The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-24
THOUGHT HIM 4 LUAAT|c
Sensation Created BY the Appear
snce Of 4 Denizen Of the
Moon.
Ia was Over 100000 Years Old
ana Lived Without At
mosphere.
r,r1dn,t Keen HIS Feet on tho
A Message Sent Back 10 the
Prohibitionfsts.

The Hre snapped and cracked in the
crate. Peace, warmth and cheer presided
nvar thu silence Of my den like sweet shad-
nva of content, ] was dreaming the VIDE
avake dreams Of life-tha great problems OF
nature passed in review like tho bataiiiohs
Of France. A knock aroused me from the
drifting thoughts, which were cohtuseo w
tho e~xacting demands of science.
such a strange little old man stood be-
fore me-he was not human. l gazed III
astonishmont-his skin was as rugged as
Tho sharp projections of his lunar noun
tains. His ewes were ~tiercely brilliant, his
head and brains were abnormally de-
veloped. l was bewiidered-heha o no ears
no mouth. no taste, no feeling, T" crea'"fe
without human senses.
His brain glowed like a vast storshouse OF
Learning; his bright little eyes read my
thouphts. There he stood, perhaps a picture
AZ dreamland. The close air oppressed nm.
rnshed to the window--he seized my arm.
Some lunatio from the deaf and dumb
asylum!
He could write-the strange silence was
broken by the scratch of his pencil. lie
needed some ballast. His feet would NY up
and his head down. His brains were a posi-
tive misfortune. | tied six Volumes OF New
England criticism to each limb--they we're
heavy, very heavy, and victory crowned my
efforts.
where are you froms"
"Ths moon"
.sHow old are your"
a##4 = - 1,r0lrayi {bnucnnH vnarQ"
You are crazy"
mot in the least; come with me and
will prove what / have said"
/ cut him loose from his moorings. We
reached the open space and ntereda unique
little apartment where ! took my seat. All!
Some mronaut who had discovered the art
of pulling himself over the fence with the
aid of his bootstraps.
We rose with a rapidity that almost stifed
us. His spirits were buoyant while min
were depressed. could not breathe. He
gave me six drops from a stone vial; my
lungs collapsed-respiration was a mundane
accomplishment. | dreaded the cold of
space and wished myself back in my cozY
room.
"Do not be alarmed; the cold of space is
q myth. After we have cleared the enve-
lope which surrounded the earth. space
will be a pleasure to you: the awful still
ness will Cypress you; [ am used to it. You
can nave no conception of the flight of
time. | am as old as the moon we are rap
idly approaching All my faculties were
keenly alive; a thousand pictures crowded
Here we are, safely landed on Tycho;
observe the streams of lava which radiate
; from its summit like rays from the sun.
Thirteen of these lunar ring mountains
and craters reflect the SUMS light with an
intensity that is dazzling.
behold the sau~cer-shaped depressions
which you call ssas-they were once oceans
and lakes. With improved achromatic
lenses your astronomers will discover that
these sunken beds are faulty. irregular and
broken, like your pralries. Water would
show no such unevenness.
1--WE stand here surrounded by a circular
towering wall of mountains whose %steepest
sides are toward us. See this strange forma-
tion ut the center that shoots up a single
cone like the spire of some grand cathedral.
Peer over this abyss which sncircles the SOL
itary peak and separates IT from the level
plain. Twenty-Five of these sunken areas
make up the bulk of the moons face that is
turned coward the EARTH"
I could not walk; gravity made me a cork.
I made surprising leaps in the air, for at
traction was only two ounces. Th strange
depriyations OF my companion no longer
excited wonder-no atmosphere to press
with q force of fifteen pounds to the square
inch; no sound waves to convey impress
sions to the ear-speech and hearing were
valueless.
I was searching in the unmitignted heat OF
the sun-the long day of 1856 hours was sue
ceeded by a night of equal length-such in
tense cold. so degrees below zero. We shell
tered in the caves and canyons. The moon
stored none of the burning heat, which van
ished with the sun.
"What became of the atmosphere and
water?"
II will tell you"
He pointed to the earth, that was slowly
rising like some giant satellite and defiled
across the black sky. The stars were SO
many bright points of light without twinkle
or change.
81. is there: the earth robbed us. Do you
not see that three-fourths of its surface is
water? Attrition will level your mountains
and plains, q universal deluge will change
the character of your air-breathlng cgea-
tions-but not until volcanoes are dead and
heat will have been radiated into space"
why is the character of your formations
80 didsrent?'
.Bscause the bones of the earth have been
ground and smoothed by glacial activity.
In tbs stratum which you call the upper
1aurentian the same conditions existed;
igneous energy reached its maximum. Our
water put out your fires and ilastened the
cooling of your crust, while the moon re-
manned as you see IT."
"And the inAabitantsf"
"Ihe hydrogen Of the stars is the prim-
ordial element. Water is life. All of your
organic and inorganic existence is the child
of water. Then Is it strange that such
awful silence surrounds usE'
"Our scientists say the moon is older
than tie earth"
Then why is the density of the moons
material S1l% times less than the earth's?o
The little old man would have smiled,
but the absence of n mouth preyented such
demonstration.
Il have one favor to ask before you re-
turn. shall then be repaid for the
pleasure l have given you"
ut Is granted"
"Iell the prohibition party that the moon
has gone dry by an overwhelming major
ity."-New Orleans Picayune.
Pronounced Hopeless, Yet Saved.
From Il letter written by Mrs. Ada E.
Hufd. of Groton. s. d.. wa unnta. .tWae