Weekly Trinity journal., 1871-05-27
NUMBER 81.

pdlSu It's HiSSi uuu IeluFueu 10 ltS IOFmer lnSlg~
ni6cance. How many years had elapsed since
this awful conhagration actually took place, it
would be presumptuous to guess but it must
be remembered that news from the heavens
though carried by the feetest of messengers
light, reaches US long after the event has trans
pired and that the same celestial carrier is still
dropping the tidingS at each station it reaches
in space, until it sinks exhausted by the length
of its light
'As the star had suddenly famed up, was it
not natural suppostion that il had become
enwrapped in burning hydrogen, which in con-
sequence of some great convulSion had been lib
Grated in prodig igious quantities, and then COM
bining with other elements had set this hapless
world on fire. In such fierce connagraton
the combustlble gas would soon be consumed,
and the glow would therefore begin to decline,
subject, as in this case, to a second eruption,
which occasioned the renewed outburst of light
on the 10th Of August.
{" BY such catastrophe it is not wholly inn
possible that our own globe may sometime be
ravaged, for if Il word from the Almighty were
to unloose for few moments the bonds of afin-
ity which unite the elements of water, a single
spark would bring them together with fury
that would kindle the fd#eral pyre Of the human
race, aud be fatal to the planet and all the works
that are thereon.
Your argument" he then instantly added,
"is by no means a good one. What do We
know of the Supreme Architect Of the Universe,
or of his desigus2 lie builds up worlds, and he
pulls them down he kindles suns and he ex-
tinguishes them. lie inaames the comet in one
portion of its orbit, with n heat that no human
imagination can conceive Of aud in another
subjects the same blazing orb to cold intenser
than that which invests forever the Autnrtic
Pole. All that we know of him we gather
through his works. have shown you that lie
burns other worlds, why not this? The habia-
BILE parts of our globe are surrounded by water
an vat IL fro in
But all this, rejoned, " is pure, baseless
prohtless speculation"
'Not so fast" he answered And then ris-
ing, he seized the small phial and handing it to
me requested me to open it.
confess did so with some trepidation.
I" Now smell it"
| did so.
"What odor do you perceiye2"
Potassium, | replied.
"Of course, he added, ''you are familiar
with the chief characteristic of that substance.
1t ignites instantly when brought in contact
with water. Within that little globule of potas-
stun have imbedded pill of my own compo-
sition and discovery. The moment it is lber-
ated from the potassium, it commences the work
of decomposng the fluid on which it floats
The potassium at once gntes the liberated oxy-
gen, and the conlagraton of this mighty globe
is begun"
eyes" said |, "begun, if you please, but
in the surrounding seas, and your conAagration
ends just where it began"
My reply to that suggestion could be made
at once by simply testing the experiment on "a
small scale, or II large one, either But prefer
at present to refute your proposition by an ar
gument drawn from nature herself. If you cor
rectly remember the first time had the pleasure
of seeing you was on the island of Galveston,
many years ago. Do you remember relating to
me at that time an incident concerning the eff
fects of prairie on fire, that you had yourself
witnessed but few days previously near the
town Of Matagorde? If recolect correctly you
stated that on your return journey Irou hat
place you passed on the way the charred re-
mains of two wagon-loads of cotton and three
human beings that the night before had perished
in the flames that three slaves the property of
a Mr.. Horton, had started few days before to
carry to market a shipment of cotton that
norther overlook them on the treeless prairie,
and few minutes afterwards they were SUR
prised by behodng a line of rushing fire, sur
ging, roaring and advancing like the resistless
bllows Of the ocean swept by gale that there
was no time for escape, and they perished terri
bly, in fighting the devouring element?"
"Yes, recollect the event"
Now, then, | wish reply to the simple
question, did the single spark, that kiuded the
contagration, consume the negroes and their
charger No? But what did2 You reply, of
course, that the spark set the entire prairie on
fire that each spear of grass added fuel to tho
hame, and kndled by degrees Il conAagration
that continued to burn SO long as it could feed
on fresh material. The pilue in that pbial is
the little spark, the oceans are the prairies, and
the oxygen the fuel Hpen which the fire is to
feed until the globe pershes in inextinguishable
iames. Tho elementary substances in that
small phial recreate themselves; they are self
generating, and when once fairly under way,
must necessarily sweep onward, until the waters
in sal pyb 81 oil Il
one great difference between the burning Of u
prairie and the combustion of an ocean the
fire in the first spreads slowly, for tho fuel is
difficult to ignite; in the last, it flies with the
rapidity Of the wind, for tie substance consumed
is oxygen, the most inhammabe agen. in ma
ture"
Rising from my seat | went to the wash
stand in the corner Of the apartment, and draw
ing bowl half full of Spring Valley water |
turned to Summerfeld and remarked, Words
are empty, theories are eal--but facts are
things"
81 take you at your wordFI so saying, he
approached the bowl, emptied II of nine-tenths
of its contents, and silently dty pped the potas-
sium-coated pill into the liqui{ The potassium
danced around the edges of tlb vessel, fuming,
Kissing and blazing, as it .ylways does, and
seemed on the point of e3l firing, when, to my
"stouishmeat and alarm, a f"rp explosion took
place, and in second of time the water was
blazing in a red, lurid column half way to the
ceiling.
"For Gods sake" cried, "extngush the
flames or shall set the building on fire -
A" Had dropped the potassium into the bowl
as you prepared it, f." he quietly remarked, "the
building would indeed have been consumed"
Lower and lower fell the fckerng flames,
paer and paler grew the blaze, until fnally the
fire went out and rushed up to see the effects
OF the combustion.
Not drop of water remained in the vessel
Astonished beyond measure at what had wit
messed and terrified almost to the verge ofinsan-
ity, approached Summerield aud trembingly
inquired, :" To whom, sir, is this tremendous
secret knowuf' ''ro myself alone" he re-