The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-01-14


The possibilities of science when
applied to the industrial arts are SO
very great that careful people hesi-
tate to state them for fear of exciting
ridicule So, in articles which have
recently been published in London
as well as in New York, a humor-
Gus turn has been give TO some of
the possible results of inventions in
these days.
Were an Englishman of the time
of Elizabeth to have been told that
water would be supplied to every
heuse.by means of pipes, that COM
! bustible gas would be distributed in
a similar manner from central res
ervoir, that messages would be sent
across continents and under oceans
in few minutes. he would have set
down his informant as a lunatic, or,
at best, the very widest of dreameIs.
The man of today would be quite
as increduious if told what inven-
tons and applications of science
NAV do for the people Of 1881.
Vic ~
that in the goth century electricity
will accomplish marvels which now
seem to absurd TO seriously set forth.
Chops and steaks will be cooked by
electric sparks so as to make the
Freuchman's cotekcfte Ia minnie a
reality The fruits of the earth will
be multiplied enormously by the use
of,electric light behind colored glass.
Fruits and vegetables will be grown
all the year round. winter and sum-
mer, day and night, so that the field
which now produces hundred
bushels of any product will yield
ten thousand. We now cook our
food, but take our air ard water raw,
and through these two elements
come all the disorders and conta-
gions W hich affi;ct humanity. In the
future water will be distilled and
prepared for human use, and thereby
purified from all germs of disease,
while air viii not be breathed by
human beings until il has been
cleared of all noxious qualities, after
which it will be admitted to the
glass couered streets and dwellings
in which the man of the future will
live. Houses and places of business
will be situated in immense inclosed
edifices, the air of which will not
only be rendered wholesome but
delightful to the sense of smell.
Summer and winter, so far as cx-
IRENE cold or extreme heat il con
cerned, will be abolished, as the
temperature can be controlled by
artificial means, and all parts of the
globe will become equally inhabita-
bic. Day will have no attractions
over night, for the artificial lights
will be more pleasing than any
the great luminary of day can give
US. Then, of course, the air will be
navigated, which will help to change
the appearance of the surface of the
earth, for the great cities will then
oe situated on nealthful hilltops, in
stead of on the insalubrious plains
below. With the great motors soon
to be discovered, huge mountain
chains which obstruct mans prog
ress in any direction can be leveled,
while the ice packs around the two
poles can be liquefed and made
navigable.
All this seems wild enough, but
no doubt very great changes will
occur. If food can be produced by
improved methods, with less cost,
the problem of poverty is solved. If
machinery continues to replace
handwork, the hours of labor must
be shortened and its value increased;
but to accomplish this, social rev.
olution will be needed by which
labor-saving machines will be
worked for the benefit Of the laborer
and not in competition with him.
The Hour.