12 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The editor states that he is "blazing 

 a trail of his own," which is probably 

 true, for, where in the country, from 

 coast to coast, has there been seen such 

 a modernized "wigwam"-— a new note 

 in American architecture? From him 

 we bear this message to the reader: 

 "Brother, whoever and wherever you 

 are, go into the fields and woods and 

 penetrate into shady nooks ; explore 

 new country; all the time with open 

 eyes and a receptive mind and heart. 

 You will be made to think of the great 

 Power behind these works. You will 

 be educated — refreshed !" 



Dreamers of Dreams. 



[Quotations from an editorial in "The Green- 

 wich Press" on the originator of the 

 parcel post.] 



"One summer afternoon nearly seven 



years ago, an old gentleman entered 



the office of a Greenwich newspaper, 



where I was then employed, and asked 



to see the editor. He said his name 



was Cowles. 



"He was a rather remarkable looking 

 old gentleman, with the face of a 

 dreamer, and long snowy locks, and 

 the outer evidences of refinement and 

 education. He wore a long black 

 cloak, though the weather was warm, 

 and a big black slouch hat. He was 

 mild mannered and unusually polite, 

 almost apologetic in his air. He was 

 accompanied by a middle-aged woman, 

 who, I afterward learned was his 

 daughter. 



"He wanted to talk to the editor 

 about a great idea of his, whereby the 

 Postoffice department should carry 

 large packages, just like the express 

 •companies, but at much lower rates. 

 Incidentally he mentioned that he was 

 taking a rest at a local sanitarium, after 

 a prolonged nervous strain. 



"I conveyed his message to the edi- 

 tor. As I told it I could see an expres- 

 sion half of contempt, half of pity flit 

 over the editor's face, and there was a 

 trace of irritation in it. As I men- 

 tioned the fact that the man was stay- 

 ing at a sanitarium, an understanding 

 smile was directed at me, and I was 

 told that the man could tell his story 

 to me. It was clear, though he did not 

 say so, that the editor had no time to 

 waste in listening to 'bugs.' 

 * * * * 



"And now I think of it, it seems to 

 me that nearly every great reform, 



every big step in the progress of the 

 race comes in a like manner. There 

 is always the theorist, the dreamer, 

 who thinks it all out — the man who 

 sees a vision of the world as it might 

 be, tomorrow. And the vision becomes 

 so bright to him that he can see naught 

 else, for its brightness. And he is im- 

 pelled to go forth into the highways 

 and byways and preach it. The one 

 consuming longing of his life is to 

 make others see it as he sees it. 

 Eventually he is generally broken on 

 the wheel. His frail life is burned out 

 by the fire within, or battered to pieces 

 on the rocks of a dull, unseeing human- 

 ity. If his truth is too great, he is im- 

 prisoned and scourged. If it is very, 

 very great, he is forced to drink the cup 

 of poisoned hemlock. And the great- 

 est of all truths brought crucifixion as 

 its reward." 



3jC SfC 3f£ )|C 



Editor Talcott has well expressed 

 the course with many great inventors. 

 With natural scientists who would aid 

 in the uplift of humanity through na- 

 ture the course is similar but a little 

 varied. Take, as an example, Sir Rich- 

 ard A. Proctor, the famous missionary 

 astronomer who toured this country 

 before applauding audiences. They 

 eulogized him for his great work, for 

 the heroic self-sacrifice of himself and 

 family- This country of great wealth 

 cheerfully let him struggle against 

 every phase of poverty and then let 

 him be buried in the "poor" part of a 

 cemetery. But he had his reward even 

 in a pecuniary sense. Years after 

 his death his bones were dug up by the 

 great philanthropist, Geo. W. Childs. 

 who moved them to a more conspicu- 

 ous part of the cemetery and gave him 

 a costly monument. "All things come 

 to those who wait" — if they only wait 

 long enough. 



This earth with its infinitude of life 

 and beauty and mystery, and the uni- 

 verse in the midst of which we are 

 placed, with its overwhelming immen- 

 sities of suns and nebulae, of light and 

 motion, are as they are, firstly, for the 

 development of life culminating in 

 man ; secondly, as a vast schoolhouse 

 for the higher education of the human 

 race in preparation for the enduring 

 spiritual life to which it is destined. — 

 Alfred Russel Wallace in "The World 

 of Life." 



