San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-03-11
THE CITY ABOVE THE. CLOUDS By John Henry Ma

Two years before when he was
I Secretary Of the Interior, Ire
| ver signed the permit authorizing
tie erection Of these works plan
/ ned by Avery upon which count
less millions were to be expend-
I'd. You can buy anything for
money" "Oh, II you are talking
politics.
We laughed. They were max
ing fun Of me. Usually enthus-
iasm. One boosted Of the boldness
Of the scheme which Avery would
leave to the United States when he
( Did, upon certain well settled con-
ditions. Another looking for the
utility Of the scheme discovered it
thus: "The Secretary Of War Of
/ the United States could use it for
the national defense, it would be
station for dirigibles and the direc-
tor Of the National Observatory
could have his telescopes erected
! on top Of It,"
All walked on, studying the diff
ferent parts Of the structure. !
alone was left standing beside that
strange monster stretched out at
4 my feet. Leaning forward I stud
fed that strange metal carcass. The
|, sound Of = car on = track made
me raise my head. saw before
k me one Of those cars that were
\ running hither' and thither all over
the building for carrying men and
material. This one seemed to slow
\ down when It came to me as If in
4 viting me to- 30 on It and look over
an the strange works. A sudden,
unfortunate idea jumped to my
mind: leaping on the car I let
4 myself be taken I knew not wither.
Had It expected me TO do this
vsry thing! It certainly seemed
%, for II jumped into whirling
speed at once. The road followed
3 by that diabofcal vehicle was
through the swaying thousand
girders, Nike the Russian mountains
! for I had mounted 1t on the sum-
NIT Of . curve and all at once 1t
plunged down, passing almost mi
,seulously through the web Of
hon-work, where the trip-ham-
mers resounded frightfully. In a
few minutes I lost sight Of the Of
fetal crowd, on which I had turn
Cd my back, and Jumping from
peak to peak, plunged into abyss,
after abyss, and after one ascent,
sleeper than all the others I found
myself slowed up gradually on a
kind Of cement platform at the
foot Of q granite wall.
All around me, were the endless
forest Of that mental giant. Turn
ing my head I saw that the plat
form on which I had landed was
an unfinished part Of the boule-
ward which encircled the tower;
below me was the country, spread
ing out six thousand feet below.
Mastering my terror, and turn
ing halfway around, with my
hands stretched out on the wall
which I had just reached, I walk
ed cautiously, as fast as could
towards the center Of the tower.
/ walked this way about a quarter
of an hour and began to under
stand that instead Of the wall
where I had landed being the out
side of the highest platform Of the
tower, really turned towards the
circular boulevard, interrupting its
curve. I dared to raise my eyes:
saw with surprise that there were
larger trees, without leaves reach
ing above the wall to which 1 had
come.
A garden! At this height, uni
que in all this stretch of metal,
what was the meaning of the gar
den? It must be quite large to
Judge from the length of the wall
around it. With all my ideas mix
cd up, utterly confused I looked
In every direction about me. What
perfidious act of fate was it that
Just at this moment of uncertainty
and surprise / saw a ladder which
had been east aside by some work.
men on the boulevard, the sight of
which decided me. In a second l
aad picked it up, put it in a posi-
Aion, and climbing hastily from
step to step, I reached the top of
the wall, where / could look into
the garden.
Through the leafless limbs / saw
vast sward, a fountain and
lake. and nanv other great trees,