Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1927-05-26
The World Does MOUe''
By GEORG STRANDvOLD-

June %, 1633-in the Dominican
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva mon
astery: A resplendant assemblage of
cardinals and other high prelates of
the Holy Roman Catholic church
gathered for the purpose of witnessing
the final subjugation of free and
independent, courageous and pro-
gressive spirit.
And 10! Down there in the center
of the magnificent hall kneels an old
man, attfred in nothing but shirt.
Tradition says he had been tortured
at the command of the Inquisition to
the extent that finally his will was
crushed.
Who was he? Calico Galilei, the
famous son of Pisa, now recognized as
the founder of modern experimental
natural science! He had been teach
ing for years that the earth rotated
around it's own axis, and since such a
statement was considered at variance
with accepted beliefs, he was hailed
before the Italian Court of the Inqui-
sition which on that June day nearly
three hundred years ago forced him to
kneel abjectly on the monastery floor
and to recant his audacious state
ments.
But just as he was denying the the
DRY of the earth's rotation, he num-
bled as though to reassure himself:
''But still-the earth does novel"
Nowadays we hear great deal
about the retrograde movement of the
world. Much worry is expressed
about the life of this and future gen.
erations. Young men and women are
not as docile and sweet-natured as
when 1--WE" were young. o, no-the
world is going down, down, down.
Do we not hear this whimpering
complaint every so often? And do
we not sometimes feel that perhaps,
after all, there is grain of truth in
it?
Then from out the sky, as it were,
flashes the thrilling word of some new
triumph wrested from the powers of
nature; some splendid victory won by
mans endurance. and brains; some SUI
preme contempt for danger and death
asserted in unforgettable deeds.
And then we straighten up, smile
confidently, and exclaim:
"But still-the world does novel"
Nothing less than the complete rec
ord of modern life is involved; that,
however, would be too vast to survey
here and now. Let it be enough to
mention a few instances, that will
illustrate what is meant.
For months we were told of war
fare in distant countries; of the
threatening attitude of countries sup
posedly at peace with one another; of
renewed efforts to make future wars
even more horrible than the last erup-
ton.
nouncement that now scientists and
technicians have made it possible for
a man in Pine county to sit in his own
home and speak into a telephone that
will carry his voice to practically any
point in Europe-thousands and thou
sands of miles away.
Aside from the scientific triumph
thus achieved, there is the far great
er aspect of drawing the nations closer
than they have ever before been.
When they can talk to each other,
when the voices of statesmen are be-
ing carried from capital to capital
there is some hope that this intimate
form of communication will act as a
restraint upon hotheadedness.
For isn't it true: The world does
move!
There were months when newspaper
readers were "fed up" with lurid de-
tails of-to mention an instance-the
Hall-Mills trial in New Jersey; that
sordid affair which barred primitive
passions as tragically as did any an
cient Greek drama. 1t was disgusting,
nauseating-a sensible people turn
ed their heads away and sighed the
age-old sigh: There is no progress: