Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-04-21

messed Electrons Are Let Loose, Not
a Single Human Being Will Survive
on Any Battlefield-Wealth Under
Goodwin Sands.
"Electronic energy has been described
as the worlds greatest and most ter
rible secret-so great and so terrible
that it has been argued seriously that
scientific research in this direction
should be halted until it is felt that
the human rae is sufficiently elevated
to be i%ntrusted with the keys of such
fearsome s~torehouses Of power"
So declared Lord Headley recently
in his address when elected president
of the Society Of Engineers in London.
He is distinguished as an engineer,
particularly for his work for the pro-
lection and Improvement Of fore
shores +; he has claimed even the usual
ly destructive force Of the tides and
waves for this purpose. Practical and
scientific as he is, his presidential dis
course appealed strongly to the imagi-
nation.
He told what an electron is to the
physicist-the smallest known COM
ponent Of matter; always associated
with an u%nvarying unit charge Of neg
alive electricity. Some scientists sup
pose the chemical atoms consist of
collections of electrons having orbital
motions in a sphere Of positive electri-
1cation. All atomic characteristics
r satisfactorily explained on this
basis.
Could Wine Out Armies.
Lord Headley said human science
has advanced with deadly effect for
the destruction Of human life in time
Of a 1t might we'll be argued that
In the future, when the dogs Of war
In the shape Of harnessed electrons
are let loose, not a single human be-
ing will survive on any battlefield. A
general officer, sitting at his comfort
able desk in the war office, might
touch a button and release destruc-
tive agency capable of sweeping hum
dreds Of square miles and depriving
Of existence every living creature
thereon.
1t; is. said that Sir Oliver Lodge and
Lord Kelvin have calculated that there
is enough energy in every ounce Of
matter to lift the whole British fleet
from the surface of the sea to the top
Of Mount Everest, that there is enough
latent force in your little finger to
run all the trains in the United King
dom for several minutes, and suffi.
cient atomic energy in an ounce Of
matter, if properly controlled, to keep
the largest liner in the world going az
full speed for a week.
Speaking of the possibilities OF
Communication with entities which
might have had their being on this
earth or elsewhere." Lord Headley
said that when one finds highly scien-
tific and thoughtful men like Sir Oliver
Lodge and Sir Conan Doyle convinced
Of the possibility Of communicating
with dead friends or relatives, one
can not help specializing on the posi-
bility of a linking up of the spirit
world by the refinement of scientific
investigation and trial. 1t is conceiv-
AOlS " III sllldL- IN SpllilSg VI. l1 Nv
parted might be composed of elec-
irons of a type not altogether different
from those i%nhabiting u earthly bod
les. Is it altogether beyond the
bounds of possibility that there may.
be a similarity between the spiritual
and the earthly electron sufficiently
pronounced to admit of i~ntercommuni-
cation?
Wealth Under Goodwin Sands.
Another suggestive idea put for
ward by Lord Head.ey was that the
Goodwin Sands might be explored for
buried treasure. Or this spot is the
accumulation of centuries of disasters.
and within a few square miles many
millions of pounds worth Of treasure
are hidden. Various schemes to re-
cover these treasures have been turned
down, but he thought it possible to
sink a good floating concrete tower
in Trinity bay and 20 run tunnels from
this base of operations in any direc-
ton. Boring with suitable angers
would probably reveal the presence of
many an old craft, and the next ques-
ton would be TO arrange for rapid
tunnelling.
The problems of the Goodwins is
not exactly a wild eat" scheme, but
it comes under the heading of s'highly
speculative adventure" 1t is none the
less Fascinating for that, and is far
more sound than many a mining prop
Gsition because the treasure really Is
there.
And the treasure has been accuinu-
Iating there for centuries. The Good
win Sands form a dangerous line of
shoals off the Kent coast of England
at the entrance TO the Strait of Dover
from the North sea. The Goodwins
are partly exposed at low water, hut
the sands are shifting and, in spite of
lights and bell buoys. the sands have
proved a veritahle graveyard for ships.
Perhaps the most terrible catastrophe
recorded there was the wreck or I8
ships In . great storm in November,
1703.