The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-04-13
4oW THE GIANT WAS CAUGHT
AND SET TO WORK.


auch as straws, hairs and small sticks
The philosopher wondered and thought
about this. and made mention of it in his
writings. but he died without having
found out any good reason for. it. AT
Intervals of several hundred years two or
three other of the wise men of ancient
times spoke of this singular power of am
Der. They made mention, too of queer
fish that gave shocks to any animal that
came in contact with. They also noticed
just what you must have seen many
tirnes-that when they took Oft their
clothes on cold night they heard a
cracking noise, and saw sparks OF light,
and that their hair, on being combed,
cracked and sparkled, and that cats
back, when rubbed the wrong way, gave
out sparks. For more than two thousand
years, generation otter generation Of men
and women lived. noticed these queer
things, and, like tue old Greek, died
without having found any reason for
them.
But about the year sixteen hundred,
DR.. Gilbert, set TO work trying expert
ments. and he found out that not only
amber, but many other things, had, when
rubbed, this power of attraction. Slowly
and patiently he worked. When people
want to find out scientific truth they
don't do it by a lucky guess or a series
of lcuky guesses Sometimes it takes a
whole lifetime of experiment and obser-
walton to arrive at and establish one
little fact in science Many learned men
because interested in the discoveries of
DR.. Gilbert; there was some strange
power of attraction hidden in these bod
les which they could not account for or
understand They made machines to try
experiments they spent their time and
money and brains in finding out the
truth, and they found out great deal OF
truth about this wonderful electric In
f1uence.
Some of the wise men, too, had their
suspicion. that electricity was the same
as lightning sparkle corresponding
TO the flash, the cracking noise to the
thundel-but they had no way to prove
their suspicious to be true; they had no
way of going up to the clouds to examine
the lightning, and they had no way to-
bring it down to earth.
But Benjamin Franklin got a notion
into his wise head that, if he could get
on top of a high steeple during d thun
der-storm, he could get enough lightning
to experiment with. There was no high
steeples in Philadelphia at thai time !;
however, there was very tall one In the
process Of building but the work went on
so slowly that DR.. Franklin grew tired
of waiting, and he thought Of another
Way. He made kite, the most famous
kite that ever went sailing up from this
wide world of ours. It was small cross
shaped kite, just like any boys kite, only
it was covered with thin silk instead of
paper, for the rain would have spoiled
paper, and it had some sharp, metallic
points sticking out from the corners, IL
was gallant little messenger; it rode
fearlessly on the wings of the wind
away up into the sky it entered bravery
at the portals of a dark and threatening
cloud
"Good- morning, thunder and light
ming" called out the little messenger i
"my master sent me to inquire it you are
any relation to the snaps and sparkles he
makes in his electrical machine If you
are, lust send shock down this tow.
string my master has hold of the other
end, and he will understand what you
mean IN minute"
"Mind your own business" returned
the thunder and lightning with q terrible
fash and groan. eff your master wants
to know about my family relations, he
must find out in some other way :; that
towstring will carry no message OF mine.
At the this towstring began to bristle
UP and look excited, and the rain. water
that had been keeping house in the next
door cloud, and was just starting earth
ward, flashed out angrily:
"Thunder and lightning you are too
proud to own your poor relations Ever
since the world was made you have been
careering through the heavens with your
great Hastings and groanings, preten-
ding you did not have anything to do on
the earth except to brighten men to death
and tumble down their houses. But I'll
tell of you I'll soon let that wise man
know that you are not terrible and mys-
FERROUS heavenly being, but a very COM
mon resident ofearth, just as l am. I've
been aching to tell about you for thous-
ands of years, but I've never found any
one on earth wise enough to understand
my talk"
Thunder and Lightning roared and
flashed in great fury when it heard this,
but rain-water slid down the towstring
with great glee, and with series OF
Jerks and shocks soon informed the wise
doctor all he wanted to know about the
distinguished relations of electricity.
That must have been sad day for the
old giant that had ranged the heavens
and terrified the earth since che creation
he must have felt humbled when he had
to come down the string and get into a
bottle and perform experiments for the
doctor.
All, but 1t wasa great day for the