Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 161, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1912 — Page 3

Getting Around the Tower of Babel Ray G. Hulburh

CCORDING to Genesis, all men at one time used the same language. Having nothing to quarrel about, they seem to have been able to accomplish whatever they might undertake, and Jehovah came down and confounded their language, in order to keep them in their proper place. Since that remote time there have been various methods,

more or less successful, of getting around this difficulty. Two millenniums ago Greek was the language of culture throughout the world, though it was not the first international lan-. gnage. Later, through the influence of the church, Latin came to be the common tongue of the educated. In more recent times French has beeh the international language of diplomacy, and, in a restricted field, Pi djin English has served as an international language of trade. Within the past four centuries many projects have been advanced for a purely artificial international language, but none of them proved practicable. A quarter of a century ago a doctor in Poland published a pamphlet describing his plan for an international language, signing it “Dr. Esperanto.” Esperanto, in his new language, signified "one who hopes," and the word came to be used as the name of the language. ( In this limited space one . can do no better than to quote the late Dr. Lloyd, of the University of Liverpool, who said that “when Esperanto is roughly described as a new and artificial language,' there remains a good deal to be said in qualification of both these terms, for there is very little in it which did not exist in some other language before, though often in a less uniform, less exact and less swiftly manageable form. . . . Classified philologlcally, Esperanto is just simplified Aryan, In its modem European, very slightly inflected, form.” The uses of Esperanto in Europe in business and professional affairs has been told in various magazines. It is known that many firms issue.eatgjogues printed wholly in Esperanto, - which are splendid specimens of the printers’ art; that well-illustrated guidebooks have been issued, telling all about certain cities, and even whole regions which are of especial interest to tourists; that there are international

organizations of teachers, of lawyers, of doctors and so forth, and that in most cases each of such societies has a magazine of its own. Possibly it is not so well known that Brazil, some years ago, issued a very sizeable bulletin in Esperanto; that one of the largest railroads in the United States has published a pamphlet in the Bame language, for distribution among Europeans; that the United States bureau of standards carries on foreign correspondence by means of the "Language of Hope;” or that a young man is traveling in Europe, having already visited nearly every country on that continent, lecturing wholly in Esperanto about one of our western states and illustrating his lecture with colored stereopticon views. Another interesting phase of the international language movement is its relation to Christianity. Among the aims of Dr. Samenhof, author of Esperanto, are the abolition of

Knew Nothing of Chimneys

Convenience In Common Uee Today Evidently Was Unknown Bome ,V\. •' Centuries Ago. In the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum no discovery appears to have been made of anything approaching the nature of the modem chimney. The earliest mention of the chimney seems to be in an ancient Venetian inscription over a doorway, where 4t is written that in 134? certain chimneys in that location were demolished by earthquakes. It is by conjecture only that we are able to say that the chimney was known in ancient Italy. Seneca, who lived during the first century of our era, invented a species of tube which he affixed to the length of the wall, and It seems to have ran through floors. Through this the heat passed from subterranean ovens called “bypocausts,” of which remains were found in burled cellars of houses built on the Bar of Naples. r? But in this there Is no evidence of any chimney in the modem sense or even cf any kind of stove. Before the invent am of the chimney fires were

war and the realization of the Brotherhood of Man. Both of these would be expected to appeal to religious people, and besides, a religion whose field is the world should be attracted by any device which would facilitate intercommunication among its adherents of different races and languages. , There is an extenslxe organization of Esperantist Catholics, which holds an international congress each year. A very creditable monthly magazine, devoted wholly to the interests of Catholicism, is published in Esperanto, besides one or two printed partly in French. Dia Regno is a magazine published in Germany and devoted to the interests of Protestant Christianity among Esperantists. At the annual world congress of Esperantists held at Antwerp, Belgium, last year, there was a conference of Protestant Christians from seven different nations, at which a commission of five members was selected to draft plans for

made in excavations or pits opened beneath the floor of habitations In about the center at the room, as the Eskimos do today. 1 The hearth at the ancient Romans was in the porch, hut the fires lighted there were not designed to make houses habitable, seemingly, but were merely an Indication of hospitality to friends. The bouses, when occasion called for heat, wene furnished with firingpan and bellows carried from room to room by slaves. This was in more or less constant operation day and night In very cold weather. In the early centuries of the Middle Aages there seems to have been an attempt made to perfect the very elementary fashion of house-warming. : Before the seventeenth century there is no direct evidence available that a satisfactory method bad been found to evacuate the gases liberated to combustion. —Harper’s Weekly.

Old Town Site Excavated.

-7 A remarkably interesting archaelogical discovery, believed to be the site of a very ancient lake village, has

been made in the course of excavations at Gillingham, Dorset, England. This discovery was made about 10 ft below the present surface, and consisted of traces of the bed of an ancient lake or river. Several Btout pieces of oak had been driven into the bed, and some large bones of a deer, the skull and angers of a red deer, the jawbone and teeth of a large herbivorous animal, and a large number of worked flints were found. The site, which, was discovered during excavations for the grammar school swimming baths, is thought to be of much greater antiquity than the famous Lacustrine village of Glastonbury- It was situated under an alluvium of blue clay.

His Son’s Progress.

“Is my son familiar with the clawlea?” asked the solicitous father. “Sir," replied the professor; “your son’s attitude classics Is more than familiar. It Is Impertinent.” —Washington Evening Star.

Going Up.

Knicker —The packers buy beef on the' hoof. t Bocker —And the rest of ns buy begsf on the roof.

a permanent organization. America is represented on this commission by a Baptist, the Rev. L. E. Catlin, of Crozer Theological seminary. The New Testament in Esperanto is to be issued in 1912. Several years of work have been put into this enterprise, for the translators feel that this will be the most important version made since the Testament was written in Greek, the international language of two thousand years ago. Work is progressing, also, upon a book of Esperanto hymns with music. A number of collections of hymns without notes are already in use. Leading Christian Endeavorers were among the first in America to take an interest in Esperanto. For years thq Christian Endeavor World published a regular Esperanto department An Esperanto exhibit is a regular feature of the conventions of the United Society of Christian Endeavor, comprising the Endeavorers of the United States and Canada. An extensive Esparanto exposition was provided for the Nebraska Silver Jubilee convention, held at Lincoln last October. This convention, attended by more than 1,200 delegates, was one of the greatest state conventions held in the history of the Christian Endeavor. There were exhibited here a number of letters from prominent people, one of the most interesting being a statement from Helen Keller, the only deef-blind person with a college education, saying that she is Interested in Esperanto and has some books about it Shortly before the'convention, two or three periodicals in Europe published an announcement that Esperanto would have a place on the program, and that messages of greeting

Bore Mark of the Convict

Rata With Peculiar Btripo the Result of Their Being Littered In a Penitentiary. Parental influence has been the study of scientists for ages, and many wonderful results have been recorded, but the most remarkable case known has come to light in this city. White rats striped with brown have been bred at the penitentiary hero by Newton Trusty, a convict, and the association of the rats with convicts wearing striped colors,- the body of the clothes being white and the stripes brown, is believed to* account Tor these freak rats. Trusty was sent to the penitentiary years ago for murder, and was to have served a life sentence. Hope of securing a parole or pardon caused him to study out some method of soaking money while in the prison, and he decided to breed white rata and sell them. He had been conducting the ratbreeding farm within the prison walls for years before the first white rat striped with brown made Its appear- ...... . •*».,. -- It was sold, and then the same lie-

from foreign. Christians or societies would be Relcom* In spite of the lateness of the announcement, the response was good. From Holland came a message in part as follows: “By means of Esperanto I now am able to talk and correspond with Christian brothers and sisters in different lands, although lam only 4 simfple farm laborer.” From England', “I am a Wesleyan minister, hedged in by sickness and age, and cannot take much part in any kind of meetings, but watch with great interest all Christian work in the whole world, especially that in my own country and in the sister republic across the sea.” 1 From Switzerland, “I desire the greatest success for your Christian Endeavor convention, but I regret that the Christians, here at least, do not accept the help which Esperanto would give to them.” From Bohemia, "As a sincere friend of Christian Endeavor, I send the most cordial good wishes, and desire great success for the convention.” A Spaniard sent a bit of verse tolling how God has given us a language, everywhere comprehensible,- by which we may make known the name of Christ to the ends of the earth. A school girl in Hungary sent a picture of an Esperanto group, consisting of fourteen girls and their teacher, with the greetings of all. A Belgian wrotp that he was planning to make a lecture trip among the Y. M. C. A.’s of that country during the

winter, and would be glad to have an account of what was done at the Nebraska convention, to Incorporate In his lecture. There were other messages, from Siberia, Russia, Poland, Norway and Germany. More epoch-making than any of these, however, was a message of greeting sent by order of the Christian conference already described as meeting at the time of the world congress at Antwerp. Besides the exhibits there were two conferences, at which Esperanto experts explained the nature and advantages of the languages, answered questions and dispensed literature. There was also a complete religious service, with hymns, prayers and a sermon—in fact everything usually found in a church service except the collection —held in the city auditorium on Sunday, October 29. A full outline of the order of service was panted in the official program of the convention. In addition the order of service, printed in Esperanto, including the text of the hymns, of the creed, of the . Lord's Prayer and so forth, was furnished each person who attended the service. The same program was printed entire in the morning edition of both of the city's daily papers. Since that time a regular Esperanto department has been established by the officers of the Nebraska Christian Endeavor union, on a par with its Junior, missionary, Christian citizenship and other departments. These Endeavorers believe that Dr. Zamenhof is not mistaken In the belief that a common language will beget common aims and common aspiration, thus leading to universal peace and brotherhood; and they believe that such a state of affairs will help to bring on earth the condition which Jesus of Nazareth had in mind when he spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.

male gave birth to another litter of striped rats, which laid the foundation for the freak rata, which were good enough sellers to earn Trusty a snug sum of money, so that when he was paroled recently he had money enough to go to his native county and buy a form,—New York Herald.

Long Years of Faithful Work.

Eighty years in a colliery is the teoord of a Yorkshire (England) miner, John Inman, who Is still at work at the low shaft of the Denby Orange collieries. Although 85 years old, he is In charge of an engine, and is able to give foe machinery all the attention It requires, working full time each day, and sometimes seven days a week. Inman wag only fire years old when he began wnrk as a “trapper,” opening and closing foe underground doors through which the trucks pass on thir way from the working face to foe shaft Far foes* duties he received fourpence a day. He has held the position pf engineman for many years, andal though offered an opportunity of retiring on a pension hs prefers remaining with his engine.

WAR REMINISCENCES

SAW FALL OF FORT SUMTER Capt John A. Bunker While Aboard Coasting Schooner off Charleston Witnessed Battle. On an April day in 1861, while the guns of Moultrie and Castle Pinckney were thundering against the walls at Fort Sumter, there lay at anchor outside the harbor at Charleston, S. CL, a coasting schooner. From Its low-lying deck its officers and crew of half a dozen sailors watched the artillery duel that proved to be the opening scene in the Civil War. The schooner was the Pennsylvania, chartered by Boston shippers, and freighted with ice for Charleston. One of the crew that was thus privileged to be eyewitnesses of the first overt act of rebellion against the United States government, was John Allen Banker, then aged 23, of Edgartown, Mass. “I was 23 yeans of age at the time serving before the mast In the coasting trade. Our ctaft, which was schooner-rigged, was owned in Rockland, Me. Early in April, 1861? wo sailed out of Boston, carrying 250 tons of ice consigned to parties In Charleston, S. C. Of course we had heard for several months muttering* of Impending trouble, and we knew that Maj. Anderson had transferred his command from the shore fortifications to Tbrt Sumter and was bolding for Uncle Sam, but I think not a soul on board the Pennsylvania, our schooner, realized the seriousness of the situation. I know I felt no hesitation about making the trip. "After rounding Cape Cod we ran down the coast without special delay, so far as I can remember, and In about five days, I should say, we were off Charleston, and headed few the channel leading to the city. "Fort Sumter was being bombarded. We werrf four miles away but we could see the flash of the guns In Moultrie and other shore fortifications. Over all hung a great ' volume of smoke. “What did we do? Why there was but one thing for the captain to do—drop the anchor, and await the outcome. It would have been suicidal to have attempted to run the gauntlet off that heavy crossfire. Yes, we were held up all right, ,and so through the afternoon we swung at anchor and:

"We Swung at Anchor and Watched the Battle.”

watched foe battle, too for away to judge whether one Bide or the other was gaining an advantage. “There was mighty little steep on! the Pennsylvania that night mid when foe morning broke every eye was: strained harborwarda to see whether* foe old flag Was still flying over Sumter. We cqnld not make It out and: our fears were reahned when later ai harbor pilot boarded us and told oft Sumter had fallen. | “Under Ms guidance we worked our* way up the channel past the now si-; lent forts of the city. There all was: excitement. Nothing but the victory gained by foe South Carolina sohtterK was talked about, and a Yankee sailor was not enthusiastically welcomed. -That port oflksers advised our captain to discharge hi* cargo without delay and get away white there waa a chance. We toah the hint and lost no time in acting upon it In considerable less than forty-eight hours our cargo was hoisted oat and we had said ‘goodhy* to Charleston. * -The next time I sailed to that port was shoot one year later, I should say,, and then we carried stone instead of: toe. You see, it waa this way; The. government did not have enough armed vessels to maintain an efffee* tlve blockade of the long-stretching Atlantic seaboard, and it was decided to obstruct the channels leading to certain ports, of which Charleston waa one, ujith sunken vessels. The government purchased sixteen ships that hnA been formerly employed In the whaling business, picking them up in New London, Sag Harbor, Nantucket and. New formed only teml^fH>i^^ui^ a *of of th < e bi§r would eventually cause them to break up and wash away, hut I reckon served the purpose intended at tan ttoe.”