The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1913-10-10
4 NATURAL RIDDLE
Attraction Of Gravitation Is a
Mystery to Science.
IT CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE.
Vel That Wonderful Force That d.
s~c4s and Regulates Moons, Planets,
Sens and Stars Without Visible
Means Of Connection 10 inexpIieable.

TIE mystery Of mysteries In science
n the attraction of gravitation that
very force Of nature that is the most
familiar TO us all. 1t seems stra nge
tA.t the most familiar thing in the
world should be at the same time the
most mex plicab BILE. but so 1t Is.
In order to zee clearly wherein the
mystery consists. let US first consider
what gravitation appears to be. 1t Is
sTsvttation that gives the property Of
weight TO all bodies. If there were no
sravitation we could 6oat like thistle
downs and infinitely better than this
tledcwns, for they. too. are finally
brought down by gravitation.
1t is gravitation that brings a can
non ball eventually to the earth. no
nstfer bow swiftly 1t may be project.
ed The faster 1t starts the farther it
will go, but during every second Of its
6ight 1t drops the same distance YER
tjcaiiy toward the earth, whether the
speed impaired to it by the powder is
500 or 5000 feet per second. Gravita-
ton acts on a moving body exactly as
we'll as on one at rest.
IL Is gravitation that curbs the mo-
ton OF the moon and keeps ii in an
orbit of which the earth is the active
focus.
So. toe. it is gravitation that gov
csns the earth in its motion around the
sDs. preventing it from flying away
into boundiess space Astronomy shows
that Sravitation acts between all the
plants and all the stars and controls
their motions with respect to one an
Sthcr
Now. this mysterious force appears 10
b. N attra ction. as IL there were elias
tic cords connecting all the bodies in
space and tending to draw them to-
Eefher. But space. as far as our senses
can detect. is empty. There are no
elastic cords and no physical connec-
tons whatever between astronomical
bodies or between a flying stone or
ball and the earth. How, then.
can there be an attraction? In order
that body may he attracted or drawn
there must be something to draw 1t.
does the trick. but COM
pisaeiy hides from us the mechanism
through which it 9 is. We can discov
cr NO mechanism at all.
Waen an unfortunate aeroplanist
drops from Ills machine at a height Of
n thousand feet he begins at once to
Sas toward the earth as il 1t were pull |
lag min. But how can it pull il it |
has nothing to pull with? You may
think at first sight that it is the air |
which acts as an intermediary. but |
tat is not go. because the earth and |
The moon ''puir' upon one another with
4 force equal to the strength OF a steel
-abSe REQ miles in diameter. But there |
q ne ar and no other tangible thing 10
the open space. 100000 miles across.
nat gaps between the moon and the
.aY1i e..
Tsen. gravpation exerts the same
FORCE at every instant No matter how
'Ast the falling aeronaut may be de-
at any moment. gravitation
viii keep on adding speed as il he had
lust started. Designating the slight
produced by the resistance
u the air, he will fall sixteen feet In
nc 6rst second. forty-eight feet in the
secsod second eighty feet in the third
gaining thirty-two feet in his
Eesocity during every second after the
ksi-
From a height of 1000 feet he will
ONE down in about eight seconds. and
gaib strike the ground with velocity
4 about 25G feet per second. From a
,eight Of 10000 feet be would fall in
bout twenty five seconds and would
fxjte with a velocity Of 400 feet per
,eccnd.
THE same kind Of calculation can
e applied to the gravitation between
ne earth aud the moon. IL the moon
we're not in aiotion across the drec-
loo Of the earths pull" it would fall
0 the earth in about ll6 hours.
Now. to return to the mystery. how
\ this force exerted? Is it really
oil as IL seems to be? The answer
o which science Is tending Is that in
tead of being pull. gravitatiOn is a
ush: in other words. that the falling
eroDaut is pushed toward the ground
nd the moon is pushed toward the
arfb.
On the face Of II one might think
nat nothing was gained by this :
heory. because il seems as impossible
nat a push should he exerted without
tangible connection AS a pull But
be ciew is found in the supposed prop [
rites OF that invisible, intangible. all
ervading medium called the ether.
Thts, 10 he sure. il explaining one
iystery 10y another, for we know
Othing about the ether except that
conveys the waves OF light and cleo
vc.ty; but. at any rate. it affords |
9Esseivable explanation of gravitation !
a. Charles T.. Brush's theory regards
ie ether il being tlled with pecul-
IT form of waves aud that material 4
odies may intercept these waves in :
ich n way as 10 he pushed toward
~ another on account of the dimin-
4lSd eifasf of the ether waves I'm the |