OUR WONDERFUL GENERATION 



of stars and testing their chemical composition has 

 failed to attract wide popular interest chiefly because 

 it deals with subjects so remote from every-day life. 



Of the remaining six modern wonders, the tele- 

 phone dates from about the year 1876, and the initial 

 use of antiseptics is but a few years older. Wireless 

 telegraphy, the aeroplane, radium, the anti-toxins, 

 and the X-Ray have all seen their entire development 

 since 1895. No doubt their extreme newness ac- 

 counts in part for their selection, for of course things 

 seem wonderful somewhat in proportion as they are 

 novel; but on the other hand we can hardly doubt 

 that each of these strictly up-to-date discoveries 

 and mechanisms will continue to hold high rank 

 among the things accounted extraordinary in coming 

 generations. 



That such a list can be presented of achievements 

 of any given generation is altogether remarkable. 

 No one who considers this aspect of the subject can 

 doubt that our age is one of the most extraordinary 

 in all history. To the American it must be gratifying 

 to observe that the second and third among the 

 "wonders" selected by this international jury (the 

 telephone and the aeroplane namely) were invented 

 on this side of the water. Moreover, if the list is 

 extended to include nine subjects, two more Ameri- 

 can achievements are included, the Panama Canal 

 and anaethesia. 



ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE 



There is yet another list of remarkable recent 

 achievements that I wish to cite, because it takes 



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