Telegram-herald., 1890-03-18

s@Pors aevelepe0 oy tse osnagrstion &
tie nell -Eaelonise.
Mbo kn0ws perhaps President B1rbi-
cane and Captain Aicholl regretted that
they we're ret ale 10 get iEte ths pre-
3ecnle. In the first second they woali
have travelled 2.sso kilonssers sultaa
b2li-Bsli WITH the great personsges -
his coart. that is his Finance Ministers
sad his Ministers of Public Works. 70
xether with tie Black Brigade, ~ha had
helped IN the great Nerk. were al ss-
sent blec 70 watch tie different steps II
tue shooting.
But, Nit0 great precautions they had
al taken a position three kilometers
from tie shaft bored IA the Kiliman-
jafo. 50 that they would have nothing
70 fear from the concussion Of the air.
Several thousand natives, depated
from Kisongo and neighboring States
In the south Of the province, hy orders
Of the Sultan, were present 20 witness
this splendid spectacle. A wire VAS
stretched, connecting al electric bat
terry 20 the touch-hole ot the shaft.
ready 70 send the current and start the
defagration 81 the meli-melonite. AS
a preliminary an excellent meal had
been served az the table Of the Sultan
for his American guests and the persons
of his court all ct the expense Of Bali
Bali, who did every thing very grsndly
ss long as be was reimbursed by the
members OF the firm Of BSrbicsne Il Co.
IL was eleven o'clock when, the feast.
commenced At half-past seven, was fin
ished. and al the end OF IL the sultan
proposed toast 70 the engineers Of the
y. Il. Z. A. and 70 the success of their
great enterprise. An hour yet and the
change in the geographical and climatic
conditions OF the earth would be accom-
plished.
President Barbicane, his associate and
his ten helpers took their places around
the cannon. 10 the interior OF which ran
the wire of the electric battery. Bar
bicane with his chrorometer in his
hand counted the minutes, and never IN
bis life did they seem SO long 10 him.
The minutes seemed not merely years
but centuries. At ten minutes before
midnight Captain Nicholl and Barbi-
cane approached the key which put the
electric thread in communication with
the shaft o. Kilimanjaro. The Sultan,
his court and tho crowd OF natives
formed an immense circle around the
cannon. It was important that the
shooting should take place at the exact
moment indicated in the calculations of
J. T. Maston-that Is, a. the moment
when the sun would cut the eauinoctial
line which 1t would never leave again
in its apparent orbit around the earth.
Five minutes to twelve. four minutes,
three minutes, two minutes, one minute
to twelve
President Barbicene watched the
hands OF his chronometer. lighted by a
lantern which was held by one OF his
helpers, while Captain Nicholl, his
finger on the button Of tho apparatus,
was ready to connect the circuit of cleo
tricity.
/ Twenty seconds, ten seconds. five
seconds, one second. Not the slightest
tremor could be noted in the hand Of the
impassive Nicholl. His partner and
: himself were no more excited than at the
moment when they waited, sitting ia the
/ proiectile, for the Colum bad 70 IRE
: them TO the regions of the moon.
Fire ordered President Barbicane.
At this moment Captain Nicholl
! pressed the button. A terrible det-
onation followed, the echoes of which
spread TO the furthest corners Of the
province OF Wamasai. a sharp whistle
| past the crowd, terrible rush Of air.
caused by the milliards Of milliards OF
measures of gas, made by the instan-
taneous defagration OF the 1900 tons OF
mcli-melonite. It might be described
as one Of those meteors in which all
the violence OF nature is accumulated
sweeping across the earth. The effect
could not have been more terrible II all
the cannons of tho whole globe had
been joined together with all the
thunderbolts of Heaven and all had
united in one grand report
10 De continued.