The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-03-20
fCopyrirht. 1893 by Garrett p. Scrviss.l
CWNnDSVG

MTFs'F>ST 7Tp1f N'e'
tCopyright. 1893. by Garrett p. Scrviss.l
SYNOPSIS.
Tho inventive genius OF Thomas a. Edit
son makes possible an attack o. the cafth
upon Mars. This is done 20 prevent q Sec
ond invasion OF the M0rtiaua, who are
irving TO relieve their oVcrpopu'a-e0
planet: the FIRST having failed tnr)u tne
breaking out OF disease and not nuinah
effort Edison invents a pr1cucal ciec
trical air ship and engine or ucstruc-
ton called the "Disintcgrator which
will cause the constituent PARTICLES OF any
object az which IL may De oilectcu 70 SO
vlbrato that the object VIII DC name
diatcly and completely dispersed. = iaIbe
fleet Of air ships armed with dsntesl--
tors and manned 10y two thousand ln,H'
among whom are many famous scith ,iats'
sets out. When several million miles rom
Mars the expedition comes upon a b. I5A
OF Maruans upon q small heavenly uoiE
ono Of the asteroids. Tho M1rlons arc %.
giant stature. human in FORM put Ql
somewhat TcpuisiYc aspect Jne asttIoiu ~
of solid gold. and 10 sc the precious metal
IS doubtless Che reason for the aiaftidll7
presence Another party from Mars al-
rivcs in one Of their aerial cars ana aH
encounter follows. in which. however tine
superior efficiency OF the oisintcsraiof
over the onomy's engines or war ls anly
proven. and the fleet leaves for Mars
But victory has not been won until srf-
oral shius have been destroyed and many
men killed. The fleet arrives above me
land OF Hellas ON Mars, and hnd5 q most
of air ships on the watch. The Mdludn-
cover their planet with a thick cloud
Of smoke which the visitors pierce WIN
their disntegratOrs The Marlans iauhcn
their thuuderbOlts. a. d. mucl damase
20 the Edison fleet. which ina.ll crop.
beneath the smoke curtain and engages
tho enemy in their ships in close CONF
bat The destruction is avn il, pom ON
land and in the air, ana inc tuii3 ~ rom
tho earth Withdraw but sixty in number.
The next move is q strategic plan proc
posed by Colonel Smith. an army oiuceI.
The majority of The ships gre concentrate
ed at "a certain point whore lhe ail.H-
ton Of the Marrars is held. Mni.e q lt"
are sent 10 the other side OF the planet
10 effect a landing and ii pos-io.t pio-
cure some much needed provisions lpf thc
fleet. Colonel Smith snip ooac' NOS l''i
a large building. The toionei ana thc pay
ratOr approaching, near strains on D,au-
tiful music issuing from it. Entering lney
are amazed 10 fn0 a yOun. eil-a hu-
man boinC-ulaNine ON strange JUS. H-
ment for the amusement OF acN. lai -nHI
tians The latter are quickly glslal ',ltu
with disintcgratOrs. and the elrl IS tak' ID
back 20 the main squadron. together with
large quantities of compressed FOOD mat
are found in the building. AthouSh none
can understand tho girl. y ls peIcelNcu
that her language IS of human origin.
The whole squadron repairs 20 tne Tar
Their moon of Mars. Dcimos. nm ORDER ~
give the linguists of the party ulu. 10
acquire the girls speech. Tor MT l.ois'h
believes that She can give them lnloinla
ton that win lead 10 q successful routing
OF the enemy.
XIX.
Deimos proved % he, rs we hao .N-
neo,ed about six miles I'm diameter. lts
mean density S. not very great SO tlat
,hc accelerotion OF gravity oid not e@-
coed one tvo-thousandth of the earin 5
Consequently the ight Of a man 'ulh-
tnr the scales at lj0 at home were here
only about one ounce
s,he attraction OF this little satellite
was so slight that we had 80 ne very
careful not to move too quickly in eoinb
about lost we should inNoluntarly leave
the ground and sail out into space. as
81 will be remembered. had happened I'd
the fugitlvcs durng tie tght over inc as
teroid.
Not only would such an adventure nave
been an uncomfortable experience utl 1T
might have endangered the success OF QUIZ
scheme. Our present distance from 'l'
errfoco Of Mars did not cEceed 20 lo9
miles. ana we had reason 10 believe intt
tho MARTENS Possessed telescopes pow
orful enough 10 enable them not merely
10 see the electrical ships az such oi7-
lance. but also to catch sight OF u5 ln-
dividuallv. Although tho cloud ciftln
still rested on the planet IL was piolaDle
that tho Martans would send some OF
their air ships UP 10 it's surface in order
10 determine what our fate had been.
Accordingly strict orders were gwen,
not only that the slips should be moored
on that side of the satellite which is
perpetually turned away from Mars but
M
ture around on IN. other side Of the little
globe. or even on the edge of H. where
he might be seen ia profile AGAINST inc
sky
str. OF course. # was essential that
we. on our part should keep close
watch. and so a number Of scnuncis were
selected. whose duty it was 20 place thcn-
selves at the edge OF Dcimos where they
could peep over tbs horizon so TO speak,
and catch sight Of the globe Of our ene-
mics
AT tic suggestion Of Col Smith, who
had so frequently stalked Indians That
devices 81 this kind readily occurred 10
his mind. the sentnels all wore garments
corresponding IN color TO that of the soil
OF The asteroid. which was OF a dark, red
DISH brown hue. This would tend to com
ceal them from tho pyins eyes OF the
Martisns.
Finally after about q week had passed,
the Martians evidently made mp their
minds that they had annihlutcl us, and
that there was no longer danger 90 bo
feared. Convincing evidence that they
believed We would not Doe heard from
again was furnished when tho Withdrawal
OF the great curtain of cloud began.
This phenomenon first manifested itself
by q gradual thinning OF one yaporous
shield until. az length, We began 90 per-
ccivs the red surface OF the planet 0imly
shining through &C. Thinner and rarcr 70
became. and. after tho lapse OF aoCu,
eighteen hours. IL had completely dis
appeared and this huge globe shone out
again. rejecting the light OF the sun
from its continents and oceans with q
brightness that. ia contrast with the
an-enyeloping night TO which w. had SO
long been subjected. seemed mhcaraol'
70 our eyes.
Meanwhile The object which we had In
viNW In rttrcaling 90 the satellite wa,
not lost sight OF. and the services Of the
chief linguists OF the expedition wcr,
again called into use Tor the purpose oil
acquiring a new language. The expert
ment was conducted In the flagship. INT
fact that this time Is was not monster
belonging, 10 an utterly allen race upor
whom we were 90 experiment. bur q
Beautiful daughter OF our common Mo hei
lcvs. added zcst and interest az well as
the most confident hopes of success L,
those who were irving TO understand th'
accents OF her tongue.
sim, the difficulty was very great
Notwithstanding the conviction OF th'
professors that her language would tuT
out 20 De a form Of the great lndo-Euro
pean epecch, from which the man5
sooo,,,ca ~ civnfzod men uDOn the e1rtl