they have
stored up to spend for their own purposes, just as he robs the bee of
its honey and the silk worm of its cocoon.

Man's chief business is in reversing the processes of nature. That is
the way he gets his living. And one of his greatest triumphs was when he
discovered how to undo iron rust and get the metal out of it. In the
four thousand years since he first did this he has accomplished more
than in the millions of years before. Without knowing the value of iron
rust man could attain only to the culture of the Aztecs and Incas, the
ancient Egyptians and Assyrians.

The prosperity of modern states is dependent on the amount of iron rust
which they possess and utilize. England, United States, Germany, all
nations are competing to see which can dig the most iron rust out of the
ground and make out of it railroads, bridges, buildings, machinery,
battleships and such other tools and toys and then let them relapse into
rust again. Civilization can be measured by the amount of iron rusted
per capita, or better, by the amount rescued from rust.

But we are devoting so much space to the consideration of the material
aspects of iron that we are like to neglect its esthetic and ethical
uses. The beauty of nature is very largely dependent upon the fact that
iron rust and, in fact, all the common compounds of iron are colored.
Few elements can assume so many tints. Look at the paint pot canons of
the Yellowstone. Cheap glass bottles turn out brown, green, blue, yellow
or black, according to the amount and kind of iron they contain. We
build a house of cream-colored brick, varied with speckled brick and
adorned with terra cotta ornaments of red, yellow and green, all due to
iron. Iron rusts, therefore it must be painted; but what is there better
to paint it with than iron rust itself? It is cheap and durable, for it
cannot rust any more than a dead man can die. And what is also of
importance, it is a good, strong, clean looking, endurable color.
Whenever we take a trip on the railroad and see the miles of cars, the
acres of roofing and wall, the towns full of brick buildings, we rejoice
that iron rust is red, not white or some leas satisfying color.

We do not know why it is so. Zinc and aluminum are metals very much like
iron in chemical properties, but all their salts are colorless. Why is
it that the most useful of the metals forms the most beautiful
compounds? Some say, Providence; some say, chance; some say nothing