The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-04-29
ASroR oNHE OWN BOOK
s.,u,ts.d the Hek 1.-THE Rev. DR.. vib-
bert to 1t at Anything
Uprthdox.

| day noon, whena Su Reporter asneu "
see him. Manyrepoters nave 'r'eu IN
| IL, % intervieythe andlord. Mr.. Aston.
the author. howver, came out 10 "hefe
the reporter wa9taDins.
IL am sorry. said he. taking out MS
.ob "h,t hive o attend meeting
Of stockholders own town at this nour'
afraid ,aIl nave to be excused
from answering ourlueStio"S.
tn, ronorter ,o,,slt the stockholders
could wait whs 50 Important 'iiinE
as Mr.. Astor's ovel was concerned ana
suggested that lie BOX had already ex-
cited great Unrest although not yet
Given to the putc.
"The Sun had vey good article ABOUT
II this morning. SAT- Mr.. Astor. and ne
led the way int hb Office The author
had triur ,hed GER tie stakeholder.
Mr.. As.or has OF yet reached his thir-
tietb birthday. b considerably more
than six feet ! height. He Is the re-
verse OF all thathe ordinary newspaper
cut pIctures hli as being. To be sure
there is the samprominent nose ana tne
same high retiring forehead. But ms
complexion Is lit. not dark. His cheeks
IRE ruddy withlealth. The thin. care
worn look economy displayed In the
newspaper cuts5 not to be seen IN his
face. His mouache is neither black
nor heavy.
The plot of NJ Astor's novel has been
published IT issupposed to be written
in the year 600 and begins with de-
scription Of Ne York and the world
generally at tn time. Electricity does
all the work. I'd mechanical ingenuity
reaches its hgest development. Then
comes the disGery OF new power,
which is called apergy," the reverse of
gravtation. by ;hch men are able to
rise from earth.The novel describes the
adventures Of tee men on the first trip
of discovery an exploration to some Of
the other plans. The book is to be
published by -. ppleton & Co.
Four generates Of Astors have de.
voted their live to the development Of
the faculty of oresight. The original
John Jacob Asst. hundred yeas $50
read the high lture of New York so
truly that the lousands of dollars he
had Invested inarms had become s20,-
100000 worth ofthe best city property
when he died. hat property has con-
tnued 20 inereas in value, but the sub
sequent Astors i've all been heavy in
vestors in unimpved land and they have
invested with a ldgment that seems AL
most like prophY. When, therefore. an
Astor gives his vws on what New York
Will be like on, hundred years hence.
his predictions re worthy OF attention
Mr. Astor's books also noteworthy for
its literary merit It's adventures are re-
alistic. its scienfc information Is not
tedious, and 1t rs q vein of fancy fhst
Mr. Aston did noteceive with his fortune
from his great-gmdfather.
Mi. Aston, q, you believe that all
your book predis will come TO pass?"
the reporter asks.
Il think muchof II will" was the
reply. Il believehat there Is no limit to
the possible devopment of man, and
that the presenttendency toward me-
chanieai inyentio and scientific discov-
cry VIII continueand that the state OF
affairs described my book will some
time be realized
1T is suggestd in your book that
Christ walked or he water and Elijah
was caught up int, Heaven by the APP
! plication of foGethe reverse Of gravi-
tation, which you eli apergy. You also
describe the abodeof departed spirits
as being on the plaet Saturn. 10 you
believe those things"
"Of course, the boo is G.. work of fan
cy, but l know no reson why TIE abode
of departed spirits sbuld not be on one
Of the planets. Befoe giving the look
to the publishers, ! abmittes 1t to the
Rev. DR.. Vibbert. Of trinity Napel and
asked him TO correct anything in il
that was not orthodox. / didIn want
to mislead anybody, yor know. He made
one or two corrections"
Your assumption that a coulter force
to gravitatiOn will be dscovetd is ar
Gued with great plausibiliy in ydr book"
said the reporter.
There is reason. I think. believing
that such a force exists reried Mr..
Aston Indeed, when | wrote he pre-
face OF the book / advanced II argu-
ments myself which, by the acice of
the publishers, appear now in th open
Ing chapter as coming from pi Cort-
landt, one Of the characters in tn story.
If you accept the atomic theoy you
must also believe that the atomsio not
actually touch each other. That one
Of the first principles in studyig nat
ural science. Now, / asked myself what
Keeps the atoms from touching? There
must be something which resists be law
|. OF cohesion there. And, If so, VIII may
we not ultimately discover 1t andapply
II on a larger seaie?'
In the opening chapter Of the box DR..
Cortlandt is made TO say that electricity
is of two kinds. positive and negative.
Yet, although this principle was lnown
for hundreds of years. men never
thought OF finding the negative fore that
Is the opposite of gravitatidn. l was
true, he went on. that a few Inndo Jug
glers and European predestdigiti.eurs
gave exhibitions OF people suspended
without visible means OF support and
although most of these exhibitions were
pure Illusions. IL was fair 70 believe.
in the light of the eventual discovery OF
''apergy," that some of them really ex-
ercised that power without ralizing Its
great benefit TO humanity.
'You have Eead fBellamyf Looking
Backward'?'
Eyes"
But your book has very title to say
about social problems
81 found there was scarceg room for
that"
When did you conceive Of The idea OF
writing book?'
About two years ago l began,' re-
Piled Mr.. Aston. at was a gradual
growth. IL IS in three books, you know,
and bound together they maze over 4ot
pages.
When I set about writing made a
list or the books that had bearing on
the subject. ! was surprised TO see how
many there We're. | was alss surprised
to find . comfortable discrpansY be-
tween different authors on simple ques-
lions of astronomical science For In
stance, when / tried 20 find the srsle
OF inclination Of the axis OF Zach planet
to the plane OF its orbit, I dlme upon
the widest differences OF opini,n. Again,
in estimating the relative DOWer OF crawl.