The Ordway new era., 1915-02-19
achievement Of his was the assassina-

achievement of his was the assassina-
tion Of the king and queen of Por-
tugal. 1t was their wedding day All
possible precautions had been taken
against the terrorists, and the way
from the cathedral. through Lfsbon's
streets, was double-banked with troops
while squad of two hundred mounted
troopers surrounded the carriage. Sud-
denly the amazing thing happened.
The, automatic rifles of the troopers
began to go on. as well as the rifles
of the doublebanked infantry in the
immediate vicinity In the excitement
the muzzles OF the exploding rifles
were turned in all directions. The
slaughter was terrible--horses, troops,
spectators. and the king and queen
were riddled with bullets. To coni-
plicate the affair. in different parts OF
the crowds behind the foot soldiers,
two terrorists had bombs explode on
their persons. These bombs they had
intended to throw II they got the op-
portunity. But who was to know this?
The frightful havoc wrought by the
bursting bombs but added to the con-
fusion: 1t was considered part of the
general attack.
And Emil Gluck chuckled and went
his way. He knew. But how was the
world to know? He had stumbled up
on the secret in his old electroplating
shop on Telegraph avenue in the city
of Oakland. 1t happened, at that time,
that wireless telegraph station was
established by the Thurston Power
company close to his shop. In short
time his electroplating vat was put
out Of order. The vat wiring had many
Gluck discovered minute YIELDS at the
Joints in the wiring. These, by lower
ing the resistance, had caused an ex-
cessive current to pass through the
solution, boiling" 1t and spelling the
work. But "what had caused the
welds?" was the question in Gluck's
mind. His reasoning was simple. Be-
fore the establishment OF the wireless
station, the vat had worked woll. Not
untfi after the establishment Of the
wireless station had the vat been
ruined. Therefore, the wireless station
had been the cause. But how? He
quickly answered the question. II an
electric discharge was capable Of oper-
ating coherer across three thousand
miles Of ocean. then. certainly the cleo
tric discharge from the wireless sta
tion four hundred feet away could pro-
duce coherer effects on the bad joints
in the vat wiring.
Gluck thought no more about 1t at
the time. He merely rewired his vat
and went on electroplating. But after
ward. in prison. he remembered the In
cident, and like flash there came into
his mind the full significance Of 1t. He
saw in 1t the silent. secret weapon with
which to revenge himself on the
world. His great discovery, which
died with him, was control over the
direction and scope Of the eleDtric dis
charge. At the time. this was the un-
solved problem Of wireless telegraphy
--as It still is today-but Emil Gluck.
in his prison cell. mastered 1t. And
when he was released. he applied 1t.
It was Emil Gluck that caused the
terrible German-American war, with
the loss Of 5000 lives. and the con-
sumption of almost incalculable treas
ure.e It will be remembered that In
1899 strained relations existed be-
tween the two countries. Germany.
though aggrieved, was not anxious for
crown prince and seven battleships
on friendly visit to the United
States. On the night Of February Is.
the seven warships lay at anchor in
the Hudson opposite New York city.
And on that night. Emil Gluck. alone,
with all his apparatus on board, was
out in launch. This launch. 1t was
afterward proved. was bought by him
from the Ross-Turner company. while
much Of the apparatus he used that
night had been purchased from the
Columbia Electric works. But this
was not known at the time. All that
was known was that the seven battle
ships blew up, one after another. at
per cent OF the crews and officers.
along with the crown prince. perished.
Germany believed that it had been
done by a submarine, and Immediately
declared war. 1t was six months after
Gluck's confession. that she returned
the Philippines and Hawaii to the
United States.
In the meanwhile, Emil Gluck. ma
levolent wizard and arch.hater. travel
ed his whirlwind path OF destruction.
He left no traces. Scientifically thor
ough. he always cleaned up after him
self. His method was to rent room
or house. and secretly to install his
apparatus-which apparatus. by the
way. he so perfected and simplified
that 1t occupied little space. After he
had accomplished his purpose. he care
fully removed the apparatus. He bade
fair to live out long life Of horrible
crime.
The epidemic of the shooting of New