Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-01-02
miscellaneous.
Calico IL the ChureA II Piss.


One day Calico, young student of
medicine at Pisa, saw the great bronze
chandelier Of the cathedral swing to and
fro. lie watched it carefully, and found
that II moved regularly. 1t always came
back to the same place. He thought he
could initiate It, and suspended weight
TO string. and thus formed the first PEN
dulum. His invention has never ceased to
be of use to every one. The pendulum
was attached to the works Of . clock, and
has from that moment continued the chief
means Of measuring time. 1t rules every
family, directs the business of cities, and
tells when To go 10 schoo. and when school
is out. The great clock in the city hall
and the clocks in all the steeples and
towers are guided by Galileo's pendulum.
The wooden clock we buy for two or
three dollars and the costly French cock
that ticks on the mantel owe their chief
value TO the young student. The pendu-
lum. wherever it swings To and fro, seems
to speak Of Calico.
He was born at Pisa in 1869, the same
year with Shakespeare. His father was
poor, and wished 10 apprentice him to the
wool trade. But Calico showed a strong
love for mechanics and mathematics. He
professed to study medicine at the Univer-
sty at Pisa, but was always busy with
mechanical experiments. He worked in
cessantly with his tools and books, and
produced a great number Of intentions,
more, perhaps, than any other man.
From youth to extreme old age, he was
constantly in his workshop. and labored
while others slept. One Of his inventions
was the thermometer that measures the
heat and cold Of every land. II is used to
mark the temperature of the highest
mountains. and is plunged into the sea !;
tells the boiling-point and the freezing
point, and governs in the house and in the
factory.
At last in 1906, Calico invented the tel
escope. II had been thought of in Hol-
land. but never brought to any perfection.
Calico caught up the idea, and produced
the remarkable instrument that brings
distant things near. Until that time, no
one had supposed men could see beyond
u certain limit; and the sailors on the
ocean and the travellers BY land could look
only few miles before them. Galileo's
first telescope was made of lead. small
and imperfect; but it was polished and
perfected with his wonderful skill and in
dustry. It filled all Italy and Europe with
intense excitement. Men came in crowds
to look through the first telescope. At
Venice. where Calico was staying, the
merchants climbed to the top of the high
est tower to see their ships far off on the
water two hours before they could have
been seen without the telescope. Calico
was enriched with honors and large sal
ary. He went to Florence, and was re-
ceiyed with wonder and delight by great
crowds of his countrymen.
Next came a more startling discovery
Calico turned his telercope to the skies.
and saw things that had never before been
witnessed by mortal eyes. The Milky
Way dissolved into bed of stars Jupi-
ter showed its four astellites, Saturn its
rings; the moon seemed covered with
seas and rivers. The heavens
seemed revealed TO man; and Calico
soon after. startled ty his own discover
les. published his "Message from the
Stars" In this pamphlet. he describes
the wonders OF the skies as he was the
first to see. II was read al! over Europe,
and the people and the princes heard
with awe the account of the new
heavens. Many persons denied that there
was any truth in the narrative It was
looked upon as kind of "Moon Hoax"
or "Gulliver's Travels" Some said it
was an optical delusion. and Calico was
attacked by ~ thousand enemies.
His health was always delicate. and he
was always kept poor and in debt by a
worthless son and an idle brother. His
life so prosperous. ended in misfortune.
His telescope proved to him that the
world moved around the sun, and he ven
tured to say so. Unfortunately, the In
QUESTION and nearly every one else be-
iieved that the sun moved around the
earth. Calico was forced to say that he
was mistaken. He was tried at Rome,
condemned, and obliged on his knees to
confess his error. and during the last
years Of his life was kept a prisoner in
his own house near Florence. He passed
his time in constant work. studying the
moon and making instruments At last
he became blind. Here Milton visited
him, and looked upon him with venera-
ton. He died in i642. and was buried
privately in the church of Santa Croce. at
Florence.
Galileo was of pleasant counteuance.
always cheerful. His hair was of u red
1ish tinge, his eyes bright and sparkling
until they became dimmed like Millions.
His figure was strong and well formed.
Il was said OF him that no one had ever
,een him idle. lie was never weary of
his telescope. The first one
ie made, only magnitied three times,
econd. eight times. and then he made one
hat magnified thirty times. II is the men
Who are never Idle that help themselves
md others. Young People.