The Washington times., 1912-02-23

L
| with which this effusion of vRude-
vile genius was greeted showed
| .. the cheerful spirit In which the
| public took the affair. No harm seemed
TO have come to the Ignorant masses
| yet.
| hut the next morning there was sus-
EiciOus change IN the popular mind,
| People were surprised to see new posters
IN place OF tile old ones. mere lurid in
letters and language than the original.
The morning papers had columns Of lie.
kcriptiuh and eommcnt, and some Of
| them secIiInd disposed TO treat the
prophet and his prediction with a cer-
ltln dcgres Of seriousness.
| The sHvunts who had beer interview
cd over night did not talk very con-
! Nncmgly, aud made the mistake OF
innEing ,Iontempt, On both Cosmo and
| the gnlltbls public"
for that, and the pendulum of opinion
began 10 swing the other way. CosEo
| 1elned tho Gauss by. sending to every
intwshaper Garnf'lliy prepnred state
nlent Of his observations and calcula-
tiohs, III which lie spoke with such force
m conviction that few could read his
words without feeling d thrill of appre-
Cd BY SaSsheG dhs dssacses f s'rG%EEh WITH
showed that ne had forwarded his warn
lngs to all the well-knowr scientific
bodies Of :he world, which. while iecry-
ihE UlauS GTISCIVe response
And there was note q positive alarm
n donble-headed bulletin from the
new observatory at Mt. Mckinley,
which noirm9d that during the pre3ed-
cnspectetl In the northern sky, seeming
to veil many. stars below tho twelfth
MAGNITUDE. 1t was added that the
nhenonien"n was unprecedented, but
that the observation was both difficult
| and uncertain.
Nowhere was the atmosphere OF doubt
and mystery. which now began to hang
eyer, %y.I, the \. pnhlig: go Iem,arkahle as in
there responded like electric waves to
| the new Influence, and, to the dismay
of hard-hcndrd observers, the market
dropped as If it had been hit with a
sledgG-hanmer. Stocks Nent down 8.
10, in some cases. 20, points in as many
minutes.
The speculative issues slid down Ike
wheat into bin when the chutes are
opened. Nobody could trace the exact
origin of the movement, but selling or
ders come tumbling in until there was a
veritable panic.
From London. Paris, Berlin. Vienna,
ST. Petersburg flashed dispatches an
| nouncing that the same unreasona BILE
| slump mad manifested itself there, and
all united In holding Cosmo Versal sole
| ly responsible for the foolish break in
| prices. Leaders of finance rushed to the
exchanges trying by arguments and ex-
| postulations to arrest the downfall, but
| in vain.
In the afternoon, however, reason par
tally resumed its sway; then a quick
| recovery was felt and many who had
rushed to sell all they had found cause
! to regret their precipitancy. The next
| day all was on the mend, as far as the
| stock market was concerned, but among
| the people at large the poison of awak-
ening credulity continued to spread,
nourished by fresh announcements from
| the fountain-head.
(NngTDn M tnf q Ia
| effect that he had perfected plans for
an ark of safety. which he would begin
| at once to construct In the neighbor rhood
of New York, and he not only offered
! freely to give his plans to any who
| wished to commence construction on
| their own account, but he urged them,
! in the name of heaven, to lose no time.
This produced prodigious effect, and
| multitudes began to be Infected with a
| nameless fear.
Meanwhile an extraordinary scene oc-
CURED behind closed doors at the head
quarters of the Carnegie Institution in
Washington. Joseph Smith, acting un-
der COsmo Versars direction, had for
! waTded an elaborate preCis of the lat
| ters argument, accompanied with full
mathematical details, to the head of the
| institution. The character of this docu-
| ment was such that it could not be
! ignored. Moreover, the savants COM
! posing the council of the most impOr-
tant Scientific association in the world
|
mind, and felt that It was incumbent
| upon them to do something to allay the
! alarm. OF late years sort of super
visOry control over scientific news of
| all kinds had been accorded TO them
and they appreciated the fact that Il
duty now rested upon their shoulders.
Accordingly a special meeting was
called to consider the communication
from Cosmo Versal II was the general
belief that a little critical examination
you'd result In complete proof of the
fallacy of all his work, proof which
could be put in the fern that the most
unirstl uCted could understand.
But the papers, diagrams and mathc-
! matical fJrmulue had no "Doner been
spread upon the table under the know
ing eyes Of tho learned members of the
council than a chill of conscious i'm
| puiSsanCc ran through them They saw
that Cosmos mathe mates were uniIn-
pea chable. His formulae were accurate
| ly correct.
| They could do nothing but attack his
| fundamental data, based on the alleged
| revClatiOrs of his new form of spectre
| scope and on telescope observations
which were described in so much de-
! tail that the only way to combat th2m
was by the general assertion that they
| were !llr sorry. This was felt to be very
| unsatisfactory methoi OF procedure. as
far rs, the public was concerned, be-
| cause IT amounted to no more than at
| tacSing the credibility Of a witness who
pretended to describe only what he him
self had scotland there Is nothing SO
! hard as to prove a negative.
Then Ccsmo had on his side the whole
| force of that curious tendency OF the
human mind which habitually gravitates
| toward whatever is extraordinary, rcvo-
| lutionary and mysterious.
Rut a yet greater difficulty arose.
Merton had been made of the strange
! bulletin from tile Mt Mckinley OBJ
servatory That had been lnCautiously
sent 0Ut to tlo pnbllC by a thoughtlcSS
observer, who was more intent upOn de-
scribnR a singular henOmCnon than
| GECn considering ills possible effect on