Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1892. The World's Advance.

Manawatu Herald, 21 May 1892, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1892. The World's Advance.

What is the world coining to ? Are the conditions of human life more terrible now than in " the good old times ? " Are men in all the relations of life really degenerating ? These are questions which from time to time we are forced to ask ourselves and, when in a bilious mood, we sometimes feel disposed to answei in the affirmative, " 'Tis a bad world, my masters"— and it is getting worse, Taking up any newspaper,

the most cursory glance at the news columns informs us of Anarchist outrages in France, Socialist clistuvbances in Germany, Nihilist explosions in Russia, labour troubles with 400,000 men on strike in England, military massacres in Venezuela, Deeming atrocities in the colonies, wholesale corruption and fraud in Canada and the United States, famine in China, pestilence in Africa, till with a sort of sick feeling afc heart one is disposed to lay down the paper and ask, " What is the world coining to ? " But, whilst we needs must shudder at the daily catalogue of human miseries, a very little reflection is sufficient to convince us that the world is no worse now than in " the good old times " — nay, that it is in a better condition morally, politically, and socially now than it ever was before. Why, then, the terrible complexion of ' inQ neWS column? Simply because o£ the wider scope over which our Mental vision ranges now-. The spread of education, the Wealth and multiplied wants ot populous communities, the constantly increasing rapidity of news transit all act together in facili tating the supply of the new material out of which newspapers may be said to be made. The innumerable legion of newspaper men, special correspondents, reporters, editors, et hoc genus omne, gather up the facts supposed to be worth recording here and there and everywhere all ovei' the world by the help of all secondary agencies, the railway, the telegraph, the steamboat, and so we have set before us daily not merely, the tittletattle of the township and ihp " small beer " of the parish, not merely what took place at the other side of the world three or four months ago, but what took place all over the world yesterday, nine or ten hours ago, or is taking place now. It is wonderful. Truly has Tennyson styled the men of the present day " the heirs of all the ages." So they are, and so each succeeding generation will continue to be till "the heavens pass away and the elements dissolve with fervent heat." What the men of one age learn, discover, and invent, the men following them inherit, utilize, and bequeath with additions to their children. So the process of development goes on, with the result that the immense majority of people living now are better fed, better clothed, better housed, and better served in almost every way than were the sovereigns of the House of Tudor or Plantagenet. This in a material point of view. A glance at scientific progress in the newspaper line will show how such an inheritance has . been transmitted to us on the intellectual side. The first newspapers were handprinted, of course, and by human hands only a very limited number of impressions could by any possibility be taken off a single set of types in an hour. In the early part of the present century the circulation of newspapers was so small that it was possible to supply the demand by printing off at the rate of 300 copies an hour. As the demand increased this was found totally inadequate, and steam was pressed into the service. The first newspaper printed by a steam-propelled press was the London Times of November 29th, 1814. This press was erected by Mr Walter, and was an an immense improvement on all its predecessors. From that day to this continual improvements have been effected in this machine, until now it is the most perfect in existence, and is capable of running off complete newspapers at the rate of 12,500 copies an hours ! And this work it is able to accomplish attended only by one man and two boys, none of whom is severely worked ! This week's cable from London informs us' of a new .typesetting machine, named the Linotype, and the opinion of the' iScoliisH Leader (an Edftilmrgh paper) that the cost of setting 250 columns by means ot the Linotype is no dearer than 50 by the hand process. What will the future give us ? Much has jbeen already done-,in applying eleotiioity as $ messenger, a motive power, an illuminant. Edison assures us that the vast ocean of potential energy lies unexplored before us. To the work of th,is exploration the keenest intelligence of the present is* now turned and will doubtless continue to be 30, with the result that in all human probability men at the close of the 20th century will be as far ahead of us as we are of our great grand' fathers, and further. In this we assume, of course, that in the meantime our successors will not have scientifically improved themselves off the face of the earth by means of improved shooting-irons, smokeless powder, patent medicines, and such like deviltries — a wind-up iust possible!