The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1901-03-06
WHAT WE CALL OUR WEIGHT.
And What IL Would he In Entirely
Different Circumstances.


You step upon a weighing machine,
drop a penny in the slot, the hand goes
around the figured dial and, stopping AT
a certain point, tells you that your weight
is so many pounds. You know by this,
in sort Of comparative way, that there
is Il certain amount of the matter which
composes the universe confined under
your skin. You have appropriated GER
tain portion Of il in the construction of
your flesh and bones. There is a definite
amount of the elements combined togeth-
er which produces an effect upon the
machine, and that effect is translated in
to pounds. You do not know exactl,
what a pound is, but it is some sort Of
an arbitrary measure of the force Of
gravitation, and after reading the fig.
ures on the scale you know about how
much there is of you by comparison with
other objects that have weight and
density.
When you stand outside of yourself,
there seems to be no reason why you
should have any weight. The mind, which
is the most important part Of you, does
not appear 10 have any weight, is mat
ter entirely outside OF yourself. You can
not increase or diminish it by any act Of
will, though sometimes in dreams you
seem to have divosted your body Of the
downward pull which you call weight
and find yourself floating as easily as a
mote in a sunbeam. 1t may be that this
is a sort Of recollection on the part Of the
matter which enters into our composition
of time when it was really not subject
to this tugging called gravitation and
hoated free. In our present environment
however, this law Of matter has US in full
control, and we. cannot escape it for the
smallest fraction Of second. 1t operates
steadily all the time, and we are obliged
always to take it into account.
But does the scale actually tell us how
much We weigh? 1t simply calculates thC
balance between two forces that are
working against each other, the one tend
ing to drag us down TO the center Of th'
earth and the other to send us spinning
out into space. The pull Of gravitatiol
has the advantage by so many pounds
otherwise we should leave our happ,
homes in Il hurry and start on journe.
| from which we would never return-go
] lhE bul lulu epdNt ~ huulou WIN NolItl
and asteroids and other celestial wander
ers. This old earth is a whirler and
twirler. 1t has more curves than a base
ball IN the hands Of an expert pitcher
| You have seen the experiment Of swing
| ing pail Of water over the head withou
spilling the water. The earth is givin
us the same sort Of swing.
1t is as if some giant were stationed a
the point of space where the center Of tn
earth is, with string upward Of 800
miles in length attached to us and wer
swinging us around at the end of it. Thi
rate of circular motion is approximate
1000 miles an hour. 1t is a pretty rapi
swing, and the fact that on account O
this rapidity we have a considerable tend
ency to take a long jump several thou
sand miles into space must make a COL
siderable difference in the pressure whe
we step on the weighing machine. II tn
earth were to stop its whirling some da
for a short time, we should all suddenl
become heavy weights, and it is a que.
tion whether the ordinary weighing ma
chine would be adequate to measure th
tendency which our bodies would have [
press toward the center Of the earth. ]
is plain, therefore, that we should weig
a good deal more if it wasn't for the giau
swing given us by the planet upon whic
we are involuntary Pittsbur
Times.