The evening world. Newspaper, June 3, 1912, Page 17

T he Evening World Daily Magazine Monday, Jun N K\. By Col. A JOURNEY IN OTHER WORLDS John Jacob Astor This Is the Only Book Col. Astor Wrote. It Is Pub- lished Serially in The Evening World by Authority of the Trustees of the Astor Estate—“A Journey in — Other Worlds” Is a Fantastic, Semi-Scientific Tale : of Four Explorers’ Startling Adventures Among the Planets. (Copyright, 1804, by D. Appleton On) CHAPTER I. In the Year 2000. ’ N the year 2000 A. BD. severa! scientists resolved to take a trip through the planets. Hitherto this had been impossible. But now @ cleverly de v’ ed airship, the Callisto, driven by a new and wonderful force Bnown as ‘ apersy,” made the aerial journey simple. ‘The four men who volunteered to explore the stars in the Callisto were Be. Cortlandt, U. S. Government expert; Col. Bearwarden, President of the Terrestial Axis Gtraightening Company; Deepwaters, Secretary of the Navy, and Richard Ayrault, a young capitalist who was a dabbler in science and wae engaged to Sylvia Preston, a Vassar undergraduate, The expedition was equipped with every possible appliance and neces- Gity, Its members were armed with provisioned for one hundred day: explosive rifles and the airship was At last the preparations were completed, and it was arranged that the Callisto should begin its journey at 11 o'clock A, M., Deo, 21, the northern | Bemisphere’s shortest day. } six months’ operations could dace pe expected to have produced uch change in the inclination of the earth’s axis, the autumn held on won- Gerfully, and December was pronounced very mild. Fully a million people were fm and about Van Cortlandt Park hours Defore the time announced for the start, and those near looked inquiringly 4 the trim little airship that, having done weil on the trial trip, rested on her Jongitudina! and transverse keels, with @ battery of Cot as ay to make sure of a fuf power supply. ‘The President and his Cabinet—in- Cluding, of course, the shining lights of the State and Navy Departments—came oa from Washington. These, together with Mr. and Mrs. Preston and @ num- ber of people with passes, occupied seats arranged at the sides of the platform: while sightsee very part of the world. nip for you!” said Secre- to the Secretary of the vy. \ dockea for barnacles, neither will th least breeze make the passengers sick. “That's all you landlubbers think of repiled Deepwaters. “I remember one { of the kings over in Europe enid to me introduced me to the queen: ‘Your NS ry of Sti ®@ reat man, but \ why does he part hig hair in 1d q th2.go that it shall not turn his head,’ q 1 replied. “‘But with so gallant and handsome } ‘an officer as you to lean upon,’ he an- ewered, ‘I should think he could look down on all the world.’ Whereupon I asked him what he'd take to drink.” ‘our apology te accepted,” replied Secretary Stillman, Cortlandt also came from Washing- ton, where, as chief of the Government's Bxpert Examiners Board, he had tem- porary quarters. Bearwarden sailed over the spectators’ heads in one of the Terrestrial Axis Straightening Com- pany’s fying machines, while Ayrault, to avoid the crowd, had come to the ie Calileto early, and was showing the in- 5 terior arrangements to Sylvia, who hac ecoompanied him. She was somewha jqued because at the last moment he Sa not e@bsolutely insisted on carrying her off, or offered, if necossary, to dis- lace his Presidential and doctor of law lends in order to make room. “You will have an {deal trip,” sho eaid, looking over some astronomical star charts and photographic maps of Jupiter and Saturn that tay on the table with a pair of compasses, “and I hope you won't lose your way." “I shall need no compass to find my way back,” replied Ayrault, “if I ever @acceed in leaving this pla neither wikt star charts be necessary, for you will be a magnet stronger than any ‘and, compared with my star, aro aim." ould write » book," said Syl- via, “and put some of those things in %." She was wearing a bunch of for- -me-note and violets that she had cut @ small flower garden of potted Plants Ayrault had sent her, which she had placed In her father's conservatory, ‘At this moment the small chime clock eet in the Callisto's wootwork rang out quarter to eleven. As the sounds dled fay Sylvia became very pale, and bo- to regret In her womanly way that had allowed hor hero to attempt experiment. * "Oh," sho said, clinging to his arm, “tt was very wrong of me to let "s uu | **S" Matter, Pop?’’ begin this, I was so dassied by the eplendot of your scheme when I heard {t and so anxious that you should have the glory of being the frat to surpass Columbus that I did not realize the full meaning. I thought aiso you seemvod rather ready to leave me,” she added gently, “and so sald little; you do not know how it almost breake my heart now that I am about to lose you. It was quixotic to let you undertake this Journey.” “An undertaler would have given me hie kind offices for one even Jonger had I renmvained here,” replied Ayrault. ‘I cannot live in this humdrum world without you. The most sustained ex- cltement cannot even pallate what seems to me like unrequited love.” “O Dick!" she exclaimed, giving hin @ reproachful gian “you muatn’t say that. You know you have often told me my reason for staying and taking my degree was good, My lot will be very much harder t! yours, for you will forget me in th citement of dis- covery and adventure; but I—what can I do in the midst of all the old asso- clations?”* ‘Never mind, sweetheart,” kissing her hand, “I Wave seemed on the verge of despair all the time.” Seeing that thoir separation mug: shortly begin, Ayrault tried to assume cheerful look; but as Sylvia turned her eyes away they re suspiciously molst, Just one minute before the start! time Ayrault took Sylvia back to mother, and, after pressing her hard and having one last tong look Into her —or, a8 he considered them, his—deep- fen eyes, he returned to the Callisto, and was standing at the foot of the telescopic aluminum Iadder when his friends arrived. Ae all baggage and impedimenta had been sent aboard an Properly stowed the day before, the travellers nad nothing to do but climb to and enter by the second story win- dow. It that the exact declination on the fist day of December, when the axis was most inclined, could not be figured out by the hour at whioh they were to start, #0 as to show what change, if any, had already been brought about, but the astronomers were working in- dustriously, and promised that, if it were finished by midnight, they would telegraph the result into epace by flaan- light code. Raleing his hat to his lances and his Prospective parents-In-law, Ayrault tol lowed them up. To draw in and folt the Indder was but the work of a mo- ment. Ag the clocks in the neighboring steeples began to atrike 11, Ayranit touched the switoh that woull corre- epend to the throttle of an engine, and the motors began to work at rapidly ine creasing speed. Slowly the Callisto left her resting-place as a Galatea might har pedestal, only, Instead of coming down, she rose still higher. A large American flag hanging from the window, which, as they started, flut- tered as in a southern sephyr, soon bi an to flap as in a stiff breexe as tho car's speed increased, With a final wave, at which a battery of twenty-one field pieces made the alr ring with & salute, and the multitude raised a mighty cheer, they drew it In and closed the window, sealing it hermetically in order to keep in the alr that, had an opening remained, would eo have become rarefied. “THATS A MERMAID PICTURE BUT Heri 1 NO 6uCH THING, he sala, 5! Syivia had waved her handkerchiut with the utmost enthusiasm, in spite of the aadgess at her heart. But she now bad other use for it in trying to hide her tears. The Callisto wae still going straight up, with a speed already as great as a cannon ball’s, and was most out of sight. Tho multitude ¢ began to disperse, and Syivia returned to ner home. Lot us now follow the Callisto. The earth amd Jupiter not being exactly in opposition, as they would be if the sun, the earth and Jupiter were in line, with the earth between the two, the Callisto's journey was considerably more than 380,000,000 miles, the mean oppusition dis- tance. As they wished to start by day. Mght—4. @, from the side of the earth turned toward the eun—they could not steer immediately for Jupiter, but were obliged to go @ few hundred miles in the direction of the sun, then change thelr course to something like a tangent to the earth, and get their final right @irection in ewinging near the moon, since they must be comparatively near gome material object to bring apersy Into play. ‘The maximum power being turned on, the projectile shot from the earth with tremendous and rapidly increasing speed. by the shortest course—!. e., a straight Yne—so that for the present it wae not necessary to steer. Until beyond the mits of the atmosphere they kept the Rreatest apergetic repulsion focused on the upper part of their cylinder, so that its point went first, and they encoun- tered least possible resistance. Looking through the floor windows, therefore, the travellers hud a most superb view. The alr be! the eastern border of North America and the Atlantic were outlined as on a map, the blue of the ocean and brownish color of the land, with white snow patches on the eleva- tions, being very marked, The Hu'Sson and the Sound appeared as clearly de- fined blue ribbons. and between ind around the two they could see Now York, They also saw the ocean dotted for miles with points in which they roc- ognized the marine spiders and crulsers of the North Atlantic » ships on the home atatlon, which they were watching them through ther ate Cortlandt, “that Deep- waters has been as good as his word and has his ships on the watch to res- cue us in case we fail.” “Yes,” replied Bearwarden, right sort. When he gave that prot I knew his men would be there. They soon perceived that they tad reached the void of space, for, though the sun blazed with a splendor they had never before seen, the firmament was intensely black, and the stars shone as at midnight. Here they began to change thelr course to @ curve beginning with & spiral, by charging the Callisto aper- teally, and directing the current to- e moon, to act as an ald to adron, and the P the lunar attraction, while still allowing the earth to repel, and their motion sradually became the resultant of the two forces, the change from @ straight line being so gradual, however, that for come minutes they ecarcely elved it. CHAPTER II. The Last of the Earth. BINDING that they were rapid- ly swinging toward their Proper course, and that the earth in its jouurney about the sun would move out of their way, they divided their power be tween repelling the body they had left and increasing the attraction of the moon, and then set about getting their house in order. Tearwarden, having the 1a warden in command. [t had enough current to provide heat for cooking for four hundred hours, which was un umple margin, and tt had this advantage, that, no matter how much It was u coukt not exhaust the alr as any other form of heat would. Tho earth, which at first had filled nearly half their sky, was rapidly grow- ing smaller. Bett almost between themselves and the sun, {t looked like & crescent moon; and when it was only about twenty times the size of the moon they calculated they must have come nearly two hundred thousand miles It just ten hours since they had started, and at that moment $ P. 3 New York; but, though It wai there, the Calisto was bathed in a flood of sunlight such never shines on earth. ‘They closely watched the Callisto's At first it did not seem to flect from a straight line, and they stood realy to turn on the apergetic force agaim when the car very slowly began how the effect of the moon's near but not till they had so far pissed it that the dark side was toward them were they heading straight for Ju- piter, Then they again turned on full Power and got a send-off shove on the moon and earth combined, which in- creased their speed pidly that they felt they could goon shut off the current altogether and save their sup- ‘We must be ready to nals from the Arctic elrek warden. t midnight, {f the caloula- tions are finished, the result will da flashed by the searchlight.” It was then ten minutes to 12, and the earth was already over four hundred thou- sand miles away. Focusing thetr@lasses upon the region near the North Pole, which, being turned from the sun, was toward them and in darkness, they waite. “In this blaze of suniight,” sald Cort. Jandt, “I am afraid we can seo noth- ing." Fortunately, at this moment the Cal- them, they made out these sentence: “Our telescopes, In whatever part of the earth was turned toward you, have fol- lowed you eince you atarted, and did listo entered the moon's tapering Mot lose aight of you till you entered shadow. the moon’a whadow. On your pr his," said Ayrault, “ts good luck, Course you will be In darkness till when we shall see you again.” On recelving this last earthly m Ke the travellers aprang to ¢ searchlight and, using its full po’ telegraphed back the following: “Many thanks to you for good news about earth, and to Secretary Deepwaters for lending us the y Result of work most glorious. ¢ could of coufse have gone into she shadow; but to ohange our course would have delayed us, and we might have lost part of the chance of increasing our epeed." . “There will be no danger from me- or subsatellites here,” sald Bear “for anything revolving about f Remember us to every h o a tht; dista: owld bi cust De the earth nee NoMa PO say, Shadow's edae approaching The sun had apparently set behind the ‘This was read ‘by the men in the observato' . Who evidently telephon: to the Arctic Signal Light immediate! for it Mashed back ‘Got your me perfectly. Wish you greatest luck, TI T. A. 8, Co. has decked the Callisto's pedestal with flowers and has ordered @ tablet eet up on the site to commemo- rate your celestial journey.” moon, and they were eclipsed, The stars shone with the utmost splendor against the dead-black sky, and the earth ap Perred as a large crescent, still consid- erably larger than the satellite to which they were accustomed, xactly at mid- night @ faint phosphorescent light, like that of a glow-worm, appeared in the region of Greenland on the planet they | At that moment the shadow swept had left. It gradually increased (te by, and they were tn the full blaze of strength till ft shone like a long white cloudless day. The change was no beam projected from a lighthouse, and that for a moment they wi in this they beheld the work of the Clove their eyes, The polt greatest searchlight over made by man, the Callisto shone so brightly that they receiving for a few moments all the knew they wer ily seen, ‘The power electricity generated by the available temporarily diverted In sending them dynamos at Niagara and the Bay of the message then returned to the work Fundy, the @team engines and other of draining the Arctic Ocean, which, as sources of power in the Northern Hem!- the North Pole was not returning to the sphere, The beam lasted with growing sun, was the thing to do, and the trav- Intensity for one minute: it then spelled eller resumed thelr study of the heav- out with clean-cut intervals, according enly bodles. to the Cable Code: "3 degrees 6 ¥e: CHAPTER Ill. onds, The Southern Hemisphere pumps are now raising and storing water at Space and Mars. EVER before had the travel full blast. We have already begun to lower the Arctic Ocean.’ Victory!" shouted Bearwarden, tn an ecstacy of delight. “Nearly half a de- observed the stars and planets under such favorable condl- No air or clouds inter- and as the Callisto did gree in six months, with but one pole hot revolve on its axis there was no ne- working, If we can add at this rate each time to the speed of straightening ity for changing the direction of the After an hour already acquired we can reverse our engines in five years, and in tive more ing work, howeve: late at the longitude they had left the earth will be at rest and right." “Look!” said Ayrautt, “they are sen s they knew they had many before them, they pre- ing something else. The flashes came in rapia succession, reaching far into Space. With their glasses fixed upon 4 She—When we are married, dear, | must have three He—Certainly, darling. IF THere But try to keep each as long as possible. Conretatt, 1912) 3 reas Publishing Co, Reread) ae “Have you ever come in contact with royalty?” “Have 1? Why, only the other night | was beaten by four kings.” pared to go to bed. When ready, they had only to pull down the shades; for, as apergy was not applied to them, but only to the Callisto, they still looked upon the floor as down, and closed tho o have night or dark- 8. They found that the aide of the listo turned constantly toward was becoming very warm, the tourhened indows making & greenhouse; but they consol themselves with the thought that the gun's power on them was hourly becom- ing less, and they felt sure the double walls and thick upholstery would pro- tect tham almost anywhere within the solar system from the intense cold of apace. The bare and one aide of the Callisto had constant sunshine, while the other were In the dlackest on account of Its shape, sky windows and the complete- nees with which It could be isolated, was ‘an {deal observatory, and there was sel- dom a time during their waking hours for the rest of the journey when It was not occupied by one, two or all the ob- eervere, “There ts something marvellous,” satd Cortlandt, “about the condition of apace. Its absolute cold is appalling, apparent: ly because there ts nothing to absorb heat; yet we find the ase of this ina. terial projectile uncomfortably warm, though, should we expose a thermometer in the shade in front, we know ft would show a@ temperature wf three hundred to four hundred degrees below sero— were the instrument capable of record- ing it." Artificial Garkness having been ob- tained, the travellers were soon asleep, Bearwarden’s dreams being regaled with triumph; Ay- of Sylvia; Cortlandt frequently started up, thinking he had ali made some Sreat astronomical discovery, About 9 A. M., according to seventy- filth meridian time, the explorers awoke fooling greatly refreshed. The tank In which the liquefied oxygen was kept automatically gave off its Kas so evenly that the alr remaned normal, while tho lime contained {h cups absorbed the carbon dioxide as fast as they exhaled ft. They had darkened tho; ugh which the sun w: windows actually pourtng, for, on account of t' nean of the surrounding sequent absence of diffusion of ight, nothing but the inky blackness of space and the bright stare tooked in at the reat. On raising the shades they got an idea of their speed. A small crescent, smaller than the familiar moon, accom- panied by one atill tinter, was all that could be sean of the earth and Ite satel- Ite. “We must,’ anid Tearwarden, moving at the mile travellet, “We must be doing fully a million," replied Cortlandt, “for by this Ume wa are pretty well in motton, having got a tremendous start when no near the moon, with tt and the earth In line." The firat thing that attracted the'r at- tention Was the size and brilliance of Mara, Although this red planet was over forty million miles from the earth when they started, they etlculated that ft was less than thirty million mites from them now, or five millions nearer than It had ever heen to them before. noticed through several appare island peaks in the Southern Hern\- sphere, which was turned toward thei, became white, from whtoh they cluded that a snowstorm was in pro ress, The south polar region was als markedly giactited, though the icecap was not as extensive an either of those at the poles of the earth. “We must be on the lookout for the atellites,” said Cortlandt; collision son= with efther woult be worse than a wrect on a desert tsland.” . They therefore turned their glasses in the direction of the satellites, “We must be ready to repel boarders,” aid Bearwarten, observing tt for the first time and fixing his glass upon it. “That must be Phobos. Not ten miles off they beheld Mare’s inner moon, and though thetr own speed caused them to overtaxe and rush by it like a whirlwind, the aatellite’s rapid motion {n its orbit, In @ course teme Dorarily almost parallel with thers, served to mive them @ chance the better to examine it. Here the mountain ranges were considerably more conapic- uous than on Delmos, and there were boulders and loose stones upon thelr slopes, which looked as tf there might at some time have been frost and water but tt wae all dry now, netther was there any alr. The evi- dences of volcanic action were also plainly visible, while a noticeable fiat- tening at the poles showed that the lit- tle body had once rotated rapidly on ite axis, though whether {t id so still they had not time to ascertain. When abreast of it they were less than two miles distant, and they secur several instantaneous impressions, which they . As the circle was far shorter that of the parabolic curve they making, It bean to draw away and was repidiy left behind. Applying the full apergetic force to Mare and the larger moon, they shot away like an ar- row, having had their speed increased by the planet's attraction while ap- Droaching It, and subsequently by repul- sion. “Wither of those,” sata Bearwarden, looking back at the Mttle satellites, “wouks be a nice yacht for a man to explore space on. He would also, of course, need a sun to warm him, if he wished to go beyond this system, but that would not have to be a large af- fair—in fact, it might be smaller than the plenet, and could revolve about if Uke @ moon.” ‘Thus they eat and talked, or studied maps and etar charts, or the stare themselves, while tne hours quickly passed and they shot through space. ‘They had now a straight streton of thres hundreg million miles, and had to cross the orbits of innumerable asteroids on the way. The apparent size of the sun had by this time considerably de- creased, and the interior of the Callisto was no longer uncom! bly warm. They divided the day into twenty-four hours from force of habit, and drew the shades tightly during what they comsid¢ ered night, while Bearwarden istin- sutshed himeelf as a cook. ‘The following day, while m thetr ob- servatory, they saw something not many miles ahead. They watched {t for hours, and In fact all day, but notwithstanding thelr tremendous speed they came hat Uttle nearer, “They say a stern chase ts a long one,” sald Bearwarden; ‘but that beate anything I have ever seen. After a while, however, they found they were nearer, the time taken havi been in part due to the deceptive tance, which was greater than they sup- posed "A comet!" exclaimed Cortlandt exe citedly. "We shall really be able to id Ay- ‘and at almost exactly enr While the stn shone full upon it they brought thelr camera tnte play, an@ again suceeeded [tn photographing a heavenly body at close range. The nu- cleus or head was of course turned toward the sun; while the tall, which they could see faintly, preced it, as the comet was receding toward the calé and dark depths of space. (To Fe Continued.) Copyright, 1912, & Cy (xe Wert) ) S] } MM, 1D KINDA By C. M. Payne. YoR *HE Love OF pete! LET'S GO OUT TOTHE 200,1'M BETTER ¥ “Posted ON ANIMALS