Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-06-08

new upon the subject since the expert
ments of Agassiz and Prof Henry, ant
added that, in my opinion, the expensive
mode of reduction would always preven
1 its use. rtfafslufRfsrrFa "a
/ lrIn a few words he then informed M
that he had made the discovery, that th'
art was extremely simple, and the ex
pense attending the decomposition 81
slight as to be insignificant.
Presuming that the object Of hi
visit to me was TO procure the necessar.
forms to get out patent for the right,
congratulated him upon his good fortune
and was about to branch forth with
4 description of some of the great benefit
that must ensue TO the community whei
he suddenly and somewhat uncivilly re
quested me to be silent, and listen {,
what he had to say.
He, began with some general re
marks about the inequality of FORTUNE
amongst mankind, and instanced him
self as a. striking example of the fate o
those men who, according to all rules o
right, ought to be near the top instead
of at the foot of the ladder of fortune
But, said he, ,.springing to his feet will
impulsive energy, | have now thu
means at my command of rising supe
rior to fate, or of inAicting incalculablt
ills upon the whole human race.
Looking at him more closely,
thought could detect in his eye the
CLEAN of madness; but | remained 81
lent tand awaited further developments
But my scrutiny, stolen as it was, had
been detected, and he replied at once tc
the expression of my face; No, sir, ]
am neither drunk nor a maniac; | am
in deep earnest in all that say am
fully prepared, by actual experiment, to
demonstrate beyond all doubt the truth
of all 1 claim. a " yWgTTY@ .
For the first time / noticed that he
carried a small portmanteau in his
hand; this he placed upon the table, un-
locked it, and took out two or three
small volumes, pamphlet or two, a
small, square, wide-mouthed phial, her
metically sealed.
II watched him with profound curl
osity, and took note of his slightest
movements. Having arranged his books
to suit him, and placed the phial in a
conspicuous position, he drew up his
chair closely to my own, and uttered, in
half Kissing tone;.
az demand one million dollars for the
contents of that bottle; and you must
raise it for me in the city Of San Fran
cisco within one month, or scenes too
terrible even for the Imagination to con-
ceive will be witnessed by every living
human being on the face Of the globe.
"The tome the manner, and the abb
surd extravaganza Of the demand, excited
a faint smile upon my lips, which he
observed, but disdaincd to notice.
Ny mind was fully made up that |
had a maniac to deal with, and | pre-
pared to act accordingly But / ascer-
tained at once that my inmost thoughts
were read by the remarkable man be-
fore me, and seemed to be anticipated
by him in advance of their expression.
Perhaps, said ], Mr. Summerfeld,
you would oblige me by informing me
fully of the grounds of your claim and
the nature Of your discovery.
/" That is the object of my visit, he
replied 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 q.
"' You mean to assert, | rejoined,
that you can make water burn itself upP
Nothing more nor less, he respond
ed, except this-to insist upon the con-
cealment of the secret, if my demand be
not at once complied with. -
"'Now, suppose | fling the contents
of this small phialinto the Pacific Ocean,
what would be the result? Dare you
contemplate it for an instant2 | do not
assert that the entire surface of the sea
would instantaneously bubble up into
insuiferable flames; no, but from the
nucleus of a circle, Of which this phial
would be the center, lurid radii Of flames
would gradually shoot outward, until the
blazing circumference would roll in vast
pillows of fire upon the uttermost shores
Not all the dripping clouds of the deluge
could extinguish 1t; 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 conflagration, and all
living creatures--in land, and sea, and
air-perish in one universal catastro-
phe.
Then, suddenly starting to his feet,
he drew himself to his full hight, and
murmured solemnly; | feel like a God
and recognize my fellow-men but as pig
mics thatI spurn beneath my feet ~ 3 "a
At this Parker states that he attempted
to reason with Summer6eld upon the alb
surdity of believing that he held in his
hands power so mighty, at which the lat
ter retorted with quotations from the
Scriptures, Humboldt's Cosmos and
the works of famous astronomical writers,
proving that it was not only possible for
entire planets to be destroyed by fire,
but that such terrible events had actual
ly occurred. This answer concluded,
he handed Parker small phial, request
ing him to open it and smell of its con-
tents, the result being that a strong odor
of potassium was observed, At this
continued; "Of course"
said he, "you are familiar with the chief
Of that substance. 1t ig-
mites instantly when brought into con
tact with water. Within that little glo-
bule of potassium have imbedded
pill of my own composition and discoy-
cry. The moment 1t is liberated from
the potassium it commences the work OF
the fluid on which 1t floats.
The potassium at once ignites the hber-
ated oxygen, and the conhagraton Of
this mighty globe is begun" tsl
90 Yes, said !, begun, if you please,
but your little pill soon eyaporates or
sinks, or melts in the surrounding seas,
and your conaagration ends juss where
it began
"tBut sneered he, the elementary
substances in that small phial recreate
they are self-generating, and
when once fairly way, must neces-
sarily sweep onward, until the waters in