The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-03
family OF the dead prince, whose sons
declined to receive 1t.
Such was the famous duel OF the
father of the Princess Mercedes, and
uncle and father-inlaw Of King Alfonso.
LIGHT.
Proposal to Abolish Night Now Before
Congress.
m. Y. Times ]

IN, Y. Times
An enterprising man, who Ia evident
ly one of the most tremendous scientific
persons now living, has undertaken to
light and warm the earth by new pro-
cess which will entirely supersede solar
heat and light. He had addressed to
Congress memorial upon the subject,
setting forth the deficiencies of the sun
and the superiority Of his own process@
together with q most convincing quun-
tity of figures. II any one were inclined
to doubt his sincerity or his sanity,
these figures would only vindicate the
memoralist's reputation. They are
among the best and largest figures that
have ever been brought before Congress,
and are entirely free from fraction,
squars-roots, and other excrescences
which too often mar the noblest collec-
tons Of scientific figures.
So far Congress has delayed action
upon this memorial, and it Is not even
certain that it has been placed in charge
Of any committee. The precise nature
| Of the inventors plan Is as yet a secret.
From certain remarks in his memorial
it has been hastily inferred that he
proposes to put the sun In q complete
state OF repair, to provide 1t with num-
Der OF scientific improvements, and to
regulate its motion SO that 1t would
shine all the time.
It is O. mistake, however, to suppose
that the ingenious memorialist pro-
poses to trouble himself about the sun.
| AS other parts of his memorial plainly
show, he does not consider the sun
worth repairing, but proposes to warm
and light the earth by an entirely new
and secret process.
Although at first sight the advantages
Of having constant and invariable
quantity Of light and heat during the
entire twenty four hours seems unde-
niable, Congress will do we'll to exam
inc the scheme carefully before adopt
ing it. OF course, the abolition Of night
would abolish the midnight cat and
would do away with a vast number Of
other Objectionable features peculiar to
the hours of darkness, but would 1t not
have its attendant disadvantages
There can be no doubt that, were the
facilities which the evenings now fur
nish for the interchange Of tender senti
ments between the sexes to be destroyed,
the number Of marriages would decrease
at least one half. What Western
girl Of any self-respeot would lean on
the front gate in broad daylight in com
pany with even the most eligible. young
man and what lover, whether Eastern
or Western, would have the hardihood
10 lure Ills IalE COUSIN 10 tuB DICK plAZZa
or the roof Of the house under pretenses
Of comets and shooting stars, In face Of
the fact that such celestial entertain
ments are given only at night? Court
ing, IL carried on exclusively by day
light, would lose its charm, and with
the irregular habits of sleeping that
would result from the abolition Of night,
the young people in the front parlor
would always be in danger of unexpected
raids from sleepless fathers. The dis
tress Of mind which a perpetual day
would produce among the animals
would be extremely painful to every
kind hearted person. The chickens
would continue to stalk aboat the yard
and sing in their feeble fashion until
they dropped dead from want Of sleep;
the cats would wait in vain for the hour
Of riot and debauchery to arrive, and
would finally. die Of suppressed pro-
family; and the ablest living dog. after
waiting month or two for the arrival
Of night in order to keep an appoint
ment with another dog with view to
sheep, would go raving mad, and bite
the just and the unjust with equal in
difference. Night has It's uses after all,
and, unless we are certain to gain by it,
we should hesitate to utterly abolish
night and darkness.