Evening Star Newspaper, October 27, 1935, Page 88

g8 Bf Repoep.:2 B0 DT EM S e AA A, - .- = e EX2a538 6 Magazine Section THIS WEEK October 27, 1935 Things to Come How /11'g/1 can screntists shoot the rockets now /feiflg built at . Roswell, New ~Mexico? Will bigger rockets reach the moon? Read the dramatic story of a great rocket in the year 2054. (oncluding a startling new serial by H. G WELLS It iccoritten tn a newe fiction form, the film scenario. Later you can see it on the screen, as produced by Alexander Korda THE STORY SO FAR T IS the vear 2054, Civilization as we know it has been wiped out by the second World War. On * its disordered ruins engineers, scientists men of peace -~ have built a new civilization. Mankind lives as one great national family, governed by a Council of Direction. People travel swiftly to all parts of the world in air- planes, talk to each other by wireless tele- phones carried on the wrist. Rockets carrying animals have been shot round the moon and back. but always the animals have been dead when they returned; they did not know how to brace themselves against injury inside the hurtling projectiles. Now the scientists propose human pas- sengers for the moon trip; there is a chance a slim chance — that two strong young people might survive the adventure. Oswald Cabal, President of the Council of Direction, calls for volunteers. Many young peeplerespond, and after examining them, the committee in charge informs him that it has chosen two young lovers. They are Cabal's own daughter, Catherine, and Maurice, the son of his friend Passworthy. Cabal is a man of the New Era; he agrees to let his daughter sacrifice herself on the altar of progress. But Passworthy, who feels that men already know enough, is shocked and rebel- Jious. As the time draws near for the great adventure, it appears that a good many people agree with Passworthy. Chief among them is Theotocopulos, the artist. In an effort to stop what he feels is a cold-blooded waste of life, he decides to broadcast a plea to the whole world. Who will win out —- the scientist or the artist? Will Maurice and Catherine be shot round the moon? CHAPTER VI ABAL is in his brightly lit office again. He still wears his out-of- doors cloak and he sits down with a certain weariness. He turns to the apparatus on his desk. ‘‘And now let us hear what Mr. Theotocopulos has to say about it all. This is the time for him."” He touches a button. ‘I want to hear and see Theotocopulos. He must be talking now at the Great Hall of Drama."” A confused sound like the sound of a crowd is heard, and the televisor disc becomes cloudy. Cabal makes an adjustment and the sounds and the picture become clear together. Theotocopulos is seen; no longer in his sculptor’s overalls. He is dressed in an ornate, richly embroidered. colored satin costume, with a great dark cloak about him, which he flourishes dramatically. He is addressing a great hall full of people: “What is the good of all this Progress? We demand a halt: we demand a rest. The object of life is happy living. . . ." Cabal: “One would think the object of life was everlasting repetition."” “We will not have life sacrificed to experi- ment. Progress is not living; it should only be the preparation for living." Cabal stands up, walks a few paces away from the disc, and turns to hear more. “Let us be just to these people who rule over us. Let us not be ungrateful. They have tidied up the world. They have tidied it up marvellously. Order and magnificence is achieved; knowledge increases. Oh God, how it increases! (Laughter)” Cabal, grimly: *“‘So they laugh at that.” “Still the hard drive goes on. They find work for all of us. We thought this was to be the Age of Leisure. But is it? We must measure and compute, we must collect and sort and count. We must sacrifice ourselves. We must live for — what is it > — the species. We must sacrifice ourselves all day and every day to this incessant spreading of knowledge and order. We gain the whole world - and at what a price! Greater sacrifices and still greater. And at last they lead us back to the supreme sacrifice - - the sacrifice of human life. They stage the old Greek tragedy again, and a father offers up his daughter to his evil gods.” With an impatient movement Cabal ex- tinguishes the televisor. “And that voice is sounding over all the world. I wonder what the world is making of it."” He faces his apartment. ‘“‘We might sup- press it. Make an end to free expression. That would be the beginning of the end of progress. No. They have to hear, and make what they can of him. But I wish I could be all over the world now, listening with every listener. What will they make of him?" World Audience There is an enormous range and s taneousness of thought and discussion in the new world. The discourse of Theotaeopulos goes on almost uninterruptediv. except o occasional shouts and outcries. unui at last he comes to an end. The reahtv ot a single person being able to speak to the whole world, so far as it is interested and will iisten, and the swiftness with which a common response can be evoked at the same time in every, part The young lovers climb into the Space Gun, ready for the trip to the Moon EE—— e e A |