Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-01-22

liner. from creeping Jungle streams to
roaring glacial torrents, from desert
city to forest town In a score of diff.
ferent languages news urchlns wildly
shrieked OF softly lisped their lex.
tras," In many cases the first and last
edition extraordinary the ~populace
ever heard Of during their lives. The
earth had been brushed by another
celestial body which had passed 1t SO
closely that Its roar had deafened and
its breath overwhelmed even to the
death scores of human beings way up
on the back bone Of the North Ameri.
a continent. Buildings had been
crushed like trampled eggs, trees torn
up by their roots as dentists pull
teeth from their sockets, while dust
whisked from the visitor as by a
mammoth broom had fallen and car
peted a large section Of the earth
with a coverlet as thick and soft as
a feather bed. The earth had shud.
dered like a horse dashed with a whip,
tidal waves had run riot and total
humiliation had only been prevented
by mere chance, good luck, miscalcu.
lation, Divine mercy, or as one Italian
paper naively put 1t, by the foresight
and prompt action Of Signor Desmond.
the d~iscoverer." Not a telegraph, tel.
ephone. cable or wireless upon the
world but buzzed and cracked with
the tremendous news. and every OBJ.
s%ervatory In the world where the at.
mosphere was clear or the view un.
~obstructed had Its great telescope
trained like a hostile cannon upon the
supposed path of the departed body.
Yet not a trace Of 1t did they find, and
more astonishing still, the microreflec-
toscope did not register 1t. Where It
had gone was as great a mystery as
from whence 1t had come, and all the
wise savants Of the long tubes could
do was wag their heads and form
their own opinions. Some came bold
ly forth with explanations closely CO.
incidihg with Professor Desmond's.
others held Numerically opposite
opinions, while still others-and per.
haps these gentlemen were the wisest
of all-withdrew themselves clam
like into their shells of reserve and
refused to be cajoled forth by the
most tempting Of batteries or the most
exasperating Of proddings. But great
day as 1t was for the press and the
wire, 1t was still greater for certain
Of the Adventists. To them the fail
ure Of the world to be destroyed was
but a temporary encouragement, fully
Offset by the certainty that the first
small body had been but a herald to
warn the earth Of the larger and close
following one which was to destroy
it. Great day. also, It was for the
dead and injured, for their names
were blazoned In great type the world
around; In fact 1t was a great day for
almost everybody.
And then close following the first
announcement of the passing of the
worlds in the night came a second
scarcely less startling or spectacular
The earth had at large upon 1t a new
and marvellous being, in fact a former
inhabitant Of the other sphere who
had been blown of, fallen of, jumped
off or in some other manner dislodged
from his native habitat, and who was
now stalking abroad in the land Of the
free seeking whom he might devour
He was seven feet tall, reddish
brown In color, monkeyish Of limbs
and had pinions that spread over
thirty feet. He had been seen by al
least a dozen reputable ca citizens
some Of whom had fought a duel with
him in which he had escaped after
being severely wounded. This caused
a great roar of laughter, especially
in foreign countries, and the newspa
pers Of the world treated the story
according to their national character
istics. The British press treated II
with cold sarcasm and deep regret al
the yellow journalism Of the Ameri.
car newspapers, the French with
shrieks Of derision, the Latins with
insolent abuse and the Germans with
utter contempt. The Yankees were
out. Yankeeing themselves. they were
making themselves ridiculous, they
were comedians unapproachable, they
were contemplate braggarts, or they
were great dunnerheads, according to
the nationality Of the sheet that
printed the item. Instantly the car
toonists came into their own and for
a day the world was theirs. The Fly.
ing Man a depleted In every con
ceivable shape that their vivid imag.
nations could conceive. He looked
like an eagle. q crow. . rooster, @
crane. a bat. a demon, an angel
Learned Judges cracked p%onderoua
Jokes at his expense. the ministry
used him to point a moral and adorn a
tale, mothers employed him as a bug
aboo to Brighten their children and
the Congressional clown pretended to
try and get a law passed whereby the
Government should provide him free
transportation back to his own land.
Far and wide dime showmen exhibit.
ed huge pictures Of him and an
nounced his presence in chains with.
in their tents. and that chains did
really rattle within, those without
could readily hear. Even in the city
where he had appeared his existence
was generally d~iscredited, notwith.
| .kuaAtA- tL- -.-tNa1. -@- $1,000