Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-15

and as to how it heated the earth. / uset
to hold my hands up to it and wonder how
tho rays made them warm, and where ant
how the heat came from. | asked many
questions, but | could get no satisfactory re
plea, and SONS Of these childish questions
have occupied many years of my la.er life ii
the answering. | remember, for instance, one
Of the wonders to me was a common not
bed. / could not see how the glass kept II
warm while all around was cold, and when
asked | was told that of course the glass kept
in the heat; but though my elders saw nc
difficulty about II, | could not see why, If
the heat went in through the glass, 1t could
not come out again. ! now know that the
size Of the rays changed afte: entering the
glass, and that they could MOI come out be-
cause they grew larger, being in much the
same condition as that of the lean mouse who
crspt through a hole in a barrel of grain and
filed himself so full that he could not get out
again. Since then | have spent many years
in studying the way that that great hot
bed, the earth itself on which we live, is, by
a like principle, made warmer by the atmos-
pheIe that covers it as the glass did the hot
bed"
WAS your father an astronomer, Mr.,
Langley" / asked.
"No,' was the reply. my father was a
merchant, and | have no records of as
tronomers in my family. My father was
not rich enough to give me an income suf-
fcient to support myself and my hobby
Astronomy. you know, is not a very profit
able science, and as | had to make a living
for myself, l chose the profession of archi-
lecture and civil engineering, but l never
heartily liked 1t. After some years | went
to Europe, and on my return from the trip,
having a little money. l decided that |
would take up astronomy and devote my
life to it. | went to the Harvard university
at Cambridge and found a position for work
and study there. That l had been occupying
,.,,,lf ,,;tb ngtrpnnnnu nratfV ngGilnluSlV
already was, l think, shown by the fact that
although | lacked the experience that only
observatory work could supply, j still knew
enough to command a salaried position from
the outset. remained at Harvard for some
time, and then was called to the naval
academy at Annapolis to take charge of the
observatory there. My next position was as
the director of the Allegheny observatory
near Pittsburg, where | spent a great part OF
my professional life before ! came to Wash
ington."
1T was at Pittsburg, then, that most of
your experiments were carried on, was 1t
note"
yes" replied Mr.. Langley. "There was
a quite large telescope for those days at
Pittsburg. II had been bought by a club
of amateur astronomers, partially for cash,
but mostly for credit. After the first en-
thus!asm passed away the debt remained
and the club became dlsorganized, so that the
telescope was about to be sold at auction,
Wnen the WeSleTH university sSSuicu IT.
They invited me TO take charge of the OBJ
servatory. and | came TO Pitsburg and began
my work. This first work, however, was TO
provide the indispensable apparatus for the
observatory. which, except for The single tele-
scope, was one only in name. l found, how
ever, a total lack Of money"
HE ORGANIZES THE TINE SERVICE.
The secretary continues: MY proposed in
yestlgations could not be made without books
and Instruments, and these could not be got
without funds. ! then began 10 Look around
for something which | could do which would
be commercially profitable 10 the observatory,
and the result was the Inauguration of the
time service. which has since spread all over
the country, and by which the clocks OF cur
railroads ana our cities are now regulated
from an observatory at some central point. 1t
is familiar enough now, but | had the hard
work of first introducing il and psrsuading
people of its utility. | had TO interest the
city councils and the railroads in il, but |
finally got an electric clock established at
the observatory, and soon had the time of
the city regulated by 1t, Before this each
jeweler had his own time. Each of the rail
roads ran by>different times, and tn re was
no Certainty as 10 the arrivals or departures
OF trains. Soon after ! started II II was
extended along the lines of The railways until
were regulating clocks as far as Chicago
and Philadelphia from Pittsburg. To do this
had to have the electric wires 10 our
selves. and il was so arranged that we were
allowed to use them for five minutes at 9
O'Clock in the morning and at 4 In the after
noon Of every day. The system soon spread
to other cities, and Il is now in use all over
the world. | did all this TO me ungrateful