Telegram-herald., 1890-03-11
CHAFFEH VI


a. -zBcz a rGLsrHosE eoss0sIcAFios So
TwEss Azs. sCoHBIrT AsD : a aAFsoS u
cgzzsC FrED.
President BaFbieane sas already con-
sinced thAt be would reach his object,
81 hen tne amOant NhiSa Aad been raised
took another obstacle out of ais ~ay Had
he not been perfectly sure Of success hs
Sould not have made An application Tor
= public subs bs-ripsion And now tae
time had cone hen the North Pole
would be conquered II g4s felt GER
tain that President Barbieane and his
Council og Administration had means 10
sleceed where 50 many others had failed
They would 80 what neither Fran<Ilin,
nor Kane, nor De Long. nor Mares. nor
Grsely had been able 20 accomplish.
They would pass the s4th parallel,
they would take possession OF the vast
region purchased ~ an auction sale,
they would make this country the
thigty-ninth star in the flag OF the
American Union ..Fake,n was all
which the European delegates and their
friends ia the Old World could say
Nothing was more true, however, and
his practical, logical means OF conquer
ing the North Pole. which was SO
simple that il was almost childish,
was one which J. r. Maston had sug-
gested 20 them It VAS that brain,
where ideas were constantly evolving.
which had laid out this great geo
graphical project in q way which could
DOT but succeed.
It can not De too often repeated that
tho secretary OF the gun club Was re-
narkabls calculator, we might say post
graduate calculator But single day
vas needed by him 20 solve the most
complicated problems in mathematical
silence. You should have seen him han
die his dgures, the signs which make up
algebra the letters IN the alphabet rep
resenting ths unknown quantities, tbs
square or crossed lines representing the
way In which quantities are 70 be op-
Grated All signs and lines and rad
icals used IN this con4plex language were
perfectly familiar 90 him. And how
they all sew around under his pen, or
rather under the piece Of chalk which
no attached 20 his iron hand, because he
preferred 20 work on blackboard. And
this black board. six inches square, this
Was all he wanted, he was perfectly at
home in bis work Nor was il fg-1es
s.one which he used in his calculations.
His figures were fantastic. gigantic,
written with \ pr1cticed hand. His 90
and 80 were as nice and round as they
could be, his -" looked like crntches
and almost invited person TO hang
on ~ His vas IS well formed as a
pair Of eyeglasses; and the letters with
which be established bis formulas, the
first OF the alphabet, a. b, c, which he
used 70 represent given or known quan-
titles. and the last, Z, y, Z, which ne
used for unknown quantities 20 be dis
covered, particularly the II" and tnoss
Greek letters, delta, omega, alpha,
really. an Archimedes might have been
well proud of them. And those other
signs. made with clean hand and with
out fault, IL was simply astonishing.
His r showed we'll that this sign meant
an addition Of one object 10 the other,
his, IL 10 was little smaller, was also
in good shape. His -, too, showed that
Mr. MastOn lived IN a country where
equality was not a vain expression. az
least among the people of the white
race just as we'll were his - and his
e and his =. used in expressing pro
portions. And the " which indicated
the root Of a certain numb Der Orquantlty,
IL was 90 him a mark of triumph. and
when he completed il with horizontal
line in this v IL seemed as 4. this out
line on bis black board would compel the
whole world 20 submit 20 his figuring.
Bu, do not think that Mr. J. T. Mas
tons mathematical intelligence ras
confined 20 elementary algebra! No; no
matter what figuring re had % do. it
Vas alike familiar 70 him. and with 4
p-acticcd hand re made all tho signs
and figures ard even did not hesitate as
80" which looks very simple. bus behind
which lays a great deal Of Calculation.
The same with the sign epsilon. which
ronresents the sum OF finished NUM-
bor. Also The sign q by which the
mathematicisns designate the incom-
plete sn1 all those mysterious sym bOls
wtieb sre used in this language. and
which are unknown 20 the common peo-
pie This astonishing man was able 20
do anv thing even in the very highest
grades Of mathematics. Such was !. T.
Nas,on And therefore 10 was Eat
his associates had such perfect con
fdsuCe in him when he set out 70
figure The moss difficult problems
in his au1ac.ous brain. This 81 was
which had led she gun club - trust him
WEB ne tificult p-3blem Of sending =
proiectile - The moon. And this vas
why Mrs. Evanxeiina ScOrbltt JEALOUS
Of his fame. fsIt FOR aim an admiration
which ended in love In this present