Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-06-26

His Latest---The Law Of Grayity
Smashed.
Cincinnati Enquirer

A special correspondent, to whom was
assigned the duty of interviewing the
great inventor of the day, has per-
formed the task, and begs leave to
place before the Enquirer's readers the
results Of his labors:
A few moments walk from the station
brought him within view Of Menlo
Park. Entering by the side door, he
found himself in long room, distin-
guished principally by the presence Of
all that pertains to that mysterious
fluid, electricity. and was soon in the
presence of the man of the house.
He at once made known his Grand,
and propounded the inquiry: "What
are you going to do next !" Heseemed
at First inclined to give it up, but, en-
couraged by the information that his
visitor was an emissary of the Enquirer,
he unbosomed himself freely. First
beckonlng our commissioner to his
private office, he closed and bolted the
door, and, taking from box beneath
the table a thin, oblong metal plate,
and a metal ball weighing say fifteen or
twenty pounds, he suspended the plate
about five feet in the air. and, connect
ing by thumb-screws on the upper side
an electric battery, he rolled the bali to
a point underneath the plate and re-
leased 1t. What was our reporters
establishment to see it slowly rise till
the under side Of the plate was attained,
where it lazily rolled back and forth as
a toy balloon would have done.
The visitors countenance being an
interrogation-point he quietly remark
ed: $50 much for your law Of gravity"
"Have you overcome the law Of
gravity? p we asked. cts all bosh," he
responded "Then what becomes of the
universe?" "What become Of it when
the Ptolemaic system of astronomy
went down; or when any dear old hobby
that we have taken in with our milk
goes to the wall? 1t will move on. Our
textbooks will be changed, and for at
traction Of gravity they will read cleo
trical affinity The earth attracts all
matter within its compass, not alone
because it is the largest body, but be-
cause it is the grand reservoir of cleo
trlcity
''Taking this as an axiom, have en-
deavored to analyze the subtitle fluid. I
find that it has various properties that
the world is ignorant of. To know
them is to be able to take advantage of
them. That suspended ball is an illus
tratlon OF my meaning. [ simply neu-
tralize the electrical affinity between the
ball and the earth. and place it in af-
finity with the plate, and it floats in
ether. restore it's affinity to the earth
thus, and he took one of the wires
out Of the binding post, and it fell to
| no rth dill hat OF
its weight
"What will be the practical results
of your wonderful discovery" we in
CURED. cit will revolutionize mccain
cal powers. You wish to move block
Of granite, Or a car of merchandise;
you have only to disturb its equilibrium
to the required extent. and it will rise
ten or twenty feet in the air as you wish,
and then you have only the resistance
of the atmosphere to overcome in pro-
polling it to it's destination. And the
problem Of aerial navigation will be
solved" said he, completing the SEN
tence. "Indeed, the more | investigate,
the more [ am convinced that electri-
city, like the genie Of Aladdin's Won
derful lamp, when invoked by the hand
of Science, will rise up as an all-power-
full servant to mans bidding. 1t is
Natures motor. Man, blindly
cropping after hidden powers.
stumbled upon it; but, like the j norant
! boor who finds a priceless diam ond and
! knows not It's value. man puts this giant
this power of the the gods-in sWad-
ding clothes, and makes of it an Grand
boy What base use, forsooth AS
we'll put Napoleon or all Alexander
the Great to driving swine, set q Corliss
engine to running child,s toy, or dwarf
a Shakspeares genius to do a scullion's
duties. But perhaps this is as Provi-
dence designed. Nature guards with
jealous care her secrets. Man has
within his grasp, and puts to trif1ing
uses, her mighty power for ages before
the key is given him which discloses to
his astonished gaze the terrible powers
that have been his daily companions,
and he is like child who awakens to
the knowledge that his playground is
the smoldering crater .a.s..,. .--
"What do you imagine may be the
developments Of the next fifty years ?'
we asked.
"The most visionary in his dreamings
may not far outstri 3 our progress" he
responded. 1t may be found that
electricity enters much more largely
than has been suspected into the physi-
cal and mental organism of man. By
understanding these laws we may be
able to produce mental phenomena, as
we now, by grating, produce choice
! fruit on the stalk that has only tenacity
of life to Recommend it. SO we may
graft the fire and genius of Byron ona
stalk that is sturdy where he was weak,
and in this manner save mankind from
the devastations of unbalanced genius:
be enabled, in short. to produce har-
monious Development, and make the
coming man a Titan, physically and
mentally" .as aoi5a 1nlssc
Everybody is requested to believe as
much Of the foregoing as he can.
sal Good Times. ~