The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-08-11
CANTON. OHIO THURSDAY AUGUST II, 1881.

about four inches square were fastened 80 as 10
press with some force on the revolving disk, and
by this friction the electricity was generated To
collect 1t he had two metal points on a wire,
which was inserted In a bottle through non.
conducting stopper, the bottle coated with tinfoil
or something Of the SORT 1t was the standing
joke to charge the bottle thoroughly and apply II
to the unsuspectins visitor, and many a fresh.
man" Of that year has been raised from his chair
with disgusting suddenness, giving utterance to a
bawl which startled the neighborhood. Finally
he brought his electrical machines to such per.
lection that 'it was dangerous to safe" any
where about the house. II careless student
threw himself on the lounge and fell into nap
somebody was sure to turn on the cat skim
The bottle would be highly charged and applied
10 his heels, and from heavy dream the victim
would spring up with an unearlhly yell. It IL
not surprising that lOungeTB sion became weary,
and the room Of The BookWalter boys was con
sdered good place TO stay away from. But like
most enthusiasts, John finally overdid the thing,
Having completed su electric machine Of great
power in attempting to discharge the Brittle he
aCCidently received the whole load" in his own
system. 1t
KNOCKED HIM sENsELEss
For a minute or so, and on recovering he con.
cluded that nothing new was to be discovered in
electricity and turned his attention to telescopes
1t seems incredible now, but with no tools but
brace, and auger, and pocket knife, no ma.
terial but emery, piece Of seasoned wood, and
such bits Of glass as he could pick up, he manu-.
featured pocket telescope Of considerable DOW
er, He ground out the glasses himself with
emery and wax, by the use Of his brace; and with
his usual enthusiasm was proceeding to demon
strate that everybody was mistaken en- the sub
Iect Of Optcs when the year ended and he had o
go home. His father died soon after John and
Frank took charge Of the mill, and this gave them
an opportunity to perfect the greatest achieve.
ment In this section, This was the celebrated
telescope.
can not describe In detail this really remark
able work. The tube was fourteen feet long, and
this they bored out at their own MILL from sea.
soned lumber. The smaller glasses they ground
out, and bought the large ones by order from
Philadelphia. They mounted this telescope In
the front yard, and 1t is easy TO understand that
such performance greatly excited the simple
residents Of our valley. Many a time In my
Journeys al'ng the Wabash, fifty miles from here
have heard people speak with curiosity and
pride Of them two country boys up in Fountain
county, who set up real telescope" But they
lacked various mechanical and scientific devices
to make their telescope useful, so 1t was dis.
mounted, and to-day the old tube, or "shell," as
the people called 1t, lies by the garden fence
But 1t waga c1rious and suggestive fact that two
OF our country boys should develop such an idea
and still more that they should carry 1t out
About this time John became Intensely inter.
ested In
FLYING MACHINES,
And when we met we put in many hours demon.
strattng that such machine was practicable, but
he might as well have talked Hebrew as far as
my understanding was concerned. only re.
member one point he made, viz: that the larger
the bird the less sweep Of wing 1t has in proper.
tion, Thus tho humming bird has ten times as
much wing surface In proportion to its weight as
the buzzard. Hence, said John, 1t ia conclusive
that the great need Of the bird is not power TO
rise from the ground but power to contend with
air currents. So the lighter the bird the more
sweep Of wing 1t needE. 1t would give the 100,
900 readers Of the Gazette the headache to copy
the diagrams and calculations he had made on
this subject, and don't know as It has anything
TO do with the GoVernorship Of Ohio. Suffice 1t
tO say that he proved to his own satisfaction that
It would be very easy for a man TO rise into the
air and sustain himself there, but when 1t came
to contending with air currents he could see no
way to make 1t. He still occupies an occasional
leisure hour with this subject, and who knowSH-
perhaps he will yet make It q success. Perhaps
Ohio will enjoy the proud distinction Of having
an inventor Governor, who will solve the vexed
problem Of human levitation. 1t would be rich
aid unique to see the Governors ofice full OF
mechanical geniuses, and the odd corners filed
with mechanical models II might even come to
pass that Governor BookWalters" Inauguration
would be rendered illustrious by flight from the
dome Of the Capitol to the Union Depot.
Politics Is all very well In its place but you
must pardon us il Western Indiana admits that
she would take pride in his success. AS Repub.
licans we want you to snow him under; as
Hoosiers, we could stand 1t II he won.
BooKwALTERs POLITICS
Are worthy of scientific study. Herbert Spencer,
In his Study OF Sociology" has set forth, with
curious detail, the force of various bisSes: The
Religious Bias" BIAS of Patriotism" Emo.
tional Bias" etc He also shows how reaction
hom either Of these makes another bias. New,
refer the reader to that essay for an explanation
Of John W. BOOkwalter's politics. His present
views are simply the result Of and intense reac.
ton from the puritaniCsl Methodism Of David
Bookwalter, the anIiGlavery ,anti.southern furOre
OF 1854 6S, and the intense and unreasonable
dread Of the SO nth, which prevailed from 1865 10
1872 And TO understand this, q man must have
gone through It, or this and other loo al details,
more anon. HANSON.