Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-07-12
VOLUME Y. NO. l6.

! l4sulss hdNAuS dAAdLB6u HIS UOOho "
suit him, and placed the phial in a cou
spicuOus position, he drew up his ehail
closely to my own, and uttered, in 8
half-hissing tone:
4 demand one million dollars for the
contents of that bottle; and you mus
raise it for me in the city of San Fran
cisco within one month, or scenes toe
terrible even for the imagination tC
conceive, will surely be witnessed by
every living human being on the face
of the globe
The tone, the manner, and the alb
surd extravaganza of the demaud, ex-
cited faint smile upon my lips, which
he observed, but disdained to notice.
My mind was fully made up that I
had maniac 10 deal with, and l pre-
pared to act accordingly. But l a<cer-
tanned at once That my inmOst thoughts
were read 10y the remarkable man before
me, and seemed to be anticipated by
him in advance Of their expression.
Perhaps said I, 'Mr. Summerfield,
you would Oblige me by informing me
fully OF the grounds of your claim ard
the nature of your discOvery?'
That is the object of my visit he re-
piled. 4 claim to have discovered the
key which unlOcks the constituent gases
of water, and frees each from the en-
brace of the other, at a single tOuch.'
You mean to assert, I rejOined, that
you can make water burn itself up?'
Nothing more nor less he respond
ed, except thiS-tO insist upon the con-
sequence of the secret, if my demand be
not at once complied with.
Now, suppose fling the contents of
this small Phial into the Pacific Ocean,
what would be the result? Dare you
contemplate it for an instant? I do not
assert that the entire surface of the sea
would instantaneOusly bubble up into
insUfferable flames; no, but from the
nucleus of a circle, of which This phial
would be the center, lurid radii of
flames wOnld gradually shoot outward,
until the blazing circumference would
roll in vast pillows of fire, upon the ut
termOst shores. Not all the dripping
clouds of the delUge could extinguish it.
Not all the tears of saints and angels
could for an instant check its progress.
Onward and onward it would sweep,
with the steady gait of destiny, until
the continents would melt, with fervent
heat, the atmosphere glare with the
OminOus eOnfagratiOn, and all living
creatures, in land, and sea, and air per-
ish in one universal catastrophe'
Then, suddenly starting to his feet, he
drew. himself to his full height, and
murmuFed, sOlemnly:
4 feel like a God! and recognize my
fellOwmen but as pigmies that spurn
beneath my feetv
] attempted to reason with Summer
field upon the absurdity of believing
that he held in his hands power so
mighty, at which he TetOrted with quo.
tations from the Scriptures, Humbold's
Cosmos, and the works of famous as
Economical writers, proving that it was
not only possible for entire planets to be
destroyed by fire, but that such terrible
events had actually often occurred. This
answer concluded, he handled me 4
small phial, requesting me to open it,
and smell of its contents, the result be-
ing that strong OdOr of potassium was
observed. At this Summerfield cOntin-
ued:
'Of course said he, you are familiar
with the chief characteristic of that
substance. 1t ignites instantly when
brought into contact with water. With
in that little globule of potassium, I
have imbedded pill of my own COM
position and discovery. The moment
it is liberated from the potassium, it
commences the work Of decOmposing
the fluid OH which it floats. The potas-
sium at once ignites the liberated Oxy-
gen, and the confiagration of this mighty
globe is begun.
Yes said 1, begun, if you please,
but your little pill soon evaporates or
sinks, or melts IN the surrounding seas,
and your cOnhagratiOn ends just where
it began
But sneered he, the elementary
in that small phial recreate
themselves; they are self-generating,
and, when once fairly under way, must
sweep onward; until the
waters in all the seas are exhausted
Rising from my seat, 1 went to the
wash-stand in the corner of the apart
ment, and drawing bOwIful of Spring
Valley water, turned to Summerfield
and remarked, Words are empty, the
Ories are ideal, but facts are things
4 take you at your word So saying
he approached the bowl, emptied it of
of its contents, and silently
dropped the pOtassium-coated pill into
the liquid. The potassium danced
around the edges of the vessel, fuming,
kissing, and blazing, as it always does,
and seemed on the point of expiring,
when, to my astOnishment and alarm,
a sharp explosion took place, and in a
second of time the water was blazing in
4 red, Iurid column half way to the
,eiling.'
For Gods sake l cried, 'eXtinguish
.he flames, or we shall set the building
1n firev
Had dropped the potassium into the
bowl as you prepared it, he quietly re-
the building would have been
Lower and lower fell the Pickering
flames, paler and paler grew the blaze,
until finally the fire went out, and l
rushed up to see the effect Of the COM