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Show IFRANKLIN AND THE LIGHTNING ROD. One day In July. In 17"2. two men one about Li years of age and the ' other 22 were seen wending their way to a cow shed In Philadelphia, I not very far distant frm where now .stands the great r Ity Hall. The I younger of the iwo men carried un j der his arm a bottle and the other a kite, which was made of B silk hand-! hand-! kerchief, and from the end of the ; centra? upright stlcli tin re extended a i pleco of iron wire, sharpened at the end. The day had hern bright and sunny, I but from the north had cmc great black clouds which were seen to be leathering fast and a heavv thunderstorm thunder-storm was undoubtedly near at hand. I There were rumblings of thunder in the air. The wind was lronc and the silken kite. aft. r n few attempts at raisinr. caught the current and sailed upward, while the young man, stepping step-ping into the row shed, set down the bottle and then stood watching his : father s kite- This man was Benjamin Franklin and his assistant was his son The storm came and the two anxiously j watched the kite and the thunder I clouds. The kite had been raised on a strong hempen string, attached to ' which was a silken string, from which hung a bic dooi key-Finally key-Finally a bis cloud came sailing ! over the kite "No lightning in that. I father." exclaimed the younq man It seemed for a while as if thev were beaten, it their desires depended up-; up-; on the liehtnlni? for there appeared . no electricity in that black cloud But : thev waited patiently Long they i waited. i Suddenly the father observed that I the fibers of the hempen stiins began to rise and calling his son be requested request-ed him to put the Leyden Jar close j to the key The ion did a be was told and the jar was charged with 1 electricitv drawn from the thunder ; ( loud. The philosopher had proved i his theory He had actually drawn the lightning from heaven. He had demonstrated thp t.ict that electricitv did exist In and could be captured ! from the clouds At last the clouds broke, the reser-1 voir was exhausted the wet kite was. i hauled in and father and son went .back to their home drenched, but. I happy, to publish to the w orld the SUOCefls of the great experiment of Penjamin Franklin a success that, was to startle and arouse the whole, scientific world of that day. From that philosophical kite experiment experi-ment the world-fame of Benjamin. Franklin was established Two vear I previous to this experiment Peter CoL i llnson of the Royal Society, fxmdon. sent a Leyden Jar to the Library So-cietv So-cietv C)f Philadelphia with Instructions how to use It This was the Jar used I bv Franklin In bis experiment It was the use of this Jar that convinced him of the identity of lightning and I electricity. I Franklin's original plan to demonstrate demon-strate this theory was to erer nn some hich tower, or other elevated I place a sentry box. from which should I rise a pointed Iron rod, Insulated br being fixed to a cake of resin Elec- ' iru fiod clouds passing over this. WOUld be eoncehod Impart to if a portion of their electricitv. whieh would be rendered evident to the senses by sparks being emitted when a key a knuckle, or other conductor i was presented to It But Philadelphia offered no opportunity oppor-tunity at this lime for the trvlng of an experiment of this kind Tie wa hopin- for the erection of such a ; tower but. becoming Impatient, he ; used the more simple method as al- ' ready referred to The more wonder as to the accomplishments accom-plishments of this remarkable man is that with scireelv a day's schooling school-ing he hecame the master of six lan-cuaces. lan-cuaces. and never stopped studying His achievements in a great manf j lines made his name famous lie re-celved re-celved degrees and diplomas from colleges col-leges ni both hemispheres, and be- 1 c-ame forever remembered as "Doctor Franklin " philosopher, patriot, scientist scien-tist philanthropist and statesman Self-taught, the candlemaker's son i trave light to all the world. He he- : came the sough t-f or man of two con- ItlnentS. He brought his native laud to praise and honor him and to no American of any period can this country coun-try point with greater pride than to Benjamin Franklin. |
