Milford chronicle., 1889-08-02
seopa on 81 gtand Thsa 10 lool.el -ovsr

scope on the stand. Then he looked over
audience and spoke OF the great subject.
'What we have done is to conquer the u
Innate atom, and discover whether II
healthy OF not If it is diseased, it viii pre-
duce disease-nental, moral or physical, a
tho case may be. Every one OF us has dis
eased atoms in his system That is wha
makes as do too soon; sometimes that
1 what makes rs do wrong When we find tn
diseased atom, we cannot destroy It, Moth
ing can. But we can now isolate It so that !
can do no harm-at least, not for ages 4
come, perhaps never again. We can fore
/ each atom-oach dust mote which float
about the world-to tell its story; can dis
cover where it has been, and what it ha
| done, and whether it is helpful or hurtful
Since the number Of atoms in the atmospher,
I of the earth is now definitely ascertained, il
only remains for the human race to isolat,
from further evil tho diseased atoms as fast
us possible. Then, "A few centuries from now
only healthy atoms viii remain This, as
need not explain to you, must mean perfect
health, and a great many other things which
the newspapers viii tell you about"
A great hush fell on the audience, as they
understood this stupendous claim Then muir.
murs ami cries began to break forth, as PEG
pie suddenly spoke to each other, forgetting
all else in the presence Of the fact. The ulti-
mate atom had been conquered That was
what science and theology for thousands Of
years had said could never be done. Did it
mean wiping out the secret sins, taking away
the daily temptation from each onel A wo-
man, rich, beautiful, fashionable, rose in the
audience and reached out her hands to Pro
a1f Gel.
she cried. A man In the prime of life,
famous over the continent, rose and called
with deep voice Of passion, ''Take away that
which once made me false to my oathI' The
professor reached his hands out, and said in q
tone which stilled the tempest:
II cannot. No one can. You live and die
in the race. II the atoms which work you
evil come to me, | win bind them fast
canaot draw them from you. Cast them out
so that humanity may put them in chains
Help others to cast them out Help me in
my work. It is atom by atom that we re-
build the human temple.n
The man and the woman sank back in their
places and a great pent up sigh swept over
the audience, but no one spoke again
The professor went on; IAN things tell
their secrets at last Every mote Of dust has
its story, from the pollen dust of the wild
rose on the slopes Of Chimborazo to the star
dust left but yesterday in our atmosphere
by the great comet Hierophanta Here, in
this room, there is dust from the ruins of an
Gent London, earthquake-swallowed five cen,
tuies ago. Out of the caves of the giant
cave bear Of Europe, out of the castles of
robber barons on the Rhine, out Of the
depths Of the ocean and the heart of the
earth, these dust notes come in our midst,
after myriad wanderings, and our science can
now reveal the story of each one of them all.
The professor bent, and looked through his
microscope. There Is flake Of dust here,n
he said, (which we will examine. It hoated
on the plate just now while was speaking.
He threw a magnifed reflection on a screen
till the flake Of dust seemed a hundred feet
across; he dropped chemicals upon it and
winnowed everything from the center
There was the atom at last; all the rest that
it had drawn to itself had disappeared.
Again the professor spoke: st is evil, and
yet you shall see it." On the screen fell the
reflection of a vast drop of blood, and in the
heart of the drop was picture of strife on a
desert edge, near palm by an altar, and
clock struck the centuries backward in the
ears of the audience, till they knew that the
in the world from man by his fellow man.
1T is an atom" said the professor, that |
makes disease wherever it goes. Now it shall |
wander forth no longer" He put it into one
Of his walls and fastened it up. Then he |
went on with dust mote after dust mote from
the air about him, and showed the audience |
pictures of the heart atoms of each, which |
thrilled and convinced every man and woman |
there. Tho assembly laughed and cried |
They yielded to his mighty spell; they ac
cepted the stupendOus secret. The ultimate
atom was no more profound mystery, but
a creature to be captured, named, analysed
and imprisoned by star eyed science.
Then the professor was asked to cast the
magnifed reflection of an atom on the screen
without first examining it himself He looked
at the audience again with that indescribably
sad expression.
"Not yet; perhaps never" he said; Il see
more than am able to tell you, more than
any man, with the heart Of a man, could de
scribe. l read your hearts, l know your
thoughts, see the record Of your sins as !
ook upon these atoms which float in your
atmosphere. Now my only happiness is that
zach one of the diseased atoms can bind by
70 much lessen the folly, the falsehood, the
svil of all sorts that fills every atmosphere,
sven here, even now. It is our heritage,
he sad heritage of the whole human race,
through ages Of wretchedness and crime
will only show you what you can bear; the
est l will carry alone" He closed his labor
ltory and left the stage.
The audience rose with great sigh and
vent out; some few were rejoicing, but most
we're oppressed with the vast and mysterious
orces thus newly given to the human race.
The professor, wrapped in a profound sad
less, sat alone in his study; and here the
resident Of the university found him some
tours later, with his head on his desk-dead.
4e had written on piece of paper;
AFTER all, I think we were too ambitious.
he atoms will make an of us enemies to each
theF. Ny old heart disease is coming back,
nut tomorrow l shall ask the faculty to wait
neither fifty years Charles Howard Shinn
q The Argonaut.