Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-08-06
PROF. JOHNSON,S AIRSHIP.
He Springs HIS New Scientific Idea
Upon a Small but Select Audience.

When Prof. G. A. Johnson, the
colored astronomer of Hamilton, Dat,
walked into Garnett Hall, in West
Twenty sixth street, last night, TO
deliver his lecture on Aerial Naviga-
tion," there were five white boys, four
white men, and three adult cnlored
people sitting on the wooden benches
awaiting him. They had paid ten
cents a ht. / to get the seats. The
Professor smiled a genial welcome,
gave each one of his audience a copy
OF the British Lion and the American
Eagle, and explained that he publish
cd them simultaneously in New York
and Cadada, and circulated them free
because he had plenty of money and
wanted to give the colored people good
advice about business as we'll as as
tronomy. The Professors side
whiskers were tastefully trimmed,
and ne wore a snoN-white Union
Club standing collar, tall black silk
beaver, and an alpaca coat. When
he stood up behind a long pine table
In the northeast corner of the hall ne
observed an unmistakable disposition
on the part of group OF colored peo-
pie who had hired the southeast corner
of the room for a revival meeting to
deprive his hearers of the benefit of
his remarks. He warned the revival
lists that he had come to town to de-
liver the most remarkable and inn
portant lecture ever made, and he
didn't propose to have the audience
deprived of the benefit Of il either.
Tne revivalists sang loudly, but the
Professor talked louder still and tired
them out. He triumphantly said that
he enjoyed the competition more than
anything else he hal encountered in
New York
The Professor observed that many
people had expected hlm to fetch
along a model of his new aerial nav
igator but they would have to wait
anti some other evening to see 1t.
He had been told that some New
Workers were lying in wait to steal it,
and he proposed to block that little
game at the start He added:
My mother told me that l would
asUonish the world one of these days
with a new idea, and she didn't make
a mistake. | have invented an air
ship that is 100 feet long, shaped like
the Monitor, and can carry 500 people
in palace car sty lie from New York to
Liverpool in one and half days, or
from New York to Boston in l hour,
80 minutes, 15J seconds. Ii will
travel at the extraordinary speed of
200 miles an hour, by using electricity
in conjunction with the law Of grav-
itatiog. OF course IT is perfectly safe,
but recommend intending passengers
to get insured before they get aboard.
have kept this thing a secret all
this while because it would make the
railroad and steamship lines feel bad
10 know it. But now [ give Jacob
Sharp due notice that 1t is ready for
work, and that the best thing he can
do, if he don't want ruinous compe-
tition with his new Broad way cars, is
to step up and compromise. III sell
this new idea to any body Tor SlG0, 900
Some inventors wouldn't have brains
to do this, but then they don't know
a good thing when they SEQ it. That's
where | have big advantage. Mr.
Vanderbilt or Mr.. Gould will doubt
less like an opportunity to buy the in
vention. If they will unite with me
there will be a company organized
at once with 81 900, 600 capital to build
line of these air ships.
Then the Professor came from be,
hind the pine table and invited the
Eve boys and seven adults to take a
ride to Boston in the navigator next
month.