The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-12-01

lows a well-known natural law. The
graFitatlon Of the little planet was almost
as much less than that OF the earth as
It's size, and I weigned-had scales been
pF0Yloed-aboBt ten pounds, more OF
less. With my muscles, 1t was nothing
10 jump seventy OF eighty feet, the dill
Guilty being to keep On the ground ut all
Now suppose you are Numbering
how II was that the planet WAS hot drawn
70 the earth BY the great attraction Of
the latter body. 1t took the scientists less
than i've minutes to determine the reason
accurately. 1t was because OF the com
position Of Nebuia, sueh ingredients hay
ing been put together Ia Its formation as
to repel the advances Of the earth toward
a union, but not enough to drive the lit
lie fellow altogether away from
mOtherly protection. He had come with
In certain distance. beyond which he
could not pass. Ny companions called
me back. as they wanted to make some
calculations and I sprang back as easily
as 7 had Jumped across.
By looking at the earth they mad dis
covered that we we're travelling around
that planet from east to west, while It
turned over from west to east. The com.
bined motions in opposite directions made
our speed about two thousands miles an
hour SO that we should circle the earth
every twelve hours. This calculation
was Of the greatest Importance since we
WNulu nave 10 time our OeN IUIH HG-
curately IN order to land where we
wanted to. IF we allowed Cur balloon to
ascend at the wrong time II was Just
as likely that we should find ourselves
over an ocean as over the land, and Just
as likely over Africa as over America.
Figures were jotted down. and we then
Determined upon an exploration OF our
kingdom.
at this point I did some figuring my
self, II seemed reasonable to me to sup
pose that, IL could Jump seventy feet
with little effort, ] could run iust SO many
times faster here than / could on the
earth. And 1 proved 1t / pointed out
to the others a elump Of trees about q
mile away, and then, asking them to time
me, STARTED Ny work surprised me be-
yond expeetatieHs FOR / leaped Into the
air aiaut thirty feet 1T each bound,
alighted easily some sixty feet beyond.
and took another bound as simply as If
on the earth, vet with an ease that gave
me not the slightest WEAKNESS. ran
back and found that had made the two
miles IN q fraction under three minutes!
At that rate, said !, i can run
around this ball at the rate Of forty-ive
miles an hour; and If your calculations
are correct, and 1t Is eight miles in d.
ameter, 1t must be about twenty-five miles
in circumference. l can, therefore, IL I
don't get winded, circle 1t In less than
forty minutes, and I'm going to do It"
1.-TWO of the party volunteered to ac
company me, and off we started at
good clip, the stop watches being out at
the word Got None or us seemed to
mind the exertion, If floating lightly in
the air can be called exertion; and we ran
along through the forests and across the
plains with the ease and grace of grey
hounds. For half an hour we did not
slacken our pace: but there APP
peared before us deep gulsey, at
the bottom of which was d stream.
Here we came to a standstill The
gulch was quite fifty feet deep and
nearly a hundred wide at the top and as
far as we could see, there was no better
crossing IN sight. Glated at our work,
and feeling certain we could make the
eap we all ran AZ 1t together. Every |
bound we took was better than the pre-
Fious ore; and when we reached the edge
If the arroyo, we sprang into the air like