Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-01-03

the vents In the walls Of the well rose up in Q
vast column 900 or 4, Oo0 feet high. At last Gil
the melted metal had run into the mould. The
Niagara of iron had ceased to fiow.
Whether the casting had succeeded not
was a question that could net be deter mined
immediately. Fifteen days after the casting
the great cannon was still covered by vast
cloud Of smoke, and the ground was 30 hot, 800
or 400 feet from the mouth of the well, that no
one could tread upon it, IL was the 22d of
a before the ground had cooled sahcienty
then the woTkmen, finding that the interior
core was sufficiently cool, proceeded to dig it
out, and ii was entirely removed by the Sd of
September. The bore was then drilled smooth
and every thing was ready.
If the Moon only came along in time, and il
was generally believed that she could be de.
pended upon, there was no reason to expect
anything but success.
As the cannon was now cast, Capt Nichol
paid his second wager-s2 600.
The great event of the casting attracted peo-
pie from all parts of the country, and the popu-
lation of Tampa increased to 150, 600. Excur-
sions were organized to the bottom of the can
non, and a ste am elevator was kept going night
and day. The proceeds from the sale of tickets
for this trip amounted during the season to
nearly $500 eco.
On the Both of September, at thirty-seven
minutes past in the afternoon, a telegram, by
ocean cable, came to President Barbicane. This
was the dispatch
FRANCE, Pans. 29th September a. m.
BdrbicGne, Tampa, Florida, United States:
Substitute cylindrO-conical projectile for
spherical shell. Shall go inside. Shall arrive
by steamer Atlanta. MICHEL ARDAN.
OF course this proposition created the great
est excIteme mt in the Gun Club, and through
out the United States. At first everybody
they began to think abou. it, and President
BaTbicane actually wrote to the New York iron
founders TO defer the casting Of the projectile
until further orders.
On the 10th of October the Atlanta arrived at
Tampa, and in it was Michael Ardan. He was
about ~ wears old, tall, vigorous, nervous, COM
bative, earnest, eminently bold and audacious,
and, above all, he was the first man in the solar
syste m who had determined to make a trip from
one planet TO another. His reception was most
enthusiastic, and, after he had shaken hands
with about 5000 people, he was obliged to re-
treat to the cabin of the steamer. And there
BGrbicane had an interview with him.
The President of the Gun Club found that
the Frenchman was fully determined upon his
project. He had occasion to 60 to the moon, he
said and here was an excellent opportunity. He
might have to wait long time before another
conveyance would offer itself.
Finding the Frenchman so fully in earnest,
Barbicane respected him. Nothing so thor
oughly commands respect in this world as
earnestness. What it commands in the moon
remains to be seen.
In the meantime a quarrel had arisen be-
tween Capt Nichol and Barbicane, and a duel
was agreed upon. But on the field Ardan made
Friend Bar bicane," he said, "believes that
his projectile will go straight to the Moon"
Certainly do" replied the President of the
"And friend Nichol believes it will fall back
on the esrth?''
81 am sure of that" cried the Captain.
"Well, them" said Michel Ardan, "thi is the
way we settle it. Both of you take the trip with
me, and then you will know certainly whether
or not the ball will go to the Moon"
The two rivals looked at each other, and then
they shook hands, and agreed to the proposition.
j. 4. Maston groaned. Nobody had asked him
to go.
prOif Grille arrived from NpW
shell came the railway, and was received with
delight and enthusiasm.
The inner walls of the pr0jectile were covered
with thick lining of steel springs and leather
padding. Several small windows of enormously
thick glass were constructed in the sides OF the
cone, an Ingenious water-spring was construct.
ed to counterfeit the initial shock at the moment
of firing, and everything necessary for the COM
fort of the travellers was provided. There were
receptaces for water and food, and there was
tank of gas sufficient to light and warm them
for six days. But there was one little difficulty,
they must breathe during the trip, which it was
calculated would last about four days. The
oxygen inside the cell would certainly not last
them very long and the carbonic acid gas which
they would expire would soon be sufficient to
Kill them The question, then, amounted to
this: The oxygen destroyed must De restored;
the carbonic acid gas produced must be de-
stToyed. All this is easy enough to do by means
first OF chlorate Of pot sh and caustic potash The
OF these, under a very high temperature, gives
out oxygen; the second absorbs carbonIc acid;
the valuable oxygen would be produced, and
the destructive carbonic acid gas destroyed.
The great chemists Messrs Reiset & Regnault,
had demonstrated that this operation was easy
enough. But as their experiments had only
been tried upon the lower animals, j. 7. las
ton offered to prove that it would be successful
in the case Of man.
'.SinceI cannot take the trip" he said, "shut
me up in the shell for eight days. 1 will thus
discover whether or not atmospheric air can b
produo ed by artificial means"
The offer was accepted, and suffic Gent guam
tity of the necessary chemicals, with food
the shell; and on the 18th of November, at
o'c ock in the evening, j. L. Maston took leave
of his friends, mounted the ladder, and disap-
peared through the aperture in the top Of the
cone. The cover was then screwed down tight.
How he liked it inside 1t was impossible to know
The walls ere So thick that nothing could be
heard from him.
On the 10th OF November, precisely at G O'Clock
in the evening, the hole in the shell was opened.
Maston's friends were naturally little uneasy;
but they were soon encouraged by a shout that
came from the inside OF the shell, and in a mo-
ment j. I. Maston appeared On the top Of the
cone in q triumphant attitude.
he had actually grown fat!
We must now 60 back little in our story On
the Goth Of October Of the preceding year suff-
cient money had been paid over to the Univer
sity Of Cambridge to construct telescope large
enouEh to observe the course Of the projectile
which was to be sen. to the Moon;
There was no reason why such telescope
should not be constructed. There - money
enough, there was iron enough, and pl~cs
enough, anu glass enough anu the Gun CluD
had faith enough and energy enough to do al
most anything. And 50, after great labors, and
the most upheard-of victories over mechanical
difficulties, the telescope was finished. 1t was
80 feet lors and l6 feet In diameter,
The next question that aGose va as that of sit
uation. and It was necessary to choose a high
mountain. So the requisite materials were
taken to one of the highest peaks Of the Rocky
Mountains. 1t was almost as difficult to set up
this telescope in the position selected as it had
been TO make 1t. 1t was necessary to transport
enormous stones, weighty pieces of forged metal,
heavy corner stones, the vast sections of the
cylinder, and the object glass, which weighed
itself nearly 80 900 pounds, into the region of
eternal snow. But all diff ulties were sur
mounted, and, in less than year from the com
mencemeut of the work, the telescope sat
proudly on the summit of the rocky peak.
1t was now the 22d of November. In ten days
the great event would take place. There was
only one thing now to be done, and that was to
load the cannon, and it was rather q delicate
operation to stow away 400 900 pounds of gun
cotton. But Barbicane was equal TO most diff
culties, and he had this cannon loaded under
his own eyes. The gun-c cotton was brought from
Pensacola by rail, ten great cartridges at a
time, and these were carried to the mouth OF
the cannon by workmen in their bare feet
They were then lowered to their position by
means of windlasses worked by hand. No steam
engine was allowed to be used, and fires were