OUR NEW SERIAL.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1273, 31 December 1903, Page 4

OUR NEW SERIAL.

(By Jules Verne.)

" TOPSY TURVY."

tfBSSF CHAPTER VIIL \ " YXS, JUST LIKE JCPITKH. Since that memorable meeting in honor of Michael Ardan, Hon. Mr. J. T. Maston had talked and thought of nothing else but the "changing of the axis of the earth." He had studied the subject as much as possible and found out *ll the fac'3 and figures about it. As the problem had been solved by this eminent calculator a new axis was going to take the place of the old one upon which the earth was now turning, and the world would otherwise remain the same. In the scheme it would be possible for the climate around the North Pole to become exactly the same as that of Trouhejm, in Norway, in the spring. Naturally, then, the large amountof ice would melt under the ardent sun. At the same time the climates would be distributed over our sphere like those now on the surface of Jupiter. In other words, the new-formed society of Barbicane was going to change every thing at present on the surface of the earth. And the creation of this new axis ivas possible, just as soon as the platform of which Archimedes had dreamed and the lever imagined by J. T. Maston were at the disposal of these courageous engineers. And as they bad decided to make a secret of their in vention until a future time, peopli :ould not do any thing else but mak< their own figures. This was what all thr papers did, calling on the most scientific persons and learning as well something from the most ignorant persons. II there really were persons living on the surface of Jupiter they had a good many advantages over those on thr earth, advantages which had all been narrated and explained in the meeting which was held before the trip to the moon. All these advantages would come to the people living on the earth if Barbicane & Co. could accomplish what they intended to do. Twenty-four hours would then always separate two rroons from each other. Twilight, and dawn would always be as they are now. Hut the most curious thing of all would he the absence of the different seasons of the year. Now there were summer, winter, fall and spring. The people living on Jupiter did not know these seasons at all. After this experiment people living on this globe would not know them either. As soon as the new axis would be in smooth working order there would be no more ice regions, nor torrid zones, hut the whole world would have an even, temperate climate. What, after all, is the torrid zone? It is a part of the surface in which the people can see the sun twice yearly at its zenith, and the temperate zone but a part where the sun never goes to the zenith, and the icy region but a part of the world which the sun forgets entire-

ly for a long time, and arnnnfWefW Pole this extends for six months. It is simply the position of the sun which makes a country exceedingly hot or cold. Well, these things would nut appear any longer on the surface of the world. The sun would be always over the equator: it would go down every twelve hours just as regular as before. "And among the advantages of the new method,"said tlie friends of President Barbicane. "were these, that each person could choose a climate which was best for himself and his health; no more rheumatism, no more colds, no more grip: the variations of extreme heat would not be known any more." In short, I'arbieane & Co. were going to change fixtures which had existed ever since the world was in existence. Certainly the observer would lose a few stars and things which he perhaps liked to look at now, and the poet, would not hE.ve any longer his dreamy nights, etc., but what a great advantage would itbeforthe worldatlarge. "And," -;:: d certain journals, "the products of the ground can be regulated so that agriculturists can give to each sort of plant life the temperature which suits it most." Other newspapers asked:

"Will we no more have rain, or storms, or hail—things upon which a great deal depends in the harvest time?" •Undoubtedly," said he friends of liarbicane & Co., "but these accidents will be, more rare than they have been, as the temperature will be more even. Yes. taken all in all, it will be a great advar tage to humanity. [twill be the re,-. Im. lenuium of the earthly globe. Anil liarbicano & Co. will have done a service t< mankind which but for them would nave remained an impossibility.' "Yes,'' said Michael Ardan, "our hemisphere, the surface of which is always either too cold or too warm, will no longer be the place for cold.; n.i rheumatism, etc." A New Yoik paper of December 27 printed the following article: "Honor to President Barbicane! His associates and himself will not oniy annex a new province to our American continent, and thereby enlarge the already large possessions of the United States, but they will make the whole world more productive and inhabitable. It will be possible then to put seed in the ground as soon as the crop had grown up and been taken out; there would be 110 more time lost during the

winter. And the coal mines also would make the country richer than the value of its entire present realty. Barbicane &. Co. will change the whole world and put it in better condition. Thanks, then, to the people who have done this greatest of benefits to humanity." CHAPTER IX. IN WHICH APPEARS THE FRENCH GENTLEMAN TO WHOM WE REFERRED AT THE BEGINNING ; OF THIS TRUTHFUL STORY. Such, then, were to be the profits due to the changes which wero to be wrought by President Barbicane. The earth would continue to revolve and the course of the year would not be much altered. As the changes would concern the whole world it was natural that they became of interest to all. In regard to the new axis which was going to be used, that was the secret which neither President Barbicane nor Cap tain Hicholl nor J- T. Maston seemed to fee willing to give to the public. Went) they to reveal it before or would none know of it until after the change had taken place? A degree of uncertainty began to fill the American mind. Criticisms very natural and to be expected were made in the papers. By what mechanical means was this project to be carried out which would bring

demand a terrible power. One ot the greatest papers at that time mentedin the following article. II the earth was not turning on its axis, perhaps a very feeble shrck would be sufficient to give It such movement as might be chosen, but otherwise it would be very difficult if not impossible to deviate it a fixed amount." Nothing seemed more correct after having discussed the effort which the engineers of the N. P. P. A. were to make. Discussion took on the interesting turn as to whether this result would be reached insensibly or suddenly. And if the latter, would not terrible accidents happen at the moment when the change took place ? This troubled scientific people as well as ignorant people. It was not agreeable to know that a blow was to be struck and not know precisely what the after effects were to be.

It seemed as if the promoters of this undertaking had not fully considered the consequences—that they would be so very dangerous to the earth, and that itwo.il;! nut do as much good as first tho',i;_i. t.. The European delegates, more tha'r. e'. .t angry at the* loss which they had suffered, resolved to make the most of this question r.nd to excite the public as much as possible upon it so as to turn feeling against the members of the gun club.

It will not be forgotten that France had absolutely nothing to do with these delegates, as it had no intentions of buying the Arctic region. However, a Frenchman had come to Baltimore, and for his own personal benefit and information had watched with great interest the proceedings of the gun club. Ho was an engineer, not more than thirtyfive years old. He had been first in the polytechnic school, and came out of it with the highest honors. He was without doubt as skilled a calculator as Jlr. J. T. Maston. This engineer was a very intelligent young man, very original, always pleasant and with most amiable manners. He always spoke very frankly and used plain language, no matter whether he was speaking in earnest or ir. fun. He even went so far as to use slangy expressions when they served his purpose. He could sit for hours at his table and figure and calculate, making his figures and calculations as fast as he could write with a pen. His greatest pleasure, next to these diftieult mathematical elforts, was in which he played apparently very indifferently, not forgetting to figure out all his chances. His name was Alcide Pierdeux, but he generally signed it A. Pierd, and sometimes only A. I'ie. He was very tall, llis friends remarked that his height measured about the five millionth part of the quarter of the meridian, and they were not much mistaken. He had a small head, at least it looked so oil his broad shoulders, but with a most lively expression 011 his face, and his blue eyes behind his eye-glasses twinkled merrily. This was characteristic of him, for he had one of these faces which appear merry; even when they are in sober earnest. He was at once the best scholar in his class, and the best tempered. But even if his head did seem a little small on his shoulders, it is safe to say that it was filled to its highest capacity. Ho was a mathematician, as all liis ancestors had been, but he did not study mathematics to use them in his profession, for which he never had any taste, as he disliked trade. No, he studied mathematics for themselves alone, simply to find them out more and more where there was so much unknown to man. Let us also remark that Alcide Pierdeux was a bachelor. He was as yet single, or as ln> would express it, equal to one (—1), although his greatest wish was to get married. His friends all thought that he would marry a very charming girl, gay and spirituelle. But, unh:-"r>ily for him, the girl's father said «»«i lie was too smart and that, he would (nil; to his daughter in language which she would not be able to understand. I low modest and simple this father was, iadeecl. And for this reason the young engi :ieer decided to place between himself and his country tho broad ocean. lio asked permission to go abroad for a year and obtained it. He thought that he could not make any better use sf his time than to go to Baltimore and note the actions of tho N. }'. P. A. fin $ this is how ho came to be at this time in the United States. However, since he g"t to Bal'timore he had cared little apparently for tho great undertaking of Barbicane & Co. Whether the earth would have a change of tho axis or not, what did it matter to him? Ho only wanted to know, and his curiosity was at the highest point to find out, by what means they were to move tho earth. He thought again and again how they would do it and had several plans in his head and dismissed them only to consider the matter afresh. He concluded that they wanted probably to substitute a new axis, but he did not clearly see where their point of operations was to be. Then again he would say: "There is the daily movement. It is impossible tosuppress it; how they will do 3; is « perfect conundrum f me." He had no idea whai the p.ans of Barbicane and Maston were. It is to be regretted very much that their intentions were not known to him, as he would have been able to figure out the formulas in a very short time. And so it came about that on this 2'Jth of December Alcide Pieideux was walking with his hand at his brow, pondering about the streets of Baltiuwte. - ~ CHAPTER X. 1 m which A" little uneasiness begins to

SHOW ITSKLF. A month had elapsed since the meeting of the gun club and the stockholders of the new-formed society, and public opinion was getting much altered. The advantages of the change to be wrought in the axis of the earth were forgotten and its disadvantages began to be spoken of. It was very probable, public opinion said, that a terrible catastrophe would happen, as the change could only be brought about by a violent shock. What would this catastrophe exactly be? In regard to the change of climates, was it so desirable after all? The Esquimaux and the Laps and the Samoyeden and t' ;e Tchoulchis would benefit, by it, as they had nothing to lose The Euronean delegates were ver? energetic in their talk ag:uns*

President BarWcane and his work. To begin with they sent information to their governments. They used the cable frequently ani always sent cipher messages. They t asked questions and received instructions. What, then, were these instructions, always in cipher and very guarded? "Show energy, but do not compromise our government," said one. "Act veryconsiderately, but do not touch the 'statu quo,'" said another. Major Donellan and his associates did not fail to predict a terrible accident. "It is very evident that the American engineers have taken steps so as not to hurt, or at least as little as possible, the territory of the United States," thought Colonel Boris Ivarkof. "But how could they do it?" asked Jan Harald. "If you shake a tree do not all its branches suffer while you are shaking it?" "And if somebody hits you on the back does not your whole body feel the pain?" said Jacques Jansen. "That is, then, what this strange paragraph of the document meant," said Dean Toodrink. "That is the reason why they mentioned certain geographical changes." "Yes," said Eric Baldenak, "that is what we have to fear; this change will throw the sea out of its basin, and should the ocean leave its present quarters would not certain inhabitants of this globe find themselves so located that they could not readily communicate with their fellow-citizens?"

"It is very possible that they may be brought into such a density of surrounding medium,"said Jan Harald, gravely, "that they will be unable to breathe." "We will see London at the top of Mount Blanc," exclaimed Major Donellan. And with his legs crossed and his head thrown back this gentleman looked straight up as if the capital of J his country was already lost in the clouds. In short, it became a public danger and a most annoying one. j True, it was only a question of a change of 23 degrees and 28 minutes, but the change might bring * about a great movement of the oceans as the new earth flattened itself around the Pole. Protestations were heard from J all over and the government of the United States was asked to interfere, t "It was best not to try the operation at all." "The consequences of it might destroy this world.'' "God has done all things well; it was not necessary to better His work," were the comments. , Aiul yet there were people light-hearted ' enough to make merry of the whole matter. "Look at these Yankees," they said, "they want to turn the earth on its axis. If t the earth had shown any faults in its motion it would be all right to better it, but it had gone on for millions of years and always as regularly as clock-work." Instead of answering such questions Engineer Alcide Pierdeux tried to find which would bo the countries and directions, figured out by Mathematician Maston, in which the test would take place—the exact point of the globe where the work would begin. As soon as he should know this he would be master of the situation and know oxactly the place which would be in the most danger. It has been mentioned before that the countries of the old continent were probably connected with those of tho new across the North Pole. Was it not possible, it was asked in Europe, that President Barbicane and Captain Nicholl and J. T. Maston had considered only how to save their own country from ill consequences which might come from tho shock? He was a Yankee—it was pointed out they wero all Yankees—and particularly this man Barbicane, who had created the idea of going to the moon. In any case it was argued that the whole New World, from the Arctic regions to the Gulf of Mexico, would not have to fear any tiling from tho shock. It is even probable on tho other hand that America would immensely by it and gain some territory. "Who knows what is lying in the two oceans which wash the American coast? Was it not probable that there was some valuable territory which they wished to tako possession of?" asked people who never saw any thing but the dark side of a question. "Is it sure there is no danger? Suppose J. T. Maston should make a mistake in his calculations? And could not the president have mado a mistake when he came to.put tho apparatus in working order? This might happen to the smartest people. They might not always put the bullet in the target, or they might neglect to put tho cannon-ball into tho cannon," wero the comments of theso nervous folk. This uneasiness was fomented by the European delegates. Secretary Dean Toodrink published several articles in this lino, and even stronger ones wero put by him in the Standard. Jan Harald put some in tho Swedish journal Aftenboadt, and Colonel Boris Karkof in a Russian journal which had a large circulation. Even in America opinions differed. The Republicans were friends of President Barbicane, but the Democrats declared themselves against him. A part ol the American press agreed with the European press. And as in the United States the papers had become great powers, paying yearly for news about twenty millions of dollars, they had great influence on the people. In vain did other journals of large circulation speak in favor of the N. P. P. A. In | vain did Mrs. Evangel ina Scorbitt pay as high as $lO a line for articles showing the advantages of this invention. In .vain did this ardent, widow trv to "demonstrate that every thing was perfectly correct, and that J. T. Maston could never commit an error in figuring. Finally America took fright in the matter and was inclined to be gov3rned by Europe. But neither President Barbicane nor Secretary Maston of the gun club seemed to care what was said. They did not even take the trouble to correct the different articles. let people say what they liked and did not try to change their minds at all. They wore too much occupied in preparations for tho immense undertaking. It is indeed strange that the public,who were at first so enthusiastic and so certain of success, should so suddenly turn and go against this operation.^