Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, December 27, 1902, Page 2

REVIEW OF THE PAST AND FORECAST OF THE COMING YEAR The coming year promises to see {n the United States a more marvel- ous period of commercial and indus- trial development than even that of year 1902. The prediction may afely made that American trade with the East will be doubled during twelve months and the ates will become the domi- D of the Pacific ocean. It is »t beyond the bounds of possibility at within the next decade the em- of trade and commerce will pass he Atlantic to the Pacific the the next mind the vast strides ir country in comparatively ent ars what the volume commerce will be in another century it would be fool- t, but it will be enormous. iuence of America and the an people througnout the world ased, so that they will not only the great com- ation of the world, but the n political rank and power Having in nee and responsibility can a y be doubted by those who 1 abiding faith in the energy jom and integrity of the an citizen roducing powers of the United still in their infancy. Com- ducing area with that of sloped and well-tilled of Europe, and it will be ap- a2 glance that in the matter we may and shall in- se enormously the products of the not only in increasing the actual t re, but by bringing un- ion many millions of acres non-productive. ter of mines and minerals iction and productive powers reely begun to show their In all the great articles 1 enter into manufacture—the icts of the mine, the forest and t field—we are the world’s greatest jucer and likely to continue so in- nitely. We have more of coal, of iron, more of copper, more of more of cotton, more of all the ements which enter into the S of the manufacture of articles red by the world at large, civil- civilized, than any other na- have the skill and energy nich to turn these into manu- by far the’ greatest railway of the world to carry them to and a great ocean on to float them to the wait- of the world ture > now edge a review of what we have past, and only by it can attempt to measure he lo in the future. What n the way of inventions and next few years may store can only dimly be at A great thinker and in- said of the future news- We may, and I believe shall, have news transmission by air waves lonographic instruments which peat the news of the day and rd it at the same time, so that listen or may read as they The great force of the future tricity, and it is in its infancy *t will be used to obviate all essary waste of nervous tissue, « the phono-air-wave newspapers of ich I speak will certainly be trans- some day direct from the of their producers without any manual labor as writing and ut even the need for speaking n aloud.” iewing the record made dur- e past year by United States s it must be remembered that (Co! may ed on sixth column.) A NEW YEAR New Year's Eve; a mild, night swathed and muffled {n a mantle of salt fog which. dimmed the glare of the electric lights on eith- er shore, changing them for the time | into nebulous globes of luminous beauty, and hung like a soft gray cur- tain around the big ferry boat that, shrieking hoarse warnings of its men- acing presence, was plowing its way heavily through the black water of San Francisco Bay. Only one passenger was braving the dampness of the open forward deck, and he sat on the side next Goat ‘Is- land, just in front of the churning wheel, with his coat collar turned ‘up and his hat pulled down over his eyes, and murder—self-murder—in _ his heart. The world had gone wrong with him in every way. He had wasted his small patrimony in dissipation, and when it was gone the woman who had helped him scatter it had thrown him over for another victim. For the last week he had been drinking heavily to “drown his sorrow,” but not suc- ceeding he had come to the bemud- the next best dled conclusion that thing was to drown himself. For this reason he was sitting on the Goat is- land side of the ferry-boat and wait- ing—dominated by the ghastly whim which has sent so many others over- board at that same spot—until the wheel paddles should beat along the border of the well known “graveyard” of the bay. The saloon door opened and a girl and an old man, both laden with bun- dies, came out—the man with a ranch- er’s sun-brown face, stooping should- ers and toil-hardened hands, the girl, plainly his daughter, tall, straight and comely after the wholesome, honest country fashion. The close warmth of the brilliantly lighted interior had driven these two out into the damp coolness of the enveloping fog, and the man sitting just before the wheel emerged from the gloomy calm of his dying meditations to swear roundly, under his breath, as they sat down near him. Then he raised his head and looked at them surlily, mentally cursing tne relentless fate which even at this last minute interfered between him and his nearly accomplished plan. He must go to the other side of the boat now; but as he rose and the light of the saloon windows fell on his face the girl put, out her hand suddenly and cordially. “Why, Jim!” she exclaimed with frank friendliness; and then: “How oddly things hapen! This is the first time I’ve come down to the bay since I came back from Nevada, and here | you are, that nore of us have seen nor heard of for over three years!” And then “father” greeted the old- time ‘neighbor’s boy” in friendly fash- ion also and made room for him to sit between them taat they might share his welcome presence equally. It was impossible to get away from them at once without absolute rude- ness; and after the first the man who had cherished the thought of death in his heart all that long wretched day did not feel that he wished to. He could attend to that matter just as well on the return trip,and meanwhile it was pleasant, -during these fast- ebbing minutes of his doomed life, to talk of old times and old friends, and this breath from his old country home seemed to blow the cobwebs from his drink-drugged brain and give him fleeting glimpses of possibilities that might have been his were it not now irrevocably too late. He went with them to their train, helping to carry their bundles ana piloting them safely through the be- wildering eddies of the pushing, el- bowing, excitedly hurrying crowd that the boat disgorged upon the Oakland dock. Then, as in the car he busied himself for a last minute in arranging for their comfort, some vague heay- enly hint of his dire need of instant unquestioning human help came out of the igvisible and touched the girl’s white soul. She looked with sudden comprehen- sion at his worn face, his somber eyes and his tremulous hands, and then as he raised his hat and turned to leave them she caught his sleeve with tim- id, entreating fingers. “Come and begin the New Year | with us,” she said. “The city has not been kind to you, but the country al- ways was. You will grow back to your old self up in the foothills, and afterward—if you care to stay—there is work in plenty.” He looked down at her upturned face and the insistent voices that had all day Been calling him from the bay’s always yearning “graveyard” grew fainter and died into silence. “Come with us,” echoed the father, and the light pressure of the girl’s fin- gers on his arm held him captive. The train shuddered into motion, and then, moving faster and faster torough the crosslights of the desert- ed pier, bore the three away toward tae beckoning promise of the New Year.—Florence Matheson. Boy's Frankness Spoiled the Christmas Giving It happened over in a city mission last year, and it made such a sensa- tion in its own way that it bids fair to become one of the Christmas clas- sics of the neighborhood if which it occurred, i They were having the Christmas tree in the Sunday school room, and iin the beautiful green cone-shaped fir was ablaze with lights, glittering with gay decorations and loaded down with the tokens of affection and good will which the parishioners were exchang- ing among themselves and their chil- dren. Jimmie Smith, a _ freckled-faced youth of some eleven winters, sat with some of his chosen companions on a bench just in front of his par- ents, nearly in the center of the hall. The Smiths—these particular Smiths, at least—were comparatively recent additions to the church family, but they had already achieved a mild sort of popularity among. their new ac- quaintances, for they dressed well, ap- parently lived well and were, seem- ingly, in every way “nice people to know.” Their gifts to each other on this public occasion had been expensive and elegant enough to fill the minds of all present with respectful admira- tion, in some cases shadowed. by a faint cloud of envy. Mrs. Smith had received a flashing solitaire diamond ring from her loving lord, and had presented him with a gold match safe and a silver paper cutter; and soon after the name of their only son and heir was loudly proclaimed by the stentorian-voiced young. man who played the part of an Aaron for the rubicund and smiling dispenser of presents. A good-sized morocco case was young Smith’s reward for plowing his ; REVIEW OF THE PAST AND FORECAST OF THE COMING YEAR (Continued from first column.) while the implements of war have been vastly changed by modern in- ventions, and modern weapons can be used at much greater distances and with more destructive effect, yet the principles of war have not changed, although skill, sciepce and strategy to some extent take the place of valiant leadership and physical strength and courage in successfully using the de- structive weapons of war of the pres- ent day. During its varied experience of the last few years on most extended fields of operation the United States army has maintained its reputation for loy- alty, intelligence and valor. There have been a few instances of surprise and ambuscade of small detachments, but whenever it has met the enemy under ordinary circumstances it has achieved an unbroken record of suc- cess. What its future may be it is impossible to prophesy, but it is fair to predict that it will be as commend- able as its past has been glorious. So far as money is concerned, it is reasonable to suppose that the rates of interest will vary but little in the absence of unforseen circumstances, such as war, etc. While we continue to sell our products to Europe and get large returns, we will be compelled to seek a market for our money. The result will be the enormous develop- ment of our own resources, mineral, agriculturas, including wool, cattle and cotton, and the reaching out for mar- kets in Japan and China, South Amer- ica, and in fact all of the markets that have been monopolized by England, Germany and France. Having great natural advantages over our European competitors, we will eventually rout them from these fields of trade. The rapid growth of the great schools of applied science in the uni- versities of America has been one of the most notable features in the edu cational history of the past thirty years. To this more than to any oth- er cause is due the overshadowing success of American manufacturers and commerce. Higher education is coming more and more to mean devel- opment of the highest practical effect- iveness. Without abundant and thor- ough technical training good articles cannot be produced in competition with the world. Navies, tariffs, trusta and other devices cannot take the place of expert knowledge. The past year has been remarkable for a sudden and a practical advance in the mrvelous history of the wire less telegraph. The scientific achieve- ment which had been dreamed of for nearly half a century, and only with in late years had shown itself some thing better than a dream, has given the most definite and the most en- couraging evidences of its claim to be regarded as one of the world’s great: est accomplishments in the domain of practical science. Something of the same kind, although in a lesser degree, may be said of the attempt to construct a flying machine, that proj- ect which had its- beginning, so far as we know, in the realms of classic fable, and may have had its begin- ning for aught we know in days long before the gods of Greece had ever come to be classified and worshipped. It is not too much to say that what- ever may come of this ever-renewing enterprise, the year saw the most practical evidence of its possibility yet given to the world. The year can- not boast of any great triumphs en- tirely its own in the realms of liter- ature and art. Its literary and ar tistic firmament has not indeed been clouded, but no new star of the first magnitude, no blazing comet even, has arisen on the field of mortal vision. RRR aaa way to the tree. “Jimmie Smith, from his father and mother,” the young man read from the card at- tached as he handed the gift to the boy, who, grinning widely, hurried back to his seat. “Hully gee! Mebbe it’s a baseball!” suggested one of the Dauntless nine” as a crowd of small boys closed in around their extremely imteresting looking covering. But it wasn’t. It was a large solid silver, gold-lined mug, with Jimmie’s name ornately en- graved on its glistening front. Truly a fine present for any boy, but Jimmie some way didn’t seem to appreciate it. First he looked at the rich and beautiful specimen of the goldsmith’s art with scorn and disappointment, and then he turned upon his smiling mamma and papa with hot resent- ment. 2 Quoth he loudly and clearly: “It’s the same darned old mug that Uncle Frank gave.me when I was a baby! I don’t see what in time you two old folks w&nted to fool me this way for!” And some way the glories of the diamond ring and the gold match safe and the silver paper cutter seemed far Jess dazzling after that innocently in- dignant little speech. x aie’ setae a See eeeen