The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-08-26
VIZ OWE TO JULES VERNE.
NE Has Lived 70 See Inc nesi1yatisn -
some o. lfs widest Dveams.

Nc Has Lived 20 Zee the neensauen -
seme Of lsis widest Dreams.
From fAs Figaro.
There II no sxAggeration In q aging that
some OF the most extraordinary prophecies
OF jules Verne regarding travel and scien-
tifc achievements have already been real
ised or are on the eve Of realization. In
deed. at times. the reality seems to have
surpassed his most fa~tastic flights
IL h enough almost TO make one suspect
that he has found In tho depths Of the myS-
FERROUS grottos where Capt. Memo used TO
hide his treasures. the magic amulet which
gives the key TO the secrets Of the future.
Has not Cap. Hst,eras had hundreds
Of efnulators1 None Of them. Of course.
has. a. yot. reached the supreme objec;
Of labs desires the Intangible Pole. but.
following his footsteps In the line Of the
direction Of the magnetic needle. have they
not all more or le-s approached ~ Does
not IN. story Of the voyage of the Belg'ca
through the ice Of the Antarctic Ctrcie
resemble a psge torn out Of the sphinx
des Olacs~?- Did not fnthjof Nan-en, IA
the course Of his northern odyssey. have
10 make a voysge. just like that Of tn"
hero Of the PAYS des fouuur-- ON hoard
q floating ic-bergi
And has not the fnprt unpTrtrubiou.
hospital or the humble-t laboratory, thanks
TO Paul Bert the means at its disposal TO
invest with reality the paradoxical chimera
of Doctor OF. not 20 mention the oxygen
that 10 cold In -iphons and tuhes. while
We are waiting for the liquetaction Of the
permanent ga-es to give us the sea air or
the mountain air al home within the reach
of everybody
- A. N4... Nlll. 1890
ao,- l-~ Mer-Y" Why. everybody knows
that. II the idea IL not yet public property.
the Ministry Of the Navy. at least. has real
lied II That Ministry now nuns about
under water In the forms and appearances
OF | know not how many submarine torpedo
boats, always ready 10 burst the paunch
Of the warships that cOIne within their
reach II IL some time ago. by the way.
slncs the writer Of These lines earned the
right 20 affirm from personal experience
tthe Oldest readers Of this Figaro may, per
hap~. remember A. that one can, with I'M
punity. breathe. live. ~r,te de-patche-,
and even drink champagne. thirty me'rrs
under the sea
And even before the lote Gustave hous-
seau, NJ Moi-sin, NJ Ma JoranA. and per
haps Others. had learned 20 make = reality.
like the chemist 81 the ''Ftoile du Sud. - Of the
-ynthesi- Of the diamond. Hubtes and sap
phires. made artihcially. were. under the
hand OF my friend. Maiche, common objects
In the market.
The modern cannon. with a range OF
from fifteen 20 twenty kilometres, the
melenit- shells, the AERIAL torpcdo.-, nc
are. ! imagine. the equivalents 81 the ianci-
full c~annonade- 81 tho "'inq Cents MiUiois
de Ia Begun The CITY - Steel, % he II said
in passing, resembles. - -trikingly a. Ia Ia
almost confounded with II. the industrial g.
Establishment governed by Andrew Oarnegi".
Pterpont Morgan6Co Even me legendaIy
as~phytiating bomb. capable Of dealing
death without pain. and al long range.
~ scarcely different from the nitnte OF
anyl proJectiles proposed. win neither
laughter nor tears, 10y the electrician
Edward Weston. -
We have also Gina Semaine- en- Ballon v
Everybody knows that marNellous tale.
the t-.st. perhaps. Of the n~inety mine which;
up To date. have come from the iruitrhl
pen Of jules Verne Two epic English
men, accompanied bv Joe, a servant OF
the same stamp. attempted Ia 90 across
Africa In a balloon. To he sure they had
not found out the secret OF steering balloons.
but they put their faith in their star and
In the atmospheric currents Convinced
that they had only 20 seek In the vertical
plane tho one among the many ruperposcd
and contradictory AERIAL currents which
would lead them In the e direcnon.
they constructed an aeros:at, and on they
went. Starting from Zanzibar. they SCARED
after many dramatic twists and turns
above the solid mass Of kilmandjaro. over
III. country 81 the Nyam-Nyams. above
lANhf lflNhNl aNNi NV fAAk 49,
AZ last resched some point In French S"ne-
gambia
The whole story hcar- a singular resem-
blanc. Ia a pi.Sc ui literary insanity ana
the few pontifs who deigned 20 cast their
eyes over the book. hsst"ned To conlnde.
with a disiainful grimace, that such things
hspUen only IN rumanc's. Well, leg a
Ssnd pardons Of the pontin-, hut re
-idee NJ Henry de- la NaulN, Who Is ge'ung
ready "a lump over the Mediterranean.
! know thrr. good Frrnchmen. three dis
tinguish.d officers. NM hour~t, Leo ll"s
and Dihoe, who are ready 10 attempt the
aerial trip across the Dark continent on
an absolutely similar plan, Win the eN-
ccpiion 81 a fow minor details II even seems
"a iAe that the Municipal Council OF Paris
has Subsidized the enterprise. A. any ratr'
n II has refused to do 80, u has lone wrong
There IL not one 81 jules Verne WORKS,
even the VOYAGE an Centre a" In Terre'-
the most extraordinary pi them all Nhlch
has not heen taken up and seriously die
cus~sd. We were even on . the point OF
seeing that one rralized In the form 81 a
we'll n kiloinct r. and a hall deep. AZ IN"
late Exposition, under the auspices 81 an
amulator Of Jules Verne. VI Andre laurie,
alias Paschal Grou--el The latter more,
over. had only appropriated ana r'hnc'n
the grand conception ot an Argentin" doc.
tor. NJ. J j Martinez. who drcam~d OF
nothing less than piercing the world through
and through
Positively. Jules Verne. with his amusing
aud suggestive fCtiuns ha- more than once
Inspired -rienc. and industry Nor" than
ono. has he e~ngrnd"rcd miracles hN mag
ininy them IN advanc. But that T. not N"
greatest 81 the services which he has rem
dcrsi The immortal mert al ms work
consists In hi. having created a new state ~
mind hv enlarging the horizon ~ n too
much .,av-at -hotne race. and miresnatins
Vooation- ignorant Of their own capabilities
with en.rgic- which. had n not b'Fn Tor
him, would have remained latent or sterile
l. il no, "a him tha. the new generations
owe. in a larg" measure, the movement oi
expansion which draws them on To fruitful
crisad,- for the pacific conquest oi the
world. and all Tor the great hen"h' o' CIVIL
~izationY
II would be diHicult 20 estimate the
results witch the works 81 jules Verne
have achieved In IN" Illumination of minds
EuVN GarTIpR.