Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-07-08
"Trip TO THE sun.

man-almost M cold, calm and passionless
a. he was English. For years he had been
q member of the London Beefsteak club.
Sir Fillemup had three friends at the
club. They met every evening to bet. They
would bet ON anything. Ona day they bet
ON the length Of their respective feet Sir
Fillemup won by two lapA
~ would be willing to bet that I can
climb up to the sum-" said he.
His friends bet him 100000, and the
money was staked.
II will start In three days." he said
calmly.
"And how long win you be gomez" they
asked.
"Ten days" was the cool response.
From that moment Sir Fillemup absented
himself from the club. He was preparing
for his flight.
His preparations were simple First he
procured a suit of Japan silk. light and
flexible. Then he pulled on pair Of boots
of his own invention. The legs reached TO
the armpits The solss were Of gun barrels
arranged perpendicularly.
From q belt at his waist depended two
<0O0-ton columbiadA The guns and colum-
biads were 80 arranged as to load and fire
themselves 90 times a minute.
The process was 80 simple as to make
explanation unnecessary. With the recoil
from the firing of these pieces Sir Fillemup
proposed to secure a velocity Of 1000, 600
miles an hour. This would enable him to
reach the sun in days and % hours
He calculated to remain there two days.
Then, reversing himself, he proposed to
turn his guns loose again and return to the
earth In the same time occupied by his
aste ent.
He had fixed upon May at o'clock in
the morning. A framework had been built
to suspend him until be could get his ord
nance in working order. At signal the
guns opened, aud Sir Fillemup dashed into
the air.
He had not miscalculated his velocity,
though it seemed to him that he ought to
have reached his destination In about 10
minutes at the rate he was going Still his
pedometer showed only q rate Of 100000
miles an hour.
There was nothing upon which the sun
could reflect, and Sir Fillemup was In
darkness after leaving the earths atmos-
phere, except when he looked straight at
the sun. It was to him then q perfectly
round ball, affording neither light nor
heat.
He did not feel that he was moving. He
seemed suspended In space Still he was
nearing the sun. He could see IL drawing
closer.
At the end Of the second day he appeared
to be surrounded by yellow nebula. 1t
was not dense, but series Of not unpleas-
ant shocks showed that he was passing
through magnetic influence.
The yellow belt appeared to be composed
Of sparks that compelled him to cover his
face and hands They were apparently
iron filings in a state of fusion. His dress
was protected from danger by fire by a
preparation Of alum.
Toward the middle Of the third day he
emerged from this zone and entered AN.
other of intense cold and fearfully dark.
Beyond he could see q peculiar mass of
matter, brownish In color and oval In
shape
Passing through the frigid belt the det,
onations of his cannons almost deafened
him. II was clear that he had again en-
tered an atmosphere. During the afternoon
he passed through the warmer zone, and at
II O'Clock, just 95 hours after leaving the
earth, he stood on the dun colored mass.
He had reached the sun
What struck him as most peculiar was
the warm, even temperature There was
no intense heat. Everything around gave
the impression Of iron, not in state Of fu-
sion, as he expected to find it, but moder
ate.
No sooner had he landed than his cannons
and guns were torn from him. They stuck
fast to the surface of the sun.
He recognized the reason. He was on an
immense magnet. How large he could not
tell. He thought Of the yellow zone and
the cold belt through which he had passed
and saw the solar principle at glance.
The sun was but fountain of electricity,
generating heat and light and feeling but
little of either.
There was no sign Of vegetation or AMI
NAL life. There were no shadows. Even
the inequality of the surface cast no shade.
He walked lonely and shadowless on the
barren creator Of all life. Around him, like
an aurora, cleaned the yellow mist Of the
outer circle.
There were no stars. There were no
worlds. He occupied the life giving essence,
oblivious to every living thing save him
self He put In two days on this line. aud
then prepared to depart.
But his cannons and guns were immova-
ble He couldn't wrench the smallest rife
from its fastenings. The magnet held them
like wise.
gravitation except to metal. Slipping of
. boot, he found he was lighter, because
the nails had kept him down. Should he
slip off the other and take q step he would
remain In midair.
He could not fall again to the sun. He
could not leave 1t, because he was not with
In the influence of any other gravitation or
atmosphere Then he must die In space a
fev feet from substance
Suddenly he bethought him-the mag
netism can be beaten out Of iron by a sharp
blow. He had no stone to be beat with,
but dripping water is more powerful than
rock, since 1t will wear rock away.
He began to expectorate. In an hour he
split one cannon loose. In another hour
the second columbiad was free. He had
now exactly time to the minute to return.
But he had not time to release the smaller
weapons, and without their recoil could he
effect his return In the prescribed timer
He would try It. Starting his columbiads
| he found himself In space. He had no idea
how fast he travelled His face was turned
| from the sun, and there was no light. Com.
posing himself he slept.
When he came to consciousness, he was
| m the hospital In London. with his three
friends bending over him, congratulating
him on having won his wager.
He had struck the earth, but not hard
enough to injure him seriously. The rea
son was that he had been 10 days without
air, and when he struck the atmosphere he
had inhaled 40 much that he swelled nm