, 1873-12-28
THE GREAT AIRLINE TO TIE MOON.


formed Of those great events which, not many
yeara ago, oauaod such 4 senantion In tho civil
lied world. bfonatehr Jules Verno, Freuoh-
an, has taken tho pninH to collect al tho facts
in regard to tho Gun Club and Its wonderful
/ scheme, and 1t is to his work on tho aubjoot
Tint VIC aro indebted for the information oon-
talnod in this artioo.*
Tho Gun Club, which Was founded dur
ing our lste civil war, had for Ito principal
object tho improvement Of artillery. No ono
could holong to tho Club who had not invontod,
or at least improved, cannon or ilroarm OF
! some kind. In tho words Of II. Verne, tho
estcom In which tho rnombors wore held WAS
proportional to the rnaHsivenoss Of tholr can
| non, and in direct ratio to tho BquareH OF tho
| distances rcnohed by their proioottlca." It Is
of tho labora Of this Club, and NO will moroly
romark that, at tho oid Of tho war, thoy showed
III their own pors6ns tho earno8tnoss With which
they carried out their enterprises. In tho ontire
Club thoro was hardly whole man, and, indeed.
| thore was but one arm for every four persone,
and but two legs for oyory eix Of them: No
whore was thoro such place for orutches, wooden
logs, patent arms, india-rubber-thws, ailyor
When penco wna declared, thcBo poor follows
| woro very doloful thoro waa nothing more for
| them to do. And 80 they sat about idly In shor
war wIoro tho E montepioco vas fortress. % and I'D
tho clock WAS gct In m ombrasured tower, whore
bayonots, stuck tn cannon ball, sorgod a.
candlosticka, and whore tho worry frames Of tho
looking glaasoa wero fashioned ntter the manor
Of limos oof fortlncationa. Thoro they would loan
| back, and toast their wooden toes md gesticu-
| latc with their hooked hands, aud mourn tho
| good old times. Some Of tlem,-J. r. Maston
M.stan annoas nna dnhs 1oS ~.
astiu artiiloryn1an. Ho had invontod mortar
which killed '837 poraons the first timo II Was
fired. To DO enre, 1t blow itself oil Into
littlo bits aad The persona killed T. woro tue
mortars, ovon II thoy have boon oarofnlly fred
! for many yoare, which can show sum total OF
killed 10 large as this J. 7. Maason'a voice was
for continual oannon n,f7TlnE' 7 md, consequently,
thus with our hands In our pockcts7" cried J.
beginning OF aho var.) "Thoro ore plenty Of
roseona Tor fighting, and why shouldn't We
belong to tho English ?" "Of course" replied
| Col. Dllaby, an armloss and harnlcss byasandor.
| "Woll, thon," said J. T. Maaton, "why thon
should not England in ler turn belong to US 2"
by the Gun Club in general, and it Is probable
aomo action would have boon taken upon II II 1t
hud not been TINT tho intention Of the members
was unexpectedly occupied by the announces
tho tho President of tic Club to consider aomeo
extremely important business. Tho. meet-
ing WAS held ut 8 p. n.,- on the 9TH
| Of October, eighteen-hundred-an the
iammed viii members and Visitors. Core C
spending aud honorary members, from oil parts
| OF tho Union, filled up ovory room and Pasange,
and tho stroets aud alleys Of tho neighborhooo
wore crowded With people who could not got into
When tho great clock In tho hall fired 8,
President Dnrbicane arose and addressed tho
assembly. The substance of his address was as
! follows:
He la1nentcd the id1enoss Of tho Club caused
by tho recent peace.
Ho desired that it should undertake somc great
work.
lie supposed that the members had all seen
tho moon, or had heard it spoken Of.
Ho stated TINT although tho moon had beon
| thoroughly studied by astrononers,n no commune
cation betweenit it aud tho earth had been con-
sidered possible up to that date.
should open such communication; and that they
iarso to sona = eall-bang to the moon. =.
thsse ss .1o0 w05d 4sa tho gsI I hS &bs s n the
dors Of applause which broke from that vast
crowd. It was many minutes boforo tho preai-
dent could agatn, make himself heard,
Then he proceeded ana to 81 state that this
only necessary to give tho ball an iui.
tial velocity Of $4,000 yards per second, and Il
would certainly reach tho moon, provided the
cannon was pointed properly. Then tho meet
It Wis determined, after vast amount of I'D,
tlitionn1 scientific calculation by the Gun Club
to fire the ball from nome point betwecn the
Equator and 28 deg. north Or south Of the
Equator, to potnt the cannon at the zenith, and
to fire it precisely at 13 minutes and 20 aeconde
of II O'Clock =. m., on tho first day Of tho noxi
December.
An Executive Committee Of the Gun Club heli
meeting ut tho house OF President Darbicano
J 1ok q Thu rnAftar thc hall HRR the first
thing to DO aottlod. or Whit should they makt
make 1t? How big should it boz And wha
shape ehould 1t hayo7 J. T. Maston was wild
Wlt1 enthusiasm ;. and waving IN the ar his IoI
speech full Of eloquent hgurce. j. 7. Maator
but Numerical figures, He liked nothing botto
than to aa aTans hs as ana WI
certain wolght, and moving with yelocit.
equal to aoyontecn- -ninotoouths Of some otho
velocity, would paaa oyor distance 1900 timo
tho square root Of somo othor distance. And
when he made speeches before the Committee
he introduced nll these calculations.
! But tho prosldont WAS much NOR
practical man. He could perceive in a,
instant exactly what DO wantoa, and hs sett1o'
tie question Of tho size Of tho bali without an,
trouble. "You will understand" said he, ''tha
it will be OF no use for us to fro q ball at th
moon II We are not hblo to SEQ whether 1t get
!. there or not. So tho ball must bo big .enougl
1oC ua w 1eG ~ A44 tAo WY" 4NNHs h4sA 4aA b
ont telescope that no arc aplo to make, th
smallest object Visible On the moon ia sixty foe
. in diameter"
| "Well, then our bnll must DO sixty foet i
tiamoter!" cried ]. T. Maston.
s'No that will not be necessary" said th
President, iii wo place o telescope On 4 yer
high mountain, tho atmosphere will bo 80 mite
raror that VIC will bc able to 500 objects on til
! moon only nino feet in diameter"
"Splendid1" criod J. 7. Maston. 1.-THE
| NO will mike our bail nine foot in liamotor.
80 this mattor was nott1ed.
There Was now d discussion upon the wogl
: Of tho ball. Some Of tho Committed thought
ball nino foot in diameter would bo very heavy
, Tho President conceded this fact, especially
! tho ball were solid, "but," aald ho, vt will b
: hollow"
! "Hurrah :" cried j. r. Maaton. "We will pu
d dispatches in 1t, and samples OF tho exports {
ourrent month";"
But eyen this bull, with comparatively thi
sidos it mado Of cast-iron, would DO too heay
J .sxf.1 .1.7