The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-03-11

| ploded by means of an eight minute
fuse. The roar of its discharge was fol-
| lowed by another louder and deeper
| quake tremor and thunderous rever-
and prolonged, until, with an earth
| beration, with a deafening gush of
| steam, "a cloud of ashes, and spurts of
| molten lava. the cavern disgorged its
| contents.
I'VE fled in panic down the mountain
side; happily all escaped, not unhurt,
| but alive.
| Some weeks later we We're able to
| return and examine the debris. In it
we found u considerable number of the
| crystals unbroken. Several We're part
| ly embedded in the still hot lava, but
| the heat had not affected them in the
| slightest degree
The rest of the letter is what you
are not to read. But wasn't Arthur
| magnificent! Only l shall never let
him go near Tyana Tchallu again-not
alone anyhow.
Well, they loaded the green stuff
all they could get out-on the ship.
and brought it home; and it wasn't SO
very long after / got my letter that Ar
| thur arrived. l shan't tell you any
thing about how l acted when | saw
him. Uncle Amos said | was precipi
tate and indiscreet. ] don't think he
like it very much when all those scien-
tific people congratulated him on his
prospective nephew" But he didn't
say much; he just shook hands with
Arthur and looked serious.
All this while Professor Empsen had
been getting ready for the experiment.
As they were going to need perfectly
awful amount of electricity, he had ar
ranged to have at command the whole
power of Niagara for half a day. He
stands high in scientific circles, and has
influence" you know. Anyhow, he
got the power.
But I'm not going to tell you about
the experiment myself | was there,
Of course, but it's too much for me;
so ! am going to show you the report
] cut out of a paper the next day. The
man who wrote it is ever so nice, and
he's on the staff of The New Metro
politan Snapshot and Meteor"
For several weeks past the din of
preparation has been heard at Niagara
| Falls, at times fairly rising above the
roar of the cataract. Yesterday after
noon, what is probably the most re-
| marlIable physical experiment of the
century was successfully consum-
| mated
Then he told all about Professor Emp
sen, and Arthur, ana how he found
the substance. He called Arthur "a reti-
cent young scientist of brilliant prom
| ise." Arthur's a good deal more reti-
cent than he need be, / think; but there
was no need to say so. There was some
| thing about me, too, and about uncle,
| but it wasn't done in mean way.
| And now the wonderful substance
| which was to form the basis of the eX-
| pertinent was borne in. 1t appeared
to be about the size and shape of an
elephants tusk, but more slender; and
| its weight was such that twelve strong
| men We're hardly able to carry it.
! Professor Empsen declares that it is
undoubtedly a crystal Of helum, devel-
| oped under extraordinary conditions
in the interior of a volcano, chemically
pure and quite unlike the small speci-
| men secured by Captain JerVis, which
| was evidently mere chipping from the
| glaze at the mouth of the cave, This
beautiful gem, for it looked like a mas
| sive shaft of emerald, was laid upon
supports of the same material, and the
| electrodes We're carefully adjusted Il
the ends these We're not placed in ac-
tual contact, however, lest they be
melted by a heat so inordinate as the
| eXperimenters hoped to generate,
| There was no fear that current such
as they proposed to use could not leap
the barrier; the only dread was lest it
leap too far and in the wrong direction
| for at the full it far exceeded a thun-
| derbolt, both in volume and tension.
But every possible precautiOn had been
taken, and the spectators We're kept at
a safe distance.
The great hall was now darkened
until only faint gleam from the arch
ing bridge of emerald was visible
among the shadows. We shall now
very gradually turn on the current de-
signed to heat the helium bar, which is