The herald., 1898-02-13

|, elactrical ships carried about twent.
men. together with an abundant suppl
a. comnressed provisions, compressed
!, air scientific apparatus and so on. Il
eli +hare were about 1000 men, wh'
,,.a,,o going to conquer, If they could
another world!
Rut though few in numbers. they rep
resented the flower of the earth. th'
cu,manation of the genius or the planet
srhe rreatest leaders in science, botf
theoretical and practical, We're there
n was the evolution or the eartf
a apainst the evolution of Mars. IL wa
a planet In the heydey OF Its strengtf
ma tched against an aged ana oecrepi
world which, nevertheless. In conse
ouence of it's long ages of existence ma
acouired an experience which mace II
a most dangerous foe. On 'boon slde'
thare was desperation. The eartn was
| dasnarate because 1t foresaw destruc'
| t;on unless 1t could first destroy luz
anamv Mars was desperate because
nature was gradually deprlving It OF
the means of supporting life, ana Ms
teeming population was compelled 10
swarm Nike the inmates of an over
crowded hive of bees, and find new
bcmes elsewhere. In this respect the
situation on Mars, as We were well
aware. resembled what had already
been known upon the earth. where the
older nations overfiowng with popu-
lation had sought new lands in whicn
to settle, and for that purpose had
! driven out the native inhabitants,
whenever those natives had proved un-
able to resist the invasion.
Of
what we were about to undertake. but
the tremendous powers which the disin-
tegrato tors had exhibited and the marvel
lous efficiency of the electrical ships
bred almost universal confidence that
we should be successful.
The car in which Mr.. Edison travelled
was, of course. the flagship of the
SQUADRON, and / had the good fortune
to be included among it's inmates. Here,
besides the several leading men of
science from our own country, were
Lord Kelvin. Lord Rayleigh. Professor
Roentgen, DR.. Mossan-the man who
first made artificial diamonds-and sew
eral others whose fame had encircled
the world. Zach of these men cherished
hopes of wonderful discoveries. along
his line of investigation, to be made
in Mars.
An elaborate system OF signals had,
of course. to be devised for the control
of the squadron. These signals con-
sisted of brilliant electric lights dis
played at night, and so controlled that
by their means long sentences and di-
rections could be easily and quickly
transmitted.
The day signals consisted partly Of
brightly colored pennons and flags,
which were to serve only when,
shadowed by clouds or other obstruc-
tions. the full sunlight should not fall
upon the ships. This could naturally
only occur near the surface of the earth
or of another planet.
Once out of the shadow of the earth
we should have no more clouds and no
more night until we arrived at Mars.
In open space the sun would be contin-
ually shining. 1t would be perpetual
day for us, except as, by artificial
means, we furnished ourselves with
darkness for the purpose OF promoting
sleep. In this region of perpetual day,
then the signals We're also to be trans
mltted by flashes of light from mirrors
rejecting the rays OF the sun.
Yet this perpetual day would be also.
in one sense. a perpetual night. There
would be no more blue sky for us. be-
cause without our atmosphere the sun
light could not be diffused. Objects
would be Illuminated only on the side
toward the sun. Anything that screened
off the direct rays of sunlight would
produce absolute darkness behind it
There would be no graduation OF
shadow. The sky would be as black as
ink on all sides.
While it was the intention to remain
as much as possible within the cars
yet since it was probabl that neces
sity would arise for occasionally quit
ting the interior of the electrical ships
Mr.. Edison had provided for this emer
gency by inventing an air-tight dres:
constructed somewhat after the man
ner of divers suit, but OF mucf
lighter material. Each ship was pro
vided with several of these suits, by
wearing which one could venture out
side the car even when it was beyond
the atmosphere of the earth
Provisions had been made to NEE
the terrible cold which we knew woult
be encountered the moment we hat
passed beyond the atmosphere-tha
awful absolute zero which men hat
measured by anticipation, but never
yet experienced-by simple system O
producing within the air-tight suits
temperature sufficiently elevated t.
counteract the effects of the frigidit,
without. By means of long, flexbl,
tubes. air could be continually supplied
| to the wearers of the suits, and by al
| ingenious contrivance a store of com
pressed air sufficient to last for severa
hours was provided for each suit, 81
| that in case of necessity the weare
| could throw off the tubes connectin.
him with the air tanks in the car. An
other object which had been kept il
view in the preparation of these suit
was the possible exploration of an air
less planet. such as the moon.
The necessity of some contrivance b,
means Of which we should be enabled
| to converse with one another when oi
the outside of the cars in open space
or when in an airless world. like th'
moon, where there would be no medium
| by which the waves of sound could b.
conveyed as they are in the atmosphere
| of the earth, had been foreseen by ou
great inventor, and he had not found !
difficult to contrive suitable device
for meeting the emergency.
Inside the headpiece Of each OF tn
electrical suits was the mouthpiece o
a wire which, when not in use, coul'
/ ~ n vFv1