsvsr. II 4 not
kumsnH possible"
How han We prugress into the ststs Of
newer and grester narvslsr'
by studying something new. In the ad-
Vince ot civilization IL L. new knowledge
which pavss the way, and the pavement is
eternal While the physical structures of
man are decaying the facts he has learned
are ever doing new service. Antito1ic de-
vices VII be increasing when locomotives
are forgotten. Magnetic induction will work
after the pyramids have blown away. We
ought to see that everything distinguishing
cur lives from those of the Indians has come
from studying something new