But ten years later, gas-illumination was in full sway.
"Electric lighting met the same objection.

And remember the objection to the telephone?
When Congress, in 1843, granted Morse an appropriation of $30,000 to run the first telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington, one would-be humorist in that supremely intelligent body tried to introduce an amendment that part of the sum should be spent in surveying a railroad to the moon! And--" [Illustration: "Can't be done, Eh ?" said Flint.] "Granted," put in Waldron, "that my objection is futile, just what's your idea ?" "This!" And Flint stabbed at him with his forefinger, while the other financier regarded him with a fishily amused eye.

"Every human being in this world--and there are 1,900,000,000 of them now!--is breathing, on the average, 16 cubic feet of air every hour, or about 400 a day.

The total amount of oxygen actually absorbed in the 24 hours by each person, is about 17 cubic feet, or _over 30 billions of cubic feet of oxygen_, each day, in the entire world.

Get that ?" "Well ?" drawled the other.
"Don't you see ?" snapped Flint, irritably.