The Sunday globe., 1901-05-19
LEAD KINDLY LIGHT
And illuminate the Grey Matter in
Professor Langley's Cranium.
THE SMITHSONIAN AIRSHIP
Isn't a Circumstance 10 a Recent Fake y
UnIOaded On tho Great Scientist Of The Smith
sOnlau Institution, as Detailed In Full by anAbe
Space WrIier In the Cincinnati EnQuIreT-In-
terestlng Talk from an Arship Standpoint.

Space WrIter In the Cincinnati Enqulrsr-In-
terestlng Talk from an AIrship Standpoint.
Professor Langley, the air scientist
and Smithsonian Institution chief
freak, has made another Edison-Tisla
announcement to the museum world.
He corralled a very youthful scribe, an
apprentice of veteran Sam Johnson, $,
and filled him full of hot air and mys-
terious light, until a toy balloon ISN'T
a circumstance to the imitation in the
reportoriaI anatomy. Smell this escap-
ing gas from Cincinnati Enquirer re-
print and judge, gentle reader for your
self of the probable date when an air
ship will land the professor in Mars,
where these kind of stones are manu-
featured and sold by the gross;
professor Langley, of the Smithson.
ian Institution at Washington, ID. c.,
is in receipt of a wonderful little piece
of what the inventor has termed rad
ium, " that has sent a thrill Of wonder
through every scientist in the land.
The specimen was received encased i'm
a small box made of lead, accompanied
by instructions for the professor to open
it in the dark This was done. A
number Of the principal officers of the
institution repaired to the photograph
" dark room, and the wonderful sub
stance, no bigger than a silver dollar,
was taken from its bed and before those
pre- 5sent could raalize what had occur
red the room was lit up as completely
as though the full rays Of the sun had
penetrated the place. The substance
omitted clear, greenish glow and the
features of every one were clearly out
lined. There was natural hesitancy
on the part Of those present to touch
the thing, but inves ,igation soon PROV
ed that the source Of this wonderful
light was cool and solid, and that it
could be handled with ease.
What is this wonderful substance? q?
1t is a discovery made by woman,
Nine. Sklowdowska Currie, of the mu-
nicipal school OF physics in Paris, and
if what i. claimed for it be true, 1t il
the light Of the future-the dream of
alchcmists-iu short lamp that will
burn forever, consuming neither oil nor
wick, is devoid of heat and requires no
attention.
Madame Currie was awarded 1000
francs, and had her name enrolled on
the books of the French academy Of
science for the discovery, which is re-
garded as one of the most stupendOus
of the age, upsetting, as it does, all
hitherto accepted theories Of heat, light
and physical energy, and opens up
fields of knowledge heretofore regarded
as beyond the scope of man. This
light, it is claimed, will not only be very
cheap when tirrt installed, but after
that there will be absolutely no ex-
pense in maintaining it, even though
left by itself for centuries. Night after
night for an indefinite period it will
throw out its brilliant rays, and at the
end of untold years the illumination
will be as great as at first. No under
ground or overhead wires, no dynamos,
nor gas retorts, nothing but a little
disk or greenssh stone. Place this in
the wall or IN the ceiling and rooms
will be lighted as long as the home
stands.
The origin of light, as accepted by
the layman, is that it is merely the
demonstration Of energy produced by
the destruction, combustion, or con-
sumption of certain substances, like
coal, oil, or gas. Heat is produced by
the destruction of burning coal. This,
transformed into motion by the steam
engine and the dynamos, results in elec-
tricity for arc and incandescent lights.
In short no artificial light has ever
been made for mans use that has never
been the result of some material that
was consumed in order to make il. A
feeble light without heat is obtained
from phosphorescence, but even this
owes its origin to the slow consumption
of the substance that produces it. TO
produce light without the expenditure
of some sort of energy has been looked
upon heretofore as an idle dream, but
the discovery of the wonderful proper
ties of the X-ray caused the scientist to
put on his thinking cap. The X-ray
discovery proved that there were more
than one form of radiant energy, al.
though all Of them have the same quail.
Ities i'm certain directions, yet entirely
different in others. Thus, while the
powerful rays Of the sun were unable to
penetrate thin piece of cardboard, the
X.ray, which could hardly he seen, was
able to go through wood and metal.
This fact contradicted the universally
accepted theory that the power Of light
was due in all cases to the material con-
sumed. Experiments along the line
soon convinced scientific students that
uranium possessed remarkable quail
ties-that it had the power of absorbing
light and emitting it afterward. 1t was
then discovered on experimenting with
salts of the metal that it would prodnce
substances having properties similar to
the X-ray, and that while they could
not be seeu by the human eye they yet
had the power of "fogging' photo
graphic plate when brought in contact
with it.
Different Investigators produced diff
ferent forms of these rays, but all failed
Of producing anything more than a
laboratory experiment. There was en-
ergy, but unaccompanied by luminos.
ity, and all the experiments were use
less, so far rs the commercial world was
concerned. Then Nine. Currie began
her work where the Others left off She
reasoned that the wonderful properties
manifested by different substances ob'