Evening star., 1927-11-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

Is the whole world "slipping"?
Modern architects, especially in New
York. are designing skyscrapers that
| resemble Babel towers, indeed They
reach higher than the Washington
Monument. and are more beautiful
and imposing than any structure built
by man since the Tower of Babel But
in these modern towers it is now pro
posed to shut out all sunlight and
natural air, for there will he no win.
dows. even in their $50 or 200 stories;
all ventilation and all light will be az.
| tificial
| Life is becoming artificial and over
civilized, according to the reactions of
| the natural man." and so it Is. not
surprising that the ultra-conserva-
tism of the barbarian is ready to break
out, sporadically, in great extremes of
rebellion.
Even H. G. Wells, after a little while
in Boston, exclaims, Boston l found
refined and Senteel and sensitive be-
yond my capacity" Wells comes from
England and slips back to the flesh
pots of England, better satisfied even
than in Boston; he ''reverts to type"
In Northern Africa there are viii
lagos built, entirely underground
wherein the people live, year after
year, without ever coming to the sur
face. TO them the sunlight is too daZ-
zling and the bree1as too annoying or
bllstering TO be tolerated. Down in
their Main Street" it is never hot.
never rainy. never frosty and never
windy. 1t is always to their accus-
toned taste-but that is an acquired
taste. There is no accounting for
tastes either in habitations or in re.
ligions.
1t is comprehensive that savage
tribes, who have never known the
teachings of Christianity. would in
their ignorance adhere to their silly
fetlShes and mummerieS, their hum
bug medicine men" and their Gre
dulity in portents and "signs." and
even their cruel human sacrifices. But
In recent times there have been at
least two markable cases of IRE.
version to type" which are most as.
founding. This reversion is not con-
fined to degraded individuals, but ap-
plies sometimes to whole tribes and
large sections of race or a nation.
First, to illustrate it "in the small"
take the case of Il son of an African
Chleftain commanding a very large
and important tribe. in a region now
under control of the British This son
fell under the influence of American
missionaries, half Il century ago, when
he was quite young. They taught him
English AS we'll as Christianity, and
when lie was only about II years old
he hired out as q cabin boy on
steamer which brought him tn Amer
lea. He carried letters from the mis-
SionarieS to the officials Of their
church. and the church people took
him in charge and sent him TO the
public schools of II Midwestern city.
where lie graduated from high school
and ranked high in his studies. He
announced his deep desire to 80 back
To his fathers tribe as a Christian
missionary to tell them all about civ
iliZation. He was most devout and ear
nest.
Decades passed. the World War
among Christian nations brought
strange Contacts" The writer in uni.
form. sat in the lobby of a London
hotel, in 1917, and alongside of him
sat an Englishman in civilian clothes.
The Englishman became self-consclous
and obliged to explain his "mufti, in
place of a military dress.
IL am in government service IN Al
RIGA" he said. This is my first vaca'
ton in seven years. and | am going
back to Africa in few days"
The soldier, TO keep conversation
going, replied:
That's interesting. / know only
one man in Africa-his name is -.
Did YOU ever run across him? Know
him."
"know him? I should say l do
know him. He is chieftain of his
tribe now. lie is undoubtedly Il pO-
lvgamist and is suspected "f canni'
lalism, but he is educated and knows
lust enough to keep out of the penal
ties of the law. We have had more
trouble with him than with anybody
else in Africa"
The incident reiterates two bromidic
facts: The smallness of the world
and the tendency to revert to type"
when the restraints OF civilization are
loosened. Perhaps a sermon might he
preached on that. but the bishops and
preachers seem too busy right now
in discussing the ethical desirability
of trial marriages" and freedom of
divorce. while all Europe is upset
over bolshevism and fascism and die
tatorshipS too numerous to mention
How the world slips, Civilization is
going out of style.
y X X X
In line with the above now comes
news from Canada that there has heen
n conference of the Six Nations of In.
dians, at Caughhawaga, for the pur-
Pose of discarding the Christian re-
ligion in favor of the old Indian deities
of Hiawatha. They would worship
Gitchie Manitou, the Mighty. whose
traditions are so beautifully recorded