The herald., 1898-02-20

come thus charged. cannot pretend to
say, l simply record the fact. And
| this charge, it was evident, was oppo-
site in polarity to that which the ships
of the squadron bore. 1t therefore en-
erted an attra active influence upon
them and thus drew them after it.
1 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, / perceived that an acci-
dent had occurred. The ship swayed
violently from its course. dazzling
| flashes played around it, and two or
three of the men forming it's crew ap-
peared for an instant on its exterior,
wildly gesticulating. but almost in
stantly 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 al
tered, the electric polarity was changed.
and we rapidly approached the dis
abled car.
The men who had fallen lay upon its
surface. One of the heavy circular
glasses covering a window had been
smashed to atoms. Through this the
meteor had passed, killing two or three
men who stood in it's course. Then It
had crashed through the opposite side
of the car and. passing on, disappeared
into space. The store of air contained
in the car had Immediately rushed out
through the openings. and when two
or three of us, having donned our air.
tight suits as quickly as possible, en-
tered the wrecked car we found all of
its inmates stretched upon the floor in
condition of asphyXiation. They, as
we'll as those who lay upon the exterior.
We're immediately removed to the flag
ship: restoratives were applied; and,
fortunately. our aid had come so
promptly that the lives of all of them
were saved. But life had fled from the
mangled bodies of those who had stood
directly in the path of the fearful pro-
jectle.
This strange accident had been wit
messed by several of the members of
the fleet. and they quickly drew togeth-
er in order to inquire for the particu-
lars. Fortunately it happened that the
disintegrators contained in the wrecked
car were not injured. Mr.. Edison
thought that it would be possible to
/ repair the car itself, and for that pur-
pose he had it attached to the flagship
in order that it might be carried on as
far as the moon. The bodies of the dead
were transported with it, 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 interment 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 in the re-
verse order while we were receding
from it. From a pale. silver orb shin
ing with comparative faintness among
the stars, it slowly assumed the ap-
pearance Of a vast mountainous desert
AS we drew nearer, its cOlors became
more pronounced; the great fiat re-
gions appeared darker; the mountain
peaks shone more brilliantly The
huge chasrns seemed bottomless and
blacker than midnight Gradually
separate mountains appeared. What
seemed like eXpanses of snow and
immense glaciers streaming down their
sides sparkled with great brlliancy in
the perpendicular rays of the sun Our
motion had now assumed the aspect of
falling. We seemed to be dropping from
an immeasurable height and with an
! inconceivable velocity, straight down
upon those great peaks.
Here and there curious lights glowed
upon the mysterious surface of the
U-ha-a 10 a6 6Ca Of ba
the sky behind it, it was broken and
jagged with mountain masses. Vas
crater rings overspread it's surface
and in some of these I ina gined
could perceive a lurid illumination
coming out of their deepest cavities
and the curling of mephitic vapors
around their terrible Jaws.
! We were approaching that part o.
the moon which is known to astrono
mers as the Bay of Rainbows. Here {
huge semi-crcular region, as smooth
almost as the surface of a prairie, lay
beneath our eyes, stretching southwark
into a vast ocean-like eXpanse, while
/ on the north it was enclosed by al
enormous range of mountain cliffs
rising perpendicularly to a height o
many thousands of feet and rent an(
| gashed in every direction by force
which seemed at some remote period t,
have labored at tearing this little worlc
in pieces.
! 1t was a fearful spectacle; a deaf
and mangled world, too dreadful t.
look upon. The idea of the death o
the moon was, of course, not n nev
one to many Of us We had long beer
aware that the earth's satellite was ;
body which had passed beyond tn
: stage of life. if indeed, it had ever beel
life supporting globe; but none o
us was prepared for the terribl
spectacle which nov smote ou
eyes.
AT each end of the semi-circula
ridge that encloses the Bay If Rain
bows there is lofty pronontory. Tha
at the northwestern extremity hat
long bcen known to astronomers unde
/ the name of Cape Laplace. The othe
/ promontory, a t the southeastern ter
inination, Is called Cape Heraclides
1t was toward the latter that we Wer
approaching, and by interchange o
signals all the members of the squadron
had been informed that Cape Hera
clides was to be our rendezvous upo,
the moon.
I had often on the earth drawn
smile from my friends b. showing then