The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-18
XlI-BETTER THAN ALCHEMY.

tery of DIR. Syxs wonderful mine.
XlI-BETTER THAN ALCHEMY.
1 come now to part of my narrative
which would have been deemed altogether
incredible in those closing years of the
nineteenth century that witnessed the first
steps toward the solution of the deepest
mysteries of the ether; although men even
then held in their hands. without knowing
it, powers which, after they had been mas
tered and before use had made them famil-
lar, seemed no less than godlike.
For six months after Halls departure for
San Francisco / heard nothing from him.
Notwithstanding my intense desire TO know
what he was doing. l did not seek to dis
turb him in his retirement In the mean
time things ran on as usual in the world,
only ripple being caused by renewed dis
coyeries Of small nuggets Of artemisum on
the Tetons, a fact which recalled to my
mind the remark Of my friend when he dis
lodged a flake of the metal from a crevice
during our ascent of the peak. At last
one day received this telegram at my Of
fee in New York:
San Francisco, May 16, 1910.
Come at once. The mystery is solved.
'(Signed) HALL"
AS SOON dS COulu pack grip Wis ny =
ing westward 100 miles an hour. On reach
ing San Francisco which had made enor-
nous strides since the opening Of the
twentieth century, owing to the extension
OF our Oriental possessions. and which al
ready ranked with New York and Chicago
among the financial capitals of the world
I FASTENED to Halls laboratory He was
there expecting me. and after a hearty
greeting, during which his citation over his
success was manifest, he said:
Il am compelled to ask you to make a
little journey. l found it impossible to
secure tho necessary privacy here, and
before opening my experiments, / selected
site for new laboratory in an unfre-
Quented spot among the mountains this
side OF Lake Tahoe. You will be the first
man, with the exception Of my two devot-
ed assistants, to see my apparatus, and you
shall share the sensation Of the critical ex-
pertinent"
Then you have not yet completed your
solution Of the secret
Yes. have: for l am as certain of the
result as II / had seen it, but 1 thought
you were entitled to be in with me at the
death"
From the nearest railway station We took
horses to the laboratory. which occupied a
secluded but most beautiful site at an ele-
walton of about 5000 feet above sea level.
With considerable surprise / noticed a
building surmounted with a dome, recall
ing what We had seen from the Grand Te-
ton on the roof of DIR. Syx's mill. Hall,
observing my look, smiled significantly, but
said nothing. The laboratory proper occu-
pied smaller building adjoining the domed
structure. Hall led the way into an apart
ment having but single door and illumi-
mated by a skylight.
This is my sanctum sanctorum," he
said, land you are the first outsider to en-
ter it Seat yourself comfortably while /
proceed to unveil a little corner OF the ar
temisium mystery"
Near one end of the room, which was
about thirty feet in length, was a table on
which lay glass tube about two inches
in diameter and thirty inches long. In the
further end of the tube CLEANED lump OF
yellow metal which took II be gold. Hall
and l were seated near another table about
twenty-five feet distant from the tube,
and on this table was an apparatus fur
nished with a concave mirror, whose opti-
cal axis was directed toward the tube. 1t
occurred to me at once that this appara-
tus would be suitable for experimenting
with electric waves. Wires ran from IL TO
the floor and in the cellar beneath was
audible the beating of an engine. Ny COM
parion made an adjustment or two and
then remarked:
Now, keep your eyes on the lump OF
gold in the further end of the tube yon-
der. The tube is exhausted OF air, and
am about to concentrate upon the gold an
intense electric influence which will have
the effect of making it a kind of kathode
pole. only use this term for the sake of
illustration. You will recall that as long
as the days of Crooks it was known that a
kathode in an exhausted tube would pro-
ject particles, or atoms, OF its substance
AWAY in straight lines. Now watch"
I fixed my attention upon the gold and
presently saw il enyeloped in a most
beautiful violet light. This grew more in
tense until at times, it was binding,
while. at the same moment, the interior
Of the tube seemed to have become
charged with luminous vapOr of deli
cate pinkish hue.
Watch. Watch" said Hall. Look at
the nearer end of the tube!"
why it is becoming coated with gold!'
] exclaimed.
He smiled, but made no reply. Still the
strange process continued. The pink va
Dor became so dense that the lump of gold
was no longer visible, although the eye OF
violet light glared piercingly through the
colored fog Every second the deposit of
metal, shining like mirror, increased,
until suddenly there came curious
whistliag sound. Hall, who had been ad-
tusting the mirror. jerked away his hand
and gave 1t Zip, as II hot water had
spattered it, aud then the light in the
tube quickly died away. the vapor es-
capped, filling the room with q peculiar
stfmulat ting cdor, and / perceived that the
end Of the glass tube had been melted
through, and the molten gold was slowly
dripping from 1t.
Il carried it a little too far" said Hall.
ruefully rubbing the back of his hand,
and when the glass gave way under the
atomic bombardmcnt a few atoms of gold
visited my bones. But there is no harm
done, You observe that the instant the
air reached the lSathode. as for conven-
fence call the electrified mss OF gold, the
action ceased"
But your anode to continue your sim
iIe," said. lis constantly exposed to the
air.
True" he replied, "but in the first
place, of course, this is not really an anode.
just as the other is not actually kathode.
AS science advances We are compelled for
time. TO use old terms in a new sense until
a fresh nomenclature can he invented. But
we are now dealing with form Of electric
action more subtitle In its effects than any
at preeent described in the textbooks and
the transactions Of learned societies.
have not yet even attempted to work out
the theory Of it. am only concerned with
fits facts"
Bat. wonderful 40 the exhibition you
have given is. do not see." said, how 1t
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