Bellefonte, Pa. June 15, 1906
EE ———————
LIFES SEASONS.
From his fingers to his toes,
Back again to Baby's nose,
Pinker than the pinkest rose,
Gurgling softly us he goes,
Free from e'en the trifling woes,
Is the spring of Life.
Rushing, tearing, schoolboy fun,
Laughing, chaffing, does he run.
Aimless! when his work is done.
Thoughtful | when the task begun,
Happy that the times have come,
The Summer of his Life.
Now his hair is tinged with gray.
Straight the path before him lay,
World wealth gathered in the way,
Strewn with roses, thorns astray,
Many toned the passing day,
The Autumn of his Life.
To this life, his heart he gave,
Tears and blessings, his to save,
Now in twilights, softly wave
Bending grasses o'er his grave.
Chained he ties, Death's silent slave,
The Winter of his Life.
———————————
Address of Col. A. K. McClure at the
Dedication of the Curtin Statue
June Sth,
When the Greeks erected their on the
shore of Marathon to defeat
of the of Xerxes, the
Bo aia wrought by the
bf Phidias in honor of Nemes
r of Justice. It was a fitting statue for the
oo according to the faith of the heroic
the Persian invaders had destroyed
the tem of the Helenie gods, it sold the J01y
of the of Just uvenged the
outrage of the ts and powers of men and
Ee dott ch TE
at the
¢ the truth that has been accepted by
every Christian civilization, that justice is im-
mortal.
We meet to-day in this beautiful mountain
home of Pennsylvania governors, in God's own
grund temple, to unveil a statue that teaches
the better lessons of modern civilization—Pa-
triotism, Heroism. Humanity. and your people of
village, mountain and valley must be proud of
the exceptional distinction their own sons have
won in writing the records Sf 2 froth common
wealth. In the humble poli efforts of my
own lifetime, I have participated a Sortie
conflicts in which four, who once their
homes amongst you, were called to the highest
political trust of the state, and another was the
unsuccessful leader in the contest for the same
position. Curtin, Beaver Hastings were
here learned the “art preservative’
him the early education and eminently equi
him for the highest duties of state to which he
was called from the adjoining county, where he
had finally made his home, and Irvin at an earl”
jer day, was called to unsuccessful leadership in
one of the many earnest political struggles for
the mastery of the commonwealth.
The statue of Andrew Gregg Curtin, unveiled
to-day, is not a mere tribute to an individual; it
stands to commemorate the most thrilling his-
tory and the most momentous achievements
portrayed in the annals of the state. As his ad-
ministration as Governor covered the entire
period of the bloody conflict for the preserva-
tion of the Union, he had the opportunity to
write the most lustrous records of any Pennsyl-
vania executive, and it is confessed by all that
he filled the full measure of his opportunity.
Other governors haveserved a longer period than
did Governor Curtin, but no executive of the
past, and I think it safe to say that no executive
of the future, can have such enduring monu-
ment of patriotic, heroic and humane achieve-
ments, e tribute to him that is presented to
his neighbors and to the world to<lay, in the
presence of a multitude on whose hearts are
cherished the most 1 and affectionate
es, not only of his notable acts but of his
delightful personal attributes, will be
by state and nation as a simple act of justice.
If Curtin's administration had fallen upon
peaceful times instead of being engulfed in the
terrible throes of fraternal war, a single prom-
inent feature of it that has been d ed by the
greater duties and achievements of sanguinary
conflict, would have made his rule stand out as
exceptional in enlightened advancement and
beneficent results to the whole people of the
state. I refer to his establishment of our great
educational svstem.
hen he became secretary of the common
wealth under Governor Pollock in 1855, our free
school system did not even apirouch the dignity |
A single desk in the secre- |
tary's office with a competent clerk had been |
deemed ample to direct the educational id
of a state that then had a larger tion
than the entire colonies when the Revolution
established the Republic. Until that time,
there was no systematic effort to perfect
carry into successful organization our great |
school system, It had been passed in a floodtide |
of prejudcice against it and was permitted to |
struggle along without material advancement. |
Secretary Curtin first gave his attention to the |
perfection and development of our common |
schools, and when he retired ut the end of his
term, he had the broad foundation laid for what
is now the most beneficent educational system
of any state or country in the world. After
three years of retirement, he was called to the
Gubernatorial office, and although confronted
by the appalling duties and sacrifices of Civil
War. he never allowed abatement in his interest
in school system. s Stephens, author
of the free school law, and Governor Wolfe, who
approved it, deserve most ul memories
for even the crude free school system that they
only partially inaugurated, but Gov. Curtin
took up their unfinisned work, developed it until
the free schools were in the reach of the poorest
child of the commonwealth, and the hi
gh-school,
education within the reach of any child of
the state who has the ability and purpose to ap-
preciate opportunity. If this administration had
achieved no other distinction, it would standout
single and alone among the records of his pre-
decessors in giving our great state most liberal
and beneficent advancement.
But Civil War met Curtin’s administration as
Governor at its v threshold, and I as a Sena-
tor, in a very humble way, the appalling
responsibilities which confronted him. When
he was inaugu as Governor in January,
1861, there had been no ble official de~
liverance made as to the attitude of the states
of the North to the seceding states of the South.
The cotton states were already in open rebellion,
having formerly severed their relations with
the Union, and declared for a Southern Confed*
Pennsylvania by reason of her -
ph exposed tion, as well as ma*
any apologetic or hesti of the in"
tegrity of the Union would have been equally
fatal as au act of cov
and purposes. The generation then li was
almost an entire to war or its met!
The war with Mexico id not require so much
as a regiment from each state, and it closed
without the country feeling in any serious
San
guinary conflict. Both were forgetful of the
fact that the people of the whole country were
came down from battle fleld from Lexing-
iWas a had ga of the
ar A
I ET ho world never exhibited
:
J
if
it
ai
=
ki
e
He
i
ih
i
gt
FS
HE
the
but the bombardment
on the subject and the North accepted war as
inevi
cx without Sven an oman mila ae
were t even an
and our only military force
of few Yolusteer in dif-
regiment in the aggregate. my eR
t
{or three months’
Governor
Curtin Ee oe:
could have filled the entire quota of all the states
sEiiificE
iggis
i
iE tel
iil
lity
sil: 3 g
fH
d-dh
sued his proclamation tothe State, calling for ad-
ditional Yolanteers to the number of to
serve for three years, or duting the fhe
War,
a the rs of
e on the s Shpenred movning, ad Shire Boon
e
f that umber vastly exceeding the
sition LAY & DR by telograph from different
sections of the State: snd on a. ry the vol
began n arris
ands. When ES oiton was Baad with
y the Governor of the additional troops
ty
e end of the war accepting this large addi.
tion to the army rs enlisted for three years”
service, when the troops first called by the Presi
dent could not be held for more than three
months, Secretary Seward, the ablest member
8 the Sablaet, patvisted Je the Menvancs that
the war would end in sixty days ¢ large
armies could not ve needed, and he seemed to
dominate the convictions of his associates.
Governor Curtin was piseed in & most embar-
rassing position by the failure of the Government
to accept the troops he had summoned. He feit
that the State needed them for the safety of its
exposed border, and he felt fully assured that the
Government would need them when the terms of
the three months’ t expired. He was un-
wi ling to chill the patriotic ardor of the thous-
ands in camp and the thousands that were pour-
ing in from to day, uy turning them back to
their homes when he felt confident that they
would soon be needed in the field. He summon-
ed the slature in extraordinary session, a
loan of th illions was authorized, and the
Pennsylvania Reserve Corps created to be placed
in camps at the expense of the State, to be ready
to Shey the call of the general government when
needed. While the Reserve Corps was organized
simply as a State military force, the law provided
that at any time it might be called upon by the
general government, it should be mustered into
the United States <ervice, Ofull the many heroic
acts which stand to the credit of Governor Cur.
tin, that of creating the Pennsylvania Reserves
in the face of the Government's refusal to accept
them, and involving the enlargement of the cred-
it ofthe State to the extent of three millions,
stands out in sublime heroic grandeur.
The vindication of Governor Cuartin's patriotic
organization of the Pennsylvania Reserves for
the proteciion of the State and to support the na-
tivusl army when needed, came withina very
few mouths after the ve regiments had
bean organized aud located In thelr eamps for
care iil military training ander officers chosen |
sui=y with reference to their military experience,
The first recognition of the need of the Penusyl-
vain Reserves was when a single regiment was
¢ led for by the guvernment 10 march to the Up-
per Potomac, and soon thereafter another was
enlled for the same duty. A short time before
the first battle of Bull Ran wag fought, Governor
Curtin tormallv ndvised the Washington suthori-
ties that the Pennsylvania Reserves were in camp
wader constant drill and diseipiine, and he ten
dered this large additional force to the Union ar.
mv for the coming battle, but the offer was de-
chined. Had the Pennsylvanian Reserves Leen
with McDowell at Munasses, the Union army conld
have overshelmed the combined forces ny John-
son and Kennregard, but MebDawell was defeated
und his army driven in contusion iuto the detens-
o« of Washiogton. [ well remember the multi-
tude of dispatches received the Governor,
from the President, Secretory of War, and espe-
cinlly from Co onel Scott, the assistant Secreiary
of War, who ander tood the situation thoroughly.
These disoatches came by the score, appealing to
the Governor to hasten his Reserves to Washin
tun to save the capital, and Colopel Scott wit
hit mastery of our railroad systems of the State
arranged for the immediate transportation. The
resnit was that with'n twenty-four hours after
McDowell's army had ax u drivelin
mob 1ato the Washington defenses the measu
tread of the Reserves, on Pennsylvania Avenue,
brought Lincoln's exnression of gratitude, as he
thanked God for the patriotism and conrage of
Andrews G. Curtin,
The Reserves were at once mustered into the
national arty aod it e the nucleus of the
new army of the Potomac, whose record of hero.
ism in the face of long « cleat, is especiilly mem.
orable in the history of our fraternal conflict.
Every dollar of expense incurre i by the State in
the creation of the Reserves was paid by the Na-
tional Government, and what had been regarded
by the national aul ties as almost revolutions
ry abuse of authority hy Governor Curtin, stood
confessed as the bravest and grandest achieve-
meat of ion State Executives,
One of most ic and efficient services
rendered to the Government in promoting the
success of the war was given by
Loyul Gov n
tion of the Confede England and i
which would have A 8 roeels a tens
one for the integrity of tha Union, McClellan bad
been defeated on the Peninsula ; had been
defeated at the Second Rall Run battle and the
eutire army of the Potomac was huddled in the
defenses of Washington, The prople of the
country were stricaen with d r, and while it
was an imperious necessity to Iargely re-enforce
the Union armies to prosecute the war with sue-
cess, the administration could not venture to is
needed troops,
Governor Curtin was
Ste Hiaess and was in
an eminent surgeon,
ceived the idea of calling the
ing erties into conference to in what way
the government conld eail for the reen-
forcements which were tely necessary. He
had a conference with the Maver of Philadelphia,
and 10 New York where he expected to
confer with the Mayors of that city and of Bos
ton. Colonel Scott ealled upon Sew ard, and found
him auterly demoralized and unable to devise a
policy by which a movement could be made to in-
crease the armies, Scott ed to Seward
that Curtin was in the city un surgical treat.
ment and that it might be weil to confer with him,
Seward heartily consented, and Scott ed
to Cartin's room that he was forbidden by his
zuljeon to leave, and told him of the despairing
condition of things at Washington and of Seward's
mission to New York, Curtinat once told Seott
that he would join Seward, and he was carefally
conveyed tn a closed carriage to Beward’s room
where a number of men were in conference,
of the lead.
of the same type and heritage, and cherished
with equal sanctity their herole traditions which |
When Seward presented to Curtin his plan to
confer with the Mayors of the leading eities, Car- |
ed bya seri
nis
York under ine oar
| tin ut once responded : “Why not call the Loyal
Governors into conference ¥' All of the northern
states nad love Governors, and upon Curtin's
AxsUrance thst t woitid promptly respond to
such a call, Seward gladly ed the progosi
. Colonel Seott immediately telegraphed in
Cartin's name to «ll the northern , Urg.
ing them 10 join in the conference. The message
sent was in these words: “In the present emer-
, wontld it not be well if the loyal Goveraors
meet at some point in a border State to
take nienitres for the more active support of the
Goverum~nt?" On the 14th of Soptember a eall
for the an conference was ixsued, signed by
Curtin, of Pennsylvania, Todd, of Onlo, and
t, of Virginia, and on the 24th of the same
mon
a formal cal! upon the Gove
the army at once 10 the extent nacessary to as
sure it- success, and giving the assurance that
thelr States would promptly furnish their respect.
ive quotns. They not only prepared a formai ad-
dress to the President, but with few execeptioos
they went in abooy to Washington ana assured
the President that the troops needed would be
promptly furnished 10 prosecute the war to early
succes This action of the Governors reinspired
the loyal people of the conntry with fresh: hope.
The President immediately is~ued a eall for
ample re-enforcement for the army and the
States ‘oyaliy responded, nnd this restored con-
fidence in the entire north in the fiaal success of
the Union urmy.
But a much graver peril than that resulting
from the depleted Univn armies confronted the
President nod the country at that Jarticulas ge
fod. ‘I'he recognition of the confederacy by -
land would have carried with it the ition
of Fruuce and the Union cause would have be-
come hopeless, could be restrained
only by an emanci policy, and so momen-
tous an issue could not be declared when our
armies were defeated and unequal! to renewing
the conflict. When the Altoons conterence was
called with the assurance of the hearty co-upers-
tion of all the loyal Governors, the battle of An-
tietam was fought, resulting in what could be
Iaimed as a Union victory because Lee retreated
eompily issued. his. proiminary” emancipation
y minary ei pation
hii a ony Itwas Jueiiminu: of tne loyal Gov
red the re-enforce
ments of the army, and warranted the Presider
in declaring the policy of emancipation; sad it
was these two acts which halted the recognition of
the Con! and saved the Union cause. It
was the action of the Altoona conference that
made the prompt prosecution of the war and the
Aectaration of emancipation possible, and to Gov-
enor Curtin the nation is indebted the counra-
geous and successful action that reinspired the
shattered confidence of the loyal people and par-
alyted our country's foes abrosd,
possibilities and exactions im
Governor Curtin daring the war may
ably understood when it is stated that the State
was invaded by Confederate armies in the fall of
Jouz, by Lee's entire army in 1863 and by we
land's command in 1864, when the lorch of the
vandal was applied to Chambe
during the war he organized an
the field 302.284 soldiers, exclusive of 25.
000 militia or emergency men called out
in Septemis:, 1864, when Lee invaded Mary-
land, He farnishzd a inrge excess of troops
over the number furnished by New York
state that greatly exceeded our -Jopulation,
and he was tireless in his efforts, not only
to Protest the exposed border of the State,
but to farnish the full quota of troops to
the armies in the field. He had an ample
svate force to meet and vanquish McCaus-
lund and thus save Chambersburg from de-
struction, but Hunter's disastrous defeat in
the Valley when he was forced to retreat
across the Potomac, ealled our troops, or-
nized for state def
unter's shattered army, and this left Mc.
Causland unopposed in his destructive
march,
There are many thousands in Pennsyl-
vanania who yet speak of Governor Curtin
as the “Soldier's Friend", and the title will
be transmitted to the children’s children of
the Pennsylvania soldiers of our Civil War,
It was not an accidental or cunningly in-
vented title, but it was nobly earned by
Governor Curtin’s devotion to the necessi-
ties of his soldiers from the beginning to
the close of the bloody conflict. No matter
where the Pennsylvania soldiers were in
camp or in battle, they felt the kind minis.
trution of their Governor. When battles
were fought and wounded were gathered in
hospitals, he not only visited them in per-
son, but he organized a system of civil
commissions by which the sick and woun-
ded had every possible care and comfort,
and the Legislature in obeidence to his
appeal, made lawful provision for the
return of the bodies of every dead soldier
to have sepulcher with its kindred at the
cost of the state, At times, there were
nearly or quite 100,000 Pennsylvanian sol-
diers at the ng, and all were encournged
by the fact that the Governor of their state
would give them hearing and ir possible
redress for every wrong dnposed upon
them. Ten's of thousands of letters were
written by our soldiers to the Governor,
many of them making impossible requests
as will ever be done by men far from home
and suffering privations of a soldier's life,
but no soldier's letter ever came to the Ex-
ecutive Chamber that did not receive a
personal answer from the Governor, and
all that could be done for the comfort or for
Justice to the soldier by him was always
done,
d upon
measur.
; and that
sent to
Nor did his humane inspirations end with
his ceaseless care for the interests of the
soldier. 1 well remember when he con-
ceived and first proposed that the orphans
of our soldiers should be made the wards
of the Commonwenlth, It was regarded as
a startling proposition. The Legislature
long hesitated to accept the oer of pro-
viding schools, and practically homes, for
the children of those who had fallen in the
battle for the Union. When the Legislnture
halted, he procured the consent of the
members of the House that a gathering of
the soldiers’ orphans shonld be had there,
and | never forgot the oceasion when hun-
dreds of those who had been made father
less in the flame of battle, gure mute but
cloquent expression of their helplessness,
and the soldiers’ orphans’ schools were in-
Sugurated us the settled policy of the state,
This beneficent monument of humanity,
reared solely by Governor Curtin’s devo-
tion to the Pennsylvanian soldier and to his
orphan children, has made our Commons
wealth lustrous among the sister states of
the Union for its generously just humanity,
With such a record no nobler title could he
given to Governor Curtin than that of the
“soldier's Friend,”
The Pennsylvania soldiers gave the most
substantial evidence of their appreciation
of Governor Curtin’s devotion to them in
the Gubernatorial contest of 1863, when he
was ut eandidate for re-election. There were
75,000 in the field, and at that time they had
not the right to vote except at their home
esidence, Four-fifths of them would prob-
bly have voted for Curtin if opportunity
had been given them, but they could not be
spared from the ranks and they were ubso-
lately disfranchised, The state had defeat-
ed the Republican party in 182, and the
political leaders in opposition to curtin
were entively confident that, with the sol-
diers disfranchized, he could be defeated
and a Democratic vovernor elected. They
nominated Judge Woodward, one of the
ablest and most respected and popular of
his pasty. With the soldiers absent from
the polls, his opponents were confident
that a majority of thirty or forty thousand
of the votes cast would be of the faith op-
posed to the Governor, and in that they
were not mistaken : but the disfrunchised
soldiers made themselves probably even
more effective in the support of Curtin
than if they had been permitted to vote for
him at the election. Scores of thousands of
letters came from the sumps of the disfran-
chised soldiers to their fathers, brothers
und personal friends, making an appeal to
them to support the Executive who was
then accep y all as the “Soldier's
Friend,” and it was their influence, und
that alone, that gave Governor curtin his
triumphant re-election.
He wus unxious to avoid the continuance
of his term because of his utt-rly broken
health, and before the nomination wus
made, I bore to him from President Lin-
coin the tender of a first class mission at
the end of his term, if he desired to accept
it. ‘Lhis tender was made by the President
© Srne the Governor n publjet Sg
Pp no nu can te
for re-election, believed
contest; but I u
nouncement or a declination, leading
oO! 10llow!
structing their delegates to vote for his
of his
und he was fins ly compelled tounecept it
when he could not but feel that he Yar of-
his life as a sacrifice to
duty. After his re-election, I pu from
him on the joveliment vessel that was
sent to Philadelphia to bear him to Cuba
for rest and renewed health, and I turned
him with sorrowi heart, believing
t I should never meet bim again in life
He yapidiy yuined strength in the tropical
climate, and returned with sufficient vital
ene! to resume his responsible duties
until the close of his second term.
Curtin’s devotion to the soldiers of Penn.
sylvania endeared him to the people of
every political faith, and the Legisintures
of Bb and of 1880 present the anexam-
pied rocords of unanimous votes in both
ranches expressing the highest apprecia.
ense, to the support of | pa
tion of his patriotism, ability and integrity
in the e of his o I duties. On
Apri 12, the Legislature, that was the
last with which Gov. Curtin cou'd have of-
ficial associa passed by the fall vote of
every member of both present, com-
fmentary resolutions commending
r having given “to the soldierin the fleld
and in t hoaplal, and to the cause
jor whieh the dier ht and died, the
est sympathy and dec
also that he had “tem:
dign
kindness and won the respect and con-
fidence of the people.” 1t mast be remem-
bered that these resolutions were ssed
when partisan fon was fearfully in-
flamed, but nota single Democratic vote
was cast against the compliment to the
Governor and not a single TRL pres.
ent failed to yote, Three vears later, the
lation, " an LE both
relat unan
branches the Yenolntion thanking the
President for the compliment paid Gov.
Curtin and his state in assigning to the
duty of Minister to Russia. These records
of unanimous commendation of the Gov.
ernor, who was a zealous Dartisan except.
ing when patriotism forbade it, exhibited
a popular trust and affection for him that
has never been given to another Chier
Magistrate.
After serving as Minister to Russia for
several yesrs, he returned to his home and
found imself then the nominated candi.
date for delegate-at-large to the Constitu
tional Convention,'that assured his election
without a contest, and nis ripe experience
in state affairs and broad and thorough
statesmansiip made him one of the most
efficient members of the body in revising
our fundamental! law, At a later period,
when he had Rensly reached the patriarch-
al age, he was ealled to serve three terms
in the National Congress as the Represen-
tative of his home district, and he was an
important factor in the so'ution of some of
the gravest political problem~ wuich con-
fronted our National Legislators of that
day. It was through his tireless per-onal
efforts that the Gettysburg Buttiefieid was
made to preserve its own history, He pro.
cured a speuial appropriation frow one.
gress togather the snrviving cov mnnders
of the war on the memaorniie eld snd per
manently mark the location of every come
mand on either side fn the great decisive
battle of the war,
When his Congressional service ended,
he lived mimongst his beloved and loving
friends in his beautiful mountain home
the welcome guest at every household, and
his presence ever brightened the eyes of
old and young: and the most impressive
pageant 1 have ever witnessed was the sor-
rowing faces and agonized heart of the
vastmultitude that assembled here when he
had filled the full measure of his lustrous
life and sed to the City of the Silent.
Such is the story ofa son of Bellefonte
whose statue we unveil today: a storv of
achievement in patriotism, stutesmanship,
heroism and humanity that can be written
only of Andrew Gregg Curtin,
———— A —
Lincoln's Cabin.
For seven hours Tharsday. June 4th,
the people of Philadelphia bad an opportu-
nity to see the log cabin in which the im-
mortal Lincoln was horn and in whieh he
spent his childhood days. The eahin was
seen at Thirty-second and Market streets
hetween 9a. m. and 4 p. m., and to all
were given the opportunity to view the
modest home in which the great emanci-
tor first saw the light. Bound on a tour
of the east, just like that of the Liberty
Bell, the cabin rested on a special car,
guarded hy Captain Ballitt, of Company
A. First Kentucky Regiment, and a file of
soldiers,
Upon its arrival there were exercises,
and at 11 o'clock Mayor Weaver and other
city officials made addresses. Then the
public was invited to inspect the hirthplace
of the great President. The cahin is the
property of the Lincoln Farm Association,
an organization whose members are in every
part of the country. Some time ago the
farm of 110 acres in the Blue Grass region
of Kentucky. was pnt up at public sale,
and Wer spirited bidjine it a hought
by a private citizen, and now it is propos-
ed that the entire tract he made a park, to
remain the property of the people forever
as a memorial to Lincoln. To this end the
roll of honorary members is thrown
to the public, all that is required heing a
small fee, from 25 cents to as many dollars.
The hoard of trustees consists of Joseph W.
Folk, governor of Missouri, president ;
Clarence H. Mackay, president of the Pos-
tal Telegraph & Cable company, treasurer :
Richard Llavd Jones, of New York, seore-
tary, in addition to a nomher of other
prominent men from all over the country.
From Philadelphia the cabin was taken
to Baltimore, Harrishurg, Altoona, Pitts.
burg. Columbne, Cincinnati, Indiavapolis
and Louisville, where it was kept during
*0!d Home week.”
Honey in Texans.
The prodaggion of honey in Texas this
season i= greater than for many years, This
is dne to the remarkably favorable weath-
er and to the increased number of hee col-
onies, Uvalde county, west of San Anto-
pio, is the leading honey producing section
of the United States. There are more col-
onies of heer in that county than in any
other in America. The open winter, coup-
led with copious rains, has made 1t possi
ble for the hees to store honey daring prac:
tically the entire winter, and the result is
that there hae heen a constant marketing
of the product this season through the
months that usually are not productive of
profit for beekeepers.
VIN-TE-NA for Depressed Feeling, Ex-
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POOR HANDWRITING.
One of the Causes That Downed Na-
poleon at Waterloo.
The nose of Cleopatra had a marked
influence on the destinies of the an-
cient world. The handwriting of Na-
poleon I, we are assured by recent
historians, had a similar effect upon
the evolution of the modern world.
He did not write; he scrawled. By
reason of this, among other causes, he
lost Waterloo. Grouchy could not read
with exactness his decisive message.
Was it “bataille engagee” (battle is
on), or “bataille gagnee” (battle is
won)?
Grouchy chose the latter significance
and, not believing it necessary to press
forward, arrived too late. So much for
the curl of a letter, a pen stroke or an
fllegible swell to an “a.”
This question was brought forward
by the writing master of the elder
Dumas.
“Remember, Alexandre,” the master
said to him, “the great defeat of the
emperor was due only to his scrawling
hand. If you wish to succeed in the
world be careful of your heavy and
your light strokes.” So if Napoleon
had known how to write legibly or if
he had taken the trouble to do so his
descendants would reign today In
France and we should not have had
the republic. It appears historically
established today that Dumas’ writing
master was right. And on such slight
things rests the fate of empires.—Cri
de Paris.
THIS WORLD OF OURS COUNTS THEM
BY THE MILLIONS.
Various Calculations by Which the
Famous Scientists Have Endeav-
ored to Figure Out the Age of the
Planet Upon Which We Live.
The time has admittedly gone by for
attempting to “reconcile the facts of
nature,” to use a recognized phrase,
with the chronology of the Bible, which
makes the age of the world rather less
than 6,000 years.
inaeed, in the Egyptian rooms at the
British museum the visitor can see for
himself objects which go back to an
authenticated period long antecedent
to 4000 years B. C., and great is the
wonder produced on t"~ minds of those
who first make their juaintance.
In that same departiient, among the
mummies, there is what is in many re-
spects the most striking of the exhibits
in the department—the body of a rian
who belongs to the stone age. it les
in an accurate representation of the
peculiarly shaped grave in which it
was found, and it has been in conse-
quence somewhat irreverently nick-
named by the habitues of the museum
“tho wan in the pie dish.”
The particular Interest in that corpse,
which men, women and even children
look upon without the least thought or
suggestion of the fear or horror usual-
ly inseparable from death, is that it is
unquestionably the oldest exhibit In
the museum, and scientists have been
rather struck by the fact that the au-
thorities of the great institution In
Great Russell street have not, so to
say, taken the bull by the horns, boldly
labeled that exhibit as dating from
50,000 B. C. Thus with one single
stroke of the pen Bishop Usher's Bib-
lical chronology is multiplied by about
nine, and it may be that an even high-
er number would be required to satisfy
the requirements of the age of that
particular specimen.
How long has the earth been a planet
capable of supporting not only human,
but all forms of life?
In an address Lord Kelvin once de-
livered on the subject he gathered to-
gether the opinions of various scientific
men which cannot but be of interest
to every thinking being. Darwin, in
his “Origin of Species,” stated that,
“in all probability a far longer period
than 300,000,000 years has elapsed;”
while later on, in the same book, he
wrote: “He who can read Sir Charles
Lyell's grand work on the ‘Principles
of Geology,’ which the future historian
will recognize as having produced a
revolution in natural science, yet does
not admit how incomprehensibly vast
have been the last periods of time, may
at once close this volume.”
Lord Kelvin himself—then Professor
William Thomson—later made an at-
tempt to calculate the length of time
during which the sun has been burning
at its present rate, and in that connec-
tion he wrote: “It seems on the whole
most probable that the sun has not
years and almost certain that it has
not done so for 500,000,000 years. As
for the future we may say with equal
certainty that the inhabitants of the
earth cannot continue to enjoy the
light and heat essential to their life for
many million years longer unless new
sources, now unknown to us, are pre-
pared in the great storehouse of crea-
tion.”
It is a remarkable evidence of the
acute perception of Lord Kelvin's
mind, as of the rare prevision of his
intellect, that the last words—"unless
new sources, now unknown to’ us, are
prepared in the great storehouse of
creation” —should have been added to
that remarkable sentence,
As an example of the very extraor-
dinary range of time given to the age
of the earth, consider the following
statement from Professor Jukes’ “Stu-
dents’ Manual of Geology.” He wrote:
“Mr. Darwin estimates the time re-
quired for the denudation of the rocks
of the weald of Kent, or the erosion of
space between the ranges of chalk hills
known as the north and south downs,
at 300,000,000 years, It may be possi-
ble, perhaps, that the estimate is a
hundred times too great, and that the
real time elapsed did not exceed 3,000,-
000 years; but, on the other hand, it is
just as likely that the time which
actually elapsed since the first com-
mencement of the erosion till it was
pearly as complete as it now is was
really a hundred times greater than
his estimate, or 300,000,000 years.”
Professor Phillips in a lecture at the
University of Cambridge considered
the rate of erosion between the ranges
of the north and south downs to be
rather one inch a year than Darwin's
estimate of one inch in a hundred
years, so that on mere geological
grounds he reduced the time to about
a hundredth. Calculating, however,
the actual thickness of all the known
geological strata of the earth he came
to the conclusion that life on the earth's
surface may probably date back to be-
tween 38,000,000 and 96,000,000 years.
Professor Sollas of Oxford, working
on new principles applied to the strati-
fied rocks, reduced this time very con-
siderably, for he wrote, “So far as I
can at present see, the lapse of time
since the beginning of the Cambrian
system is probably less than 17,000,000
years, even when computed on an as-
sumption of uniformity, which to me
seems contradicted by the most salient
facts of geology.”
What are the data, it will naturally
be asked, on which calculations of this
magnitude are made? Among the
most important are the consideration
of the underground heat which is con-
stantly being conducted out of the
earth—in other words, the cooling of
the earth—the speed at which the earth
rotates on Its axis as well as physical
properties of rocks at high tempera.
tures,
The loss of heat by conduction was
| YEARS OF THE EARTH
illuminated the earth for 100,000,000
Lord Kelvin's first argument for limit-
ing the age of the earth. He found that
if the earth had been losing heat in the
past “with approach to uniformity for
20,000,000 years the amount of heat
lost out of the earth would have been
about as much as would beat by 100
degrees centigrade a quantity of or-
dinary surface rock of 100 times the
earth's bulk. This would be more than
enough to melt a mass of surface rock
equal in bulk to the whole earth. No
bypothesis as to chemical action, In-
ternal fluidity effects of pressure at
great depths or possible character of
substances in the Interior of the earth,
possessing the smallest vestige of prob-
ability, can justify the supposition that
the earth's upper crust has remained
nearly as it is, while from the whole or
from any part of the earth so great a
quantity of heat has been lost.”
By considering the cooling of the
earth and by tracing backward the
process of cooling Lord Kelvin came
to “a definite estimate of the greatest
and least number of million years
which can possibly have passed since
the surface of the earth was every-
where red hot.” This estimate he ex-
pressed in the following words:
“We are very ignorant as to the ef-
fects of high temperatures in altering
the conductivities and specific heats
and melting temperatures of rocks and
as to their latent heat of fusion. We
must therefore allow very wide limits
in such an estimate as I have attempt-
ed to make, but I think we may with
much probability say that the consoli-
dation cannot have taken place less
than 20,000,000 years ago, nor more
than 40,000,000 years ago, or we should
now have more underground heat than
we actually have.”—S8t. Louis Globe-
Democrat.
BLACK ROD OF THE LORDS.
His Last Public Appearance as an
Executive Officer.
Black Rod is an important and piec-
turesque functionary of parliament,
He is at once the policeman of the
house of lords and the parliamentary
messenger of the sovereign. He exe-
cutes the warrants issued by the upper
chamber for the arrest of the persons
who have been adjudged guilty of a
breach of its privileges or a contempt
of its dignities. But in these days the
curiosity of the public or its love of
sensation is never piqued by the ap-
pearance of Black Rod in the role of
a policeman. Indeed, it is nearly a
century now since a poor, trembling
wretch stood, in the custody of Black
Rod, at the bar of the house of lords,
charged with having outraged its aw-
ful majesty. He was a tradesman of
Westminster,
One winter evening, after he had put
ap the shutters of his shop, he strolled
across Old Palace yard to hear a de-
bate in the house of lords. He had
with him an umbrella, which he depos-
ited in the charge of one of the door-
keepers before he entered the stran-
gers’ gallery. He never saw the arti-
cle again. Another stranger, yielding
to a too common weakness of frail hu-
manity, carried it off while its rightful
owner, trustful of the might of the im-
perial parliament to protect, at least
within its own sacred precincts, the
property of its subjects, was drinking
in political wisdom from the lips per-
haps of the Duke of Wellington.
The tradesman of Westminster was
naturally indignant over the loss of his
umbrella, but the expression of hic
feelings assumed a form highly sub.
versive of the ancient privileges of
parliament. He actually issued a proc-
ess against the doorkeeper of the house
of lords for the recovery of the value
of the lost article. This was more
than the house of lords could stand.
One of its doorkeepers summoned to
appear as a defendant in a court of
law! Black Rod was dispatched to ar-
rest the daring shopkeeper, who was
brought forthwith to the bar and
soundly rated by the lord chancellor
on his presumption in outraging the
dignities of the house of lords because
of the loss of a miserable umbrella.
conduct, promised to take no further
action against the doorkeeper and aft-
er another severe reprimand was es-
yard and there discharged. That was
the last public appearance of Black
Rad as the executive officer of the
house of lords.—London Chronicle.
Butterfly Farms,
Most people when they look ata mag-
nificent cabinet of butterflies, gleaming
and glowing with a hundred iridescent
hues, think that each butterfly was
caught by hand—caught after a chase
of a mile of two under a net or a hat.
As a matter of fact, butterflies are rals-
ed on little farms, like chickens. There
tions, but without being able to de-
tach us from these necklaces, brace
lets and jewels.—Paris Eclair,
be