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By Rail to the Nearest Star.

The following well illustrates the magnitude of astronomical distances, and the absolute meaniuglessncss of a million miles to the human intellect unless brought down to some concrete example. It is told, m the Boston Globe, of a lecturer who wished to give an illustration of the distance to L'cntauri, the nearest fixed star. This is what he said : "We shall suppose that some wealthy directors, for want of an outlet for their energy and capital, construct a railway to Centurl. We shall neglect, for the present, the engineering difficulties — a mere detail — and suppose them overcome, and the railway open for traffic. We shall go further, and suppose that the directors have found the construction of such a railway to have been peculiarly easy, and that the proprietors of inter-stellar space had not been exorbitant m their terms for right of way. Therefore, with a view to encourage traffic, the directors had made the fare exceedingly moderate — viz., first-class at two cents per 100 miles. Desiring to take advantage of these facilities, a gentleman, by way of providing himself with small change for the journey, buys up the national debt of England and a few other countries, and, presenting himself at the office, demands a first-class single to Centauri. For this he tenders m payment the sctip of the national debt of England, which just covers the cost of his ticket ; but at this time the national debb from little wars has been run up from 3,500,000,000d01s to 5,500,000,000d015. Having taken bis seat, it occurred to him to ask: 'Ac what rate do you travel ?' • Sixty miles an hour, sir, including stoppages, 3 is the answer. * Then when shall we reach Centauri ?' •In 48,663,000 years, sir.' "

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH18940210.2.27

Bibliographic details

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6899, 10 February 1894, Page 4

Word Count
292

By Rail to the Nearest Star. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6899, 10 February 1894, Page 4

By Rail to the Nearest Star. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6899, 10 February 1894, Page 4