246 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



be of the class of non-readers, which class 

 such a life must largely increase, must be 

 derived from the clothes poles with pulleys 

 in back yards, surrounded by ragged walls, 

 with purslane and plantains scattered over 

 the ground between, or from the wilted 

 vegetables at the corner grocery. 



Another hundred years of manufactur 

 ing at the present rate of development, 

 according to careful computers, will ex 

 haust the supply of coal available at any 

 reasonable cost, and a much shorter period, 

 the valuable timber. One of three things : 

 either the rate of development must greatly 

 diminish, or second, our manufactories and 

 our railroads must come to a halt, or third, 

 some form of power now unused, or used 

 but to a small extent, must take the place 

 of that now derived from the consumption 

 of coal and wood. 



There are three great storehouses still at 

 our disposal, and largely unused : that of 

 the sun, that of the air, and that of the 

 water. Ericsson experimented with the 

 first with great burning glasses, with inde 

 terminate, though, I think, rather hope 

 ful results. The probability of success in 

 this direction depends largely upon the 

 period of the year, and upon the climate. 



