Pittston Gazette

              1 Kxtabliftlietl 1H50. ' fUl.. XIA 111 No. Vl ( Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY, PA., FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1898. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. }B1.00 m Yemr ' In AdTtii *• mt beneath our eyes in the form ot a fast globe—an enormous ball inysteriinsly suspended uuder us glimmering Dver most of its surface with the faiut illumination of the moon and showing toward its eastern edge the oncoming light of the rising sun. this curious human semblance stui remained when we had approached so close to the moon that the mountains forming the cape tilled nearly the whole Held of view of the window from which I was watching it. The resemblance indeed was most startling. circular orbit, must be about 18 miles in a second. With this velocity, then, it plunged like a projectile shot by some mysterious enemy in space directly through our squadron. It had come and was gone before one could utter a sentence of three words. Its appearance aud the effect which it had produced upon the ships in whose neighborhood it passed indicated that it bore an intense aud tremendous charge of electricity. How it had become thus charged I cannot pretend to say. I simply record tbe fact And this charge, it was evident, was opposite in polarity to that which the ships of the squadron bore. It therefore exerted an attractive influence upon them, and thus drew them after it. which poured from the mountains. Sir William Herschel had been so completely misled by this appearance that ho supposed he was watching a lunar volcano in eruption. found that the other expeditions had arrived at the rendezvous ahead of us. Ibeir members bad wonderful stories to tell of what they had seen, but nothing caused quite so much astonishment as that which we bad to tell and to show. together, while fountains of blazing metallic particles and hot mineral vapors poured out in every direction. mysterious lights continued to De visible, bnt that nothing indicating tbe starting of another expedition for the earth bad been seen. As I watched it, unable to withdraw my eyes, I saw imaginary forms revealing themselves amid the flaming meteors. They seemed like creatures in agony, tossing their arms, bewailing in their attitudes the awful fate that had overtaken them and fairly chilling my blood with the pantomime of torture which they exhibited. I thought of an old superstition which I had often heard about the earth and exclaimed, "Yes, surely, this is a flying hell!" It had always been a difficult question what caused the extraordinary luminosity of Aristarchus. No end of hypotheses had been invented to account for it. Now I was to assist in settling these questions forever. Within 24 hours we were ready for our second start. When we wore still farther away, having slightly varied our course so that the sun was once more entirely "Can this indeed be Diana herself?" I said half aloud, but instantly afterward I was laughing at my fancy, for Mr. Edison had overheard me and exclaimed, " Where is she?" Tbe party which bad gone to visit Plato and the lunar Alps brought back, however, information which, in a scientific sense, was no less interesting than what we had been able to gather. The moon was now no longer in a position to help us on our way. It bad moved out of the line between Mara and the earth. ' "Who?" From Cape Heraclides to Aristarchus the distance in an air line was something over 800 miles. Our course lay across the northeastern part of the sea of Showers, with enormous cliffs, mountain masses and peaks shining on the right, while in the other direction the view was bounded by tbe distant range of tbe lunar Apennines, some of whose towering peaks, when viewed from our immense elevation, appeared as sharp as the Swiss Matterhorn. They had found within the curious ring of Plato, which is a circle of mountains 60 miles in diameter, inclosing a level plain remarkably smooth over most of its surface, unmistakable evidences of former inhabitation. A gigantic city had evidently at one time existed near the oenter of this great plain. The outlines of its walls and the foundation marks of some of its immense buildings were plainly made out, and elaborate .plans of this vanished capital of the moon were prepared by several members of the party. High above us, in the center of the heavens, glowed the red planet which was the goal of our journey. "Diana." "Why, there," I said, pointing to tbe moon. But, lo, tbe appearanoe was gone even while I spoke. A swift change had taken place in the line of sight by which we were viewing it, and tbe likeness had disappeared in consequenoe.The needed computations of velocity and direction of flight having been re* peated and the ships being all in readiness, we started direct for Mars. As the electric activity of the comet increased its continued changes of potential and polarity became more frequent, and the electrical ships darted about with even greater confusion than before. Occasionally one of them, seized with a sudden impulse, would spring forward toward the nucleus of the comet j Fach of these men cherished hopes of i wonderful discoveries along his line of investigation to be made in Mars. I had just time to think bow lucky it was that the meteor did not strike any of us when, glancing at a ship just ahead, 1 perceived that an accident had occurred. The ship swayed violently from its course, dazzling flashes played around it, and two or three of tbe men forming its crew appeared for an instant on its exterior, wildly gesticulating, but almost instantly falling prone. An enormoas charge of electricity waa imparted to each member of the squadron in order that as soon as we had reached the npper limits of the atmosphere, where the ships oould move swiftly without danger of being consumed by the heat developed by the friction of their passage through the air, m very great initial velocity could be imparted.And now, whipped on by the lash c? alternate hope and fear, the earth sprang to its work of preparation. "JHAFTER V. An elaborate system of signals had, of course, to be devised for the control of the squadron. These signals consisted of brilliant electric lights displayed ttt night and so controlled that by their means long sentences and directions could be easily and quickly transmitted, j Tbe day signals consisted partly of brightly colored pennants and flags, 1 which were to serve only when, shad, awed by cloud* or other obstructions, the full sunlight should not fall upon tbe ships. This oould naturally only oocur near the surface of the earth or of another planet. A few moments later my astonishment was revived, but tbe cause this time was a very different one. We had It is not necessary for me to describe the manner in which Mr. Edison performed his tremendous task. He was as good as his word, and within six months from tbe first stroke of the hammer 100 electrical ships, each provided with a full battery of disintegrators, were floating in the air abore the harbor and tjie part jiii.ijsjliuilt «»it.y of New York. When we had arrived within about 100 miles of our destination, we found ourselves floating directly over the so oalled Harbinger mountains. The serrated peaks of Aristarchus then appeared ahead of us, fairly blazing in the sunshine. - \! One of them was fortunate enough to discover an even more precious relio of tbe ancient lunarians. It was a piece of petrified skull bone, representing but a small portion of tbe head to which it had belonged, but yet sufficient to enable the anthropologists, who immediately fell to examining it, to draw ideal representations of the head as it must have been in life—the bead of a giant of enormous sine, which, if it had possessed a highly organized brain of proportionate magnitude, must have given to its possessor intellectual powers immensely greater than any of the descendants of Adam have ever been endowed with. It was evident at a glance that tbe car bad been stuck by tbe meteor. How serious the damage might b& we could not instantly determine. The course of our ship was immediately altered, the electric polarity was changed, and we rapidly approached the disabled car. Once started off by this tremendous electrioal kick and with no atmosphere to resist oar motion, we should be able to retain the same velocity, barring incidental encounters, until we arrived near the surface of Mars. •SP It seemed as if a gigantic string of diamonds, every one as great as a mountain peak, had been cast down upon the barren surface of the moon and left to waste their brilliance upon tbe desert air of this abandoned world. % It waa a wonderful scene. Tbe polished sides of the huge floating cars sparkled in tbe sunlight, and as they slowly rose and fell and swuug this way and that upon tbe tides of the air as if held by invisible cables the brilliant pennons streaming from their peaks waved up and down like tbe wings of an assemblage of gigantic bumming birds. When we were free of the atmosphere and the ships were moving away from the earth with the highest velocity which we were able to impart to them, observations on the stars were made in order to determine the rate of onr speed. This was found to be ten miles in • second, or 864,000 miles in a day, • very much greater speed than that with which we had traveled on starting to touch the moon. Supposing this velocity to remain uniform—and, with no known resistance, it might reasonably be expected to do so—we should arrive at Mars in a little less than 43 days, the i distance of the planet from the earth being at this time about 86,000,000 miles. Ouce out of the shadow of the earth we should have do more clouds and no 1 more night until we arrived at Mars, lu open space tin suu would be continually shilling. It would be perpetuai day for us, except as, by artificial means, we furnished ourselves with darkness for the purpose of promoting sleep lu this region of perpetual day, ; then, the signals were also to be transmitted by Hashes of light from mirrors reflecting the rays of the sun. Yet this perpstual day would be also, in one sense, a perpetual night. There would be no more blue sky for us, bei rause without an atmosphere the sunlight could not be diffused. Objects would be illuminated only on the side toward the sun. Anything that screened off the direct rays of sunlight would produce absolute darkness behind it. There would be no gradsftion of shadow. The sky would be as black as ink an all sides. The men who bad fallen lay upon its surface. Oue of the heavy circular glasses covering a window had been smashed to atoms. Through this the meteor had passed, killing two or three men who stood in its coarse. Then it hud crashed through the opposite side of the car, and, passing on, disappeared iuto space. The store of air contained in the car had immediately rushed out through the openings, and when two or three of us, having donned our airtight suits as quickly as possible, entered the wrecked car we found all of its inmates stretched upon the floor in a condition of asphyxiation. They, as well as those who lay upon the exterior, were immediately removed to the flagship, restoratives were applied, and, fortunately, our aid had couie so promptly that the lives of all of them were saved. But life had fled from the mangled bodies of those who bad stood directly in the path of the fearful projectile. As we rapidly approached the dazzling splendor of tbe mountain became almost unbearable to our eyes, and we / / / f / & Jn their adventurous and unprei edentrd Indeed one of the professors was certain that some little concretions found on the interior of the piece of skull were petrified portions of the brain matter it- Belf, and he set to work with the microscope to examine its organio quality. Not knowing whether the atmosphere of Mars would prove suitable to be breathed by inhabitants of the earth, Mr. Edison had made provision by means of an abundance of glass protected openings, to permit the inmates of the electrical ships to survey their surroundings without quitting the interior. It was possible by properly selecting the rate of nndulation to pass the vibratory impulse from the disintegrators through the glass windows of a car without damage to the glass itself. The windows were so arranged that the disintegrators oould sweep around the car in every direction. expedition. hidden behind the center of the earth, we saw its atmosphere completely illuminated all around it with prismatic lights, like a gigantio rainbow in the form of a ring. In the meantime the repairs to the electrical ships bad been oompleted, and, although these discoveries upon the moon had created a most profound sensation among the members of the expedition and aroused an almost irresistible desire to continue the explorations thus happily begun, yet everybody knew tbat these things were aside from the main purpose in view and tbat we should be false to our duty in wasting a moment more upon the moon than was absolutely necessary to put the ships in proper condition to proceed on tbeir warlike voyage. Another shift in our course rapidly carried us out of the shadow of the earth and into the all pervading sunshine. Then the great planet beneath us bung unspeakable in its beauty. The outlines of several of the continents were clearly discernible on its surface, streaked and Bpotted with delicate shades of varying color, and the sunlight flashed and glowed in long lanes across the convex surface of the oceans. Parallel with the equator and along the regions of the aver blowing trade winds were vast belts of clouds gorgeous with crimson and purple as the sunlight fell upon them. Immense expanses of snow and ice lay like a glittering garment upon both land and sea around the north pole. "Whv. there is the earth." with a sudden access of velocity tnai would fling every one of its orew from bis feet, and all would lie sprawling on the floor of the car while it rushed, aa it seemed, to inevitable and instant destruction.Nothing occurred for many daya to interrupt our journey. We beoame accustomed to our strange surroundings, and many entertainments were provided to wbile away the time. The astronomers in the expedition found plenty of occupation in studying the aspects of tha stars and the other heavenly bodies from their new point of view. The car had been utruck bu a meteor. been dropping rapidly toward the raoun tains, and tbe electrician in charge of the car was swiftly and constantly changing his potential, and, like a pilot who feels big way into an unknown harbor, endeavoring to approach tbe moon in such a manner that no hidden peril should surprise us. As we thus approached I suddenly perceived crowning tbe very apex of the lofty peak near the termination of the cape the ruins of tvbat appeared to be an ancient watch ower. It was evidently composed of lyclopean blocks larger thau any tbat I bad ever seen even among the rains of (ireeoe, Egypt and Asia Minor. Then, either through the frantic efforts of the electrician struggling with the controller or through another change in the polarity of the comet, the ship would be saved on the very brink of ruin and stagger away out of immediate danger. To overcome the destructive forces employed by the Martians no satisfactory plan had yet been devised, because there was no means to experiment with them. The production C f those forces vu still the secret of our enemies. But Mr. Edison bad no doubt that if we oould not resist their effects we might at least be able to avoid them by the rapidity of our motions. As he pointed ont, the war machines which the Martians had employed in their invasion of the earth were really very awkward and unmanageable affairs. Mr. Edison's electrical ships, on the other band, were marvels of speed and at manageability. They could dart about, turn, reverse their oourse, rise, fall with the quickness and ease of a fish in the water. Mr. Edison calculated that even if mysterious bolts should fall upon our ships we oould diminish their power to cause in- Jury by our rapid evolutions. While it was the intention to remain as much as possible within the cars, yet since it was probable that necessity would arise for occasionally quitting the interior of the electrical ships Mr. Edison had provided for this emergency by inventing an airtight dress constructed somewhat after the manner of a div- This strange accident bad been witnessed by several of tbe members of tbe fleet, and they quickly drew together in order to inquire for the particulars. As the flagship was now overcrowded by tbe addition of so many men to its crew, Mr. Edison had them distributed among the other oars. Fortunately it happened that tbe disintegrators contained in tbe wrecked oar were not injured. Mr. Edison thought tbat it would be possible to repair the car itself, and for that purpose he had it attached to the flagbhip in order that it might be carried on as far as the moon. Tbe bodies of tbe dead were transported with it, as it was determined, instead of committing them to tbe fearful deep of space, where they would have wandered forever, or else have fallen like meteors upon tbe earth, to give them interment in tbe lunar soil. At the expiration of about 86 days we bad drawn so near to Mars that with our telescopes, which, though small, iwere of immense power, we oonld discern upon its surface features and  tails which no one had been able to glimpse from the earth. Everything being prepared then, we left the moon with great regret, just 48 boars after we bad landed upon its surface, carrying with us a determination to revisit it and learn more of its wonderful secrets in case we should survive the dangers which we were going to face. Thus the captured squadron was swept, swaying and darting hither and thither, but never able to get sufficiently far from the comet to break the bond of its fatal attraction. er's suit, but of much lighter material. Each ship was provided with several of these suits, by wearing which one could venture outside the car even when it was beyond the atmosphere of the earth. As we gazed upon this magnificent spectacle onr hearts bounded within us. This was our earth; this was the planet we were going to defend—our home in the trackless wilderness of space. And it seemed to us indeed a home for which we might gladly expend our last breath. A new determination to oonquer or die sprung up in our hearts, and I saw Lord Kelvin, after gazing at the beauteous scene which the earth presented through his eyeglass, turn about and peer in the direction in which we Jcnew that Mars lay with a sudden frown that caused the glass to lose its grip and fall dandling from its string upon bis breast. Even Mr. Edison seemed moved. Around thU gigantic footprint gathered most of the scientific members. As the surfaoe of this world that we were approaching as a tiger hunter draws near tbe jungle gradually unfolded itself to our inspection tbera was hardly one of us willing to devote to sleep or idleness the prescribed eight hours that had been fixed. as tbe time during which each member of tbe expedition must remain in the darkened chamber. We were too eager to watch for every new revelation upon Mars. were compelled to resort to tbe device, practiced by all climbers of lofty mountains, where tbe glare of sunlight upon snow surfaces is liable to cause temporary blindness, of protecting our eyes with neutral tinted glasses. So great was our excitement and so oomplete our absorption in tbe fearful peril that we bad not noticed tbe preoise direction in which tbe comet was carrying us. It was enough to know that the goal of tbe journey was tbe furnace of tbe sun. But presently some one in tbe flagship recalled us to a more accurate sense of our situation in space by exolaiming: A day or two after leaving tbe moon we had another adventure with a wandering inhabitant of space whioh brought us into far greater peril than bad our encounter with tbe meteor. Here, then, was visible proof that tbe moon bad been inhabited, although probably it was not inhabited now. I cannot describe the exultant feeling which took possessioij of me at this discovery. It settled so much tbat learned men had been disputing about for centuries.Provision bad been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere—that awful absolute zero which men had measured by anticipation, but never yet experienced —by a simple system of producing within the airtight suits a temperature sufficiently elevated to counteract the effects of the frigidity without. By means of loug, flexible tubes air oould be coutiuually supplied to the wearers of the suits, and by an ingenious contrivance a store of compressed air sufficient to last for several hours was provided fof each suit, so that in case of uecessity the wearer could throw off the tubes connecting him with the air tanks in the car. Another objeot which had been kept in view in the preparation of these suits was the possible exploration of an airless planet, such as the moon. Professor Moissan, the great French obemist and maker of artificial diamonds, fairly danced with delight. The airships had been partitioned off so that a portion of the interior could be darkened in order to serve as a sleeping chamber, wherein, according to the regulations prescribed by tbe commander of tbe squadron, each member of the expedition in his turn passed 8 out of every 24 hours—sleeping if be could; if not, meditating in a more or less dazed way upon the wonderful things that he was seeing and doing—tbing£ far more inoredibie than the creations of a dream. "What will the- say," I exclaimed, "when I show them a photograph of that?" " Voila, voila, voila!" was all tbat be could say. But something was in store that wa bad not expected. We were to meet tha Martians before arriving at the world they dwelt in. When we were comparatively near, the mountain no louger seemed to glow with a uuiform radiance, evenly distributed over its entire surface, but now innumerable points of light, all as bright as so many little suus, blazed away at ua. it was evident tbat we bad before us a mountain composed of, or at least oovered with, crystals. "Why, there is the earth." And there, indeed, it was, its great globe rolling under our eyes, with the contrasted oolors of tbe continents and olouds and the watery gleam of the ocean spread beneath us. We might be deceived in onr Expectations and might have overestimated onr powers, but at any rate we must take our chances and try. As we now rapidly approached the moon tbe change which the appearance of its surface underwent wus no less wonderful than tbat which the surface of the earth had presented in the reverse order while we were reoediug form it. From a pale silver orb, shining with comparative faintness among tbe stars, it slowly assumed tbe appearance of a vast mountainous desert. As we drew nearer its colors became more pronounced, tbe great flat regions appeared darker, the mountain peaks shone more brilliantly. Tbe huge chasms seemed bottomless and blacker than midnight. Gradually separate mountains appeared. What Beeined like expanses of snow and immense glaciers streaming down their sides sparkled with great brilliancy in tbe perpendicular rays of the sun. Our notiou had now assumed tbe aspect of falling. We seemed to be dropping fnDm an immeasurable height and with an inconceivable velocity straight down upon those giant peaks. Below the j»eak, stretching far to right and left, lay a barren beach whioh bad evidently once been washed by sea waves, lDet:auft) it was marked by long :urved ridges sudD as the advancing and retiring tide l&kles upon the shore of the ocean. Among the stars which shone in that quarter uf tbe heavens where Mara appeared aa the master orb there was one, lying directly in our path, which, to our astonishment, as we continued on, altered from the aspect of a star, underwent a gradually magnification and soon presented itself in the form of a little planet .. _ j "I am glad 1 thought of the disintegrator, " he said. "I shouldn't like to see that world down there laid waste A multitude exceeding even that which hail assembled during the great congress at Washington now thronged New York and its neighborhood to witness the mustering and the departure of the ships bound for Mara Nothing further bad been heard of the mysterious phenomenon reported from the observatories six months before and which at the time was believed to indicate the departure of another expedition from Mars for the invasion of the earth. If the Martians had set out to attack us, they had evidently gone astray, or perhaps it was some other world that they were aiming at this time. •' We are going to strike it," exclaimed somebody. "The oomet is going to dash into the earth." "And it won't be," said Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson, gripping the handle of an electric machine; "not if we can help it." again." One morning, if I may call by the name morning tbe time of my periodical emergence from the darkened chamber, glancing from one of the windows 1 was startled to see in the black sky a brilliant oomet Such a collision at first seemed inevitable, but presently it was noticed that tbe direction of tbe comet's motion was such that while it might graze the earth it would not actually strike it. This beach sloped rapidly outward ind downward toward a profound abyss, which had once evidently been the bed 3f a sea, but which now appeared to us iimply as thp empty, yawning shell of in ocean that bad long vanished. Without stopping to alight on the outer slopes of the great ring shaped range of peaks which composed Aristarchus we sailed over their rim and looked down into the interior. Here the splendor of the crystals was greater than on tbe outer slopes, and the broad floor of the crater, thousands of fest beneath us, shone and sparkled with overwhelming radiance as if it were an immense bin of diamonds, while a peak in tbe center flamed like a stupendous tiara incruated with selected gems. To prevent accidents It bad been arranged that tbe whips should keep a considerable distance apart. Some of them gradually drifted awa.v until, ou account of the neutral tint of their aides, they were swallowed up in tbe abyss of space. Still it was possible to know where every member of tbe squadron was through tbe constant interchange of signals. These, as I have explaiued, were effected by means of mirrors flashing back the light of the sun. And so, like a swarm of giant insects circling about an electric light from whose magic influence they cannot escape, oar ships went on, to be whipped against the earth in passing and then to continue their swift journey to detraction.[TO BK Life of m Fire Engine. Tbe necessity of some contrivanoe by means of which we should be enabled to converse with one another when on tbe outside of tbe cars in open space, or when in an airless world, like tbe moon, where there would be no medium by which the waves of sound could be conveyed as tbey are in tbe atmosphere of the earth, had been foreseen by our great inventor, and be bad not found it difficult to contrive suitable devices for meeting tbe emergency. It was with no small difficulty, and inly after the expenditure of considerable time, that all tbe floating ships of the squadron were gradually brought to rest on this lone mountain top of the moon. In accordance with my request, Mr. Edison had the flagship moored in the interior of tbe great ruined watch tower tbat I have described. The other ibips rested upon tbe slope of tbemounaiu around us. CHAPTER Vin. The life of a fire engine in this city in its first use is ten years. It is then rebuilt and is good, either in regular service or as a reserve engine, for ten years more. After 20 years of service the old engine is sold at auction. No periodical comet, as I knew, was at this time approaching the neighborhood of the sod, and no stranger of that kiiid had been detected from the observatories making its way sunward before we left the earth. Here, however, was unmistakably a comet rushing toward the bud, flinging out a great gleaming tail behind it and so close to us that I wondered to see it remaining almost motionless in the sky. This phenomenon was soon explained to me, and the explanation was of a most disquieting character. "Thank God, this saves us," suddenly cried Mr. Edison. "What—what?" The expedition had, of course, profoundly stirred tbe interest of tbe scientific world, and representatives of every branch of science from all tbe civilized nations urged their claims to places in tbe ships. Mr. Edison was compelled, from lack of room, to refuse transportation to more than one in a thousand of those who now, on the plea tbat tbey might be abla to bring back something of advantage to acionoe, wished to embark for Mars. It may be bought by another city or town for use as a fire engine, but this happens very rarely. The engines are heavy, and they must be drawn by horses, so they are not adapted for use in smaller cities. The old engine is oftener bought by a contractor, for use, for instanoe, in pumping out cellars, in such service a steam pressure of 60 pounds might be ample for the work, while in fire servloe a pressure of 150 pounds might be required. In suoh work as this the old engine might last three or four years mora Eager to see what these crystals were, the car was now allowed rapidly to drop into the interior of the crater. With great caution we brought it to rest upon the blazing ground, for the sharp edges of the crystals would certainly have torn the metallic sides of the car if it bad come into violent contact with them. "Why, the earth, of course. Do you not see that as the comet sweeps close to the great planet the superior attraction of the latter will snatch us from its grasp, and that thus we shall be able to escape?" fiut, although it was now unceasing day for us, yet, there being no atmosphere to diffuse the sun's light, tbe stars were visible to us just as at night upon the eartb, and tbey shone with extraordinary splendor against tbe intense black background of the firmament. Tbe lights of some of tbe more distant ships of our squadron were not brighter than tbe stars in whose neighborhood they teemed to be. Li some cases it was only possible to distinguish between the light of a ship and that of a star by tbe fact tbat tbe former was continually flashing, while the star was steady in its radiance. Although time pressed, for we knew ;hat the safety of the earth depended apou our promptness in attacking Mars, pet it was determined to remaiu here at ;east two or three days in order that the wrecked car might be repaired. It was found also that the passage of the highy electritled meteor had disarranged the alectrical machinery in some of the jther cars, so that there were many repairs to be made besides those needed to restore the wreck. Inside the headpiece of each of the electrical suits was tbe mouthpiece of a telephone. This was connected with a wire wbich, when not in use, could be conveniently ooiled upon the arm of the wearer. Near tbe ears, similarly conuected with wires, were telephonio receivers.Here and there curious lights glowed upon the mysterious surface of the moon. Where the edge of the moon cut the sky behind it it was broken and jagged with mountain masses. Vast crater rings overspread its surface, and in some of these I imagined I could perceive a lurid illumination oouiing out of their deepest cavities and the curling of mephitio vapors around their terrible jaws. The stranger had already been perceived not only from the flagship, but from the other members of the squadron, and, as I now learned, efforts had been made to get out of its neighborhood, but for some reason the electrical apparatus did not work perfectly, some mysterious disturbing force aoting upon it, and so it bad been found impossible to avoid an encounter with the comet— not an aotual coming into contact with it, but a falling into the sphere of its influence. And it was indeed as Mr. Edison had predicted. In a blaze of falling meteors the comet swept the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere and passed on, while the swaying ships, having been instructed by signals what to do, desperately applied their electrical machinery to reverse the attraction and threw themselves into the arms of their mother earth. Donning our airtight suits and stepping carefully out upon this wonderful footing, we attempted to detach some of the crystals. Many of them were tirmly fastened, but a few—some of astonishing size—were readily loosened. Sometimes the discarded fire department engine is bought by a junk dealer, who breaks It up for the metals it contains, and this is what they all come to at last. —New York Sun. On tbe model of the celebrated corps of literary and scientific men which Napoleon carried with bim in his invasion of Egypt, Mr. Edison selected a company of tbe foremost astronomers, archaeologists, anthropologists, botanists, baoteriologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, mechanicians, meteorologists and experts in mining, metallurgy and every other branch of practical science, as well as artists and photographers. It was but reasonable to believe tbat in another world, and a world When two persons wearing tbe airtight dresses wished to converse with one another, it was only ueoessary for them to connect themselves by the wires and conversation could then be easily carried on. A moment's inspection showed that we had stumbled upon the most marvelous work of the forces of crystallization that human eyes had ever rested upon. Some time in the past history of the moon there had been an enormous outflow of molten material from the crater. This had overspread the walls and partially filled up the interior, and later its surface had flowered into gems as thick as blossoms in a bed of pansies. We were approaching that part of the moou which is known to astronomers 48 the bay of Rainbows. Here a huge semicircular region, as smooth almost as the surface of a prairie, lay beneath our eyes, stretching southward into a vast ooeanlike expanse, while on the north it was inclosed by an enormous range of mountain cliffs, rising perpendicularly to a height of many thousands of feet and rent and gashed in every direction by forces which seemed at some remote period to have labored at tearing this little world in pieces. Moreover, we must bury our unfortunate companions who had been killed !Dy the meteor. This, in fact, was the 3rst work that we performed Strange was the sight and stranger our feelings is here on the surface of a world distant from the earth and on soil which had uever before been pressed by the foot of nan we performed that last ceremony )f respect which mortals pay to mortality. In the ancient beach at the foot of she peak we made a deep opening, and there covered forever the faces of our friends, leaving them to sleep among the ruins of empires and among the graves of races whicn had vanished probably ages before Adam aud Eve appeared in paradise. Prince Massimo, who represents the oldest princely family in Rome, tracing his descent from the Caesars, was on his way in his state cnrriage to pay his respects and offer his congratulations to the pop* on the occasion of one of several papal anniversaries which have taken plaoe this year when the officer In charge of the guard at the castle of San Angelo, seeing the gilded chariot lumbering across the bridge, thought it was the king, and, calling out his men, the guard presented arms as Prlndb Massimo, who is one of the pope's stanchest supporters, drove past. This piquant mistake had already reached the pope's ears when the prince entered the audience chamber, and Leo XIII was much amused and joked the prince on hia being mistaken for the king. "But I, too, have the blood of the bouse of Savoy in my veins," said Prlnoe Massimo. "And very good blood, too,"'answered the pope.—London Morning Post. A Story From the Vatican. In another instant we were all free, settling down through the quiet atmosphere with the Atlantic ocean sparkling in the morning suu far below. Careful calculations of the precise distance of Mars from the eartb at the time when the expedition was to start had been made by a large number of experts in mathematical astronomy. But it was not Mr. Edison's intention to go direct to Mars. With the exception of tbe first electrical ship, wbich he had completed, none had yet been tried in a long voyage. It was desirable tbat tbe qualities of each of the ships should be carefully tested, and for this reason the leader of tbe expedition determined that tbe moon should be the first port of space at which the squadron would call. The most uncanny effect was produced by tbe absence of atmosphere around us. Inside the car, where there was air, the sunlight, streaming through one or more of the windows, was diffused and produced ordinary daylight. In fact, I was informed that for several hours the squadron bad been dragging along in the wake of a comet, very much as boats are sometimes towed off by a wounded whale. Every effort bad been made to so adjust the electrio charge upon the ships that they would be repelled from the cometio mass; but, owing apparently to eccentrio changes continually going on in the electric charge affecting the clashing mass of meteorio bodies which constituted the head of the comet, we found it impossible to escape from its influence. We looked at one another in amazement So this was the end of our voyage ! This was the completion of our warlike enterprise! We had started out to conquer a world and we had come back ignominiously dragged in the train yt a comet. so much older than the eartb as Mars But when we ventured outside we could only see things by halves. The side of tbe car that the sun's rays touched was visible; the other side was invisible, tbe light from tbe stars not making it bright enough to affect tbe eye in contrast with the sun illumined half. was, these men would be able to gather * materials iu comparison with which the discoveries made among tbe ruins of ancient entires in Egypt and Babylonia would be insignificant indeed. It was a wonderful undertaking and a strange spectacle. There was a feeling of uncertainty wbich awed tbe vast multitode whose eyes were upturned to tbe ships. Tbe expedition was not large, considering the gigantic character of tbe undertaking. Each of the electrical ships carried about 20 men, together with an abundant supply of compressed provisions, compressed air, scientific apparatus and so on. In all, there were about 2,000 men, who were going to conquer, if tbey could, another world I But though few in numbers tbey represented tbe flower of tbe eartb, the culmination of tbe genius of tbe planet Tbe greatest leaders in science, both theoretical and practical, were there. It was the evolution of tbe earth against the evolution of Mars. It was a plauet in tbe heyday of its strength matched against an aged and decrepit world, which nevertheless iu consequence of its long ages of existence had acquired an experience which made it a most dangerous foe. On both sides tbere was desperation. The earth was desperate because it foresaw destruction unless it could first destroy its enemy. Mars was desperate because nature was gradually depriving it of the means of supporting life, and its teeming population was The whole mass flashed prismatio rays of indescribable beauty and intensity. We gazed, at first speechless with amazement. The earth which we were going to lefend and protect bad herself turned irotector and reaching oat her strong irm had snatched her foolish children 'rom the destruction which they had invited. It was a fearful spectacle—a dead and mangled world too dreadful to look upon. The idea of the death of the moon was, of course, not a new one to many of us. We had long been aware that the earth's satellite was a body whioh bad passed beyond the stage of life, if indeed it had ever been a life supporting globe; but none of us was prepared for the terrible spectacle which l)uw smote our eyes. "It cannot be; surely it cannot be!" said Professor Moissan at length. "But it is," said another member of (be party. As I held up my arm before my eyes, half of it seemed to have been shaved off leugthwise; a companion on the deck of thuship looked like half a man. Bo the other electrical ships near us appeared as half ships, only the illuminated sides being visible. It chanced tbat the moon was so situated at this time as to be nearly in a line between the earth and Mars, wbich latter was in opposition to the sun and jonsequeutly as favorably situated as possible for the purposes of tbe voyage. What would be, then, for 99 out of tbe 100 ships of the squadron a trial trip would at tbe same time be a step of a quarter of a million miles gained iu tbe direction of our journey, and so no time would be wasted. While the repairs were being made several scientific expeditions were sent jut in various directions across the aioon. One went westward to investigate the great ring plain of Plato and ;be lunar Alps. Another crossed the anjient sea of Showers toward the lunar Apennines. "Are these diamonds?" asked a third. It would be impossible to describe the chagrin of every member of the expedi;ion."I cannot yet tell," replied the professor. "They have the brilliancy of diamonds, but they may be something else." At one instant the ships would be repelled, immediately afterward they would bo attracted again, and thus they were dragged hither and thither, but never able to break from the invisible leash which the comet had cast upon tboni. The latter was moving with enormous velocity toward the sun, and consequently we were being carried back ags.in, away from the object of our ' xpedition, with a fair prospect of being The eleotrio ships rapidly assembled ind hovered high in the air, while their ;omman6ers consulted about what ihould be done. A universal feeling of ihame almost drove them to a decision lot to land upon the surface of the planet, and if possible not to let Its inhabitants know what had occurred. Another Una bud la Trouble. We had now got so far away that the earth bad taken on tbe uppearance of a heavenly body like tbe moon. Its colors had become all blended into a golden reddish hue, which overspread nearly Its entire surfat-e, except at the poles, where there were broad patches of white. It was marvelous to look at this buge orb behind us, while far beyond it sboue tbe blazing sun like an enormous itar in tbe blackest of nights. In the opposite direction appeared the silver arb of the moon, and scattered all around were millions of brilliant stars, tmid which, like fireflies, flashed and sparkled tbe signal lights of the squadron."Moon jewels," suggested a third The wife of an employee of the Philadelphia postoffloe recently got a set of four "store teeth," which she usually plaoed on the bureau in the bedroom before retiring for the night. One morning she arose early and went to prepare breakfast. When her husband arose, he saw the teeth on the bureau. To accommodate his wife he put them in his trousers pooket, Intending to give them to her when be went down stairs. Instead he forgot all about them and carried them off. About three hours later his wife rushed into the postoffloe and between sobs exclaimed: "I've swallowed my teeth. shall I do? I know I'll die," and so on. The man fished the missing teeth from hia pocket, when his wife's tears turned to indignation, and the setting out she gave her poorer half will long be remembered by the offlot clerks.—Cbloago Inter Ocean. "And worth untold millions what ever they are," remarked another. At each end of the semicircular ridge that incloses the bay of Rainbows there is a lofty promontory. That at the north western extremity had long been known to astronomers under the name of Cape Laplace. The other promontory, at the southeastern termination, is called Cape Heraclides. It was toward the la.tter that we were approaching, and by interchange of signals all the members of the squadron had been informed that Cape Ileraclides was*to be our rendezvous upon the moon. One started to explore the immense srater of Copernicus, which, yawning 50 miles across, presents a wonderful appearance even from the distance of the earth. The ship in which I, myself, bad the good fortune to embark was bound for the mysterious lunar mountain Aristarchus. These magnificent crystals, some of which appeared to be almost flawless, varied in size from the dimensions of a hazelnut to geometrical solids several inches in diameter. We carefully selected as many as it was convenient to carry and placed them in the car for future examination. We had solved another long standing lunar problem and bad perhaps opened up au inxehaustible mine of wealth which might eventually go far toward reimbursing the earth for the damage which it had suffered from the invasion of the Martians. But it was too late for that. Looking carefully beneath us, we saw that fate had brought us back to our very starting point, and signals displayed in the neighborhood of New York indioated that we had already been recognized. There was nothing for us then but to drop down and explain the situation. The departnre from tbe earth was arranged to occur precisely at midnight. Tbe moon near tbe full was banging high overhead, and a marvelous speotacle was preseuted to the eyes of those below as the great squadron of floating ships, with their signal lights ablaze, cast loose and began slowly to move away ou their adventurous and unprecedented expedition into tbe great unknown. A tremendous cheer, billowing up from tbe throats of millions of excited men and women, seemed to rend the curtain of the night and made the airships tremble with tbe atmospheric vibrations tbat were set in motion. issipated in blazing vapors when the comet had dragged us, unwilling prisoners, into the immediate neighborhood of the solar furnace. Before these expeditions started a sareful exploration had been made in she neighborhood of ('ape Heraclides. But, except that the broken walls of the watch tower on the peak, composed of ulocks of enormous size, bad evidently aeen the work of creatures endowed with human intelligence, uo remains were found indicating the former presence of inhabitants upon this part of the Even the most cool headed lost his self oontrol in this terrible emergency. Every kind of device that experience or the imaginatiou could suggest was tried, but nothing would do. Still on we rushed with the electrified atoms composing the tail of the ooiuet sweepcould not withdraw our fascinated eyes from it—we oould clearly behold the fearful things that went on in ita nucleus.I may say that I bad been somewhat familiar with the scenery of this part of the lunar world, for I bad often studied it from the earth with a telescope, and I bad thought that if there was any part of the moon where one might with fair expectation of success look for inhabitants, or if not for iuhabitu' ts at least for relics of life no longer existent there, this would surely be the place. It was, therefore, with no small degree of curiosity, notwithstanding the unexpectedly frightful and repulsive appearance that the surface of the moon presented, that I now saw myself rapidly approaching the region concerning whose secrets my imagination had so often busied itself. When Mr. Edison aud I had paid our previous visit to the moon on the first experimental trip of the electrical ship, we bad lauded at a point on its surface remote from this, and, as I have before explained, we then made 110 effort to investigate its secrets. But now it was to be different, and we were at length to see something of the wonders of the moon. I shall not delay my narrative by undertaking to describe the astonishment and the disappointment of the inhabitants of the earth when, withiu a fortnight from our departure, they saw us back again, with no laurels of victory crowning our brows. On returning to Cape Heraclides we tround their prey. Their disappointment over the fact that no other marks jf anything resembling human habita;iou could be discovered was very great. A danger tbat might easily bave been anticipated, tbat perhaps bad been anticipated, but against wbich it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to provide, presently manifested itself. CHAPTER VI Ambition. "I'm goln to be one of them football fellers some day," said Tommy, "so's I can wear iuy hair so long that folks cant tell whether 1 forgot to wash my neok or not."—Indianapolis .lournal. noon. Still this footprint in itself was quite sufficient, as they all declared, to settle she question of the former inhabitation jt the moon, and it wonld serve for the production of many a learued volume ifter their return to the earth, even if uo further discoveries should be made in other parts of the lunar world. This consisted of an immense number of separate meteors of no very great size Individually, but which were in constant motion among one another, dartins to and fro. clashing and smashing lug to and fro over the members ot the squadron, as they shifted their position, like the plume of smoke from a gigantic steamer drifting ovir the sea birds that follow in its course. At first they had hoped that we were returning in triumph, and we were iverwhelnied with questions the moment we had dropped within speaking distance. Instantly magnificent fireworks were displayed iu honor of oar departure. Rockets by hundreds of thousands shot heavenward aud then burst iu constellations of iiery drops. The suddeu illumination tbus produced, overspreading hundreds of square miles of the surface of the earth with a light almost like that of day, must certainly have been risible to the inhabitants of Mars if they were watching us at the time. They might or might not correctly interpret its significance, but at any rate we did not care. We were off and were sonfident that wo could meet oor enemy an bis own ground before he could attack us again. CHAPTER VII compelled to swarm like the inmates of Looking out of a window toward the right, 1 suddenly noticed the lights of a distant ship darting about in a curiaus curve. Instantly afterward another member of the squadron, nearer by, behaved in the same inexplicable manner. Then two or three of the floating cars seemed to be violently drawn from their Bourses aud hurried rapidly iu the direction of the flagship. Immediately I perceived a small object, luridly flaming, which seemed to move with immense speed iu our direction. But along the shore of the old sea, just where the so called bay of Hainuows separates itself from the abyss ot she sea of Showers, there were found toine stratified rocks in which the fascijated eyes of the explorer beheld the :lear imprint of a gigantic human foot, neasuring five feet in length from toe an overcrowded hive of bees and find new homes elsewhere. In this respect Mir * of the Globe for *** ill ° Frheumatism! 1 NETOALOIA and I ien *nd prepared under the stringent M „ m. 6EBIHII MEDICAL UWS,^ „ nm.pmoribadbjniilMt|b7ridM«JfM Km dr. richter's (Km ANCHOR r fPAIN EXPELLER* ■ World renowned! Remarkably aucceaefn I! 1 ■ only genuine with Trade Mark " Anchor, jly Ad. Uckier -Co., 215Pearl8t., New Yecfc. I -- I 31 HI6HEST AWARDS. a ■ 13 Brandt Hobsm. Own Glassworks. , no & 50c. Endorsed & recommended by j £ Peck, 30 Lozerne Avenue, and Q. c. OUck. 60 North Main 8t. H Houck, i North Main St.^fl Pltttaton, Pa. ire the situation on Mars, as we were well ■aware, resembled what had already been known upon the earth, where the older nations overflowing with population had sought new lands in which to settle, and for that purpose had driven out the native inhabitants whenever (hose natives had proved unable to reslat the invasion. "Have yon whipped them?" "How many are lostif" "Ib there any more danger?" "Fais, have ye got one of thim m ioui Marsr" It was the hope of making such other discoveries that led to the dispatch of the various expeditions I have already named. 1 had chosen to accompany the mt that was going id Aristarchus, because, as everyone who had viewed the moon from the earth was aware, there was something very mysterious about , that mountain. I knew that it was a . crater nearly HO miles in diameter and 1 very deep, although its floor was plainly visible. j so heel But their rejoicings and their facetioueuees were turned into wailing wl :be troth was imparted. The most minute search failed to reveal another trace Of the presence of the tncieut giant, who had left the impress if his foot in the wet sands of the beach oere so many millions of years ago that sven the imagination of the geologists ihrank from the task of attempting to fix the precise period. Was this to end it all, then? Was this the fate tbat Providence had in store for us? Were the hopes of the earth thus to perish? Was the expedition to be wrecked and its fate to remain forever unknown to the planet from which it bad net forth? And was our beloved globe, which had seemed so fair to ua when we last looked upon it near by and in whose defense we had resolved to spend our last breath, to be left helpless and at the mwcyof its implacable foe in the sky? We made a abort story uf it, fo: bad not the heart to go into details. told of our unfortunate comrades wL we bad buried on tbe moon, and tberi was one gleam of satisfaction wber exhibited the wonderful crystals bad collected iu tbe crater of i Urchus. No man could foresee the issue of what we were about to undertake, but tbe tremendous powers which the disintegrators had exhibited and the marvelous efficiency of the electrical ships bred almost universal confidence that we should be successful. The bar iu which Mr. Edison traveled was, of oourse, the flagship of the •quadroa, and I had tbe good fortune to Tbe truth instantly flashed upon my oiind, aud I shouted to the other occapants of the car: And now as we slowly rose higher a marvelous scene was disclosed. At first the earth beneath us, buried as it was hi night, resembled the hollow of a vast ;up of ebony blackness, in the center of which, like the molten lava run together at the bottom of a volcanic Cjw» cer, shone the light of the illuminations wound New York. But when we got beyond the atmosphere and the earth itiil continued to recede below us its aspect changed. The cop shaped appear toe* was mm. and It baoaa to round "A meteor!" Such indeed it was. We bad met this mysterious wanderer in space at a moment when we were moving in a direction at right angles to the path it was pursuing around tbe sun. Hmall as it «vas—aud its diameter probably did not s*ceed a single foot—it was yet an independent little world, aud as such a member of tbe solar syBtem. Its distance from the son being so near that of the earth, I knew that its velocity. t**t»tMtiD0 it t/D u *D«T«liDs iu a nearly Around this gigantic footprint gatbirt'd most of the scientific members of the expedition, wearing their oddly shaped airtight suits, connected with telephonic wires, and the spectacle, but for the iu.pressiveness of the discovery, would have been laughable in the extreme. Bending over the mark in the rock, nodding their beads together, pointing with their awkwardly accontered arms, they looked like an assemblage of antediluvian mounter* collected I had often on the earth drawn a smile from my friends by showing them Cape Heraclides with a telescope and calling their attention to the fact tbat the outline of the peak terminating the cape was suoh as to present a remarkable resemblance to a human face, unmistakably a feminine countenance, seen in profile and posseaaing no small degree of beauty. To my astonishment What reudered it remarkable was the fact that that floor and the walls of the j :rater, particularly on the inner side, ' glowed with a marvelous brightness ( which rendered them almost blinding when viewed with a powerful telesoope. ; Mr. Edison determined to stop tD long enough to test the electrical chinery of the cars, which bad bee more or less seriously deranged dur our wild chase after the comet, then to start straight back for Mars, this time on a through trip. At length we gave ourselves up for lost. There seemed to be no possible way to free ourselves from the balefnl grip of this terrible and nnlooked for enemy. be included among its iniuates. liare, besides several leading meu of science from oat own country, we.ro 1 «td Initio, Lord Rayleigh. Professor Roentgen, Dr. Moissan—the man who first made Bttfioiil diMMMia—and several others »koa» teta W* anrtircJsd the world. So bright were they, indeed, that the j sye was unable to see many of the details which the telescope would have made visible but for the flood of light As the comet approached the ran its electric energy rapidly increased, and. watching it with telescope*—for we The astronomers who bad been watching Mars since our depart with their telescopes reported ti