The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-07-03
BEAUTY CLOSE AT HAND

Never be in too much Of hurry to lament the
passing of old-time romance and color from the
world It often happens that the new. which seems
prosaic and dull at first will take on hpss more
haunting and compelling than those that have
vanished
Three quarters of a century ago the American who
went travelling had to put up with lot Of discom-
forts but he travelled romantcally according to
standards. If he went overland he rode in big
coach drawn by six horses if he Travelled by river he
boarded of the big, plush steam
ers that Mark Twain loved if he went by sea he en-
parked in graceful white-winged clipper, Of the
most beautiful methods Of conveyance ever devised
by man.
Today he gets there quicker and enjoys much more
comfort the way; yet. to many people. great
deal of beauty and color have gone from the world with
the passing Of stage COACH river steamer and sailing
vessel. solid Pullman train is an elegant thing to
ride in; but it isn't quite dashing thing to look
ct as an old time stage COACH with in beaver hats
seated on top, with the driver furnishing his long
whip and the guard sounding periodic blasts on his
trumpet.
So rather take it for granted that age. while
better furnished and efficient than the age Of
our grandfathers, is drabber. The may shine %
brightly the wind may blow fresh and clear, Of
old; but it does seem if something worth pressrv
ing for its own sake had departed from We are
pretty well welded to modern ideas, % accept
that a. the inevitable price, But, deep down, many
Of secretly regret it.
It may be, though. that we are wrong. Perhaps
our grandfathers looked on the stagecoaeh % .
bunny, slow, unwieldy sort Of thing and failed to
appreciate its aesthetic qualities. Charles Dickens
not at all impressed by the romantic" Mississippi
steamers; he loathed them. The uptodats ocean
steamer has beauty Of its too; perhaps we would
see it clearly if it occurred to look for t.
On top Of all Of this devising fourth meth.
Cd Of travel that, ultra-modern though IL 10, il
certainly clothed in much color and sparkle ~
any ever invented. The airpane is just coming into
general q passenger carrier; and il you have
ever waited at airport and seen . great silver
monoplane overhead, rapidly taking form from
the mere speck it was when first sighted, circling
laxily the field and then swooping to earth Ike
IN unbelievaby graceful bird, you will agree that
one ever travelled Economically than the modern
who goes by air.
Our children, it may be, will grow up to take the
airplane matter of Very likely they will
b more thrilled by flight than we now by an
auto ride. And-who knows!-the may look back
the oumodeed days Of 1923 and sigh for the color
and beauty Of the old days, complaining that while
IN airplane is certainly speedy lacks the dash and
thrill that attended the old Pullman trains.
Stranger things have happened It is only human
nature to beauty in that which is old and to fail
% zee it in that which is close at hand We are
bound to ascrbe especial appeal to anything that
W happen to have missed. That is what get for
being nation Of ronanticists.