The Savannah morning news., 1901-11-07
Our Daily Short Stories
THE END OF THE EARTH.
BY MILTON GOLDSMITH.
copyright. 1901. by Authors Syndicate,

ger, 200 miles from GouldSdale. There
was a great iron deposit there which
would naturally help to strengthen my
current. A special train containing,
besides Luella and her family, all the
directors of the road made the trip
from Bulger to Gouldsdale amid great
enthusiasm. The train made over 100
miles an hour. 1t could have gone
twice as fast.
l alighted at the terminal and re-
ceived the congratulations of my
friends. Suddenly there was loud re-
port. and the earth shook as in an
earthquake. About mile east of the
spot where my generator had been
buried the ground was torn to atoms.
Rocks and trees were blown to dust,
and large hole told of the force of
the explosion.
1t was surmised that a deposit of
natural gas had been fired by a spark
of my machine and had caused the
trouble.
Sitting with Luella that evening, we
spoke over the incidents of the day,
when the true cause of the explosion
occurred to me.
The sudden wrenching of this vast
electrical energy. from it's accustomed
track and throwing it back into the
earth at right angles to its usual
course must have loosened the cohe-
siveness of the earth's atoms in that
vicinity, and a slight shock had suf-
feed to throw them apart. 1 arose and
walked the floor in agitation. Here
was a. serious menace l had not
thought of. 1 must set to work to de-
wise a plan of repolarizing the cur
rent before allowing it to complete the
circuit.
Kissing Luella good night. I hurried
to my workshop, and looked for my
plans. They were gone! Some mis-
creant, l afterwards learned that it
was George Pierce, had broken into
my shop and stolen my specifications.
He would reap the behefits of my in
vention and thus get his revenge.
With these papers Pierce wnt to Eu-
rope, and saw him no more.
worked for a month on my new
polarizer, and at length announced the
completion of my wonderful scheme.
Orders poured in from all sides. Mr..
Worden erected gigantic factory for
me, and / was happy.
In the meantime Pierce was manu-
featuring the original generators in
Germany and installing them by the
hundreds. l was poWerless to prevent
his rascality. One day the world was
startled by the news of a great earth
quake near Berlin. Scores of houses
We're destroyed and several hundred
people killed. The following week
came the news of a mysterious explo-
sion near Leipsic, and the next day a
CONFUSION which destroyed Roischach,
in Switzerland. Scientists were
stricken dumb. No one could account
for these terrible visitations.
It was Luella who hit upon the true
explanation.
Ben" she said to me one evening,
these explosions are very much like
the one at Bulger. Pierce stole your
plans before you had invented your
poIarizer, and his machines are disin-
tegrating the earth"
by Jove, you are right! l cried
excitedly. HE must be stopped, or the
danger will spread"
But how to stop him? / cabled te
all the scientific and other papers
pointing out the danger in these in
completed generators, but apparently
| the Europeans paid no attention to
my frenzied theories. In America the
work of installation went merrily on
One day there was a terrific explosion
in Louisville. 1t was unaccountable.
FASTENED to that city, and found that
the polarizer had been deliberately
tempered with. In few days came re-
ports from every section of the coun-
try saying that unknown miscreants
had rendered the polarizers useless.
Pierce was truly getting his revenge.
1t was in September. Luella and ]
were to be married on the morrow.
Happiness would have been ours, but
for the terrible excitement we labored
under, owing to these mishaps to the
machines. There were clouds in the
sky storm was brewing. An equi-
| noxial gale had been predicted to sweep
| over America and Europe. We scented
danger in the air.
Don't leave me, dearest" said Luz
ella; II am so afraid without you
There was a flash of lightning and a
| terrific peal of thunder. 1t was as
| though the heavens were falling in.
| The startled servants ran in for pro-
| lection. Mr.. Worden and his family
came into the room excitedly.
MY God Ben cried WordeE.
there is going to be catastrophe!
| / feel ii in the air'
II fear there will be-" replied.
| Another fash! Then a sudden, pro-
longed roar, ripping, tearing noise,
| a rushing as of water-and / knew no
more.
| Since becoming a spirit have learn
ed the truth. The earth, weakened by
! the loss of her electricity, torn by the
| conflicting currents, became an easy
prey to that terrific storm, and flew
| into atoms. That luminous trail OF
molecular dust which you can see yon-
| der is all that is left of the earth, with
all her glory.
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