The herald., 1898-02-06

; nothing. 1t was due to a few daunt
less men of science, conspicuous amon
whom We're Lord Kelvin, the grea
English savant; Herr Roentgen, tn
discoverer of the famous X ray; AM
especially Thomas A. Edison. tn
American genius of science. Thes
men and few others had examined
( with the utmost care the engines o
war; the flying machines, the genera
tors of mysterious destructive force,
that the Martians had produced, witt
the Object of discovering. if possible
| the sources of their power.
suddenly from Mr.. Edison's labors.
tory at orange flashed the startlinp in.
'eHls sence that he had not only dfscov.
efeu the manner in which the invaders
nao peen able to produce the mighty
energies which they employed with
sucH terrible effect. but that. goine
turther, he had found a way to over.
come them.
Inc s4ad news was quickly circulated
throughout the civilized world. I,ucl5-
lly the Atlantic cables had not haan
destroyed by the Martians so that COM
IIluhlcauon between the Eastern and
western continents was uninterrupted
Ii was n proud day for America. Even
Whlle the Martians had been upon the
earrh' carrying everything before them.
demonstrating to the confusion of the
most optimistic that there was no pos
siblllty of standing against them. a
leeAnS-a confidence had manifested
itself in France, to a minor extent in
England, and particularly in Russia.
that the American might discover
means TO meet and master the in
vaders.
Now. it seemed. this hope and ex-
pectation We're to be realized. Too
late, it is true, to a certain sensA b,,t
not TOO late to meet the new invasion
Which the astronomers had announced
was impending. The effect was as
wonderful and indescribabe as that of
the dependency which but a LITTLE
While before had overspread the world
One could almost hear the universal
sign OF relief which went up from hu-
manity To relief succeeded conf
dence-so quickly does the human spirit
recover like an elastic spring. when
pressure is released.
Let them come" was the almost
joyous cry. "We shall be ready for
them now. The Americans have
solved the problem. Edison has placed
the means of victory within our
power"
Looking back upon that time now. I
recall with a thrill. the pride that
stirred me at the thought that. after |
all, the inhabitants of the earth Uara
a match for those terrible men from
Mars, despite all the advantage which |
they mad gained from their millions
of years of prior civilization and |
science.
As good fortunes like bad. never
come singly, the news of -lr. Edison's
discovery was quickly followed bv
additional glad tidings from that labor
atory of marvels in the lap of the
Orange mountains. During their con-
quest the A1artians had astonished the
inhabitants of the earth no less with
their flying machines-whic-h navigated
our atmosphere as easily as they had
that of their native planet-than with
their more destructive inventions.
These flying machines in themselves
had given them an enormous advan-
tage in the contest. High above the
desolation that they had caused to
reign on the surface of the earth.
and, out of the range of our guns. they
had hung safe in the upper air. From
the clouds they had dropped death
upon the earth.
Now, rumor declared that Mr.. Edi-
son had invented and perfected a fly
ing machine much more complete and
than that of the Martians
had been. Wonderful stories quickly
found their way into the newspapers
concerning what Mr. Edison had al
ready accomplished with the aid of his
model electrical balloon. His Iabora-
tory was carefully guarded against the
invasion of the curious, because he
rightly felt that g. premature announce
ment. which should promise more than
could be actually fulfilled, would at
this critical juncture, plunge man
kind back again into the gulf of de-
spalr, out of which it had just begun
to emerge.
Nevertheless. inklings of the truth
leaked out. The flying machine had
been seen by many persons lowering
by night high above the Orange hills
and disappearing in the faint starlight
as if 1T had gone away into the depths
of space, out of which it would re-
before the morning light had
the east, and be seen settling
down again within the walls that sur
rounded the labora tory of the great in
ventor. AT length the rumor grad
ually deepening into a conviction,
spread that Edison himself, accom-
panied by a few scientific friends, had
made an experimental trip to the moon.
At O time when the spirit of mankind
was less profoundly stirred, such a
story would have been received with
incredulity, but now. rising
on the wings of the new hope that was
buoyng up the earth. this extraordn-
airy rumor became a day star of truth
to the nations.
And it was true. I had myself been
one of the occupants of the car Of
flying Ship Of Space on that night when
it silently left the earth, and rising
out Of the great shadow of the globe
sped on To the moon. We had landed
upon the SCARED and desolate face of
the earth's satellite, and but that there
are greater and more interesting events
the telling of which must not be de-
layed, l should undertake to describe
the particulars of this first visit of men
to another world.
But as I have already intimated