Year: 1873

| Probably no one who has heard of
| the inebriate who went home late and


waited for the bed to come round to him


ever supposed that his identical princi-


pie of locomotion would be taken up
| to be utilized In making the aerial pas


sage of the Atlantic. But unless Prof.
| Wise, the prince of aeronauts, has sue


ceeded in making himself very much


misunderstood, that is the precise plan


that is at the present time coiling and nm


eoiling its springs IN his head, and he
| fondIy anticipates the pleasure of ma
king practice out of this theory on the
occurrence of the centennial at Phila-
delphia. If he should succeed in this
pretty miracle, science and the centen-
ary would ever after be twined in the
| historical recollection. The professor
| found a liberal lack of faith in his pro-
| ject in this community. owing to causes


over which no balloonist could well be


expected to have control. Our city au-


thorities were on other things inclined,
and for aeronauts had no mind. 1t was


a sort of warning to them to behold how
very dear gas had become. They felt


that they had too loud calls for service


on the earth to think just now of going


cup in balloon" And remembering
/ Vienna might be seen in its confusion
| OF commissioners and chaos of contri-
buttons, with quite as much certainty
/ by stepping on board steamer at our


wharves, they prudently conclu-
/ ded to let Vienna and balloons go


their own gait for the present, and try


to lift the pressure of matters from the


shoulders of the community. So that
| if Prof. Wise is allowed to demonstrate


his neat rotatory theory at all, he will


have the lasting satisfaction of hitching


it on to the centenary occasion, of


which, indeed, it will by no means be
unworthy if a success. The aeronaut's


idea is that thereis belt in space above


the atmospheric and gravitation infu-
ences of the earth which he can easily
reach, and where he can subsist until


such time as the planet revolves suffi-


ciently to bring his ballooA over Eu-


rope, and then he will come down and


illustrate in a new way "the descent of


man."


Like the problem of perpetual mo-


ton it is perfectly sure thing as soon


as the controlling element in it is fairly


laid hold of and secured. Once har-


ness that into the plan, and no doubt
/ II l. Haft tha


petual feature into the motion conum-


drum, and it is as plain as your hat.
So if the professor can once get above
the reach of the law of gravitation, and


manage to keep alive up there without


any of the ordinary sublunary incon-


veniences, he may drop at length into


the lap of Europe and embodied tri-


umph of aerial navigation. OF course,
| it would be presumptuous to question


his ability to scale thoP@ heighths of


so see wncra be- aqkzs - traospheric
currents are not afttzg 70 play even at


their base. 1t may bsAl-o well to con-
cede at once that he can manage the
problem of the upper currents as east
ly as the pastry cook handles the upper
crust for there are no laurels of very
striking verdure to be won, even in out
reasoning him on that well-born field.
But when it comes to that eastward
drift 4" of which he speaks with such
scientific confidence, he has clearly
struck a vein of which a good many
persons will insist that they know as
much as he does. 1t is pretty idea,
nevertheless, that of remaining poised
above the earth until it has turned over
a certain distance, and then dropping
down three thousand miles away, and
In the exact spot desired. 1t may an
swer to style it crossing the Atlantic,
but the voyager Will have had no more
experience of the Atlantic Chan of the
Pacific. If sick at that latitude, could
it be called legitimate sea-sickness?
The experiments suggests, however,
variety of ideas, one of which is that,
in case of hostilities with European
powers, by contriving catapult of suf-
ficient projectile energy, shells and such |
might be sent up to that particular
point in space of which Professor Wise
speaks, and held there until the nation
comes under for which they were in
tended. The gas bill for this centenary
balloon may thus be low for the reva-
Iations it would draw after it.


WESTERN FARMERS AND THE RAIL