The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-04-25
The wonders OF Electric Forces.
Eto,n d. .torr,.nl Of 7tlearslA.

From ltS Journal Of 7tlfgrGpA. ,.... ...yI-l..
There Is no Elct connected with tho
electric agencies by which distant COM
muniCation Is secured more suggestive
than the lnlnutenCss Of tho power ny
which It Is sustained. TO project Q ball
at q distant ship with certainty Of aim, 70
blast the sunken rock TINT impedes navi'
CATION, to ilnpcl the giant ship that splits
the storm with It's defiant bow; forces arc
presented to the eye which bear some
natural comparison with the work accom-
pliylled. But when message has to be
sent thousands of miles beneath the ever
fretting sen, from one continent to RnOtll'
or. force seems ignored. We look In vain
for any machine kissing with q Vigor such
as The mind deems necessary TO elect tho
electric current from America 10 Europe
quick :s the sunlight comes 10 the earth.
i'hgre Is even un absence Of the usual
forces for communication upon the land,
where nitric and sulphuriC acids, zinc and
mercury are busy In numerous cells brew.
inEthe electric fire. The power employed
bears moro truthful comparison with the
action Of the brain wherein human
thought IL evolved. The thought may DO
one which shall change the destintGs OF q
nation; 1t my be the sweetest idyl that
ever warbled from angelic lips; but both
come from within tho dome OF brow
notable only Tor its rCpOse.
Tho battery which operates tho Allan
tic cable Is composed Of five cells, OIL
though for some time II used only one.
Each cell Is cOmposcd Of glass ttImDlGr,
small disc Of sheet copper ind u SINH
lar one Of zinc, few pellets Of sui
nhatc Of copper and moist sawdust
filling tho tumbIer. This Is all. 1t Inns
no smell. A spoonful Of water upon tho
slwdllst now and then Is oil that II needs
for support. 1t seems insignificant and
powCrless, yet does its work efficiently
and well. The French Cable uses only
seven such cells, although twice aS long
rs the other
We have before us, us We write, bat
terV which wns used 70 transmit u MES
saGc by the Atlantic cable-LIc minutest,
we presume, ever employed. II Inns ilS'
Cination TO us inCxpressible. Il Is cOm'
posed Of Il simple gun cap soldercd !oa
piece Of copper wire, and u narrow strip
Of zinc. These, with drop Of water
from the ocean, were all the forces which
were needed u send II message from con-
tincnt to continent.
Had tho ocean drop been lear, 1t
would have generated tho same current
which thus thrilled between two worlds
and made them one. Were We disposed
to mOrnli1c on the suit Of this tiny battery
and its mysterious agency, we might be
excused did we regartl it Us typiIying the
power Of sorrow which touches the uni
versal heart and makes ii tllrOb. II is the
alcmbic Of the worlds deepest and most
onnipotent emotions, and yet may find It's
rise in the stopping Of single pulse, IN
the qucncLing Of II single life.
THIS tiny battery hls in It, indeed, a
vast moral. We dcspiBG the lesser forces
of our lives, md measure our influence by
an umwisc tlismNgGmcnt. From these,
however, when true and pure, come the
sunlightanl the ctl0rescCncc Of the earth.
Let III hold our light high and lonorcd,
however small may DO its flame. y may
reacl, tho radius Of another light, anu help
the dawning ola brighter day-liot to our
selves alone, hut 10 thousands who never
know us. ~ single kind word has ere
now planted seed that has burst It's bios:
SONS upon tho Infinite meadows OF
heaven"