Evening star., 1922-12-01
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

| The decision Of tn. Smithsonian IH-
stitution-that the successful perform
ance oe the Peyrct gIider in France,
| built along almost the Identical lines
f the glider with which Prof. Samuel
Pierpont Langley experimental with
| heavier-than-ai flight, six years he
| fore the first successful glider OF the
Wright brothers, proves that Langley.
and not the Wrights. was the first
conqueror Of fight-raises an IN
teresting question. not at all IN
dispute. of the claims OF Lang =
lcy'S champions. but. concedlng al
those claims, 50 rar ss they 80.
, what need of credit belongs I" the
man who almost su"reeds-but rails;
He may lay the foundation for an
others success. There is no evidence
that the Wrights followed any Of the
Langley pioneering principles. 1t is
very doubtful if they could have un-
derstood his highly technical compu-
tations. 1t has lever been asserted
that they made anv computations or
their own they Just experlmehtcd
and-few.
Their experiments had far NOR"
similarity to those Of Darius Green,
the would-be flyer Of The poets fancy,
who reasoned:
Birds can fly.
So why can't j ::
He followed his lugic-but tumblti; :;
while the WrightS, with no NOR: sell
ence in training. made the effort ana
stayed aloft few minutes.
The cases are somewhat slmilaf I"
~. 4 k,,I- Int < "A M.
egg on end. Learned scientists r't-
soned out great and complicated prob
lens of equilibrium-but their eggs
all fell over; that of Columbus stood.
although he did not attempt TO test
the balances to nicely.
In the patent Office are thousands
Of scientific inventions that falied: :
there are also empirical efforts which
succeeded, and though running conn-
ter to all previous knowledge, blaz"d
new line of discovery.
The point is that invention. like
blind Justice, has always been whim-
sical and that nothing succeeds ike
success, and no abortive efforts are to
discount success.
Columbus discovered America. Nor
wegians dispute his claim of being
the first discoverer, and the orientals
laugh at the Norwegian boast that
they anticipated Columbus. for. CEN
turies before Lief Erickson, japanese
fishermen found-and lost-Amcr!ca
Should we, therefore, becloud the
fame of Columbus because others had
preceded hin,-but did not make good
use of their own successes? The
flower that bushes unseen upon the
trackless prairie might as we'll say
that it's perfume and beauty detract
from the rose of our garden. The
ton is unfair 1t is as cruel as fate,
but it exists. and in no branch of hu-
man endeavor is there SO much
tragedy as in invention.
Nearly all great inventions and dis
coveries come through accidental
en- from the tree. just when il did.
Newton would have died without dis
covering gravity, in spite of all his
learning: Vet gravity swings the So
lar systems through illimitable space.
1t was the apple. and not Eewton's
deep science. which gave the world
the first glimpse of new science
vastly greater than any that had then
been imagined So it was doubtless
Wrights that idea which developed
the aerial navies of the world war.
which, in turn. will entirely super
sede all the dreadnaughts of the
world. When Providence get ready
accidents "verturn the world
Science is Knowledge; invention ls
not knowledGe-it is empiricism. usu-
ally.
Modern science tells us of the great
therapeutic value of music. Besides
soothing the savage breast, il cures
disease. Music in the dairy helps the
cows give down more milk. Music in
the factory speeds up production. Mu
sic in Congress would add to the sayety
Of nations and keep congressman from
taking themselves SO seriously. Now
that the House has its radiophone. why
work it only in one direction? Let mu-
sic swell the breeZe-which will come
from the House upon the wireless
waves. Instead of statesmen keeping
their ears to the ground" for insplra-
sand and dead leaves. let them listen
in to the music of the spheres when
all the stars sing toeether-just like
Col. Forbes and his harmonious 1000.
Then they will indeed appreciate the
change when upon adjournment. -"si-
lence. like a poultice, comes to heal
the blows of sound
X X X
We have the highly appreciated as
surance from Senator La Toilette
that the meeting of progressives which