The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06

was modelleu on the well-known lines OF tho
German Emperor's addresses to his faithful
soldiers. He began by giving his hea rers some
excellent practical advice. He commlserated
them that they could scarcely hope to be-
come ms good soldiers as tho regulars.
but he assured them that they might,
by constant and earnest endeavOr. mako
themselves mRrksmen so unerring that In any
possible circumstances calling for tho display
OF their prowess they would be most formidable
foes" Therefore, | say to you" the Poet
Laureate ventured to add In his most impressive
manner, study to be cool. deliberate. lnfallible
mArksmen. and II You achieve that end there Is
no army in the world, however large, however
well equipped, however disciplined. however
ably led. that In tho terrible calculations of con-
tict would not take you into serious account"
This sentiment, 1t is unnecessary to add, called
forth cheers,
Tho speaker defended himself in advance
against the objection that he might DO going
outs de his sphere In Offering such counsel.
"HapDily tho days lie behind U.s." he said.
when tho doctrine, compendiously expressed
in the phrase Art for Arts sake only was
deemed a doctrine OF wisdom and dignity, and
when 1t was deemed derogatory to tho poet,
and. indeed. to the votary of any art, to concern
himself with things SO mundane and 30 vulgar
as the interests Of society, the conservation of
the State. or the strength of the empire. To
that unmanly and demoralizing doctrine
never could yield assent; and more than ever
/ feel 1t to be tho bounden duty Of every citizen
to put his country first In the order Of his affec-
tons. and himself and his pursuits second"
Presently he ventured boldly into the dam
gerous field of international relationship, and
while there he solved off-hand the vexed ques-
tlon, Why England is not loved" These few
sentences made 1t perfectly clear to every body
present:
= nation VI are not loved. should have been
greatly surprised II we were, for In that case
things. would have copformod to the doctrine
OF evolution and would have furnished us with
Jealousy rather than love has been the passion
inspired by greatness in the breast OF those who
r T%%.d I have ever tI heard ef'" for s eses nno II The
buzZings of envy Il to remain In the shade. But
s snn S itself, and d. must nnes"I pay y { the / " penalty Of it's its
lustre. II so happens, moreover. that in these
DAYS self-in,erest conspires with. self.love to
foster certain notorious Antipathies. Colonial
expansion is the mania OF the hour: and the
British empire goes on expanding to-day, as II
forts Of the Kind look rather Insight
the English race. Injured as they have been
by centuries of liberty to individual initiativn
natural Impulse. with o!h.r commnnities It
seems an arbitrary determination Our nro-
Density TO people distant lands Is organic ana
vital. Their resolve to initiate US is artificial
and mechanical"
Lord Salisbury realized after reading this
speech. IL he had not done SO before. what a
mistake he made in appointing Mr.. Austin Poet
Laureate. He should have offered him the chief
seat In his Cabinet.
mentioned in q recent cable despatch tho in
vestigations undertaken At several points on the
Continent OF atmospheric conditions at exceed
ingly high attitudes. Nine and one-half miles
10 the limit to which human ingenuity has thus
far been able to penetrate. That 10 oonsiders-
ably beyond the height At which human lifemust
cease to exist. Balloon experiments of all kinds
are the fad of quite o large number of persons
in Europe just now. One of the most interest
ing Of recent aerial journeys was a trip
made o week ago from Paris by two
members of the Touring Club. Their
journey lasted about seventeen hours and COW
cred q distance of nearly four hundred miles
without q break. They assembled from q suburb
OF Paris at 10 o'clock on Friday evening and
travelled almost due south until they landed
shortly after 3 O'Clock the next afternoon near
the town Of Agen and not far from tho Spanish
frontier. The highest altitude which the bal
loon reached was . little more than two miles.
where the temperature was 900 F. 1t was
colder. however. at another point q thousand
yards lower. whore tho thermometer marked
only 23'.
One of the objects OF the trip was to ascer-
tain whether the best means OF e~conomiZing
gas. and Of remaining q long time In the air.
was TO keep within 4 short distance of the earth,
or to seek a high altitude. During about eight
hours the aeronauts kept the balloon within
1000 feet OF tho ground. Tho great humidity
rising from the earth, causing moisture to COL
lect upon tho balloon and thus adding to its
weight, made It necessary for them to use
about three. quarters of their 1000 pounds of
ballast. In the morning the heat of tho
SUMS rays dried the moisture and expanded the
gas SO that they rose to q high altitude. which
they maintained until nearly the end of the
journey. They are convinced that II they had
kept At the height of q mile or q mile and q half
throughout the trip, they might easily have pro-
longed the journey mahy hours. They noticed
ono interesting meteorological fact, namely. O
fall of rain from a single layer of cloud, tho
common theory being that two strata of cloud
are necessary for the production Of rain.
An exhaustive study Of the migration of birds
and incidentally OF its relation to meteorolog-
ical conditions has just been completed under
the auspices of the British Association. For
eight years the keepers OF the lighthouses and
lightships kept careful records of the move
| ments OF this migratory birds. and the result
was more than 100. 900 reports. which have been
arranged and analysed by Mr.. E. Clarke. No
men in all the world are so we'll placed
for making such observations as the British
light keepers. They had done their work intel
lIgently and well. First, as q general result. 1t
is shown that almost the entire bird population
is migratory. Very many birds which are pop
ularly supposed to be permanent residents
move south at the approach of winter, and
their places are taken by others of their
race which come from further north.
Autumn is the time when the phenomena
OF migration are most easily observed. The
birds are in no hurry. Food Is still plentiful.
The great work OF rearing their young Is accom-
plished. With numbers vastly increased by the
addition OF new broods they fly leisurely. by
easy stages. toward their winter quarters. In
tho spring It Is quite different. The birds do
not stop long on the way. Their numbers vast as
they are, are terribly depleted. Bird mortality
In winter, in fact, must reach tremendously
large proportions.
The first sign Of migration seen In England
IL usually In February. when such birds as WaR-