The Norfolk weekly news., 1900-11-15

coverics he IL first ridiCuled then
when the truth of what he aflirms /,
! proved, there rise in all parts of the
world other men who say they knew all
about IL ten years ago and will prove it,
| too at least far enough TO delude n
! gulible world; in the second place, be-
cause | am humane man | hesitate
/ to spread broadcast u knowledge that
would enable any fool TO blow up the
universe. Then there is third rea-
son. There is another who, | believe,
has discovered how To make this force
loosen its grip on the particle--tha is
Keely of Philadelphia, in the United
States -
"What You don't mean the Keely
motor MANI" cried Jennie, laughing.
THAT arrant humbugl Why, all the
papers in the world have exposed his
ridiculous pretensions He has done
nothing but spend other people mon
ey."
"Yes the newspapers have ridiculcd
him. Human beings have, since the be-
ginning of the world, stoned their
prophets. Nevertheless, he has liberated
force that no gauge made by man can
measure. He has been boastful, if you
like, and has said that with "A toacupful
of water he would drive steamship
over the ocean. | have been silent,
working away with my eye on him.
and he has been working away with his
eye on me, for each knows what the
other is doing If either of us discovers
how to control this force, then that
man's name will go down to posterity
forever. He has not yet been able to do
it; neither have l. There Is still another
difference between us-he appears to be
able to loosen that force in his own
presence; / can only do it at distance.
All my experiments lately have been in
the direction of making notifications
with this machine, 80 as to liberate the
force within the the compass, say, Of
this room but the problem has bnffled
me. The invisible rays which this ma
chine sends out and which will pene-
trate stone, iron, wood or any other
substance must unite at focus, and
have not been able to bring that focus
nearer me than something over half a
mile.
Last summer went to an uninhab-
tied part of Switzerland and there con.
tinued my experiments. l blew up at
will rocks and powders on the noun
tain sides, the distances varying from
Il mile to half mile. l examined the
results Of the disintegration, and when
you came in and showed me the gold l
recognized at once that some one had
discovered the secret have been trying
to fathom for the last ten years. |
thought that perhaps you had come
from Keely. l am now convinced that
the explosion you speak of in the treas
ury was caused by myself. This ma
chine, which you 80 recklessly threaten
ed to throw out of the window, acct
dentally slipped from its support when
/ was working here some time after
midnight on the 18th. placed it i'm
mediately as you see it now, where it
throws its rays into midair and is con-
sequently harmless, but l knew an ex-
plosion must have taken place in Wen
na somewhere within the radius of half
mile. l drew the pencil semicircle
that you saw on the map Of Vienna,
for in my excitement in placing the
machine upright | had not noticed ex-
actly where it had pointed, but | knew
along the line | had drawn an explosion
must have occurred and could only
hope that it had not been a serious one,
which it seems it was. | waited and
waited, hardly daring to leave my attic,
but hearing no news of any disaster
was torn between the anxiety that
would naturally come to any humane
man in my position-who did not wish
to destroy life-and the fear that If
nothing had occurred, had not ac.
tually made the discovery thought |
had made. You spoke of my actions be-
ing childish, but when realized that
had myself been the cause of the explo-
sion fear Of criminal prosecution
came over me- Not that ] should OBJ
ject to imprisonment if they would al
low me to continue my experiments,
but that doubtless they would not do,
for the authorities know nothing of sci
ence and care less. -
In spite of her initial skepticism.
Jennie found herself gradually coming
to believe in the efficiency of the harm
less looking mechanism Of glass and
iron that she saw on the table before
her, and sensation Of horror held her
spellbound as she gazed at it, Its awful
possibilities began slowly to develop in
her mind, and she asked breathlessly:
'eWhat would happen if you We're to
turn that machine and point it toward
the center of the earth? p
81 told you what would happen. vi
emma would lie in ruins, and possibly
the whole Austrian empire and perhaps
some adjoining countries would become
a mass of impalpable dust. 1t may be
that the world itself would dissolve. l
cannot tell what the magnitude of the
result might be- for have not dared to
risk the experiment.
"Oh, this is too frightful to think
about - she cried. "You must destroy
the machine, professor, and you must
never make another"