Presbyterian College - Pac Sac Yearbook (Clinton, SC)

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THE COLLEGIAN 15 have you? UNO, I replied, But I would like much to take a ride with you. VVell, hustle yourself into some heavy clothes, said the Professor. We will leave in half an hour. Before the half-hour had expired, I was ready and the Professor had showed me to a seat in a very cumbersome looking airship, with an air-tight apartment constructed most- ly of glass for us. Professor, said I, what kind of machine is this? It is one which I designed myself and which I hope to break the world's altitude record with, he replied. We can't start for ten minutes yet, as we haven't quite enough compressed air aboard. What is the compressed air for? I asked. You will see later, was his only reply. After a short wait, the Professor took his seat beside me and started the motor. VVe arose into the air by big circles, then started almost straight upward. Soon it was bitter cold and my nose began to bleed. You see we need the air now, the Professor said as he closed our apartment and turned on the Hair . After doing this he pulled several levers and the engines began to exhaust steadily and with great rapidity, somewhat like the purr of a cat, only faster. It seemed to me that we were falling through space only going upward in- stead of downward, we were going so fast. We had gone this way for what seemed to be hours before I gained courage enough to look back at the earth. Imagine my utter astonish- ment, when I looked downward to see that the earth, instead of looking as I had left it, had been transformed into a globe which seemed to be several miles in diameter with a great heap of snow and ice at each end and with a large body of water between them. on each side of this water was a strip of land, and about a third between the two was a long island. I knew by this that the body of water must be the Paciic Ocean, the land on one side parts of the Americas, on the oth- er side parts of Asia and Africa and the island, Australia. Around the earth and around us were many other globes of

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14 THE COLLEGIAN it, yet, as she continues to cling to it, it seems to be con- clusive that compulsory education is good and sound. France and England control education and they see to it that each child receives a very moderate education. If we would not be lower than our sister countries in the scale of civilization, we shall have to arouse our youths to energetic activity in intellectual lines and provide means for develop- ment. Whether it seems startling or not, thirty-nine states and territories of this United States have adopted a compul- sory attendance, and as the sentiment in favor of compulsory education is generally dominant, just a little more lapse of time will witness a compulsory education in each state and territory of this, our Union. Surely the state has the right of compelling its boys and girls to attend school. Ignorance is an evil, and it is therefore the state 's business to remove this evil in so far as it can by establishing good and comfortable school houses and compelling the attendance of each and every child. Compulsory education has produced beneficial results in both Europe and this country, and this fact alone, it seems, is enough to make each and every one give it his sanction and most hearty support. Let us not take the pessimist's view of compulsory education in saying that the difficulties of carrying it out are insuperable 5 let us rather take the optim- ist 's view of it in saying that it is good, sound and beneficial, and let us give a part of each day 's serious meditation to the problem as to how we can effect its adoption. A. R. R. '13, Q sr Q Q Ulrip to Mats It was a warm Tuesday afternoon in early June. The Professor and I were sitting alone in his study. I remember now that I was getting quite drowsy when the Professor aroused me by this statement: Let's take a. little ride in my new airship. I don 't believe you have ever seen it even,

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16 THE COLLEGIAN various sizes and directly in front of us was a globe which looked a good deal smaller than the earth and which seemed to bc made up mostly of land with huge masses of snow and ice at the ends like the earth. It also seemed that the land was cut into squares by many lines. Professor, said I, what is that directly in front of us which looks so much like a checker board. only being round instead of square? Why, he returned. that is Mars, those lines are the famous canals of Mars which are supposed to furnish the inhabitants with water. ' ' I Watched Mars for a good bit before I turned to look at the earth again. When I did, I found it had not only decreas- ed wonderfully in size, but also that it had turned so that there was a rough triangle of land extending from one heap of ice almost to the other. This I knew must be Europe, Asia, and Africa. I also found that the other globes were getting more numerous. For a long time I watched the earth. It gradually grew smaller and continued to turn very slowly. The next time I looked at Mars, that globe seemed to be several times as large as the earth and objects upon her surface had become more distinguishable. VVhat had seemed to be lines before, proved themselves to be Water, and also the land, which from a distance seemed to be waste. upon a closer view proved to be cultivated Helds. I turned once more to look at the earth, but found that it could not be distinguished from the thousands of other globes which we were leaving behind. Since the earth had become invisible, I now turned my whole attention upon Mars and was surprised to ind that it was losing its globular form and was beginning to look flat. I also noticed great bright spots scattered all about over the surface next to us, which reflected the sunlight like so many cracked mirrors. I decided that these must be buildings of some kind. The Professor now said, I think We are near enough to Mars to find out what her atmosphere is like. So saying he