The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1913-05-26


This is such an age of speed that
We are prone to forget the days
when wagon express service ope-
rater between Philadelphia and PITTS
burg in the remarkable time OF 81
days With our express thans.
aeroplanes. automobiles. motor cy-
cles. ice yachts. hydroplanes and
other distance annihilators. We look
with amused contempt on our anccs.
tors and their slow means of travel
Yet the things which really make
speed which go infinitely faster than
any of our speediest mechanisms,
We're all in existence long ago: in
fact. the real speed marvels of the
universe have been giving exhibit
tons since the very beginning of
things
Light. electricity. sound. and the
earth itself have all existed from the
beginning.
Light has come from the sun To
us in eight minutes or less since the
sun began to shine
Electricity, if it has not crossed
the ocean on a flash of lightning
for more than 80 years has at least
belted the earth in lightning since
the first thundercloud was formed
Sound which we have discovered
has speed wonderful to think about
and only exceeded by man-made in
ventions of the cannon and bullet.
has travelled twelve and half miles
a minute ever since the first thun-
der roared and rnmbled about pre-,
historic rock
SO far as is known. the earth
has always been speed bug" at
the same rate il travels at present
When we plume ourselves on a
lin going for burst Of speed a
the rate of 10 miles an hour let Us
not puff up with pride light goes
so much faster than the train
as TO make it seem as if standing
still.
When We marvel al an aviator
sailing 90 miles an hour. let us not
forget electricity. jumping along the
wires of the magnetic which runs its
motor, at a speed so terrific that IT
was years after we knew there was
such a thing before we realized IT
WAS not instantaneous.
When We watch the automobiles al
Ormond eating UP space at rates
which even the fastest camera ear
not quite sill in a picture, let lis
hot forget that the sound they make
as they roar down the strand pre-.
cedes them as they 60
In the path of the light ray he set
a toothed wheel, which was so ar
ranged that an observer looking
through the spaces between two
teeth could see the distant mirror
rejecting the beam of light The
light ray being turned on. the wheel
was revolVed at great speed The
theory was that when the wheel was
turning fast enough. the flash sent
out between its teeth would return
to find its passage to the eye of
the observer blocked. because dur
ing that interval of time the wheel
would have turned enough to inter
rupt the return beam.
This was found to be the case.
At low speed the observer easily
saw the distant reflector through the
teeth of the revolving wheel. When
the speed of the wheel was increas-
ed. the distant reflector disappeared.
showing that the wheel was now go
ing fast enough to send out the ray,
then turn forward one whole tooth
before the ray got back again.
Having the exact distance there
and back, and knowing the number
of teeth in the wheel and the wheels
revolutions per second, the calcula-
ton was simple enough. and by this
means light was found to flash
through space at 1S6,54S miles per
second. The reflector in these first
experiments was some II miles away
from the light source.
In this way of determining just
how fast light travels there were a
good many things which gave rise to
error The wheel was driven at a
constant speed with difficulty the
eclipse" or disappearance of the
distant reflector was not instantan-
eous but gradual; and other things