The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-03-19
MYSTERIOUS ELECTRICITY.
Human Mind May Never Solve the
Problem of What 1t Is.

To the metaphysical mHlu Oh Inv Sho
hand and to the confident ignoramus on
she other the mysterious nature OF cleo
-,icitv offers a fruitful subject OF specu-
To the latter especially II seems
iacL that the true nature OF cleo
mas not long before been made
manifest. and ne is always prepared to
dash off an explanation with much more
confidence than Newton proposed his
theory of gravitation. 1t seems lnexpl-
cable 70 the public at large that the mys-
tery surrounding electricity Is not dis
peIled. 1t does not seem to occur to
those who are impatient to have the
great question, What is electricity:
answered that we are in just as dense
ignorance as to the mechanism of other
phenomena. Gravitation, light, heat
and chemical action are in the same
category of scientific mysteries and have
had centuries more of thought bestowed
ON them thar has been d voted TO the
new agent. While it nov seems that
we may be on the thresl Old of one OF
the greatest discoveries / the human
mind, vet it is possible, aid even proba-
BILE. that the knowledg Of man may
never be permitted to ltend TO the en-
tire solution of cine pro EN-, for 1t Is the
very problem Of the NJ verse itself.
Assuming what seeI ; 10 be unques.
toned, that electricit electrical acton
or whatever we may all 1t, has its seat
in the atoms or me scules Of matter or
of the Hypothetical. matter, ether, we
are brought face TO face with the same
conditions that confront the cOsmical
philosopher. As the latter can never
hope to nave MS material vision extend
to the bounds of the universe, neither
can the molecular physicist hope to ma
terially appreciate the ultimate elements
of matter. Lord Kelvin has shown that
if a drop Of water were magnifed to the
size of the earth one of its constituent
molecules would only be maSnlhed to
approximately the size of a cricket
ball. Bearing this in mind, the I'M
mensity of the problem which Is 50 otter
f~ippantly referred to Is evident. True,
we may demonstrate the exact relation
between electricity and magnetism and
NAV satisfactorily connect these With
other phenomena and even obtain a
working hypothesis that will answer all
scientific needs. but the ultimate soIu'
ton may forever eyade the N mind
Whatever we 10 laara. however, Wa
not be through the sl.cula'lgn- oT meta
physicians or cle -.a--g~ .- '-"us. bA'
through the pAyI--l Iar IONS ..
HertZes and Tesla-. E.... ast nt.-.
training metaphysics. u4.'..a 'r.-
have its use, the ar.a-U.a .aaE ~ i.".
tons to our real know -r during 10.
many centuries from Plato To- Ba-aa
when metaphysics leid full s"a - con
elusive that nothing can b" "Z
from this direction, and merely slsen..
i've theories III regard TO the natur" g
electricity deserve as little c~On-ldell
ton as l. now given TO the metapAysl.1
vagaries of tue schoolmen Of the :aiay4
ages.-Electrlcal World.
Three Prayers of a Little Girl.
God bless US every one A llttl'
girl in bed in the other room is prayinl
to go to sleep, but fighting To sta,
awake 20 Lord. said she. make M
good and let me 90 in the omnibus Il
see Aunt Margaret and all the aunt
and nieces and mothers. Don't let
hail or snow or rain, for | want to e
in the omnibus to see Aunt Margare
very much indeed, and all the aunt
and nieces and mothers. Make me wei
so that I can go in the omnibus, pleas
do. Bless grandpa and grandma, Aun
Kate and Aunt Sophia and Mr.. Charie
Swan. Bless papa and mamma, an
make us all good so that We can go
heaven at last, for Jesus sake. Amen.
I There was a short pause, and then tn
wide awake, defiant voice went on;
Keep grandma from dying befor
she gets here. Don't let anything haI
pen to her. Don't let any bears or VII
beasts eat her up. Bless grandpa an
grandma and Mr.. Charles Swan an
Aunt Kate and Aunt Sophia.
Another pause, a little longer tina
the first. and the u~nconquered d u
gan again:
II long for apples. long for mil
I long for pie. / long TO be good.
wish / had not that cold. long +
some brown bread. Ilong for some 10
lasses. long for some white bread.
long to be "A woman. thank tnee III
IL did not rain or snow. Give me
clean spirit. Let me be good when pa
is here, for it grieves him to nave ]
naughty, and he buys me thlngs-pia
things. l have prayed that should
IN sleep. That makes three prayers.
A yawn, a long drawn breath, y
them silence presently announced u
the last prayer was answered. and sl'
reigned.-Dan McCauley In wssni'
ton Post