Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1896-06-25
Calico and His Discoveries.

One day Calico, young student
at Pisa, saw the great bronze ehande-
ier of the cathedral swing to and fro.
He watched it carefully, and found
that it moved regularly. 1t always
came back to the same place. He
thought he could initiate it, and sus-
pended a weight to a string, and thus
formed the first pendulum. His IN
vention has never ceased to be of use
to every one. The pendulum was at
tached to the works Of a clock, and
has from that moment continued the
chief means of measuring time. 1t
rules every family, directs the business
of cities, and tells when to 60 TO school
and when school is out. The great
clock in the City Hall, and the clocks
in all the steeples and towers, are
guided by Gahleo's pendulum. The
wooden clock we buy for two or three
dollars, and the costly French clock
that ticks on the mantle, owe their
chief value to the invention Of the
young student. The pendulum, where
ever it swings to and fro, seems to
speak of Galileo.
He was born at Pisa, in 1864, the
same year with Shakespeare. His
father was poor, and wished to appren-
tice him to the wool trade. But Gal
leo showed strong love for mechan-
les and mathematics he professed to
study medicine at the University of
Pisa. but was always busy with me-
chanical experiments. He worked IN
cessantly with his tools and books and
produced great number Of inventions,
more, perhaps, than any other man.
From youth to extreme old age he was
constantly in his workshop, and la
bored while others slept One Of his
inventions was the thermometer that
measures the heat or cold Of every
| land 1t is used to mark the temper
ature of the highest mountains, and is
plunged into the depths of the sea !;
tells the boiling point and the freez-
ing point, and governs in the house
and the factory.
At last, in 1909, Calico invented
the telescope. 1t had been thought Of
in Holland, but never brought to any
perfection. Galileo caught up the idea
and produced the remarkable instru-
ment that brings distant things near
er. Until that time no one supposed
men could see beyond certain limit,
and the sailor on the ocean and the
travellers by land could look only a
few miles before them Galileos first
telescope was made of lead, small and
imperfect, but it was polished and per-
fected with his wonderful skill and iu-
dustry 1t filled all Italy and Europe
with intense excitement. Men came
in crowds to look through the first
telescope. At Venice, where Galleo
was staying, the merchants climbed to
the top of the highest tower to see their
slips far off on the water two hours
before they could have been seen with
out the telescope. Calico was en-
riched with honors and large salary
He went to Florence, and was received
with wonder and delight by great
crowds of his countrymen.
Next came still more startling
discovery. Galileo turned his tele'
scope to the skies and saw things that
had never before been witnessed by
mortal eyes. The Milky Way dis
solved into bed of stars; Jupiter
showed It's four satellites, Saturn It's
rings; the moon seemed covered with
mountains, seas and rivers The
heavens seemed revealed to man, and
Calico soon after, startled by his OWL
discoveries, published his Message
from the Stars" In this pamphlet
he describes the wonders of the skiei
he was the first to see. 1t was reac
all over Europe, and the people anC
the princes heard with awe the ac
count of the new heavens. Many
persons denied that there was any
truth in the narrative; it was looked
upon as a kind of moon hoax" 0.
"Gulhver's Travels; = some said it wa
an optical delusion, and Calico wa
attacked by thousand enemies.
His health was always delicate
and he was always kept poor and Il
debt by a worthless son and an idl
brother. His life, 50 prosperous, ende'
in misfortune. His telescope prove'
to him that the world moved rounc
the sun. and he ventured to say 50
Unfortunately the Inquisition an'
nearly every one else believed tha
the sun moved round the earth. Gal