Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-11-10
p VI.

t'NhsH'Nps toN Sthhhs "hhth ~ "puAa
have been difficult, if not impossible,
to provide, presently manifested itself.
Looking out Of a window toward the
right, I suddenly noticed the lights of
n distant ship darting about in n curl.
Gus curve. Instantly afterward another
member of the squadron. nearer by, be-
hav0a in the same inexplicable manner.
Then two or three of the floating cars
seemed to be violently drawn from their
courses and hurried rapidly in the d
rection of the flagship. Immediately 1
perceived a small object, luridly fam
ing, which seemed to move with i'm
mense speed in our direction.
The truth instantly flashed upon my
mind, and shouted to the other occu.
pants OF the arr:
"a meteorr'
Such indeed it was. We had met this
mysterious wanderer in space at q mo-
ment when we were moving in a direc-
ton ut right angles to the path it was
pursuing around the sun. Small as it
was-and its diameter probably did not
exceed a single foot-it was yet an indie
BthNthN A4AAlO NOlANs uuu as SuCu u
member Of the solar system. Its dis.
lance from the sun being so near that
Of the earth, | knew that its velocity,
assuming it to be travelling in n nearly
circular orbit, must be about Is miles
i'll a second. With this velocity, then,
it plunged like n prolectile shot by some
mysterious enemy in space directly
through our squadron. 1t had come ard
was gone before one could utter a sell.
tence of three words. Its appearance
and tho effect which it had produced
upon the ships in whose neighborhood
it passed indicated that it bore an in
tense and tremendous charge Of cleo.
tricity. How it had become thus charged
| annot pretend to say. l simply record
the fact, And this charge, it was evi.
dent, was opposite in polarity to that
which the ships Of the squadron bore
1t therefore cxerted an attractive influ.
ence upon them, and thus drew them
after it.
| had Just time to think how lucky it
was that the meteor did not strike any
of us when, glancing at a ship just
ahead. l perceived that al accident had
occurred. The ship swayed violently
from its course, dazzling flashes played
around 1t, and two or three of the men
forming its crew appeared for an in
slant On its exterior, wildly gesticulat-
ing, but almost instantly falling prone
1t was evident at a glance that the
car had been struck by the meteor. How
serious The damage might be we could
not instantly determine. The course of
our ship was Immediately altered, the
electric polarity was changed, and we
rapidly approached the disabled car.
The men who had fallen lay upon it's
surface. One Of the heavy circular
glasses covering a window had been
smashed to atoms. Through this tho
meteor had passed. killing two or three
men who stood in its course. Then it
had crashed through the opposite side
Of the car, and, passing m, disappeared
into space. The store OF air contained in
the car had Immediately rushed out
through the openings, and when two /.
three Of us, having donned our alright
suits rs quickly as possible, entered the
wrecked car we found all of its inmates
stretched upon the floor il a condition
of asphyxiatiOn. They, as well as those
who lay upon the exterior, were imme.
diately removed 70 the flagship, restora.
tives were applied, and, fortunately,
our aid had come so promptly that the
lives of all Of them were saved. But lie
had fled from the maugled bodies Of
those who had stood directly in the path
Of the fearful projectile,
This strange accident had been wit
messed ty several OF the members of the
fleet, and they quickly drew together
In order to inquire for the particulars.
As the flagship was DOW overcrowded
by the addition Of so many men to its
crew, Mr.. Edison mad them distributed
among the other cars. Fortunately il
happened that the d~isintegrators con-
tanned i'll the wrecked car were not in
Jured. Mr.. Edison thought that il would
Dc possible to repair the car itself,
and Tor that purpose he had it attached
to the tagship IN order that il might DO
carried on as far as the moon The
bodies OF the dead were transported with
il. as it was determined, instead of
committing them To the fearful deep of
space, where they would have wandered
forever. or else have fallen like meteors
upon the earth, To give them :nterment
in the lunar soil.
AS we now rapidly approached the
moon the change which the appearance
Of its surface underwent was No less
wonderful than that which the surface
Of the earth had presented i'll the re-.
verse order while we We're receding
form it From u pale silver orb, shining
with comparative faintness among the
stars, il slowly assumed the appearance
of u vast mountainous desert. AS wo
drew nearer its colors became more pro-
nounced, the great fiat regions appeared
darker. the mountain peaks shone more
brilliantly. The huge chasms seemed
bottomless aud blacker than midnight
Gradually separate mountains appeared.
What seemed like eNpanses OF snow and
immense glaciers streaming down their
sides spaIklcG with great brilliancy in
the perpendicular rays of the u Our
motion had now assumed the aspect of
falling. We seemed TO be dropping
from an unreasonable height and with
IN Uncomfortable velocity straight down
upon those giant peaks
Here and there curious lights glowed
upon the mysterious surface Of the
moon. Where tho edge of the noon cut
the sky behind it 1t was broken and
jagged with mountain masses. Vast