The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-04-12

MD AoesN - eN>"N
NJ ordinary inhabitants
Of this planet, in the latter part OF our
nineteenth century of the Christian era
sitting at n table in a room of an ordinary
home in an old country town. Their minds
are bent upon something or somebody
What is it ? or who is it? That is a ques-
ton they would gladly answer if they
could. But not one of them can. 1t il
some one or something invisible, inaUdible
intangible. But it can move, and appar'
emily it can hear and comprehend. 1t car
cause other things to move also. AT thi:
moment it is moving a pencil. Let Us
question it.
who and what are you, invisible Pres
ence?" The pencil, after an instant's
pause. moves slowly up and down, ane
from lett to right; then pauses. We spell
out what has been written. There is but
one w~ord-"Trat." We asked again,
whence do you come. Trat?' and the an
swer is written down, terse, yet comprehen-
sive enough, 1.-The world" We ask still
further, Blu what Is the name of your
country?" The invisible silently replies,
s'Zingo.' ''Do you mean, Trait, that Zlngo
is your whole world?' "Of course!"' "And
AOeb llo VIZ 4l'pASh u "N
ioin ~yours?'' "Nor'
Let us reason a little at this point. A
being called Trait. who lives in a country
called lingo, one who fancies himself a
member of the only people on earth, cannot
be a civilized being. He must be a barba-
rian. the inheritant of some yet unexplored
wilderness. The largest unexplored wilder
ness that we know OF is in Africa. Irat IS
a Central African, then; perhaps one of
thai mysterious white tribe, which both
Livingstone and Stanley have mentioned.
hut let us see. Is there any water in that
country, Trat?' YES" ANY river?"
Yes" Where does the river flow tor
A singular reply! Perhaps lingo is some
high, inaccessible table-land-an island in
the air, such as exists in British Guiana.
"What do you see when you look over the
edge. Trait, Cannot see, "Why notI,
kill your" 9TH nation" do you mean
it is unlawful to look oves?' yes"
Stay! Perhaps lingo is a continent at
the north pole. Such a continent must be-
isolated, and would very likely be sur
rounded by a barrier of Joe. Now, if the
north pole be indeed the home of our mys-
FERROUS visitor, it is evident that the length
of the days and nights would indicate the
fact. Therefore. "Trat, with regard to the
re iods Of light and of darkness in your
country, how often do you sleep during
tho QaTk porous! OHCe. Ana LOW
often do you eat during the light periods 20
Five times" These answers dispose of
the claims of the North Pole; for even sup
posing a man can sleep for six months at a
stretch. he must surely eat more than once
month during the day. Try Africa again.
Let US ask him if he has ever seen or heard
of a white stranger visiting his country.
"Yes.' replies Trait, ''once a god came."
Ah! now we are on the right track. Liv-
ingstone. of course. "Was his hair
straight"
"Yes." And his face was white?' eyes,
"What language did he speak," "Ours.'
(well, Livingstone spoke the negro dia-
%lects). How do you know he was a god?'
He came there" Ito be sure! not a bad
answer).
"What did he say to your eco where
ne vent ! Gvehy P p;op . lang 9 y ..K t9T 9
him. (sensation.) Did you eat himy"
The answer is rapidly written, ''No-a godn'
"Well, what did you do with him?'
'"Threw him over the edge
1t can hardly be Africa, after all. Where
can it be? Suppose We approach the prob
lem from the point of view of the constel-
~lations: They should tell something of the
Zingo?' "What?' "stars-bright point,
in the sky?' "No-lamps.,' "a very brigh'
night?"' Two" DO you mean to say a
" hoNo wv iicoiio 40 LiiNos "
coursen' Trait replied.
We look at one another with a queer sen
eation. A country with two moons exists
not or this planet; Trait, then, must be
visitor from another world than ours. Thi
becomes interesting. We ask Trait hoy
the sun moves in lingo, and he draws
narrow eclipse. But We inquire, do
it not disappear at one side and come up a
the other?' NO" Then what make
your night?'' 1.-The moons.'' Glow SOP
For answer, Trait draws two large circles
to represent the moons, and a smaller on
at a distance from the same, for the sur
DO you mean, Trait, that your moon ar
larger than your sum- Yes" But th
moons shine2' ''No-black.' "Ihen it
the shadow of the moon between you an
the sun that makes the night?" &c
course" says Trat; and he goes on to e1
plain that there are four times of tie
hours each, dark and light" "How Ear al
the moons above the earth?" "Ihrt
miles (about equal, as we afterwards est
mated, to fifteen of our miles,. "Do I'll
'Stay."
Here, then, was an entirely novel terre
trial scheme. Instead of revolving on j
axis, the planet of lingo rocks to and fir
with its moons, like a cradle; and as I'll
great black moons pass and repass success
lively before the sun, night and day folio
each other. We learned by degrees oth'
strange facts in this Connection. The he,
of the sun is SO intense as TO melt or fu.
the surface of the planet every day; an
this surface is composed, not of loan
sand. or rock, but of gold-virgin gold,
a uniform layer a hundred feet in thickness
Gold is literally dirt in Zlngo: and the pr
clous substance with them is Il species
coal, of which a piece the size of q hen
egg will hny two skins" But how do Il
inhabitants endure Il heat that fuses meta
Are they salamanders2 No; but during Il
day they live III large forests, which cover
great part of the surface. But are not fores
made of wood, and will not wood burr
Well, the forests of lingo are n,
made of wood, or, if it be wood, it is WOO
in q state of petrifaction. After much spe
%ulation, we showed Irat "a piece of aoat
and he said his wood was something lii
that, lingo forests may be likened to va
stalacNte c%averns, standing above the su
facenf the ground, and impervious even
th1 heat of the lingo sun.
The atmosphere of lingo is very dens
and what sort of clouds do you suppo
they have2 We had taken it for granted
if we thought of the matter at all-th
they were like ours. But Trait, one day, w
looking out of the window Tin a manner
may explain later, and, happening to tn
his gaze upwards towards the sky, whence
summer shower was falling, he exclaime
''What funny clouds!!'' In response to o
inquiries, he drew an outline of some of /
clouds, and made the rain descending fro
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