The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1875-08-20


Their brave hearts had ceased to beat.
---.s.- -----
For the 1Egis and HteNjg encer
MOTORS.
An ignorant man finds n lump of iron
pyrites in ledge on his neighbours farm
He goes and sells all lie has, and buys that
farm, when he finds he has been misled by
piece of FOOLS gold. Two dollars ex-
pended for book, and month of winter
evenings spent by the tireside at home
where he ought to have been in any case
would have saved him ruinous invest
ment. Another man secs clearly that n
wheel with crooked hollow spokes contain
ing iron balls, foncc properly constructed,
and set upon its bearings, will run itself
to pieces without other impulse than that
received from its own clements. The
nelghborlng mechanic is set at work, and
the wheel constructed with all possible
skill and care, without regard to expense,
and the obstinate thing turns backward
more easily than in the direction in which
1t was intended it should revolve, but in
no direction without the expenditure of
force foreign to itself The same attempt
has been made ten thousand times, with
the vain expenditure Of years and years of
human life, and thousands upon thousands
of dollars.
III the human race were as destitute of
experience as the birds (Which, by the way
never make mistakes,) there would be some
excuse for them; but almost back to the
pyramids, these failures have been record
ed, commented upon, and explained, till
every school boy should know how to
avoid them. There is very general diff
fusion of not very accurate knowledge
Active, original minds are excited and run
wild with vagaries and theories. Starting
from single, to them novel fact, they run
directly in the face of hundred other
facts which they have not heard Of and so
confidently, and so conceitedly, that they
do not take the pains to buy or borrow a
book, and give an hours reading to the
subject Let every one remember that
however novel and pleasing his own, to
him original theories are, there is nothing
new under the sun" and that he is only
grinding the "grind-over." l am not out
OF patience with you now, as hear you
exclaim: so you old fogy," this is "Young
America" and l glory in this exuberant
life and courage; but 1 wish, when it
might be so easily, that it were better di-
rected.
That there is u want of more study is
made evident from the fact that we are
now excited on the probability O. that
powerful heretofore undiscovered yapor
has been called forth from some new com
bination of air and water, and that, too,
without the Intervention of chemicals. Is
it not singular that the newspapers can
make interesting items of this absurdity ?
The ultimate constituents of both air ard
water, ultimate at least till we discover
more powerful agents, have been determin-
ed ten thousand times, and each separate
element treated with absolute exhaustive
experiment and examination even at gov
ernmental expense; both separately and liz
combination, till allther characteristics
and possible combinations are perfectly
understood, separately and combined, and
| are now the facts of written science studied
in every school. Had they pretended to
have decomposed hydrogen or some other
now supposed element, or to have applied
economically the known powers ofcarboA-
| lc acid gas now wasted in soda fountains,
their mysterious statements would have
been more credible, but to pretend that
they have discovered some irrepressible
yapor by simple mingling ofai and wa
ter, or by removing atmospheric pressure,
or in any way without the use ofchemicals
is to take very large assurance on the igno-
rance of the community, more than ought
to be well founded.
The last absurdity, is the expenditure Of
II large sum of money in the construction
of u balloon that is to sustain for Il long
voyage an air ship fitted with steam ma
chinery to propel the whole bulk in any
desired direction. We may be wrong about
the motive power, we hope we are for the
sake of those who are to make the trial-as-
cent, for fear, like the prophet of old, they
would go up in "chariot of fire" or rath-
er come down in one.
Vessels resting in water, very dense
fluid, by the action OF machinery on that
fluid, which is more than 800 times heavier
than air, arc with difficulty driven against
strong currents of the latter. II the ma
chinery be in perfect order and the vessel
stout enough, the steamers of the present
day will overcome the most violent storm,
and make their way off lee shore against
any current OF air that they would proba-
bly, have TO contend with but suppose the
whole bulk, suspended in the air itself, in
the moving current, and with only this
rushing, yielding fulcrum to rest their
levers on; does it not appear absolutely
certain that the vast bulk of balloon,
capable OF sustaining such fittings and ma
chinery, could not be directed, even in u
very gentle breeze, and that all would go
together with the wind. To lift $500 lbs.
and appurtenances, with any degree of
buoyancy, will require a balloon ut least so
feet in diameter This would present Sec
tion to the wind ofabout 1000 square feet,
which in a wind of % miles per hour,
which is merely brisk breeze, would re-
ceive force OF more than 5000 lbs. With
nothing but the moving air for a point
d'appui, how could this great force be re-
sisted But this is not the main difficult
ty in this undertaking. 1t may be seen
from all experience that the great obstacles
in ballooning result from changes of tenn
perature, and consequent expansion and
contraction. A continual night, or con-
tinual day, such as is had for long time
together within the polar circles offers tho
best conditions for ballooning, and we adj
wise all who delight in this dangerous
amusement to emigrate to those distant
regions, where their days may be possibly
heightened out to six month span.
All the great inventions have as yet
grown up step by step, and l think we
ought not look for the world to be turned
the other way, some bright day unexpect-
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