The age-herald., 1897-11-23
That Ridiculous Wiggins.

The other night, near Binghampton, N. r., a big meteor fell containing a piece of iron which was apparently coy- gested that the meteor was message from Mars, and when this was mention-l ed to Professor Wiggins. the famous as- tronomer, at Ottawa, he favored the idea and went on to say:
 My opinion is that stones have for many thousands of years fallen from space upon the earth, which actually contained written characters. The an- cient Jews and other nations speak of their sacred books as having fallen from heaven, and as the earliest important records were preserved in stone it seems probable that the idea originated with aerolites, like that of Binghampton. There is no doubt in my mind that there are thousands of these stones that have fallen to our planet since man arrived here, and are messages from another planet.
 'If we lived on Mars and possessed the scientific knowledge of the psople there we might send a projectle to an- other planet without difficulty. In fact, in few hundred years more We may be able to generate and to control electric force, so that we can throw a projectle beyond the moons orbit and it will either fall on that satellite or move to- ward and fall upon another planet. Sup pose that Martians were to throw a stone, highly electrified, into the orbit of their nearest satellite, which is only about 1000 miles away, so that it would be in advance of it, in it's orbital mo- ton, have no doubt it would repel the stone in the line of a tangent, and with such force as to send it to our planets orbit. Or suppose comet were passing near Mars and toward the earth stones thrown near it would follow in its trail. and fall to the earth like the stones which fell to the earth in November, 1872 after the comet of that year had crossed our planets orbit
 Although we have no power to send projectile fifty miles from the earth, yet if we could control the electric force of a thunder cloud it would drive 100- pound projectile beyond the earth's at traction. Stones have been thrown sey- enty miles from the craters of volcanoes. There are conditions when the earth ac- tually repelS bodies by her own electric force, for I have seen meteors moving away from the earth. Prof. Van Nessel inye stigated the path of the great me- teor seen at the same moment in France, Austria and Italy July ', 1892, and found it was directed upwards and away from the earth at the end of its course. The time is coming when we will utilize this force for aerial navigation, when ships
  afioat will circumnavigate the globe. It is by utilizing this force that birds are enabled to soar, and some birds, like the condor, can not fly at all except over mountains, where the earth's electric force collects in their peaks and propels them"
 Of course thsse speculations are very interesting, but they are visionary in the extreme They are simply the fancies of a lively imagination, and are as base less as the fabric of dream. When emil nent scientists begin to talk in this fashion people will lose their respect for science and go to reading fairy stories. -4->e
 After reading the annual report of the secretary of war one may well imagine that Gen. Nelson A. Miles unduly in fiuenced Secretary Alger with his won derful beauty, and in this manner sue ceeded in over persuading him to follow his desires in recommending an increase of the size of the army. There are few men who can resist the powerful fnfiu- ence of Gen. Miles beauty.
 The most conspicuous event at New York's horse show was rough and tumble fight between two of it's most prominent promoters. There has not bs en a horse show for a number of years without there having been similar af- fairs Madison Square Garden is fast becoming the Carson City of the east.
 Mir. Gladstone should not become so distressed over national events which are beyond his control He should know that Rudyard Kipling is still an Eng lishman. and he can preserve national honor in poetry if not in the house of parliament.
 Though Weyler is no longer in Cuba, the country seems to be still afflicted