The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-08-02
10000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
BY JULES VERNE
Condensation by James 3. Connolly

Condensation by
I was leaning forward on the star
board bulwark. my servant Conseil
beside me, when the voice Of Ned
Land, the big harpooner, broke the
silence. Look! There is the thing
We are looking for" he cried.
We all saw the sea monster, or
whatever it was, which we had been
hunting for months. 1t made off as We
charged. We gave chase. Throughout
all that night and next day we pur-
sued. We stopped. 1t stopped. Once
1t allowed us to creep close to it; and
as we crept, it rammed us.
The shock Of the collision threw me
into the sea. l should have drowned
but for my faithful Conseil. He sup
ported me to the hard metallic back
of the monster Here we We're joined
by Ned Land AS we were resting
there, eight masked men came through
a hatch and drew US down into the
bowels Of what we now saw was not
monster, but a strange kind OF sea
craft. Thus began the strange voyage
with that remarkable character who
called himself Captain Memo, and i'll
that strange wonderful ship which
he called the Nautilus.
The Nautilus was cigar-shaped steel
ship Of 1872 feet in length, 26 feet
beam and 1900 tons dead weight.
There were two hulls, one inside the
other, Joined by T-shaped irons, which
rendered them Of almost uncrushlble
strength. She was driven by electric
engines of tremendous power. Tanks
which could be filled or emptted at
will enabled her to cruise on the sur
face or under the water as she pleased.
She was fitted with all kinds Of
working and lounging quarters. In a
library were books on the sciences,
morals and literature of almost every
language. There was a drawing room
with a luminous ceiling which also
served as a museum, and into which
an intelligent hand had gathered sub
marine treasures Of the world; the
rarest shells, pearls of all colors and
beyond price, every variety of under
sea vegetation; also paintings Of the
masters. admirable statues in marble
and bronze, a great organ piano.
From the inside Of her a staircase
led to a platform or deck from which
rose two cages, partly enclosed by
thick glass. One cage was for the
helmsman, the other contained an cleo
trio searchlight to light the course OF
the ship IN dark waters. On this plat
form also was a place wherein was
stored long boat.
Captain Memo was tall and robustly
built, with pale skin, lofty brow, and
the fine taper hands Of a highly ner
vous temperament He spoke French
English, German, Latin, all equally
well. He may have been thirty-tive
he may have been fifty years of age
1t was on November 6, 1866, with
! the coast of Japan in view, that this
strange captain told us we were pris
oners for him to do with as he pleased
And now he added, "our course is
E. N E. and our cruising depth 2t
| fathoms. l leave you to the resources
OF these quarters and your own re
| flections.'
We remained mute, not knowing
what surprise awaited U.S. Suddenly
dazzling light broke in on us We
saw that only two glass panels sep
| arated us from a sea which was !llu
| minated far to either side by the pow
ertul electric CLEANS from the ship
What spectacle! An army OF un
| dersea creatures escorted US They
were various and beautiful in the clea,
| water, many known, but hundreds un
known to US. We heard and saw moth
ing of the captain for several days;
then came note inviting US to a hun,
on the bottom Of the sea- We donnec
| diving suits, then fastened on a sor1
of knapsack which furnished US not
only with air to breathe, but with light
to see our way. We carried air-guns
which fired glass bullets heavily
charged with electricity, which hat
only to touch the most powerful ami
NAL to kill him A connecting apart
ment filled with water let US into the
sea. And thus equipped, wading or
the bottom of the clear ocean, we kill
| ed our game with ease and without
| danger.
That hunt was but the first Of the
wonders of that cruise Onward we
rushed, sometimes on the surface
sometimes under the sea. There was
our fight with the immense devil-fish
which once in a huge school enmesheG
| the Nautilus. There was the visit
to a wonderful pearl fishery, where
Captain Memo showed US a molluse
within whose jaws was a pearl weigh
| lug pCAIdpS ooo pOuluS. some Qdy he
would return and pluck that treasure
but not yet-every year was adding
to its value. We visited the skeletons
Of long sunken ships. the corpses oil
the drowned crew still clinging to the
hulls Of some. We hunted in the Pap
uan Islands, where the Nautilus was
attacked by the native savages. Ar
electric current turned them back
| shocked
climb aboard.
| When one of the crew died Captain
Memo. had him buried in a coral glade
in the South Pacific, where was a
cross of red coral that looked like
petrtfied blood. 1t was a wonderful
solemn sight to see the pail bearers
with the dead body on their shoulders
and all treading SO reverentially the
way from the ship to the coral Gem
| etery, where at the foot Of the cross
! the body was inferred and covered