Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-12-05
MATTER AND FORCE.
MERCY CANNOT BE CREATED NOR
CAN r BE DESTROYED.

10 Puny MAN Could Acesmplish Efe
ther of These Impossible ThinRs,
He Could Cause "the Wreck Of Mat
ter and the Crash Of worlds"
II you could Imagine an earthworm
trying to run the Niagara Electric
Lighting and Power Transmission
works. you would have some faint idea
Of the capacity Of the greatest human
genius that ever lived to run the visible
universe. That Is probably why the
wiseBt OF us Is not permitted TO una
derstand the final secrets OF nature.
Here Is a good example. Take ride
into a place sufficiently far from the
habitations Of men; put the butt on the
ground and support II so that the bar
rel points straight up and pull the trig.
ger. The bullet will leave the muxzls
with velocity OF. say, 5000 feet a sec
ond. 1t will rise to an enormous
height. come to a standstill for an In
dnitesimal fraction of second and be-
gin to fall back again. II will strike
the earth with very nearly but not
quite the same velocity as IL left the
muzzle OF the gun. 1t would be exact
iy the same but for the resistance OF
the air.
What has happened is this: The ex-
plosion Of the powder has changed a
solid into gas. and the expansive en-
ergy Of this has driven the bullet up
ward. In other words. Il has for the
tine overcome that mysterious force
by which the earth draws everything
toward its own center.
But when the energy Of the exploded
powder Is exactly balanced by the pull
OF gravitation the bullet falls back. In
the first second after Its turn IL falls
l6 feet In the next 81. In the next "a.
In the next 1913, and so on till II returns
with ever increasing velocity whence
II started.
Nothing has been lost. nothing gain.
ed. The gases set free by the explo-
sion OF the powder weigh exactly 40
much as the solid. Some Of the energy
has been used as heat, some In propel-
ling the bullet. Gravitation, overcome
for awhile, has reasserted itself. The
sum Of matter and force In the uni
verse Is absolutely unchanged.
This Ia as true Of the Quickened beat
OF a girls heart when she meets her
lover as Il is OF the march Of the plan
cts and suns through the delds Of space.
Every atom Of matter. every unit or
force. throughout the universe Is con-
slant. external and exactly balanced.
and the whole strength and genius Of
humanity could not increase or dimin-
ish them Ly the slightest fraction.
Now. let US imagine what would hap
pen II man could make that bullet
strike the earth with greater or less
force than II left the muzzle OF the gun.
He would either have increased or de-
creased the total OF universal energy.
and In either case he would have
thrown frst the solar system and then
the whole universe out Of gear
The earth and all the other planets
would begin to revolve in different or
bits. The lun. with Its family OF worlds,
would alter its path round the un-
known center about which It revolves.
Then world would be hurled against
world and sun against sun. and stars
and planets would be reduced TO the
flaming gases from which they cooled
into solids and liquids before time be-
gan 10 be.
Just the same catastrophe would hap
pen IL man could either create or en-"
tirely destroy o grain OF sand on the
Beashore. The balance OF the universe,
In which swing stars and planets.
whose weight Is inexpressible In biman
figures (this tiny world Of ours weighs
6OOO, 600. .OOo. 900. 600 OOO. 900 tonsI. Is in
fnitely more delicate than that which
the chemist has to keep In an alright
case and at an even temper iature lest
breath OF air should throw II out OF
gear.
Thus the destruction or creation OF
grain Of sand would change the orbit
OF the earth round the sun. In the
one case II would be drawn closer and
closer 70 the sun. perhaps after thou
sands Of revolutions to be swallowed
up In dery ruin. In the other case II
NOulu kTuu uudblJ tedNc TIC buh obu SVoA
by year wander farther away into re-
gions Of space where human life would
be impossible.
The result OF the dislocation OF such
a stupendous system. which has work
ed with unfailing exactitude for count
less ages. Is. Of course. utterly beyond
the scope Of human imagination. and
IL 81 fNWN
or destruction Of a single grain os sand
might. and probably would. plunge II
into utter chaos and ruin.-Pearson's.