The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-25

er was another man who looked like DR.
Syx. And besides, was it not demonstra-
bic that he must have persisted in the aw-
full destruction of his mill?
| Soon after came a report that DR.. syn
had been seen again, this time at Ekat-
| erinburg in the Urals. Next he was said
| to have paid visit to Batang. in the
mountainous district of southwestern
| China, and finally according to rumor, be
| was seen in Sicily, at Nicolosi, among the
| volcanic pimples on the southern slope
of Mount Etna.
Next followed something of more curl
Gus, and even startling interest. A che
mist at Budapest, where the first rumorS
of Syx's temperance had placed the
| mysterious doctor, announced that he
! could produce artemisium, and proved it
although he kept his process secret.
Hardly had the sensation caused by this
news partially subsidized when a sim lar
report arrived from Ekaterinburg: then
another from Batang; after that fourth
from Nicoiosi!
Nobody could fail to notice the COIN
cidence; wherever the doctor-or was ii
his ghost appeared, there, shortly af-
terward, somebody discovered the much
sought secret.
After this Syx's apparitions rapidly
increased in frequency. followed in each
other productive artemisium mill. He
appeared in Germany. Italy, France.
England, and finally at many places in
the United States.
1T is the old doctors revenge" said
Hall to me one day. trying to smile, al
| though the matter was too serious to be
taken humorously. Yes, it is his re-
venge, and / must admit that it is COM
plcte. The price Of artemisium has fall
| en- one-half price within six months. All
| the efforts We have made to hold back tha
| food have proved useless. The secret
| itself lis becoming public property. We
artemisium just IS we were with gold,
| and the last condition of the financial
world will be worse than the first"
My friends gloomy representations
came near being fulfilled to the letter.
Ten thousand artemisium mills shot their
etheric rays upon the moon and an un-
fortunate satellites metal ribs were
stripped by atomic force. Some of the
great white rays that had been one of the
telescope wonders of the lunar landscapes
disappeared, and the face OF the moon,
which had remained unchanged before
the eyes OF the children of Adam from
the beginning of their race, now looked as
If the blast of a furnace had swept 1t.
At night, on the moonward side, the
earth was studded with brilliant spikes,
all pointed at the heart of its child in the
Sky.
But the lcoting OF the moon brought
disaster to the robber planet. So mad
were the efforts to get the precious metal
that the surface of our globe was fairly
showered with it, productive fields were,
in some cases. almost smothered under a
metallic coating. the air was filled with
shining dust, until finally famine and pes
thence Joined hands with financial disas-
ter to punish the grasping world.
Then. at last, the various governments
took effective measures to protect hem
selves and their people. Another COM
bined effort resulted in an international
agreement whereby the production Of the
precious moon metal was once more
rigidly controlled. But the existence of a
monopoly such as DR.. Syx had SO long
enjoyed and in the enjoyment of which
Andrew Hall had for brief period sue
ceeded him was henceforth rendered i'm
possible.