HEAVENLY ADVERTISING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4739, 2 September 1893, Page 1

HEAVENLY ADVERTISING.

(iVom Hie French of Villicra de I'lile Adam.) Strange, truly, and a thing to make financiers smile ; our business is with the sky. But, let it be understood, with the sky considered from the industrial and serious point of view. , Certain historical facts, now scientifically established and explained (or very nearly) —for example,the Labarum of Constantine, the crosses reflected on the clouds by snowy plains, the phenomena of refraction on the Brocken, and certain effects of mirage in the northern regions— having eingularly exercised the mind of a learned southern engineer, M. Grave, that gentleman, a few months since, conceived the brilliant project of utilising the vast expanses of the night — in one word, of bringing the sky up to the level of the age. For of what use, after all, are thoße azure vaults, whose sole purpose is to entertain the sickly fancies of the merest visionaries P Would one not acquire a legitimate right to the public gratitude, and, let us say (why not ?), to the admiration of posterity, by converting these sterile spaces into really and fruitfully instructive spectacles, by cultivating these immense wastes, and finally, by getting good returns from these indefinite and transparent countries of the air ? This is NOT X MATTER OF SENTIMENT* Business is business. It is our wish to call upon the co-operation, and, if need be, the energy of business men, in view of the value and the pecuniary results of the discovery of which we speak. At first sight, the very principle of the thing seems to verge upon the impossible, even upon the insane. To till the azure, to " quote " the stars, to speculate upon the two twilights, to organise the evening, to turn to account the hitherto unproductive firmament— what a wild dream, whataiash and hazardous undertaking ! But, strong in the spirt of progress, to what problems shall not man find a solution ? Pull of this idea, and convinced that if Franklin — Benjamin Franklin, the printer —had snatched the thunderbolt from the heavens, it should, a fortiori, be possible to convert the latter to humanitarian uses. M. Grave studied, travelled, compared, expended, fabricated, and, in the end, having perfected the enormous lenses and the gigantic reflectors of tbe American engineers, notably the apparatus of Philadelphia and Quebec (fallen through lack of a tenacious genius, into the domain of cant and puffery), M. Grave, we say, proposea (once furnished with tbe necessary patent) to offer to our manufacturing industries, and oven to small dealers, the advantages of an uq limited publicity. Before I THE SYSTEM OF THE GREAT POPULAP.ISEB all opposition would be impossible. Let us imagine, for instance, one of our large and populous business centres, Lyons, Bordeaux, &c, at the hour of evening. We observe that life, that movement, that extraordinary animation, which financial interests are alone capable of giving, nowadays, to seriouß cities. All of a sudden jets of magnesium or of electric light, a hundred thousand times magnified, shoot up from the summit of some flowery hill — some hill, similar, for instance, to our beloved Montmartre. These luminous jets, maintained by immense varicoloured reflectors, flash suddenly upon the background of sky, between Siriuß and Aldebaran, or even to the very midst of the Hyades, the graceful image of that youth holding a scarf, on which we read, day by day, with renewed pleasure, these beautiful words: — "Money refunded on every purchase that has not given satisfaction." Can we not imagine the different expressions that pass over all the faces of the crowd— the illuminations, the bravos, the mirth ? After the first movement of surprise (surely pardonable !) old enemies embrace, the bitterest family jars are forgotten; every man sits under his own vine and fig-tree, the better to drink in this magnificent and instructive spectacle— and tbe name of M. Grave, borne on the wing of the winds, soars to immortality. A VEET TRIFLING AMOUNT OF REFLECTION will suffice to picture the results of this ingenious invention. Would it not be enough to frighten the Great Bear himself if. all of a sudden, there surged up between his sublime paws this disquieting announcement : " Are corsets neoessary ? " Or, better still, would it not be a sight capable of alarming the minds of the weak and arousing the attention of the clergy if we were to see on the very disc of our satellite, on the broad open face of the moon, that marvellous dry-point which we have all admired in the streets, and which bears the device, "To the Bald ?" What a sensation if, apropos of those liqueurs which are recommended for dessert, on more than one ground, we were to see in the south of Eegulus, the capital of the Lion, on the very point of the Virgin's ear of corn, an angel holding a phial in his band, while a little scroll issuing from his

mouth bore the words: "Oh, how delicious!" In a word, it will be seen that this is an unprecedented advertising enterprise, with unlimited liabilities, with unbounded working materials; it might even, fora first experiment, be guaranteed by Government. Ifc would be tedioua to dwell at length on the truly EMINENT SERVICES which such a discovery is destined to render to society and to progress. Conceive, for a moment, photography on glass, or the Lampascope proeesa, applied in this manner— that is to say, a hundred thousand times magnified— to the capture of absconding bankera or notorious criminals. The culprit, now bo easily recognisable, could not put his head out of the railway-carriage window without seeing in the clouds his own self-denounc-ing countenance. And then in politics!— in electioneering, for instance. How superior ! how supreme ! What an incredible simplification in the means of canvassing, always so burdensome ! No more of those little bits of blue, yellow, and tricolour papera, which disfigure the walls and continually din the Bame name, with the oppression of a ringing in one s ears. No more of those photographs, so costly and for the most part so inadequate, which misa their object; that is to say, which do not arouse the sympathy of electors, either by the pleasant features of the candidates or by their general majestic air. For the worth of a man is really dangerous, hurtful, and more than secondary in politics; the thing is that he should look "respectable" in the eyes of his electors. LET US LOOK FOBWABD, therefore, till one fine morning— or, bettor, one evening— M. Grave supported by the assistance of an enlightened Government, shall begin big important experiments. Till then, let sceptics have it their own way !— as in the days when M. de Lesseps spoke of uniting the oceans, which he did, m spite of the sceptics. Once more science will have the last word, and M. ExcesoivelyGrave will let folks laugh. Thanka to mm, the sky will end by becoming of some use— by acquiring at last an intrlaiic value.