Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-19
A Pulling Phenomenon.

A Philadelphia dispatch says. m
.itizens of the borough of West Cbo aus
lre much excited over what appears
be a phenomenon that has presented i,
self in that town, and all of the talon.
IF the place is engaged in trying to solus
the problem. The mystery, which lool.'1
like the accomplishment of perpetnssj
motion, is to be see at the tobacco stoss
Of MI. Thomas L. Smith, on East Gas]
street, and the medium is nothing mos.
nor less than the weight attachment Of =
small pair of scales. Aspecial dispatcS
20 the Times says: ''Last Monday evon
ing, while Mr.. Smiths employees wers
making changes in the arrangemen.
Of goods in stock, it became necessar,1
to lift from the floor these scales, which
were given a temporary place on a pjla
Of tobacco-boxes. About an hour after,
ward a clerk noticed that the rod Al.
tached to the end of the beam for hanc.
ing the weights ON was oscillating with
regular momentum, and, after KEEPING
his eyes upon it for several minutes, was
not a little surprised at discovering tina
the pendulum-like motion was kept IN
with precision, and that it manifested
no disposition to stop. Thus, during the
entire evening this phenomenal action
led hundreds of people to witness the
strange performance, and when the
time for closing arrived the doors were
locked, leaving it to itself, MI. Smith
and others believing that it would run
down long before morning. TUESDAY,
morning came, and upon opening theI
store, backward and forward swung thel
rod and balance-plate, with the same
steady motion that had characterized
its movements on the preceding even
ing, and thus it has uninterruptedly !
kept its motion up since to the wonder
of the entire town. Up to this time it
has kept swinging during sixty-eisht
hours, and to I'LL appearances it is like
ly to continue for an indefinite period
and as it holds out in its unaccountable
performances the wonder and interest
continues to increase. The rod which
serves as a pendulum is about a foot
in length and it's bearings at the end oil
the beam are very complete, the adj
justment being of the most d~elicatel
character. The motion of the rod is duel
north and south, and its oscillations
are e%ighty-four per minute, with no del
Walton whatever, they having beenl
tested - score of times by interested
lookers-on. The scales have been inl
use in Mr.. Smiths store for several
years, their former position being a lit
tie northwest of their present one andl
upon the floor. During the first day ol
the movement the public rejected the3
statements of MI. Smith and his clerkI|
as to their being no hidden power, butHH
since then a continuous throng of peo-H
pie have carefully and intelligently ex-
amined into the causes, but no positivea
solution has been reached. It is bel
lieved by some that the pendulum isl
operated by some broken electrical
current, and this theory is strengthened
by the fact that the Western Union Tell
egraph Company has an Office in one5
OF the upper stories of the building, thel
wires to which pass into the building9
owe the door leading to Mr.. Smiths .!
store. A large number of scientific gen-I
tlemen watched the movements this
morning for hours, but, after compar-
ing their notes of investigation, WERE
unable to reach any solution OF the per-
picking problem. Prof. Sharpless, State;
Assayer of Massachusetts, is in town
to-day, and will give the matter a thor
oLgh investigations"