Evening star., 1934-11-04

toward IQe Close OF tlle CWeHIleLl
century and it is possible that auto
mobiles are to vanish from the earth
Few drivers would admit such pos
sibility. Those who contemplate ulti-
mate failure of the gasoline supply
have confidence that inventors will
perfect an electrically propelled vehicle
which may even draw its power from
invisible elements in the air.
Strangely enough. the utilization Of
such a force is contemplated in the
book. Mr. Donnelly lights the streets
of New York, then a city Of 10000 900
population, with electricity obtained
from the northern fights!
AS an excuse for his omissions, the
theory may be advanced that too vivid
an Imagination. with myriads Of
strange inventions, might have des-
troyed the purpose of the book-clut-
tered it up with so many impossible"
devices that it would have been
branded 100 per cent nonsense 1t
was written as an iconoclastic work,
to rally Americans against the en-
slavement of labor and to point out
the evils Of tremendous wealth in the
hands of a few. 1t had to be popular
or fail. Caesars Column" did have
quite vogue.
Air-Minded in 1880s.
The mind of the public in the 188os
could readily grasp prophecies of great
strides in aviation. The Nation vas
Misunderstanding lighter than
air minded. The aeronauts of the
day were building great balloons and
greater dreams. AS early as 1868, a
man by the name of Andrews, Of
South Amboy. N. j.. designed an air
ship consisting Of three cIgar-shaped
balloons. fastened together and carry
ing a boat underneath. 1t was to be
built for flying across the Atlantic,
which was even then a popular notion.
In 1873, John Wise, who has been
described as Americas leading mid
Victorian aeronaut," planned to cross
the Atlantic from New York City in
a balloon of 100000 cubic feet capa-
city, less than one-sixth as large as
the bag in which Maj. William C.
Kepner, Capt Albert W. Stevens and
Capt Orville Anderson attempted last
Summer to wrest new secrets from
the stratosphere. Wise didn't sail,
but two others did-and got as far
as New Canaan, Conn, Al miles.
Twelve years after Mr.. Donnelly
wrote Caesars Column" the first
zeppelin was launched, and only a
few years earlier, Alberto Santos -Du-
mont, Brazilian coffee planter. had
become the air hero of the world with
his dirigible exploits in Paris.
Mr.. Donnelly. at the time the book
was written 1889, was fretted by
the power Of trusts and rings. After
two terms in the National House Of
Representatives, he was shunted to a
political sidetrack by his enemies.
Home again in Minnesota, he kept
himself informed on State legislative
matters, and saw, or thought he saw,
corruption all around him.
In a biography of Mr.. Donnelly.
who was the first man to be elected
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota,
DR.. Everett w. Fish wrote that the
author became fearful for the rights
of the masses. and said to himself:
"If the past 25 or 80 years have pro-
duced these dreadful conditions. what
will 100 years yield us? Can civiliza-
tion continue to exist under such con-
ditions? What is to arrest the
forward movement to destruction?
Where is the remedy to be found?"
Looks Into Future.
Out of these thoughts, the socialistic
novel Caesars Column" was born.
DR.. Fish recounts that Mr.. Donnelly
wrote the first chapter the night his
arch-enemy, Elihu Washburn, was
elected to the United States Senate.
The work was completed in two
months. DR.. Fish states that several
publishers to whom the manuscript
was submitted refused fatty to pub
lish 1t, branding it dangerous, likely
to start revolution. At last, Chi
cago firm agreed to publish it. Shrewd
showmanship, or fear that it would
be laughed out of existence because
of the known views of the author,
caused the book to be brought out
first under the pseudonym Edmund
Boisgilbert, M D." The public under
stood, by accident or by design, that
a millionaire had written it. = This
made its revolutionary PHILOSOPHERS
even more astounding.
The plot shows haste in prepara-
ton. Much Of the background Of
conditions as they are supposed to
exist in 1888 is missing. But this
fault seems to be outweighed by the
ready and accurate imagination Of
this generally unsung Jules Verne"
without this speculative flare, the
book would have been a dull political
thesis.
Caesars Column" is written from
the viewpoint of a resident Of the
state of Uganda, Africa, an un-
sophisticated Swiss, who comes to
America on an airliner to circumvent
the wool trust" and get better
price for the product.
But let Mr.. Donnelly describe In
his own words the dirigibles and the
wonders Of New York City In the
year 1888:
Here I am, at last, In the great
CONTINUED on Fourth Page.)