Norwich bulletin., 1921-04-23
THE MAN WHO TALKS

could be more tender and sympathetic than Nature, but when death comes noth- ing could be more savage than the man. ner in which decay attacks the dead or ganism. Oxygen. the great stimulant of live tissue, is the worst enemy of the | lifeless body. The writer has noticed how merciless the skillful pruner is with | deadwood. He, cuts it all out even if by | so doing he injures the symmetry of | the shrub or tree. In this work beau | ty must be sacrificed to utility. A rot ten branch or an infected trunk means l death to the whole tree, sooner or lat CT. Were we to make rigid self-ex- 1 animation would we not likely discover deadwood somewhere that is a menace to our health? Science tells us that de- cayed tooth nas been the cause of many a death. Obsolete business methods hurt the merchant ;; dead theological dogmas hamper the preacher farming in the old way heavily mortgages the land. It is as true today as ever that 'the branch that beareth not fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire"
 The feeling once prevailed here in New England. that the science of botany | hardly measured up to a mans job. If | the masculine mind tended in that direc- ! tion it gave evidence of effeminacy, and l of course that was an unpardonable sin.
 The Puritans never encouraged the study l Of art for supposedly the same reason, tsand hence the barrenness of early New England art. No one looks at it in that 1 light now. so great has been the change. l No one has 'ever accused Tennyson of | effeminacy and if Tennyson had not l been "the greatest poet he would have I been the greatest botanist of Europe" I in the mid-Victprian era. And still this
 most delightful of the sciences has meant
 nothing, or next to nothing to some of the greatest minds. Dr. Johnson once | said that one green field looked just the 1 same to him as another, and Socrates, the
 very highest type of mind without sci 9l eneH renArlzed that he was anxious to I lea @i, "but from trees and fields he could
 learn nothing. With this. compare what T Ruskin, the greatest word painter in any age has said about trees and flow
 CTS, and we shall see that botany is
 something more than a collection ''of :. Latin names"
 We are familiar with the old saying:
 Every dog has his day" I wonder,
 however, if we have all fathomed the depths of this profound bit of philosophy The writer thinks he sees it in it's 2 length and breadth, but is not quite sure of its thickness. Does it mean that every i unfortunate man, every graceless scamp , has 8 period, longer or shorter, when he i realizes the purposes of life? If so it
 is not paying very high compliment to
 a dog, and at the same time is nothing l that a graceless scamp can gloat over 7 It was Madame de Staal who once said 'aThe more see of men the greater re-
 spect I have for dogs" By this remark we infer that the great Frenchwoman had either been unfortunate in her as sociation with men, or was biased in hel judgment of dogs. The writer feels ver1 ft,of fo,. fuiv D ''his day. can't be too short Why sucl 5 dog should have any day at all is tht
 real mystery. Take the mangy mongre
 cur, yellow in color and in disposition
 that yaps all the time. frightening lit
 tie children, annoying all passers by, anC h at times putting all the religion of tn, h nefghborhood out of commission. Ma, V the day speedily come when this type o l. dog shall have no day whatever!
 g We are to be congratulated that i, r. this age we hear nothing about the con v f1ict between religion and science tha f once divided the world of learning int ,e two hostile camps Religion has los ,t much of it's degmatism and science muc IL of it's cocksureness. When religion wa F. ready to investigate the claims of scienc 2 with a real desire to learn. and whe.
 science was ready to admit that tn u fundamental position of religion wer n tenable, then the conflict began to dis . appe r. It must be admitted that tn
 cF 1rch in the past was unwilling to in tigate any theory that tended | 10 da mage the traditionalism of the pas IS This attitude was shown no longer az le than in 1929. In that year the city C ,e Warsaw erected a statue monument 1 ,e Copernicus A scientific society convene e. I.in the Church of the Holy Cross for re service that was to have added solemnit .A to their conmemoration, But they met vv ! vain. Not minister appeared not wisl .s ing to countenance a great scientific di ,, covery that had once been condemned L. ', us thank God that a great change hs - come since 1929.
 One can hardly fan to notice
 tone of dissatisfaction in all great pla ,n forms and pulpit addresses in these day 'ie They are not given by men of estai ey lished reputation for pessimism, but l IT, men of patriotic and generous impuls he who believe in, and are working fo ed what is best and noblest in our Amer ;o can life Early in the year it was CO '. fidently predicted that there would u by April marked evidence of erur7 sn material prosperity. That marked I in turn is not being realized. That we ha " come to a turn in the road is true, b .n- the upgrade is so gentle as not to resto ic-' the lost business confidence. The writ he recently heard a great speaker from NJ nd York say in public address that the
 seemed to be a lack of downright ear eu estness of purpose on the part of t 'n- American people since the war. Pleasu eo- amusement and light. surface living set st. to have taken the place of any SC ley ousness of purpose to correct great ,I res dividual or national wrongs. sUnie Inc there is a change in the trend of prt .r ent sentiment, it is quite possible tE crisis will be followed by chaos.
 As one rides out into the country
 any direction from Norwich. he is nl<
 and more impressed with the fact u en- the chestnut tree has gone apparen ,ng for good. Hillsides that were once co
 pletely covered with this beautiful u
 are as bereft of life as the moua..a pod of China. One cannot help asking if /. s+ means that we shall one day have h.
 China conditions Alternate foo
 and droughts, producing dire famin
 , doubtless come from denuded hills g ntai mountains. We are now informed t ety a fungus has attacked the oak and ii 8 this noble tree stands in danger of 1
 lowing in the wake of the chestnut. If
 think that this vegetable disease will C will rect itself we make a most serious II hat taAe. IT U ooes lt VIII De contrary get M aoTn +bsn . .u1snes .aT nor i's 1wn Ts,
 or diphtheria. It is something that m
 be intelligently combatted. AS a state ucn must wake up to the real forestry sit ses- tion.
 lay In these days much is being g
 about the necessity of Americanizat
 Community lectures on the subject h