THE IMPERIAL ROLL CALL.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XX, Issue 37220, 16 September 1904, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE IMPERIAL ROLL CALL.

The <*flVen which .ih<* leading works of science have on Hie betterment < 1 i minikind who can ny. The tar-reaching nature ui ilia; effect may, however, be iel'i. lor tlie a l l ulent.'.s debating class, since, pm as a pebble if ,-it.nated at its tii' a river, ,-u the humanitarian triumpli of invent mil or discovery may change lhe dee. ones of all the nations without. the casual inquirer being able to connect, the 1111010 ol the operations. For examples, tho invention of tho print nig machine', t he discovery of steam power, and tho happening which led to the 111,1 k ng 01 steel, these have proved as whining roads of progress along which civil sed man has gone with everincroa.Mng potentialities for his application and Ins iiubi't ry. It. won id be difficult, taking up lira view, to place a limit to the things which have resulted from the life's work of Lard Kelvin. His earliest researdie.s were as a pebble at .the source of tho .river of industrial conquest and national intercommunion. It had, perhaps, flowed 011 in any case. but. would il. have been led from so many fields? On the contrary, unless some oilier genius had .supplied tho same spur and means to take advantage of the incentive it haul been comparatively slow, tedious and undeveloping. So much so would this have been the case that it. is proba'do that but for the existence of Kelvin we, in this generation, would still, in some things, have been where our grandfathers vere, with so nmch_ more requiring a betterment of condition. By his invention ho has benefited mankind to the extent, of opening up a veritable empire of exploitation, and in regard to file F.mpire. be lias given the crimson thread of kinship a binding which lias drawn us together and made our sentimental, federation infinitely more real than appears on the surface. Further, lie has bound together tho interests of

;Ik> Anglo-Saxon race, and therein broken down, to a gcat extent, the do i-,-iotial wail between the Empire whmli olieVo the Stale and Stripes and the grander one which is proud to salute the Em imi Jack. Ho has proved, m I act, tho magician whose elect ric wnnd has cemented much oi human interest, ami in so tar as ho hao established fit as unity of purpe.-o he ha- destroyed the chance ef it - disruption by war. William Thomson, iir.si, Ford Kelvin in the i Vera go ot Great Britain, was horn at, .Bellast' it HfH. s.i he is another of those giants ol our kind whom Ireland mav elaiin in the galaxy oi her grande-t,. Educated at. Glasgow I nivor.-uy and at Cambridge, u Irte he graduated in )jg|.-, a,-, ,-eooiKl u rangier, and lir.-l Smith s prizeman being elected to a. fellow.'hip. ho became Prolessor ol Natural I’hilo-opliy at Glasgow the year ioilowmg, and iroiu this point- started on ills wonderful ,-cientiho career. H .-> work was all comprehensive in bi.s department. onr it was soon evident, that Inn greatest, service n> humanity would come from his mathematical insight- in special rotation to elect nc Iy. I tins, lot his "Tcatesi. accomplishment, wo may he laying of the Atlantic cable, that, miomj ia ra bh> leal which was the r-la.bli-hmeni m the hrsi- real link tween l he t wo nut uiiis speaking the English language. The scheme m annihilate din space between England and America was really evolved in America, im fir.-’,' exponent- being ,\lr Eyru.s Field, who ior long was esteemed a clio.tmei and \ i.-to nary for hi.s pains. Whether tho idea would have conn' to anything had A iibam i hotnsim not existed, canjiotj be sad, biti- the probability m that., il, would have duel a natural death tor the time, being, anyhow. Equally "chanceful" was the exisl.ance oi Ihe man who designed the only vessel cap-

.Him 1 ‘ M “ l' 1 I I I l 11“ iil < i 4 i »4 t l - • • oelu'iui.'.', white elephant, “The (treat. Ea.stoni," which in thus gave the liucst just ilical ion lor it.s production. Tho Atlantic cable wax a mighty mighty accomplishment, and lor this wo undoubtedly have io tliank tho Grand Old Alan of British Science, who brought to tho s-Tvico of tiio symlicafo tho practical knowledge requited to crown do opcr.Uion.s with buccc.m, Jho manner m. which tho work wa.s done i.s written in every .school hook, huh the wale spreading oifccL it. has had on the redation.s of the Anglo-Saxon people and indirectly on tho world, mush ho iolt. lor philosophers to conjecture. For the Atlantic cable did more than <ervo a groat, commorcial. pnrpo-,. be; ucm lwo mighty peoples, lor a- limy .-peak a. common language ii proved a-, a. veritable bridge of imerconimenum in a. h glum torm for nows, for cuii.-ailiatioii, and lor sympathy. !>y it Ameiica was able (o ‘Vail’ on England and talk to her baud in hand, by it England wa.-. aide to ‘‘call” on America, and talk to lior lave to face; by it since, the lot ling of

broiherlmoss between Great Britain and the knifed States has grown daily, till now there am .so many mutual ties as to render any serious disruption between the two peoples impossible. If, later, the Atlantic cable .should "pass," eclipsed in utility by the mom wonderful system of wireless telegraphy, it will mill have served on one of (be noblest purposes of ma'nkind, and left a. glorious inheritance. -Nor will this result bo conllnod to those who partnered tho undertaking of fifty years ago as the cable referred to may be- accounted tho parent of all that lie along the bottom of tho sea, even of those that attack Australia and New Zealand to the Mother Country to that other great British lieutenant, Canada, and to all tho remaining component parts of tho Empire. Other men have extended tho realms of the English Throne and consolidated tho matchless dominion, ; but tho cahie has linked all together as no. thing else had linked them, and given them a family interest which without such a means of intercommunion had long ago become attenuated. Lord Kelvin has given the world many more things than the cable, accepting him as the supreme founder. His electrical measuring instruments are largely n.si'd by engineers, while his compass and sounding machine have proved invaluable auxiliaries in the navigation of the sea. Ho has also made important additions to the science of magnetism, and has written many works which aro among tho standard guides of tho .scientific of all nations. His rewards have been commensurate with his deeds, with tho result lie enjoys an ample fortune and such honors as a grateful Sovereign and tho learned societies of the world have been able to confer upon bun. Thus ho is a. Peer of tho Realm, following a knighthood, and a Pi ■ivy Councillor of Great Britain, while taking in foreign orders, he is a Com.

inamlcr of ilm Order of Prince Leopold or Ik-1;.;;mn. a Knight < f the Order ' Pour lo Mor i-.'' of G.-i many, a Grand Olticer of ilu> Legion d'UouiK'ur of France. and ihe holder ot imo ot the bighe.-t- ord*T.s in t In* "iv ii;; of the Mikado of Japan. In learned society ho. is a Follow "f the Loyal Society of Great Lrirain. and the posM>sor of de-"ro-s of disl met ion li'om no less than twenty imivermt ms. ineludinj; Oxford and ('am hr dge, Glasgow and Edinlnirgh, Dublin ;md London, lie delborg, C'hris., tiania. Vale. liolonga, .Montreal. Toronto, Princeton and others, lie was President of the Pril'sh Association in IS7i. and of the Loyal Society tnnn IS! 1 !) to 1810. wife he was three times President oi llie Loyal Society of Mdmimrgli. In addition he is a foreign a-soeMt-i of the French Academy, and a. voluminous a.s well as "valued correspondent" of hsimed bodies in Germany, Austria, Italy and America. .Also lie is the Honorary Colonel of the Hntisli Corps of Tate;neers. to which he acts not only in the capacity of a patron, hut in that of a guide a i K l director in everythin;; requiring such expert assistance. When King Kdward ramo to the I hmne he had the chance of creating a new form of Knighthood, or rather a. new order which should distinguish hi.s accession and enhance the list of the* most coveted List ish decorat ions. In this way his august bother before him inaugurated the Victoria Cross, a decoration which is the most coveted of all ranks in the Army and Navy throughout the Kmpire, and of which even the democra.tic Americans have said;—'‘lt the democratic vbgk ijjciidumfwypfuy is the noblest order of inert which has ever been evolved-" King Kdward, on ascending the throne, decided on another order of merit, mu. f o distinguish the nniijiie circle of Great Liita.in s scr\anls who lane home the burden of the day of many days in making her so great, enlightened, and prosperous. In tbs conception he was guided by file brightest star hi the firmament of the democracy, and one of the first names be. decided to honour was that which the world has given, a supremo place in the list of human benefactors. William Thomson, Kimt Laron Kelvin.

Wealthy .Man (to beggar): "No, I shall not' assist you, ami you needn't envy mo my riches. 'With all rny wealth I'm 'wretched, for I'm a martyr to indigesl ion. ” lieggar : "Well, guv’ner. I’ve ’card a lot about indigestion, but I've never 'ad tin - chance of hiving it. All. I arsks is, gnv’n.er, gimme Iho chance! ” ••I tho igln yon .said you’d marry a musical man. and now you ve engaged yourself to one who can’t even read not e.s T “True, dear ; but ho can afford to tpond them!”