American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-07-11
WHAT GOES WITH 1T.
BY RUTH KENYON.


AUNTIE MEG threw open her blinds to
let in more of the fresh morning air; the
children were up before her, and out UNI
der the apple tree she saw lilly.
what is the child doing now" she
thought, for lilly, with her hands folded
and her feet held very closely together
was making very stiff jumps into the air
one would have thought for the mere fun
of jumping only that after each leap she
stopped and looked carefully upon the
ground all about her.
What are you looking for, Tilly?" and
Johnny came bounding from the back
door.
Looking for nothing; only trying
| something; you know what Uncle Ned
said, that the earth kept turning around
right over that way, l mean" lilly
pointed off toward the hills where the
great, warm sun had come in sight an
hour before; well, l was jumping up,
right up straight, you know, to see how
much it went along while l was Off"
Well" said johnny, how much does
it, There, I'll put an apple close up to
your heels, and well see how far off tits
| when you come dOwn-dont move Il
speck. See there? You see the thing
moves dreadfully slow, lilly; you can't
stay up long enough to give it chance.
Come on, don't try that any more; come
and help me pick up my apples: break
fast is most ready and shan't have them
done"
lilly helped with all her might picking
up the beautiful red fruit, and chatted
and laughed us if she had forgotten that
the earth moved at ALL or at least was
convinced that it went very slowly; but
away in the corner of her mind she had
| stored the question for her uncle the
| next time he should have leisure to
| answer it; for wasn't Susie's father weeks
| going around and part of the way in the
cars, too? Then mustn't it be Il great ways
and that apple tree and she, and Johnny
and the house, and everything, had got to
make the Journey in twenty-four hours;
| it must be they went fast!
| She asked the question that evening;
but Uncle Ned said, Keep it for the next
| lecture and the next lecture did not
come for more than ii week. Then they
gathered in the sitting groom, the same
| little group, only that Auntie Meg in
sisted upon bringing in her crocheting,
| and listening too, since she had seen
| Tilly's experiment and become interested
| in the subject; and Tillys experiment
| was the first thing discussed.
Come, Roy, get your slate and pencil,
| and do an example for me; If the earth
| is twenty-five thousand miles in circum-
| ference, and turns once around in twenty
| four hours, how many miles does any
| one DO1nl on IL 70 III al Houi
Roy bit the end of his pencil and
| thought few minutes, till Susie sus
pected he could not divide twenty-five
thousand by twenty-four, and thought of
| offering to help; but Roy had another
| idea.
THAT depends ON where the point is,
| uncle" said he.
"Why so, Row"
"Whv, if it was on the equator, 'twould
fl,n wi a w thOI-
sand miles, but the circles would grow
smaller and smaller rs you go toward the
poles, so places away from the equator
would not have to go so far"
First rate, my boy; you know more
than | thought you did, and when am
through you may borrow one OF your
mothers knitting-necdles, run it through
an apple and show to the children how
different spots which you make on the
peel have to go different distances when
YOU whirl it, according as they are near
or far from the poles; for convenience
now. we will pretend we are on the
EQUATOR and YOU may find out how many
miles an hour we would move"
"A little more than ten hundred and
fiftv-one," said Roy after little cipher
I ing.
a minute:"
Let us see-why, Uncle Ned! more
than seventeen miles in Il minute.
Tilly gave John il gentle punch with
her elbow and whispered roguishly,
Goes slow, don'titg"
Now | don't suppose 1lllys feet,
when she jumped were from the ground
more than second, and reckoning as
we have the earth would move along
about one-third of a mile, but not being
on the equator, the place where we are
would not go so fast; about Il quarter OF
a mile perhaps; that's far enough; why
didn't she land il quarter OF mile Wcst
when she came down, away over on the
hill by Deacon Maynard's house: Even
Row can't tell me that. 1t Is pretty
much all explained in one short sentence
which | will give you to remember; IT Is
called IL Inc ot' m"tter;: that Is, something
which is true of everything on the earth;
and this is the law. Everything that is
still that has no motion. would never
have any if some force outside did not
move it; and everything which Is once put
in motion would never stop OF Iisel1, but
would go on forever, if some force
did not stop it; there are great many
things in nature that show us tins law Is
true but no one ever tries to explain why
it is so?'
But | don't see that it is true" said
TilIy: :" for when Johnny and | play ball
the ball don't keep going; it very often
stops and falls on the ground when we
don't stop it at all.
Yes, my little girl, but you've Tor
gotten that some other force may stop II
besides you or Johnny. What is IL that
all the time is pulling that ball toward
the earth? Gravity? Yes, and gravity Is
so much stronger Than any person is That
no matter how hard Il ball Is thrown
gravity will very soon draw 1t down l"
the earth and stop II.
Did YOU see that express man who
brought grandpa's trunk last summer
when his horse fell down? What be-
came of the mani:
Went right over the dashboard Hat in
| the road"
That's it; the horse was going very
| fast: the mans body had gained the
same speed that the horse had, and when
| lie fell and the wagon was SO suddenly
| stopped, the man kept right on going III
the force of gravity pulled HIM To me
ground, iast as lilly is carried by me
| earth IA quarter of "a mile each second,
and when she jumps into the air there Is
nothing to prevent her going on ana
thus keeping up with the earth and com
| ing down at the same spot where she
leaves it. Do you understand? ] think