1800s Sci-Fi Audiobook 📖 From the Earth to the Moon — Jules Verne

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, translated by Lewis Mercier and Elizabeth E. King. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 1. The Gun Club. During the War of the Rebellion, a new and influential club was established in the city of Baltimore in the state of Maryland. It is well known with what energy the taste for military matters became developed amongst that nation of ship owners, shopkeepers, and mechanics. simple tradesmen jumped their counters to become extemporized captains, colonels, and generals without having ever passed the school of instruction at West Point. Nevertheless, they quickly rivaled their compers of the old continent, and like them carried off victories by dent of lavish expenditure in ammunition, money, and men. But the point in which the Americans singularly distanced the Europeans was in the science of gunnery. Not indeed that their weapons retained a higher degree of perfection than theirs, but that they exhibited unheard of dimensions, and consequently attained hitherto unheard of ranges. In point of grazing, plunging, oblique, or unfilating, or point blank firing, the English French impressions have nothing to learn. But their cannon, howitzers, and mortars are mere pocket pistols compared with the formidable engines of the American artillery. This fact need surprise no one. The Yankees, the first mechanicians in the world, are engineers, just as the Italians are musicians and the Germans metaphysicians by right of birth. Nothing is more natural, therefore, than to perceive them applying their audacious ingenuity to the science of gunnery. Witness the marvels of Parrot, Dalgrren, and Rodman. The Armstrong Palacer and Bellu guns were compelled to bow before their transatlantic rivals. Now, when an American has an idea, he directly seeks a second American to share it. If there be three, they elect a president and two secretaries. given. Four, they name a keeper of records and the office is ready for work. Five, they convene a general meeting and the club is fully constituted. So things were managed in Baltimore. The inventor of a new cannon associated himself with the caster and the borer. Thus was formed the nucleus of the gun club. In a single month after its formation, it numbered 1833 effective members and 30,565 corresponding members. One condition was imposed as a sine cuadinon upon every candidate for admission into the association and that was the condition of having designed or more or less perfected a cannon or in default of a cannon at least a firearm of some description. It may however be mentioned that mere inventions of revolvers, five shooting carbines, and similar small arms met with but little consideration. Artillerists always commanded the chief place of favor. The estimation in which these gentlemen were held, according to one of the most scientific exponents of the gun club, was proportional to the masses of their guns and in the direct ratio of the square of the distances attained by their projectiles. The gun club once founded, "It is easy to conceive the result of the inventive genius of the Americans. Their military weapons attained colossal proportions and their projectiles exceeding the prescribed limits unfortunately occasionally cut into some unoffending pedestrians. These inventions in fact left far in the rear the timid instruments of European artillery. It is but fair to add that these Yankees, brave as they have ever proved themselves to be, did not confine themselves to theory and formula, but that they paid heavily impropria persona for their inventions. Amongst them were to be counted officers of all ranks, from lieutenants to generals, military men of every age, from those who were just making their debut in the profession of arms up to those who had grown old on the gun carriage. Many had found their rest on the field of battle, whose names figured in the book of honor of the gun club, and of those who made good their return, the greater proportion bore the marks of their indisputable valor. crutches, wooden legs, artificial arms, steel hooks, kachuk jaws, silver craniums, platinum noses were all to be found in the collection. And it was calculated by the great statistician Pitkar that throughout the gun club there was not quite one arm between four persons and exactly two legs between six. Nevertheless, these valiant artillerists took no particular account of these little facts and felt justly proud when the dispatches of a battle returned the number of victims at tenfold the quantity of the projectiles expended. One day, however, sad and melancholy day, peace was signed between the survivors of the war. The thunder of the guns gradually ceased. The mortars were silent. The howitzers were muzzled for an indefinite period. The cannon with muzzles depressed, were returned into the arsenal. The shot were repiled. All bloody reminiscences were effaced. The cotton plants grew luxurantly in the well-manured fields. All morning garments were laid aside together with grief, and the gun club was relegated to profound inactivity. Some few of the more advanced and inveterate theorists set themselves again to work upon calculations regarding the laws of projectiles. They reverted invariably to gigantic shells and howitzers of unparalleled caliber. Still in default of practical experience, what was the value of mere theories? Consequently, the club rooms became deserted. The servants dozed in the antichambers. The newspapers grew moldy on the tables. Sounds of snoring came from dark corners, and the members of the gun club, hurs, while so noisy in their seances, were reduced to silence by this disastrous peace, and gave themselves up wholly to dreams of a platonic kind of artillery. "This is horrible," said Tom Hunter one evening, while rapidly carbonizing his wooden legs in the fireplace of the smoking room. Nothing to do, nothing to look forward to. What a loathome existence. When again shall the guns arouse us in the morning with their delightful reports. Those days are gone by, said Jolly Bilsby, trying to extend his missing arms. It was delightful once upon a time. One invented a gun, and hardly was it cast when one hastened to try it in the face of the enemy. Then one returned to camp with a word of encouragement from Sherman or a friendly shake of the hand from Mlelen. But now the generals are gone back to their counters and in place of projectiles they dispatch bales of cotton. By Jove the future of gunnery in America is lost. I had no war in prospect continued the famous James T. Masten scratching with his steel hook is got a perch cranium not a cloud in the horizon and that too at such a critical period in the progress of the science of artillery. Yes gentlemen I who address you have myself this very morning perfected a model plan section elevation etc of a mortar destined to change all the conditions of warfare. No. Is it possible? replied Tom Haunter, his thoughts reverting involuntarily to a former invention of the Honorable JT Masten, by which at its first trial he had succeeded in killing 337 people. Fact, replied he, still, what is the use of so many studies worked out, so many difficulties vanquished? It's mere waste of time. The new world seems to have made up its mind to live in peace, and our Bellico's tribune predicts some approaching catastrophes arising out of this scandalous increase of population. Ah, nevertheless, replied Colonel Blumsberry, there are always struggling in Europe to maintain the principles of nationalities. Well, well, there might be some field for enterprise down there, and if they would accept our services. What are you dreaming of? screamed Bilsby. Work a gunnery for the benefit of foreigners. That would be better than doing nothing here, returned the colonel. Quite so, said JT Masten. But still, we need not dream of that, expedient. And why not? demanded the colonel. Because their ideas of progress in the old world are contrary to our American habits of thought. Those fellows believe that one can't become a general without having served first as an inson, which is as much as to say that one can't point a gun without having first cast it oneself. Ridiculous, replied Tom Hunter, whittling with his buoy knife the arms of his easy chair. But if that be the case there, all that is left for us is to plant tobacco and distill whale oil. What? Roared JT Masten. Shall we not employ these remaining years of our life imperfecting firearms? Shall there never be a fresh opportunity of trying the ranges of projectiles? Shall the air never again be lighted with the glare of our guns? No international difficulty ever arise to enable us to declare war against some transatlantic power. Shall not the French sink one of our steamers or the English in defiance of the rights of nations hang a few of our countrymen? No such luck, replied Colonel Blumsberry. Nothing of the kind is likely to happen. And even if it did, we should not profit by it. American susceptibility is fast declining and we are all going to the dogs. It is too true, replied JT Masten with fresh violence. There are a thousand grounds for fighting and yet we don't fight. We save up our arms and legs for the benefit of nations who don't know what to do with them. But stop without going out of one's way to find a cause for war. Did not North America once belong to the English? Undoubtedly, replied Tom Hunter, stamping his crutch with fury. Well then, replied JT Masten, why should not England in her turn belong to the Americans? It would be but just unfair, returned Colonel Blumsberry. Go and propose it to the President of the United States, cried JT Masten, and see how he will receive you. Ba! growled Bilsby between the four teeth which the war had left him. That will never do by Jove cried JT Masten. He mustn't count on my vote at the next election nor on ours replied unanimously all the Bellico invalids. Meanwhile, replied JTM, allow me to say that if I cannot get an opportunity to try my new mortars on a real field of battle, I shall say goodbye to the members of the gun club and go and bury myself in the prairies of Arkansas. In that case, we will accompany you, cried the others. Matters were in this unfortunate condition, and the club was threatened with approaching dissolution when an unexpected circumstance occurred to prevent so deplorable a catastrophe. On the tomorrow after this conversation, every member of the association received a sealed circular couched in the following terms. Baltimore, October 3rd. The president of the gun club has the honor to inform his colleagues that at the meeting of the fifth instant he will bring before them a communication of an extremely interesting nature. He requests, therefore, that they will make it convenient to attend in accordance with the present invitation. Very cordially impacc. End of chapter. Chapter two of From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern and translated by Lewis Mercier and Elizabeth E. King. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 2. President Barbcane's communication. On the 5th of October at 8:00 p.m., a dense crowd pressed towards the saloons of the gun club at number 21 Union Square. All the members of the association resident in Baltimore attended the invitation of their president. As regards the corresponding members, notices were delivered by hundreds throughout the streets of the city, and large as was the great hall, it was quite inadequate to accommodate the crowd of sants. They overflowed into the adjoining rooms, down the narrow passages, into the outer courtyards. There they ran against the vulgar herd who pressed up to the doors, each struggling to reach the front ranks, all eager to learn the nature of the important communication of President Barbcane. All pushing, squeezing, crushing with that perfect freedom of action which is peculiar to the masses when educated in ideas of self-government. On that evening, a stranger who might have chance to be in Baltimore could not have gained admission for love or money into the great hall. That was reserved exclusively for resident or corresponding members. No one else could possibly have obtained a place, and the city magnets, municipal counselors, and select men were compelled to mingle with the mere towns people in order to catch stray bits of news from the interior. Nevertheless, the vast hall presented a curious spectacle. Its immense area was singularly adapted to the purpose. Lofty pillars formed of cannon superposed upon huge mortars as a base supported the fine iron work of the arches. A perfect piece of cast iron lace work. Trophies of blunder buses, matchlocks, arabuses, carbines, all kinds of firearms, ancient and modern, were picturesely interlaced against the walls. The gas lit up in full glare. Myriads of revolvers grouped in the form of lusters, while groups of pistols and candalabra formed of musketss bound together completed this magnificent display of brilliance. models of cannon, bronze castings, sights covered with dents, plates battered by the shots of the gun club, assortments of rammers and sponges, chaplets of shells, wreaths of projectiles, garlands of howitzers. In short, all the apparatus of the artillerist enchanted the eye by this wonderful arrangement and induced a kind of belief that their real purpose was ornamental rather than deadly. At the further end of the saloon, the president, assisted by four secretaries, occupied a large platform. His chair, supported by a carved gun carriage, was modeled upon the ponderous proportions of a 32-in mortar. It was pointed at an angle of 90°, and suspended upon trunions, so that the president could balance himself upon it as upon a rocking chair, a very agreeable fact in the very hot weather. Upon the table, a huge iron plate supported upon six carades, stood an inkstand of exquisite elegance, made of a beautifully chased Spanish piece, and a sonet, which when required, could give forth a report equal to that of a revolver. During violent debates, this novel kind of bell scarcely sufficed to drown the clamor of these excitable artillerists. In front of the table, benches arranged in zigzag form like the circumalations of a retrenchment formed a succession of bastions and curtains set apart for the use of the members of the club. And on this special evening, one might say all the world was on the ramparts. The president was sufficiently well known, however, for all to be assured that he would not put his colleagues to discomfort without some very strong motive. Empty Barbacane was a man of 40 years of age, calm, cold, austere, of a singularly serious and self-contained demeanor, punctual as a chronometer, of imperturbable temper and immovable character, by no means chivalous, yet adventurous with all, and always bringing practical ideas to bear upon the very rashest enterprises. an essentially New Englander, a northern colonist, a descendant of the old anti- Stewart roundheads, and the implacable enemy of the gentlemen of the South, those ancient cavaliers of the mother country. In a word, he was a Yankee to the backbone. Barbane had made a large fortune as a timber merchant. Being nominated director of artillery during the war, he proved himself fertile in invention. molded his conceptions, he contributed powerfully to the progress of that arm and gave an immense impetus to experimental researches. He was a personage of the middle height, having, by a rare exception in the gun club, all his limbs complete. His strongly marked features seemed drawn by square and rule. And if it be true that in order to judge of a man's character, one must look at his profile. Barbane so examined exhibited the most certain indications of energy, audacity, and sang fuad. At this moment he was sitting in his armchair, silent, absorbed, lost in reflection, sheltered under his highcrowned hat, a kind of black silk cylinder which always seemed firmly screwed upon the head of an American. Just when the deep-toned clock in the great hall struck eight, Barbane, as if he had been set in motion by a spring, raised himself up. A profound silence ensued, and the speaker, in his somewhat emphatic tone of voice, commenced as follows. My brave colleagues, too long already, a paralyzing peace has plunged the members of the gun club in deplorable inactivity. After a period of years full of incidents, we have been compelled to abandon our labors and to stop short on the road of progress. I do not hesitate to state boldly that any war which should recall us to arms would be welcome. There was tremendous applause. But war, gentlemen, is impossible under existing circumstances, and however we may desire it, many years may elapse before our cannon shall again thunder in the field of battle. We must make up our minds, then to seek in another train of ideas, some field for the activity, which we all pine for." The meeting felt that the president was now approaching the critical point, and redoubled their attention accordingly. For some months pass, my brave colleagues, continued Barbcane, I have been asking myself whether, while confining ourselves to our own particular objects, we could not enter upon some grand experiment worthy of the 19th century, and whether the progress of artillery science would not enable us to carry it out to a successful issue. I have been considering, working, calculating, and the result of my studies is the conviction that we are safe to succeed in an enterprise which to any other country would appear wholly impracticable. This project, the result of long elaboration, is the object of my present communication. It is worthy of yourselves, worthy of the antecedence of the gun club, and it cannot fail to make some noise in the world. A thrill of excitement ran through the meeting. Barbcane, having by a rapid movement, firmly fixed his hat upon his head, calmly continued his or herang. There is no one among you, my brave colleagues, who has not seen the moon, or at least heard speak of it. Don't be surprised if I am about to discourse to you regarding this queen of the night. It is perhaps reserved for us to become the Columbuses of this unknown world. Only enter into my plans and second me with all your power, and I will lead you to its conquest, and its name shall be added to those of the 36 states which compose this great union. Three cheers for the moon, roared the gunclub with one voice. The moon gentleman has been carefully studied, continued Barbcane. Her mass, density, and weight, her constitution, motions, distance, as well as her place in the solar system, have all been exactly determined. Celonographic charts have been constructed with the perfection which equals, if it does not even surpass, that of our terrestrial maps. Photography has given us proofs of the incomparable beauty of our satellite. In short, all is known regarding the moon which mathematical science, astronomy, geology, and optics can learn about her. But up to the present moment, no direct communication has been established with her. A violent movement of interest and surprise here greeted this remark of the speaker. Permit me, he continued, to recount to you briefly how certain ardent spirits starting on imaginary journeys have penetrated the secrets of our satellite. In the 17th century, a certain David Fabricius boasted of having seen with his own eyes the inhabitants of the moon. In 1649, a Frenchman Juan Jean Baduan published a journey performed from the earth to the moon by Domingo Gonzalez, a Spanish adventurer. At the same period, Sirino de Berserak published that celebrated Journeys in the Moon, which met with such success in France. Somewhat later, another Frenchman named Fontineel wrote the plurality of worlds, a chef dur of its time. About 1835, a small treatise, translated from the New York American, related how Sir John Herschel, having been dispatched to the Cape of Good Hope for the purpose of making there some astronomical calculations, had by means of a telescope brought to perfection by means of internal lighting, reduced the apparent distance of the moon to 80 yards. He then distinctly perceived caverns frequented by hippopotami, green mountains bordered by golden lace work, sheep with horns of ivory, a white species of deer, and inhabitants with membranous wings like bats. This brochure, the work of an American named Lach, had a great sale. But to bring this rapid sketch to a close, I will only add that a certain Hansfal of Rotterdam, launching himself in a balloon filled with a gas extracted from nitrogen, 37 times lighter than hydrogen, reached the moon after a passage of 19 hours. This journey, like all the previous ones, was purely imaginary. Still, it was the work of a popular American author. I mean, Edgar Poe. Cheers for Edgar Poe, roared the assemblage, electrified by their president's words. I have now enumerated, said Barbcane, the experiments which I call purely paper ones, and wholly insufficient to establish serious relations with the Queen of Knight. Nevertheless, I am bound to add that some practical geniuses have attempted to establish actual communication with her. Thus, a few years ago, a German geometrician proposed to send a scientific expedition to the steps of Siberia. There on those vast planes, they were to describe enormous geometric figures drawn in characters of reflecting luminosity amongst which was the proposition regarding the square of the hypotheus commonly called the asses bridge by the French. Every intelligent being said the geometrician must understand the scientific meaning of that figure. The selonites, do they exist, will respond by a similar figure, and a communication being thus once established, it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon. So spoke the German geometrician, but his project was never put into practice, and up to the present day, there is no bond in existence between the earth and her satellite. It is reserved for the practical genius of Americans to establish a communication with the cital world. The means of arriving thither are simple, easy, certain, infallible, and that is the purpose of my present proposal. A storm of acclamations greeted these words. There was not a single person in the whole audience who was not overcome, carried away, lifted out of himself by the speaker's words. Long continued applause resounded from all sides. As soon as the excitement had partially subsided, Barbane resumed his speech in a somewhat graver voice. "You know," said he, "what progress artillery science has made during the last few years, and what a degree of perfection firearms of every kind have reached. Moreover, you are well aware that in general terms, the resisting power of cannon and the expansive force of gunpowder are practically unlimited. Well, starting from this principle, I ask myself whether supposing sufficient apparatus could be obtained, constructed upon the conditions of ascertained resistance, it might not be possible to project a shot up to the moon. At these words, a murmur of amazement escaped from a thousand panting chests. Then succeeded a moment of perfect silence. Resembling that profound stillness which precedes the bursting of a thunderstorm. In point of fact, a thunderstorm did peel forth, but it was the thunder of applause, of cries, and of uproar which made the very hall tremble. The president attempted to speak, but could not. It was fully 10 minutes before he could make himself heard. Suffer me to finish, he calmly continued. I have looked at the question in all its bearings. I have resolutely attacked it, and by incontrovertible calculations, I find that a projectile endowed with an initial velocity of 12,000 yards per second and aimed at the moon must necessarily reach it. I have the honor, my brave colleagues, to propose a trial of this little experiment. End of chapter. Chapter 3 of From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 3, Effect of the President's Communication. It is impossible to describe the effect produced by the last words of the honorable president. The cries, the shouts, the succession of roars, harass, and all the varied viferations which the American language is capable of supplying. It was a scene of indescribable confusion and uproar. They shouted, they clapped, they stamped on the floor of the hall. All the weapons in the museum discharged at once could not have more violently set in motion the waves of sound. One need not be surprised at this. There are some cantoners nearly as noisy as their own guns. Barbacine remained calm in the midst of this enthusiastic clamor. Perhaps he was desirous of addressing a few more words to his colleagues, for by his gestures he demanded silence, and his powerful alarm was worn out by its violent reports. No attention, however, was paid to his request. He was presently torn from his seat and passed from the hands of his faithful colleagues into the arms of a no less excited crowd. Nothing can astound an American. It has often been asserted that the word impossible is not a French one. People have evidently been deceived by the dictionary. In America, all is easy. All is simple. And as for mechanical difficulties, they are overcome before they arise. Between Barbane's proposition and its realization, no true Yankee would have allowed even the semblance of a difficulty to be possible. A thing with them is no sooner said than done. The triumphal progress of the president continued throughout the evening. It was a regular torch light procession. Irish, Germans, French, Scotch, all their heterogeneous units which make up the population of Maryland shouted in their respective vernaculars. And the vivas, haras, and bravos were intermingled in an inexpressable enthusiasm. Just at this crisis, as though she comprehended all this agitation regarding herself, the moon shone forth with serene splendor, eclipsing by her intense illumination all the surrounding lights. The Yankees all turned their gaze towards her respplendant orb, kissed their hands, called her by all kinds of endearing names. Between 8:00 and midnight, one optitian in Jones Fall Street made his fortune by the sale of opera glasses. Midnight arrived, and the enthusiasm showed no signs of dimmonition. It spread equally among all classes of citizens. Men of science, shopkeepers, merchants, porters, chairmen, as well as greenhorns were stirred in their innermost fibers. A national enterprise was at stake. The whole city high and low, the keys bordering the Patapsco, the ships lying in the basins, disgorged, a crowd drunk with joy, jin and whiskey. Everyone chattered, argued, discussed, disputed, applauded, from the gentleman lounging upon the barroom set with his tumbler of cherry cobbler before him, down to the waterman who got drunk upon his knock me down in the dingy taverns of Fell Point. About 2:00 a.m., however, the excitement began to subside. President Barbane reached his house, bruised, crushed, and squeezed almost to a mummy. A Hercules could not have resisted a similar outbreak of enthusiasm. The crowd gradually deserted the squares and streets. The four railways from Philadelphia and Washington, Harrisburg and Wheeling, which converge at Baltimore, whirled away the heterogeneous population to the four corners of the United States, and the city subsided into comparative tranquility. On the following day, thanks to the Telegraphic Wires, 500 newspapers and journals, daily, weekly, monthly, or bimonthly, all took up the question. They examined it under all its different aspects, physical, meteorological, economical, or moral, up to its bearings on politics or civilization. They debated whether the moon was a finished world, or whether it was destined to undergo any further transformation. Did it resemble the Earth at the period when the latter was destitute as yet of an atmosphere? What kind of spectacle would its hidden hemisphere present to our terrestrial spheroid? Granting that the question at present was simply that of sending a projectile up to the moon, everyone must see that that involved the commencement of a series of experiments. almost hoped that someday America would penetrate the deepest secrets of that mysterious orb, and some even seemed to fear, lest it conquest should not sensibly derange the equilibrium of Europe. The project once under discussion, not a single paragraph suggested a doubt of its realization. All the papers, pamphlets, reports, all the journals published by the scientific, literary and religious societies enlarged upon its advantages, and the society of natural history of Boston, the Society of Science and Art of Albany, the Geographical and Statistical Society of New York, the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian of Washington sent innumerable letters of congratulations to to the gun club together with offers of immediate assistance and money. From that day forward, Empane became one of the greatest citizens of the United States, a kind of Washington of science. A single trait of feeling taken from many others will serve to show the point which this homage of a whole people to a single individual attained. Some few days after this memorable meeting of the gun club, the manager of an English company announced at the Baltimore Theater the production of Much to Do About Nothing. But the populace, seeing in that title an illusion damaging to Barbane's project, broke into the auditorium, smashed the benches, and compelled the unlucky director to alter his play bill. Being a sensible man, he bowed to the public will and replaced the offending comedy by As You Like It. And for many weeks he realized fabulous profits. End of chapter. Chapter 4 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 4, Reply from the Observatory of Cambridge. Barbine, however, lost not one moment amidst all the enthusiasm of which he had become the object. His first care was to reassemble his colleagues in the boardroom of the gun club. There, after some discussion, it was agreed to consult the astronomers regarding the astronomical part of the enterprise. Their reply, once ascertained, they could then discuss the mechanical means, and nothing should be wanting to ensure the success of this great experiment. A note couched in precise terms containing special interrogatories, was then drawn up and addressed to the Observatory of Cambridge in Massachusetts. This city where the first university of the United States was founded is justly celebrated for its astronomical staff. There are to be found assembled all the most eminent men of science. Here is to be seen at work that powerful telescope which enabled Bond to resolve the nebula of Andromeda and Clark to discover the satellite of Sirius. this celebrated institution fully justified on all points the confidence reposed in it by the gun club. So after two days the reply so impatiently awaited was placed in the hands of President Barbcane. It was couched in the following terms. the director of the Cambridge Observatory to the president of the gun club at Baltimore from Cambridge. October 7. On the receipt of your favor of the sixth instant addressed to the Observatory of Cambridge in the name of the members of the Baltimore Gun Club, our staff was immediately called together and it was judged expedient to reply as follows. The questions which have been proposed to it are these. One, is it possible to transmit a projectile up to the moon? Two, what is the exact distance which separates the Earth from its satellite? Three, what will be the period of transit of the projectile when endowed with sufficient initial velocity? And consequently, at what moment ought it to be discharged in order that it may touch the moon at a particular point? Four, at what precise moment will the moon present herself in the most favorable position to be reached by the projectile? Five, what point in the heavens ought the cannon to be aimed at which is intended to discharge the projectile? Six, what place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure? Regarding the first question, is it possible to transmit a projectile up to the moon? Answer, yes, provided it possess an initial velocity of,200 yd/s. Calculations prove that to be sufficient. In proportion, as we recede from the Earth, the action of gravitation diminishes in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance. That is to say, at three times a given distance, the action is nine times less. Consequently, the weight of a shot will decrease and will become reduced to zero at the instant that the attraction of the moon exactly counterpoises that of the Earth. That is to say, at 4750 seconds of its passage. At that instant, the projectile will have no weight whatever. And if it passes that point, it will fall into the moon by the sole effect of the lunar attraction. The theoretical possibility of the experiment is therefore absolutely demonstrated. Its success must depend upon the power of the engine employed. As to the second question, what is the exact distance which separates the Earth from its satellite? Answer. The moon does not describe a circle round the earth but rather an ellipse of which our earth occupies one of the fosi. The consequence therefore is that at certain times it approaches nearer to and at other times it recedes farther from the earth. It astronomical language it is at one time in apogee at another in perigee. Now the difference between its greatest and its least distance is too considerable to be left out of consideration. In point of fact in its apogee the moon is 247,552 mi and in its perigee 218,657 mi only distant. a fact which makes a difference of 28,895 mi or more than 1 nth of the entire distance. The perigee distance therefore is that which ought to serve as the basis of all calculations. to the third question. Answer: If the shot should preserve continuously its initial velocity of 12,000 yards per second, it would require little more than 9 hours to reach its destination. But in as much as that initial velocity will be continually decreasing, it results that taking everything into consideration, it will occupy 300,000 seconds, that is 83 hours 20 minutes in reaching the point where the attraction of the Earth and Moon will be in equilibrium. From this point, it will fall into the moon in 50,000 seconds or 13 hours 53 minutes 20 seconds. It will be desirable, therefore, to discharge it 97 hours 13 minutes 20 seconds before the arrival of the moon at the point aimed at. Regarding question four, at what precise moment will the moon present herself in the most favorable position etc. Answer after what has been said above it will be necessary first of all to choose the period when the moon will be in perigee and also the moment when she will be crossing the zenith which latter event will further diminish the entire distance by a length equal to the radius of the earth i.e E 3,919 mi. The result of which will be that the final passage remaining to be accomplished will be 214,976 mi. But although the moon passes her perigee every month, she does not reach the zenith always at exactly the same moment. She does not appear under these two conditions simultaneously except at long intervals of time. It will be necessary therefore to wait for the moment when her passage in perigee shall coincide with that in the zenith. Now by a fortunate circumstance on the 4th December in the ensuing year the moon will present these two conditions. At midnight she will be in perigee that is at her shortest distance from the earth and at the same moment she will be crossing the zenith. On the fifth question, at what point in the heavens ought the cannon to be aimed? Answer. The preceding remarks being admitted, the cannon ought to be pointed to the zenith of the place. Its fire, therefore, will be perpendicular to the plane of the horizon, and the projectile will soonest pass beyond the range of the terrestrial attraction. But in order that the moon should reach the zenith of a given place, it is necessary that the place should not exceed in latitude the declination of the luminary. In other words, it must be comprised within the degrees 0 and 28° of latitude north or south. In every other spot, the fire must necessarily be oblique, which would seriously militate against the success of the experiment. As to the sixth question, what place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure? Answer: At the moment when the projectile shall be discharged into space, the moon, which travels daily forward 13° 10 minutes 35 seconds, will be distant from the zenith point by four times that quantity, i.e. by 52° 42 minutes 20 seconds, a space which corresponds to the path which he will describe during the entire journey of the projectile. But in as much as it is equally necessary to take into account the deviation which the rotary motion of the earth will impart to the shot and as the shot cannot reach the moon until after a deviation equal to 16 radi of the earth which calculated upon the moon's orbit are equal to about 11°. It becomes necessary to add these 11 degrees to those which express the retardation of the moon just mentioned. That is to say in round numbers about 64°. Consequently, at the moment of firing, the visual radius applied to the moon will describe with the vertical line of the place an angle of 64°. These are our answers to the questions proposed to the Observatory of Cambridge by the members of the gun club. To sum up, first the cannon ought to be planted in the country situated between 0 and 28° of north or south latitude. Secondly, it ought to be pointed directly towards the zenith of the place. Thirdly, the projectile ought to be propelled with an initial velocity of 12,000 yd/s. Fourthly, it ought to be discharged at 10 hours 46 minutes 40 seconds of the 1st December of the ensuing year. Fifthly, it will meet the moon 4 days after its discharge, precisely at midnight on the 4th December, at the moment of its transit across the zenith. The members of the gun club ought, therefore, without delay, to commence the works necessary for such an experiment, and to be prepared to set to work at the moment determined upon. For if they should suffer this fourth December to go by, they will not find the moon again under the same conditions of perigee and of zenith until 18 years and 11 days afterwards. The staff of the Cambridge Observatory placed themselves entirely at their disposal in respect of all questions of theoretical astronomy and herewith add their congratulations to those of all the rest of America. For the astronomical staff, JM Belfast, director of the Observatory of Cambridge. End of chapter. Chapter five of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 5. The Romance of the Moon. An observer endued with his infinite range of vision and placed in that unknown center around which the entire world revolves might have beheld myriads of atoms filling all space during the chaotic epic of the universe. Little by little, as ages went on, a change took place. A general law of attraction manifested itself to which the hitherto errant atoms became obedient. These atoms combined together chemically according to their affinities, form themselves into molecules, and compose those nebulous masses with which the depths of the heavens are strewed. These masses became immediately endued with a rotary motion around their own central point. This center formed of indefinite molecules began to revolve around its own axis during its gradual condensation. Then following the immutable laws of mechanics in proportion as its bulk diminished by condensation, its rotary motion became accelerated and these two effects continuing. The result was the formation of one principal star, the center of the nebulous mass. By attentively watching, the observer would then have perceived the other molecules of the mass following the example of this central star become likewise condensed by gradually accelerated rotation and gravitating round it in the shape of innumerable stars. Thus was formed the nebula of which astronomers have reckoned up nearly 5,000. Amongst these 5,000 nebula, there is one which has received the name of the Milky Way and which contains 18 millions of stars, each of which has become the center of a solar world. If the observer had then specially directed his attention to one of the more humble and less brilliant of these stellar bodies, a star of the fourth class, that which is arrogantly called the sun, all the phenomena to which the formation of the universe is to be ascribed would have been successfully fulfilled before his eyes. In fact, he would have perceived this sun as yet in the gaseous state and composed of moving molecules revolving around its axis in order to accomplish its work of concentration. This motion faithful to the laws of mechanics would have been accelerated with the dimmonition of its volume and a moment would have arrived when the centrifugal force would have overpowered the centripal which causes the molecules all to tend towards the center. Another phenomenon would now have passed before the observer's eye, and the molecules situated on the plane of the equator escaping like a stone from a sling of which the cord had suddenly snapped would have formed around the sun sundry concentric rings resembling that of Saturn. In their turn again, these rings of cosmical matter excited by a rotary motion round the central mass would have been broken up and decomposed into secondary nebulosities, that is to say, into planets. Similarly, he would have observed these planets throw off one or more rings each, which became the origin of the secondary bodies which we call satellites. Thus then advancing from atom to molecule, from molecule to nebulous mass, from that to a principal star, from star to sun, from sun to planet, and hence to satellite, we have the whole series of transformations undergone by the heavenly bodies during the first days of the world. Now, of those attendant bodies which the sun maintains in their elliptical orbits by the great law of gravitation, some few in their turn possess satellites. Uranus has eight, Saturn 8, Jupiter four, Neptune possibly three, and the Earth one. This last one of the least important of the entire solar system we call the moon. And it is she whom the daring genius of the Americans profess their intention of conquering. The moon by her comparative proximity and the constantly varying appearances produced by her several phases has always occupied a considerable share of the attention of the inhabitants of the earth. From the time of Thales of Myitus in the fifth century BC down to that of Capernicus in the 15th and Tiko Brahhee in the 16th century AD. Observations have been from time to time carried on with more or less correctness until in the present day the altitudes of the lunar mountains have been determined with exactitude. Galileo explained the phenomena of the lunar light produced during certain hover phases by the existence of mountains to which he assigned a mean altitude of 27,000 ft. After himas an astronomer of dens reduced the highest elevations to 15,000 ft but the calculations of Rickyoli brought them up again to 21,000 ft. At the close of the 18th century, Herschel, armed with a powerful telescope, considerably reduced the preceding measurements. He assigned a height of 11,400 ft to the maximum elevations and reduced the mean of the different altitudes to little more than 2400 ft. But hersel's calculations were in their turn corrected by the observations of Halley Naymith Bianini Grithoisen and others. But it was reserved the labors of Boore and of Medler finally to solve the question. They succeeded in measuring 1,95 different elevations of which six exceeded 15,000 ft and 22 exceed 14,400 ft. The highest summit of all towers to a height of 22,66 ft above the surface of the lunar disc. At the same period, the examination of the moon was completed. She appeared completely riddled with craters, and her essentially volcanic character was apparent at each observation. By the absence of refraction in the rays of the planets occulted by her, we conclude that she is absolutely devoid of an atmosphere. The absence of air entails the absence of water. It became therefore manifest that the salelonites to support life under such conditions must possess a special organization of their own must differ remarkably from the inhabitants of the earth. At length, thanks to modern art, instruments of still higher perfection searched the moon without intermission, not leaving a single point of her surface unexplored, and notwithstanding that her diameter measures 2150 mi, her surface equals 115th part of that of our globe, and her bulk the 149th part of that of the terrestrial spheroid. Not one of her secrets was able to escape the eyes of the astronomers, and these skillful men of science carried to even greater degree their predigious observations. Thus they remarked that during full moon the disc appeared scored in certain parts with white lines and during the phases with black. On prosecuting the study of these with still greater precision, they succeeded in obtaining an exact account of the nature of these lines. They were long and narrow furrows sunk between parallel ridges bordering generally upon the edges of the craters. Their length vary between 10 and 100 miles, and their width was about 1,600 yd. Astronomers called them chasms, but they could not get any farther. Whether these chasms were the dried up beds of ancient rivers or not, they were unable thoroughly to ascertain. The Americans, amongst others, hoped one day or other to determine this geological question. They also undertook to examine the true nature of that system of parallel ramparts discovered on the moon's surface by a grither a learned professor of Munich who considered them to be a system of fortifications thrown up by the selenitic engineers. These two points, yet obscure, as well as others, no doubt, could not be definitively settled except by direct communication with the moon. Regarding the degree of intensity of its light, there was nothing more to learn on this point. It was known that it is 300,000 times weaker than that of the sun, and that its heat has no appreciable effect upon the thermometer. As to the phenomenon known as the ashy light, it is explained naturally by the effect of the transmission of the solar rays from the earth to the moon which give the appearance of completeness to the lunar disc while it presents itself under the crescent form during its first and last phases. Such was the state of knowledge acquired regarding the earth's satellite which the gun club undertook to perfect in all its aspects cosmographic, geological, political and moral. End of chapter. Chapter 6 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 6, The Permissive Limits of Ignorance and Belief in the United States. The immediate result of Barbane's proposition was to place upon the orders of the day all the astronomical facts relative to the queen of night. Everybody set to work to study assiduously. One would have thought that the moon had just appeared for the first time and that no one had ever before caught a glimpse of her in the heavens. The papers revived all the old anecdotes in which the son of the wolves played a part. They recalled the influences which the ignorance of past ages ascribed to her. In short, all America was seized with selenomomania or have become moon mad. The scientific journals for their part dealt more especially with the questions which touched upon the enterprise of the gun club. The letter of the Observatory of Cambridge was published by them and commented upon with unreserved approval. Until that time, most people had been ignorant of the mode in which the distance which separates the moon from the earth is calculated. They took advantage of this fact to explain to them that this distance was obtained by measuring the parallax of the moon. The term parallax proving caviar to the general. They further explained that it meant the angle formed by the inclination of two straight lines drawn from either extremity of the Earth's radius to the moon. On doubts being expressed as to the correctness of this method, they immediately prove that not only was the mean distance 234,347 mi, but that astronomers could not possibly be an error in their estimate by more than 70 mi either way. To those who were not familiar with the motions of the moon, they demonstrated that she possesses two distinct motions. The first being that of rotation upon her axis. The second that of revolution round the earth accomplishing both together in an equal period of time. That is to say in 27 and 1/3 days. The motion of rotation is that which produces day and night on the surface of the moon. Save that there is only one day and one night in the lunar month each lasting 354 and 1/3 hours. But happily for her, the face turned towards the terrestrial globe is illuminated by it with an intensity equal to the light of 14 moons. As to the other face, always invisible to us, it has of necessity 354 hours of absolute night, tempered only by that pale glimmer which falls upon it from the stars. Some well-intentioned, but rather obstinate persons could not at first comprehend how, if the moon displays invariably the same face to the earth during her revolution, she can describe one turn round herself. To such they answered, "Go into your dining room and walk around the table in such a way as always to keep your face turned towards the center. By the time you will have achieved one complete round, you will have completed one turn round yourself since your eye will have traveled successively every point of the room. Well then, the room is the heavens, the table is the earth, and the moon is yourself, and they would go away delighted. So then, the moon displays invariably the same face to the earth. Nevertheless, to be quite exact, it is necessary to add that in consequence of certain fluctuations of north and south, and of west and east, termed her libration, she permits rather more than the half, that is to say, 57ths to be seen. As soon as the ignoramuses came to understand as much as the director of the observatory himself knew, they began to worry themselves regarding her revolution around the earth, whereupon 20 scientific reviews immediately came to the rescue. They pointed out to them then that the firmament with its infinitude of stars may be considered as one vast dial plate upon which the moon travels indicating the true time to all the inhabitants of the earth. That is during this movement that the queen of night exhibits her different phases that the moon is full when she is in opposition with the sun. That is when the three bodies are in the same straight line. the earth occupying the center. That she is new when she is in conjunction with the sun, that is when she is between it and the earth. And lastly, that she is in her first or last quarter, when she makes with the sun and the earth an angle of which she herself occupies the apex. Regarding the altitude which the moon attains above the horizon. The letter of the Cambridge Observatory had said all that was to be said in that respect. Everyone knew that this altitude varies according to the latitude of the observer. But the only zones of the globe in which the moon passes the zenith that is the point directly over the head of the spectator are of necessity comprised between the 28th parallels and the equator. Hence the importance of the advice to try the experiment upon some point of that part of the globe in order that the projectile might be discharged perpendicularly and so the sunnist escaped the action of gravitation. This was an essential condition to the success of the enterprise and continued actively to engage the public attention regarding the path described by the moon in a revolution round the earth. The Cambridge Observatory had demonstrated that this path is a re-entering curve, not a perfect circle, but an ellipse of which the Earth occupies one of the fosi. It was also well understood that it is farthest removed from the Earth during its apogee and approaches most nearly to it at its perigee. Such then was the extent of knowledge possessed by every American on the subject and of which no one could decently profess ignorance. Still, while these true principles were being rapidly disseminated, many errors and elucory fears proved less easy to eradicate. For instance, some worthy persons maintain that the moon was an ancient comet which in describing its elongated orbit around the sun happened to pass near the earth and became confined within her circle of attraction. These drawing room astronomers professed so to explain the charred aspect of the moon, a disaster which they attributed to the intensity of the solar heat. only on being reminded that comets have an atmosphere and that the moon has little or none. They were fairly at a loss for a reply. Others again belonging to the doubting class expressed certain fears as to the position of the moon. They had heard it said that according to observations made in the time of the khifs her revolution had become accelerated in a certain degree. Hence they concluded logically enough that an acceleration of motion ought to be accompanied by a corresponding dimmonition in the distance separating the two bodies and that supposing the double effect to be continued to infinity the moon would end by one day falling into the earth. However, they became reassured as to the fate of future generations on being apprised that according to the calculations of Lelas, this acceleration of motion is confined within very restricted limits and that a proportional dimmonition of speed will be certain to succeed it. So then the stability of the solar system would not be deranged in ages to come. There remains but the third class, the superstitious. These were worthies were not content merely to rest in ignorance. They must know all about things which had no existence whatever. And as to the moon, they had long known all about her. One set regarded her disc as a polished mirror by means of which people could see each other from different points of the earth and interchange their thoughts. Another set pretended that out of 1,000 new moons that have been observed, 950 had been attended with remarkable disturbances such as cataclysms, revolutions, earthquakes, the deluge, etc. Then they believed in some mysterious influence exercised by her over human destinies that every selonite was attached to some inhabitant of the earth by a tie of sympathy. They maintained that the entire vital system is subject to her control etc etc. But in time the majority renounced these vulgar errors and espoused the true side of the question. As for the Yankees, they had no other ambition than to take possession of this new continent of the sky and to plant upon the summit of its highest elevation, the Star Spangled Banner of the United States of America. End of chapter. Chapter 7 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern, Chapter 7, The Hymn of the Cannonball. The Observatory of Cambridge in its memorable letter had treated the question from a purely astronomical point of view. The mechanical part still remained. President Barbane had without loss of time nominated a working committee of the gun club. The duty of this committee was to resolve the three grand questions of the cannon, the projectile, and the powder. It was composed of four members of great technical knowledge. Barbacine with a casting vote in case of equality, General Morgan, Major Elfenstone, and JT Masten to whom were confided the functions of a secretary. On the 8th of October, the committee met at the house of President Barbcane, three Republican Street. The meeting was opened by the president himself. Gentlemen, said he, we have to resolve one of the most important problems in the whole of the noble science of gunnery, it might appear perhaps the most logical course to devote our first meeting to the discussion of the engine to be employed. Nevertheless, after mature consideration, it is appeared to me that the question of the projectile must take precedence of that of the canon, and that the dimensions of the latter must necessarily depend upon those of the former. Suffer me to say a word. Here broke in JT Masten, permission having been granted. Gentlemen, said he with an inspired accent, our president is right in placing the question of the projectile above all others. The ball we are about to discharge at the moon is our ambassador to her, and I wish to consider it from a moral point of view. The cannonball, gentlemen, to my mind, is the most magnificent manifestation of human power. If providence has created the stars and the planets, man has called the cannonball into existence. Let providence claim the swiftness of electricity and of light, of the stars, the comets and planets, of wind and sound. We claim to have invented the swiftness of the cannonball, a h 100 times superior to that of the swiftest horses or railway train. How glorious will be the moment when, infinitely exceeding all hitherto attained velocities, we shall launch our new projectile with the rapidity of 7 mi a second. Shall it not, gentlemen, shall it not be received up there with the honors due to a terrestrial ambassador? Overcome with emotion, the orator sat down and applied himself to a huge plate of sandwiches before him. And now, said Barbcane, let us quit the domain of poetry and come direct to the question. By all means, replied the members, each with his mouth full of sandwich. The problem before us, continued the president, is how to communicate to a projectile a velocity of 12,000 yards per second. Let us at present examine the velocities hitherto attained. General Morgan will be able to enlighten us on this point. and the more easily replied the general that during the war I was a member of the committee of experiments. I may say then that the 100 pounder Dalgrrens which carried a distance of 5,000 yards impressed upon their projectile an initial velocity of 500 yards a second. The Rodman Colombiad threw a shot weighing half a ton, a distance of 6 miles, with a velocity of 800 yards per second. A result which Armstrong and Paler have never obtained in England. This, replied Barbcane, is I believe the maximum velocity ever attained. It is so, replied the general. Ah, grown JT Masten, if my mortar had not burst. Yes, quietly, replied Barbcane. But it did burst. We must take then for our starting point this velocity of 800 yd. We must increase it 20fold. Now, reserving for another discussion the means of producing this velocity, I will call your attention to the dimensions which it will be proper to assign to the shot. You understand that we have nothing to do here with projectiles weighing at most but half a ton. Why not? demanded the major. Because the shot, quickly replied JT Masten, must be big enough to attract the attention of the inhabitants of the moon, if there are any. Yes, replied Barbara Kain. And for another reason more important still. What mean you? asked the major. I mean that it is not enough to discharge a projectile and then take no further notice of it. We must follow it throughout its course up to the moment when it shall reach its goal. What? shouted the general and the major in great surprise. Undoubtedly, replied Barbcane composedly, or our experiment would produce no result. Uh, but then, replied the major, you will have to give this projectile enormous dimensions. No, be so good as to listen. You know that optical instruments have acquired great perfection. With certain telescopes, we have succeeded in obtaining enlargements of 6,000 times and reducing the moon to within 40 mi distance. Now at this distance any objects 60 ft square would be perfectly visible. If then the penetrative power of telescopes has not been further increased, it is because that power detracts from their light and the moon which is but a reflecting mirror does not give back sufficient light to enable us to perceive objects of lesser magnitude. Well then what do you propose to do? Asked the general. Would you give your projectile a diameter of 60 ft? Not so. Do you intend then to increase the luminous power of the moon? Exactly. So, if I can succeed in diminishing the density of the atmosphere through which the moon's light has to travel, I shall have rendered her light more intense. To affect that object, it will be enough to establish a telescope on some elevated mountain. That is what we will do. I give it up, answered the major. You have such a way of simplifying things. And what enlargement do you expect to obtain in this way? One of 48,000 times which should bring the moon within an apparent distance of 5 miles. And in order to be visible, objects need not have a diameter of more than 9 ft. So then, cried JT Masten, our projectile need not be more than 9 ft in diameter. Let me observe, however, interrupted Major Elfenstone. This will involve a weight such as My Dear Major, replied Barbcane, before discussing its weight. Permit me to enumerate some of the marvels which our ancestors have achieved in this respect. I don't mean to pretend that the science of gunnery has not advanced, but it is as well to bear in mind that during the Middle Ages, they obtained results more surprising, I will venture to say, than ours. For instance, during the siege of Constantinople by Mahome 2 in 1453, stone shot of,900b weight were employed at Malta in the time of the knights. There was a gun of the fortress of St. Elmo which threw a projectile weighing 2500 lb. And now what is the extent of what we have seen ourselves? Armstrong guns discharging shot of 500 lb and the Rodman guns projectiles of half a ton. It seems then that if our projectiles have gained in range, they have lost far more in weight. Now, if we turn our efforts in that direction, we ought to arrive with the progress of science at 10 times the weight of the shot of Mohammed 2 and the Knights of Malta. Clearly, replied the major, but what metal do you calculate upon employing? simply cast iron, said General Morgan. But, interrupted the measure, since the weight of a shot is proportionate to its volume, an iron ball of 9 ft in diameter would be of tremendous weight. Yes, if it were solid, not if it were hollow. Hollow? Then it would be a shell. Yes, a shell, replied Barbcane. Decidedly, it must be. A solid shot of 108 in should weigh more than 200,000 lb, a weight evidently far too great. Still, as we must reserve a certain stability for our projectile, I propose to give it a weight of 20,000b. What then will be the thickness of the sides? asked the measure. If we follow the usual proportion, replied Morgan, a diameter of 108 in would require sides of 2 feet thickness or less. That would be too much, replied Barbcane, for you will observe that the question is not that of a shot intended to pierce an iron plate. It will suffice, therefore, to give its side strong enough to resist the pressure of the gas. The problem, therefore, is this. What thickness ought a cast iron shell to have in order not to weigh more than 20,000? Our clever secretary will soon enlighten us upon this point. Nothing easier, replied the worthy secretary of the committee, and rapidly tracing a few algebraical formula upon paper, among which n² and x square frequently appeared, he presently said, "The sides will require a thickness of less than 2 in." "Will that be enough?" asked the major doubtfully. "Clearly not," replied the president. What is to be done then? said Elfen Stone with a puzzled air. Employ another metal instead of iron. Copper, said Morgan. No, that would be too heavy. I have better than that to offer. What then? asked the major. Aluminium, replied Barbcane. Aluminium, cried his three colleagues in chorus. Unquestionably, my friends, this valuable metal possesses the whiteness of silver, the indestructibility of gold, the tenacity of iron, the fusability of copper, the lightness of glass. It is easily wrought. It is very widely distributed, forming the base of most of the rocks, is three times lighter than iron, and seems to have been created for the express purpose of furnishing us with the material for our projectile. Uh, but my dear president, said the major, is not the cost price of aluminium extremely high. It was so at its first discovery, but it has fallen down to $9 the pound. But still, $9 the pound, replied the major, who was not willing readily to give in. Even that is an enormous price. Undoubtedly, my dear major, but not beyond our reach. What will the projectile weigh then? asked Morgan. Here is the result of my calculations, replied Barbcane. A shot of 108 in in diameter and 12 in in thickness would weigh in cast iron 67,440 lb. Cast and aluminium. Its weight will be reduced to 19,250 pounds. Capital, cried the major. But do you know that at $9 the pound, this projectile will cost $173,050? I know it quite well. But fear not, my friends, the money will not be wanting for our enterprise. I will answer for it. Now, what say you to aluminium, gentlemen? Adopted, replied the three members of the committee. So ended the first meeting. The question of the projectile was definitively settled. End of chapter. Chapter 8 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 8, History of the Canon. The resolutions passed at the last meeting produced a great effect out of doors. Timid people took fright at the idea of a shot weighing 20,000 pounds being launched into space. They asked what cannon could ever transmit a sufficient velocity through such a mighty mass. The minutes of the second meeting were destined triumphantly to answer such questions. The following evening the discussion was renewed. My deared colleagues, said Barbcane, without further preamble, the subject now before us is the construction of the engine, its length, its composition, and its weight. It is probable that we shall end by giving it gigantic dimensions. But however great may be the difficulties in the way, our mechanical genius will readily surmount them. Be good enough then to give me your attention, and do not hesitate to make objections at the close. I have no fear of them. The problem before us is how to communicate an initial force of 12,000 yd/s to a shell of 108 in in diameter weighing 20,000 lb. Now, when a projectile is launched into space, what happens to it? It is acted upon by three independent forces. the resistance of the air, the attraction of the earth and the force of impulsion with which it is endowed. Let us examine these three forces. The resistance of the air is of little importance. The atmosphere of the earth does not exceed 40 mi. Now with a given rapidity the projectile will have traversed this in 5 seconds and the period is too brief for the resistance of the medium to be regarded otherwise than as insignificant. Proceeding then to the attraction of the earth that is the weight of the shell. We know that this weight will diminish in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance. When a body left to itself falls to the surface of the earth. It falls 5 ft in the first second. And if the same body were removed 257,542 mi farther off, in other words, to the distance of the moon, its fall would be reduced to about half a line in the first second. That is almost equivalent to a state of perfect rest. Our business then is to overcome progressively this action of gravitation. The mode of accomplishing that is by the force of impulsion. There's the difficulty, broken the major. True, replied the president, but we will overcome that, for this force of impulsion will depend upon the length of the engine and the powder employed, the latter being limited only by the resisting power of the former. Our business then today is with the dimensions of the cannon. Now, up to the present time, said Barbcane, our longest guns have not exceeded 25 ft in length. We shall therefore astonish the world by the dimensions we shall be obliged to adopt. It must evidently be then a gun of great range, since the length of the piece will increase the detention of the gas accumulated behind the projectile. But there is no advantage in passing certain limits. Quite so, said the major. What is the rule in such a case? Ordinarily, the length of a gun is 20 to 25 times the diameter of the shot and its weight 235 to 240 times that of the shot. That is not enough, cried JT Masten impetuously. I agree with you, my good friend. And in fact, following this proportion for a projectile 9 ft in diameter, weighing 30,000 lb, the gun would only have a length of 225 ft and a weight of 7,200,000 lb. Ridiculous, reaped Join Maston. As well, take a pistol. I think so, too, replied Barbcane. That is why I propose to quadruple that length and to construct a gun of 900 ft. The general and the major offered some objections. Nevertheless, the proposition actively supported by the secretary was definitively adopted. But, said Elephant Stone, what thickness must we give it? A thickness of 6 feet, replied Barbcane. You surely don't think of mounting a mass like that upon a carriage, asked the major. It would be a superb idea, though, said Masten. But impracticable, replied Barber. No, I think of sinking this engine in the earth alone, binding it with hoops of rot iron, and finally surrounding it with a thick mass of masonry of stone and cement. The piece once cast, it must be bored with great precision, so as to prelude any possible windage, so there will be no loss whatever of gas, and all the expansive force of the powder will be employed in the propulsion. One simple question, said Elfen Stone. Is our gun to be rifled? No, certainly not, replied Barbcane. We require an enormous initial velocity, and you are well aware that a shot quits a rifled gun less rapidly than it does a smooth boore. True, rejoined the major. The committee here adjourned for a few minutes to tea and sandwiches. On the discussion being renewed, gentlemen, said Barbcane, we must now take into consideration the metal to be employed. Our cannon must be possessed of great tenacity, great hardness, be infusible by heat, indissoluble, and in oxidable by the corrosive action of acids. There is no doubt about that, replied the major, and as we shall have to employ an enormous quantity of metal, we shall not be at a loss for choice. Well then, said Morgan, I propose the best alloy, hitherto known, which consists of 100 parts of copper, 12 of tin, and six of brass. I admit, replied the president, that this composition has yielded excellent results, but in the present case it would be too expensive and very difficult to work. I think then that we ought to adopt a material excellent in its way and of low price, such as cast iron. What is your advice, Major? I quite agree with you, replied Elfen Stone. In fact, continued Barbcane. Cast iron costs 10 times less than bronze. It is easy to cast. It runs readily from the molds of sand. It is easy of manipulation. It is at once economical of money and of time. In addition, it is excellent as a material, and I well remember that during the war at the siege of Atlanta, some iron guns fired 1,000 rounds at intervals of 20 minutes without injury. Cast iron is very brittle, though, replied Morgan. Yes, but it it possesses great resistance. I will now ask our worthy secretary to calculate the weight of a castiron gun with a boar of 9 ft and a thickness of 6 ft of metal. In a moment, replied Masten, then dashing off some algebraical formula with marvelous facility, in a minute or two he declared the following result. A cannon will weigh 68,040 tons. At at2 cents a pound it will cost2,510,71. Masten the major and the general regarded barbcane with uneasy looks. Well, gentlemen, replied the president, I repeat what I said yesterday. Make yourselves easy. The millions will not be wanting. With this assurance of their president, the committee separated after having fixed their third meeting for the following evening. End of chapter. Chapter nine of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 9, The Question of the Powders. There remained for consideration merely the question of powders. The public awaited with interest its final decision. The size of the projectile, the length of the cannon being settled, what would be the quantity of powder necessary to produce impulsion? It is generally asserted that gunpowder was invented in the 14th century by the monk Schwarz who paid for his grand discovery with his life. It is however pretty well proved that this story ought to be ranked amongst the legends of the Middle Ages. Gunpowder was not invented by anyone. It was the lineal successor of the Greek fire which like itself was composed of sulfur and salt peter. Few persons are acquainted with the mechanical power of gunpowder. Now this is precisely what is necessary to be understood in order to comprehend the importance of the question submitted to the committee. A liter of gunpowder weighs about 2 lb. During combustion, it produces 400 L of gas. This gas on being liberated and acted upon by a temperature raised to 2400° occupies a space of 4,000 L. Consequently, the volume of powder is to the volume of gas produced by its combustion as 1 to 4,000. One may judge, therefore, of the tremendous pressure of this gas when compressed within a space 4,000 times too confined. All this was of course well known to the members of the committee when they met on the following evening. The first speaker on this occasion was Major Elfenstone who had been the director of the gunpowder factories during the war. Gentlemen, said this distinguished chemist, I begin with some figures which will serve as the basis of our calculation. The old 24 pounder shot required for its discharge 16 lb of powder. "You are certain of the amount," broke in Barbcane. "Quite certain," replied the major. "The Armstrong cannon employs only 75 lb of powder for a projectile of 800 lb, and the Rodman Colombi uses only 160 lb of powder to send its halfton shot a distance of 6 miles. These facts cannot be called in question, for I myself raised the point during the depositions taken before the committee of artillery. Quite true, said the general, "Well," replied the major, "These figures go to prove that the quantity of powder is not increased with the weight of the shot. That is to say, if a 24 pounder shot requires 16 pounds of powder, in other words, if in ordinary guns we employ a quantity of powder equal to 2/3 of the weight of the projectile, this proportion is not constant. Calculate and you will see that in place of 333 pounds of powder, the quantity is reduced to no more than 160 pounds. What are you aiming at? asked the president. "If you push your theories to extremes, my dear major," said JT Masten, you will get to this, that as soon as your shot becomes sufficiently heavy, you will not require any powder at all. "Our friend Masten is always at his jokes, even in serious matters," cried the major. "But let him make his mind easy. I am going presently to propose gunpowder enough to satisfy his artillerous propensities. I only keep to statistical facts when I say that during the war and for the very largest guns the weight of powder was reduced as the result of experience to a tenth part of the weight of the shot. Perfectly correct, said Morgan. But before deciding the quantity of powder necessary to give the impulse, I think it would be as well, we shall have to employ a large grained powder, continued the major. Its combustion is more rapid than that of the small. No doubt about that, replied Morgan. But it is very destructive and ends by enlarging the bore of the pieces. Granted, but that which is injurious to a gun destined to perform long service is not so to our Colombiad. We shall run no danger of an explosion, and it is necessary that our powder should take fire instantaneously in order that its mechanical effect may be complete. We must have, said Masten, several touch holes so as to fire it at different points at the same time. Certainly, replied Elfen Stone, but that will render the working of the piece more difficult. I returned then to my large grained powder, which removes those difficulties. In his coliad charges, Robman employed a powder as large as chestnuts made of willow charcoal, simply dried in cast iron pans. This powder was hard and glittering, left no trace upon the hand, contained hydrogen and oxygen in large proportion, took fire instantaneously, and though very destructive, did not sensibly injure the mouthpiece. Up to this point, Barbane had kept aloof from the discussion. He left the others to speak while he himself listened. He had evidently got an idea. He now simply said, "Well, my friends, what quantity of powder do you propose?" The three members looked at one another. "200,000 at last," said Morgan. "500,000?" added the major. "800,000!" screamed Maston. A moment of silence followed this triple proposal. It was at last broken by the president. Gentlemen, he quietly said, I start from this principle that the resistance of a gun constructed under the given conditions is unlimited. I shall surprise our friend Masten then by stigmatizing his calculations as timid, and I propose to double his 800,000b of powder. 1600,000b shouted Masten, leaping from his seat. Just so we shall have to come then to my idea of a cannon half a mile long. For you see, 1,600,000 lb will occupy a space of about 20,000 cubic feet. And since the contents of your cannon do not exceed 54,000 cubic feet, it would be half full, and the bore will not be more than long enough for the gas to communicate to the projectile sufficient impulse. Nevertheless, said the president, I hold to that quantity of powder. Now, 1,600,000 pounds of powder will create 6 billion of lers of gas. 6,000 millions. You quite understand. What is to be done then? said the general. The thing is very simple. We must reduce this enormous quantity of powder while preserving to it its mechanical power. Good. But by what means? I am going to tell you, replied Barbcane quietly. Nothing is more easy than to reduce this mass to one quarter of its bulk. You know that curious cellular matter which constitutes the elementary tissues of vegetables. This substance is found quite pure in many bodies, especially in cotton, which is nothing more than the down of the seeds of the cotton plant. Now cotton combined with cold nitric acid becomes transformed into a substance eminently insoluble, combustible and explosive. It was first discovered in 1832 by Brachano a French chemist who called it Xyloine. In 1838, another Frenchman, Peluse, investigated its different properties and finally in 1846, Shonbine, professor of chemistry at Bal, proposed its employment for purposes of war. This powder, now called pyroxile or fulminating cotton, is prepared with great facility by simply plunging cotton for 15 minutes in nitric acid, then washing it in water, then drying it, and it is ready for use. Nothing could be more simple, said Morgan. Moreover, peroxile is unaltered by moisture, a valuable property to us in as much as it would take several days to charge the cannon. It ignites at 170° in place of 240, and its combustion is so rapid that one may set light to it on top of the ordinary powder without the ladder having time to ignite. Perfect, exclaimed the major. Only it is more expensive. What matter? cried JT Masten. Finally, it imparts to projectiles a velocity four times superior to that of gunpowder. I will even add that if we mix with it 1/8 of its own weight of nitrate of potachsh, its expansive force is again considerably augmented. Will that be necessary? asked the major. I think not, replied Barbane. So then in place of 1,600,000 lb of powder, we shall have but 400,000 lb of fulminating cotton. And since we can without danger compress 500 lb of cotton into 27 cubic feet, the whole quantity will not occupy a height of more than 180 ft within the bore of the Colombiad. In this way, the shot will have more than 700 feet of bore to traverse under a force of six billion lers of gas before taking its flight towards the moon. At this junction, JT Masten could not repress his emotion. He flung himself into the arms of his friend with the violence of a projectile, and Barbcane would have been stove in if he had not been bombroof. This incident terminated the third meeting of the committee. Barbacine and his bold colleagues, to whom nothing seemed impossible, had succeeded in solving the complex problems of projectile, cannon, and powder. Their plan was drawn up, and it only remained to put it in execution. "A mere matter of detail, a bagotell," said JT Masten. End of chapter. Chapter 10 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 10. One enemy versus 25 millions of friends. The American public took a lively interest in the smallest details of the enterprise of the gun club. It followed day by day the discussions of the committee, the most simple preparation for the great experiment, the questions of figures which it involved, the mechanical difficulties to be resolved. In one word, the entire plan of Orc roused the popular excitement to the highest pitch. The purely scientific attraction was suddenly intensified by the following incident. We have seen what legions of admirers and friends Barbcane's project had rallied round its author. There was, however, one single individual alone in all the states of the union who protested against the attempt of the gun club. He attacked it furiously on every opportunity, and human nature is such that Barbacine felt more keenly the opposition of that one man than he did the applause of all the others. He was well aware of the motive of this antipathy, the origin of this solitary enmity, the cause of its personality and old standing, and in what rivalry of self-love it had its rise. This persevering enemy the president of the gun club had never seen. Fortunate that it was so, for a meeting between the two men would certainly have been attended with serious consequences. This rival was a man of science like Barbane himself, of a fiery, daring, and violent disposition, a pure Yankee. His name was Captain Nickel. He lived at Philadelphia. Most people are aware of the curious struggle which arose during the Federal War between the guns and the armor of ironplated ships. The result was the entire reconstruction of the navy of both the continents. As the one grew heavier, the other became thicker in proportion. The Marramac, the Monitor, the Tennessee, the Wii Hawan discharged enormous projectiles themselves after having been armorclad against the projectiles of others. In fact, they did to others that which they would not, they should do to them, that grand principle of immorality upon which rests the whole art of war. Now if Barbane was a great founder of shot, Nickel was a great forger of plates. The one cast night and day at Baltimore, the other forged day and night at Philadelphia. As soon as ever Barbcane invented a new shot, Nickel invented a new plate. Each followed a current of ideas essentially opposed to the other. Happily for these citizens so useful to their country, a distance of from 50 to 60 miles separated them from one another, and they had never yet met. Which of these two inventors had the advantage over the other, it was difficult to decide from the results obtained. By last accounts, however, it would seem that the armor plate would, in the end, have to give way to the shot. Nevertheless, there were competent judges who had their doubts on the point. At the last experiment, the cylindrical conicle projectiles of Barbaca stuck like so many pins in the nickel plates. On that day, the Philadelphia iron forger then believed himself victorious, and could not event contempt enough for his rival. But when the other afterwards substituted for conicle shot simple 600-lb shells at very moderate velocity, the captain was obliged to give in. In fact, these projectiles knocked his best metal plate to shivers. Matters were at this stage, and victory seemed to rest with a shot when the war came to an end on the very day when Nickel had completed a new armor plate of rot steel. It was a masterpiece of its kind and bid defiance to all the projectiles in the world. The captain had it conveyed to the polygon at Washington, challenging the president of the gun club to break it. Barbcane, peace having been declared, declined to try the experiment. Nickel, now furious, offered to expose his plate to the shock of any shot, solid, hollow, round, or conicle. refused by the president, who did not choose to compromise his last success. Nickel, disgusted by this obstinacy, tried to tempt Barbane by offering him every chance. He proposed to fix the plate within 200 yards of the gun. Barbane, still obsinate in refusal. 100 yards? Not even 75. At 50, then, roared the captain through the newspapers. at 25 yards and I'll stand behind." Barbane returned for answer that even if Captain Nickel would be so good as to stand in front, he would not fire anymore. Nickel could not contain himself at this reply, threw out hints of cowardice, that a man who refused to fire a cannon shot was pretty near being afraid of it. that artillerists who fight at six miles distance are substituting mathematical formulas for individual courage. To these insinuations, Barbane returned no answer. Perhaps he never heard of them, so absorbed was he in the calculations for his great enterprise. When his famous communication was made to the gun club, the captain's wrath passed all bounds. With his intense jealousy was mingled a feeling of absolute impotence. How was he to invent anything to beat this 900 ft Colombia? What armor plate could ever resist a projectile of 30,000 lb weight? Overwhelmed at first under this violent shock, he by and by recovered himself and resolved to crushed the proposal by the weight of his arguments. He then violently attacked the labors of the gun club, published a number of letters in the newspapers, endeavored to prove barbcane ignorant of the first principles of gunnery. He maintained that it was absolutely impossible to impress upon any body whatever a velocity of 12,000 yards per second. That even with such a velocity, a projectile of such a weight could not transcend the limits of the Earth's atmosphere. Further still, even regarding the velocity to be acquired and granting it to be sufficient, the shell could not resist the pressure of the gas developed by the ignition of 1,600,000 lb of powder. And supposing it to resist that pressure, it would be the less able to support that temperature. It would melt on quitting the Colombiad and fall back in a red-hot shower upon the heads of the imprudent spectators. Barbacine continued his work without regarding these attacks. Nickel then took up the question in its other aspects. without touching upon its uselessness in all points of view. He regarded the experiment as fraught with extreme danger, both to the citizens, who might sanction by their presence so reprehensible as spectacle, and also to the towns in the neighborhood of this deplorable cannon. He also observed that if a projectile did not succeed in reaching its destination, a result absolutely impossible, it must inevitably fall back upon the Earth, and that the shock of such a mass multiplied by the square of its velocity would seriously endanger every point of the globe. Under the circumstances, therefore, and without interfering with the rights of free citizens, it was a case for the intervention of government, which ought not to endanger the safety of all for the pleasure of one individual. In spite of all his arguments, however, Captain Nickel remained alone in his opinion. Nobody listened to him, and he did not succeed in alienating a single admirer from the president of the Gug Club. The latter did not even take the pains to refute the arguments of his rival. Nickel, driven into his last entrenchments, and not able to fight personally in the cause, resolved to fight with money. He published, therefore, in the Richmond Inquirer, a series of wagers conceived in these terms and on an increasing scale. Number one, $1,000 that the necessary funds for the experiment of the gun club will not be forthcoming. Number two, $2,000 that the operation of casting a cannon of 900 ft is impracticable and cannot possibly succeed. Number three, $3,000 that it is impossible to load the Colombiad and that the peroxile will take fire spontaneously under the pressure of the projectile. Number four, $4,000 that the Colombi will burst at the first fire. Number five, $5,000 that the shot will not travel farther than six miles and that it will fall back again a few seconds after its discharge. It was an important sum, therefore, which the captain risked in his invincible obstinacy. He had no less than $15,000 at stake. Notwithstanding the importance of the challenge, on the 19th of May, he received a sealed packet containing the following superbly laconic reply. Baltimore, October 19, done Barbcade. End of chapter chapter 11 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern, Chapter 11, Florida and Texas. One question yet remained to be decided. It was necessary to choose a favorable spot for the experiment. According to the advice of the Observatory of Cambridge, the gun must be fired perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon, that is to say, towards the zenith. Now the moon does not traverse the zenith except in places situated between 0 and 28° of latitude. It became then necessary to determine exactly that spot on the globe where the immense colombiad should be cast. On the 20th of October at a general meeting of the gun club produced a magnificent map of the United States. Gentlemen, said he in opening the discussion, I presume that we are all agreed that this experiment cannot and ought not to be tried anywhere but within the limits of the soil of the Union. Now, by good fortune, certain frontiers of the United States extend downwards as far as the 28th parallel of the North latitude. If you will cast your eye over this map, you will see that we have at our disposal the whole of the southern portion of Texas and Florida. It was finally agreed then that the Colombiad must be cast on the soil of either Texas or Florida. The result, however, of this decision was to create a rivalry entirely without precedent between the different towns of these two states. The 28th parallel on reaching the American coast traverses the peninsula of Florida dividing it into two nearly equal portions. Then plunging into the Gulf of Mexico, it subtends the ark formed by the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Then skirting Texas off which it cuts an angle. It continues its course over Mexico, crosses the sonora, old California, and loses itself in the Pacific Ocean. It was therefore only those portions of Texas and Florida which were situated below this parallel which came within the prescribed conditions of latitude. Florida in its southern part reckons no cities of importance. It is simply studded with forts raised against the roving Indians. One solitary town, Tampa Town, was able to put in a claim in favor of its situation. In Texas, on the contrary, the towns are much more numerous and important. Corpus Christi in the county of Noases and all the cities situated on the Rio Bravo, Laredo, Kolites, San Ignasio on the web, Rio Grande City on the Star, Edinburgh and the Hidalgo, Santaita, El Panda, Brownsville and the Cameron formed an imposing league against the pretensions of Florida. So scarcely was the decision known when the Texan and Fidian deputies arrived at Baltimore in an incredibly short space of time. From that very moment, President Barbane and the influential members of the gun club were besieged day and night by formidable claims. If seven cities of Greece contended for the honor of having given birth to Homer, here were two entire states threatening to come to blows about the question of a cannon. The rival parties prominated the streets with arms in their hands, and at every occasion of their meeting, a collision was to be apprehended, which might have been attended with disastrous results. Happily, the prudence and address of President Barbane averted the danger. These personal demonstrations found a division in the newspapers of the different states. The New York Herald and the Tribune supported Texas, while the Times and the American Review espoused the cause of the Flidian deputies. The members of the Gun Club could not decide to which to give the preference. Texas produced its array of 26 counties. Florida replied that 12 counties were better than 26 in a country only sixth part of the size. Texas plumemed itself upon its 330,000 natives. Florida, with a far smaller territory, boasted of being much more densely populated with 56,000. The Texians through the columns of the Herald claimed that some regard should be had to a state which grew the best cotton in all America produced the best green oak for the service of the Navy and contained the finest oil besides iron mines in which the yield was 50% of pure metal. To this, the American Review replied that the soil of Florida, although not equally rich, afforded the best conditions for the molding and casting of the Colombi, consisting, as it did, of sand and argulacious earth. That may be all very well, replied the Texians, but you must first get to this country. Now, the communications with Florida are difficult. While the coast of Texas offers the Bay of Galveastston, which possesses a circumference of 14 leagues and is capable of containing the navies of the entire world. A pretty notion truly, replied the papers in the interest of Florida, that of Galveastston Bay 29th parallel. Have we not got a bay of Espirito Santo opening precisely upon the 28th degree and by which ships can reach Tampa town by direct route. A fine bay half choke was saying choked yourselves returned the others. Thus the war went on for several days when Florida endeavored to draw her adversary away onto fresh ground. And one morning, the Times hinted that the enterprise being essentially American, it ought not to be attempted upon other than purely American territory. To these words, Texas retorted, "American? Are we not as much so as you? Were not Texas and Florida both incorporated into the Union in 1845?" "Undoubtedly," replied the Times, "but we have belonged to the Americans ever since 1820. Yes, returned the Tribune. After having been Spaniards or English for 200 years, you were sold to the United States for $5 million. Well, and why need we blush for that? Was not Louisiana bought from Napoleon in 1803 at the price of $16 million? Scandalous, roared the Texan deputies. a wretched little strip of country like Florida to dare to compare itself to Texas, who in place of selling herself, asserted her own independence, drove out the Mexicans in March 2, 1836, and declared herself a federal republic after the victory gained by Samuel Houston on the banks of the San Jesinto over the troops of Santa Ana, a country in fine which voluntarily annexed itself to the United States of America. Yes, because it was afraid of the Mexicans, replied Florida. Afraid? From this moment, the state of things became intolerable. A sanguinary encounter seemed daily imminent between the two parties in the streets of Baltimore. It became necessary to keep an eye upon the deputies. President Barbane knew not which way to look. notes, documents, letters full of menaces showered down upon his house. Which side ought he to take? As regarded the appropriation of the soil, the facility of communication, the rapidity of transport, the claims of both states were evenly balanced. As for political prepossessions, they had nothing to do with the question. This dead block had existed for some little time when Barbine resolved to get rid of it at once. He called a meeting of his colleagues and laid before them a proposition which, it will be seen, was profoundly sagacious. On carefully considering, he said, what is going on now between Florida and Texas, it is clear that the same difficulties will recur with all the towns of the favored state. The rivalry will descend from state to city and so on downwards. Now Texas possesses 11 towns within the prescribed conditions which will further dispute the honor and create us new enemies while Florida has only one. I go in therefore for Florida and Tampa town. This decision on being made known utterly crushed the Texan deputies. Seized with an indescribable fury, they addressed threatening letters to the different members of the gun club by name. The magistrates had but one course to take, and they took it. They chartered a special train, forced the Texians into it, whether they would or no, and they quitted the city with a speed of 30 m an hour. Quickly, however, as they were dispatched, they found time to hurl one last and bitter sarcasm at their adversaries. Alluding to the extent of Florida, a mere peninsula confined between two seas, they pretended that it could never sustain the shock of the discharge, and that it would bust up at the very first shot. Very well, let it bust up, replied the Fidians, with a brevity worthy of the days of ancient Sparta. End of chapter. Chapter 12 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simsville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 12. Herby Ed Orby. The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties resolved. Finally came the question of finance. The sum required was far too great for any individual or even any state to provide the requisite millions. President Barbber Kaine undertook, despite of the matter being a purely American affair, to render it one of universal interest and to request the financial cooperation of all peoples. It was, he maintained, the right and the duty of the whole earth to interfere in the affairs of its satellite. The subscription opened at Baltimore extended properly to the whole world. Herby at Orby. This subscription was successful beyond all expectation, notwithstanding that it was a question not of lending, but of giving the money. It was a purely disinterested operation in the strictest sense of the term, and offered not the slightest chance of profit. The effect, however, of Barbane's communication was not confined to the frontiers of the United States. It crossed the Atlantic and Pacific, invading simultaneously Asia and Europe. Africa and Oceanana. The observatories of the Union placed themselves in immediate communication with those of foreign countries. Some, such as those of Paris, Petersburg, Berlin, Stockholm, Hamburg, Malta, Lisbon, Bernaris, Madress, and others transmitted their good wishes. The rest maintained a prudent silence, quietly awaiting the result. As for the Observatory at Greenwich, seconded as it was by the 22 astronomical establishments of Great Britain, it spoke plainly enough. It boldly denied the possibility of success and pronounced in favor of the theories of Captain Nickel. But this was nothing more than mere English jealousy. On the 8th of October, President Barbara Kaine published a manifesto full of enthusiasm in which he made an appeal to all persons of goodwill upon the face of the earth. This document translated into all languages met with immense success. Subscription lists were opened in all the principal cities of the union with a central office at the Baltimore Bank 9 Baltimore Street. In addition, subscriptions were received at the following banks in the different states of the two continents. at Vienna with SM de Rothschild, Petersburg and Stiglickson Company, Paris, the Cray Mobilier, Stockholm, TTY and Afereden, London, NM Rothschild and Sun, Turin, Arwin and Company, Berlin, Mendelson, Geneva, Lombard, Odier and Company, Constantinople, The Ottoman Bank, Brussels, J. Lambear, Madrid, Daniel Weissweller, Amsterdam, Netherlands Credit Company, Rome, Tlonia and Company, Lisbon, Lechznney, Copenhagen, Private Bank, Rio Janeiro, Ditto, Monte Vido, Vitto, Valareerezo and Lima, Thomas Shambra and company. Mexico, Martin Duran and Company. Three days after the manifesto of President Barbcane, four millions of dollars were paid into the different towns of the union. With such a balance, the gun club might begin operations at once. But some days later, advices were received to the effect that the foreign subscriptions were being eagerly taken up. Certain countries distinguished themselves by the liberality. Others untied their purse strings with less faculty, matter of temperament. Figures are, however, more eloquent than words. And here is the official statement of the sums which were paid into the credit of the gun club at the close of the subscription. Russia paid in, as her contingent, the enormous sum of 368,733 rubles. No one need be surprised at this who bears in mind the scientific taste of the Russians and the impetus which they have given to astronomical studies thanks to their numerous observatories. France began by dwitriting the pretensions of the Americans. The moon served as a pretext for a thousand stale puns in a score of ballads in which bad taste contested the palm with ignorance. But as formerly the French paid before singing, so now they paid after having had their laugh, and they subscribed for a sum of 1,253,930 Franks. At that price, they had a right to enjoy themselves a little. Austria showed herself generous in the midst of her financial crisis. Her public contributions amounted to the sum of 216,000 Florence, a perfect godsend. 52,000 Rick's dollars were the remittance of Sweden and Norway. The amount is large for the country, but it would undoubtedly have been considerably increased had the subscription been open in Christiania simultaneously with that at Stockholm. For some reason or other, the Norwegians did not like to send their money to Sweden. Prussia by a remittance of $250,000 testified her high approval of the enterprise. Turkey behaved generously, but she had a personal interest in the matter. The moon, in fact, regulates the cycle of her years and her fast of Ramadan. She could do no less than give 1,372,640 pestas and she gave them with an eagerness which denoted however some pressure on the part of the government. Belgium distinguished herself among the second rate states by a grant of 513,000 Franks about two son teams per head of her population. Holland and her colonies interested themselves to the extent of 110,000 Florence, only demanding an allowance of 5% discount for paying ready money. Denmark, a little contracted in territory, gave nevertheless 9,000 duckets, proving her love for scientific experiments. The Germanic Confederation pledged itself to 34,285 Florence. It was impossible to ask for more. Besides, they would not have given it. Though very much crippled, Italy found 200,000 L in the pockets of her people. If she had had Venetia, she would have done better. But she had not. The states of the church thought that they could not send less than 7,040 Roman crowns. And Portugal carried her devotion to science as far as 30,000 crusades. It was the widow's might, 86 pastas, but self-constituted empires are always rather short of money. 257 Franks. This was the modest contribution of Switzerland to the American work. One must freely admit that she did not see the practical side of the matter. It did not seem to her that the mere dispatch of a shot to the moon could possibly establish any relation of affairs with her, and it did not seem prudent to her to embark her capital in so hazardous an enterprise. After all, perhaps she was right. As to Spain, she could not scrape together more than 110 real. She gave as an excuse that she had her railways to finish. The truth is that science is not favorably regarded in that country. It is still in a backward state, and moreover certain Spaniards, not by any means the least educated, did not form a correct estimate of the bulk of the projectile compared with that of the moon. They feared that it would disturb the established order of things. In that case, it were better to keep aloof, which they did to the tune of some real. There remained but England, and we know the contemptuous antipathy with which she received Barbcane's proposition. The English had but one soul for the whole 26 millions of inhabitants which Great Britain contains. They hinted that the enterprise of the Gun Club was contrary to the principle of non-intervention, and they did not subscribe a single farthing. At this intimation, the Gunk Club merely shrugged its shoulders and returned to its great work. When South America, that is to say, Peru, Chile, Brazil, the provinces of La Plata, and Colombia, had poured forth their quota into their hands, the sum of $300,000, it found itself in possession of a considerable capital, of which the following is a statement. United States subscriptions $4 million. Foreign subscriptions 1,446,675. Total 5,446,675. Such was the sum which the public poured into the treasury of the gun club. Let no one be surprised at the vastness of the amount, the work of casting, boring, masonry, the transport of workmen, their establishment in an almost uninhabited country, the construction of furnaces and workshops, the plant, the powder, the projectile, and incidental expenses would, according to the estimates, absorb nearly the whole. Certain cannon shots in the Federal War cost $1,000 a piece. This one of President Barbca, unique in the annals of gunnery, might well cost $5,000 times more. On the 20th of October, a contract was entered into with the manufacturer at Cold Spring near New York, which during the war had furnished the largest parrot cast iron guns. It was stipulated between the contracting parties that the manufacturer of Cold Spring should engage to transport to Tampa Town in southern Florida the necessary materials for casting the Colombiad. The work was bound to be completed at latest by the 15th of October following, and the cannon delivered in good condition under penalty of a forfeit of $100 a day to the moment when the moon should again present herself under the same conditions. That is to say, in 18 years and 11 days. The engagement of the workmen, their pay, and all the necessary details of the work devolved upon the Goldspring Company. This contract, executed in duplicate, was signed by Barbane, president of the Gug Club of the one part, and T. Murferson, director of the Cold Spring Manufacturing of the other, who thus executed the deed on behalf of their respective principles. End of chapter chapter 13 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 13, Stones Hill. When the decision was arrived at by the gun club to the disparagement of Texas, everyone in America, where reading is an universal acquirement, set to work to study the geography of Florida. Never before had there been such a sale for works like Bertram's travels in Florida, Roman's natural history of East and West Florida, Williams Territory of Florida, and Cleland on the cultivation of the sugar cane in Florida. It became necessary to issue fresh editions of these works. Barbane had something better to do than to read. He desired to see things with his own eyes and to mark the exact position of the proposed gun. So without a moment's loss of time, he placed at the disposal of the Cambridge Observatory the funds necessary for the construction of a telescope and entered into negotiations with the House of Breadwill & Company of Albany for the construction of an aluminium projectile of the required size. He then quitted Baltimore accompanied by JT Masten, Major Elfenstone, and the manager of the Cold Spring factory. On the following day, the four fellow travelers arrived at New Orleans. There they immediately embarked on board the Tempico, a dispatch boat belonging to the Federal Navy which the government had placed at their disposal, and getting up steam, the banks of the Louisiana speedily disappeared from sight. The passage was not long, 2 days after starting, the Tempico, having made 480 mi, came in sight of the coast of Florida. On a nearer approach, Barbane found himself in view of a low, flat country of somewhat barren aspect. After coasting along a series of creeks abounding in lobsters and oysters, the Tempico entered the bay of Espirito Santo, where she finally anchored in a small natural harbor formed by the ambushure of the river Hillisboro at 700 p.m. on the 22nd October. Our four passengers disembarked at once. Gentlemen, said Barbane, we have no time to lose. Tomorrow we must obtain horses and proceed to reconoiter the country. Barbane had scarcely set his foot on shore when 3,000 of the inhabitants of Tampa Town came forth to meet him, an honor due to the president who had signalized their country by his choice. Declining, however, every kind of ovation, Barbane ensconced himself in a room at the Franklin Hotel. On the marorrow some of those small horses of the Spanish breed full of vigor and of fire stood snorting under his windows. But instead of four steeds there were 50 together with their riders. Barbane descended with his three fellow travelers and much astonished were they all to find themselves in the midst of such a cavalcade. He remarked that every horseman carried a carbine slung across his shoulders and pistols in his holsters. On expressing his surprise at these preparations, he was speedily enlightened by a young Fidian who quietly said, "Sir, there are seinals there." "What do you mean by seinals?" "Savages who scour the prairies. We thought it best, therefore, to escort you on your road." "Poo!" cried JT Masten, mounting his steed. "All right," said the Fidian, "but it is true enough, nevertheless. Gentlemen," answered Barbcane, "I thank you for your kind attention, but it is time to be off." It was 5:00 a.m. when Barbine and his party, quitting Tampa Town, made their way along the coast in the direction of Alfia Creek. This little river falls into Hillisboro Bay, 12 mi above Tampa Town. Barbacine and his escort coasted along its right bank to the eastward. Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind a bend of rising ground and the flidian champagne alone offered itself to view. Florida discovered on Palm Sunday in 1512 by Juan Ponadillion was originally named Pashia Florida. It little deserve that designation with its dry and parched coasts. But after some few miles of tract, the nature of the soil gradually changes and the country shows itself worthy of the name. Cultivated plains soon appear where are united all the productions of the northern and tropical floras terminating in prairies abounding with pineapples and yams, tobacco, rice, cotton plants, and sugar canes which extend beyond reach of sight, flinging their riches broadcasts with careless prodigality. Barbara Kain appeared highly pleased on observing the progressive elevation of the land and in answer to a question of JT Masten replied, "My worthy friend, we cannot do better than sink our Colombia in these high grounds." "To get nearer to the moon, perhaps," said the secretary of the gunclub. "Not exactly," replied Barbine, smiling. Do you not see that amongst these elevated plateaus we shall have a much easier work of it? No struggles with the water springs which will save us long and expensive tubings, and we shall be working in daylight instead of down a deep and narrow well. Our business then is to open our trenches upon ground some hundreds of yards above the level of the sea. You are right, sir, struck in Merchesen the engineer. And if I mistake not, we shall heir long find a suitable spot for our purpose. I wish we were at the first stroke of the pickaxe, said the president. And I wish we were at the last, cried JT Masten. About 10:00 a.m. The little band had crossed a dozen miles to fertile plains succeeded a region of forests. There perfumes of the most varied kinds mingled together in tropical perfusion. These almost impenetrable forests were composed of pomegranates, orange trees, citroins, figs, olives, apricots, bananas, huge vines whose blossoms and fruits rivaled each other in color and perfume. Beneath the odorous shade of these magnificent trees fluttered and warbled a little world of brilliantly plumaged birds. JT Masten and the major could not repress their admiration on finding themselves in presence of the glorious beauties of this wealth of nature. President Barbane, however, less sensitive to these wonders, was in haste to press forward. The very luxurious of the country was displeasing to him. They hastened onwards, therefore, and were compelled to ford several rivers, not without danger, for they were infested with huge alligators from 15 to 18 ft long. Masten courageously menaced them with his steel hook, but he only succeeded in frightening some pelicans and teal, while tall flamingos stared stupidly at the party. At length these denisonens of the swamps disappeared in their turn. Smaller trees became thinly scattered amongst less dense thickets. A few isolated groups detached in the midst of endless plains over which ranged herds of startled deer. At last, cried Barbane, rising his stirrups. Here we are at the region of pines. Yes, and of savages too, replied the major. In fact, some seolles had just come in sight upon their horizon. They rode violently backwards and forwards on their fleet horses, brandishing their spears or discharging their guns with a dull report. These hostile demonstrations, however, had no effect upon Barbcane and his companions. They were then occupying the center of a rocky plane which the sun scorched with its parching rays. This was formed by a considerable elevation of the soil, which seemed to offer to the members of the gun club all the conditions requisite for the construction of their Colombiad. Halt, said Barbcane, raining up. Has this place any local appellation? It's called Stones Hill, replied one of the Fidians. Barbane, without saying a word, dismounted, seized his instruments, and began to note his position with extreme exactness. The little band drawn up in rear watched his proceedings in profound silence. At this moment the sun passed the meridian. Barbane, after a few moments, rapidly wrote down the result of his observations and said, "This spot is situated 1,800 ft above the level of the sea and 27° 7 minutes north latitude and 5° 7 minutes west longitude of the meridian of Washington. It appears to me by its rocky and bearing character to offer all the conditions requisite for our experiment. On that plane will be raised our magazines, workshops, furnaces, and workman huts. And here, from this very spot, said he, stamping his foot on the summit of Stones Hill, hence shall our projectile take its flight into the regions of the solar world. End of chapter. Chapter 14 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 14, Pickaxe and Trowl. The same evening, Barbara Kane and his companions returned to Tampa Town, and Merchesen, the engineer, re-embarked on board the Tempico for New Orleans. His object was to enlist an army of workmen and to collect together the greater part of the materials. The members of the gun club remained at Tampa Town for the purpose of setting on foot the preliminary works by the aid of the people of the country. 8 days after its departure, the Tempico returned into the bay of Espirito Santo with a whole flotillaa of steamboats. Merchesen had succeeded in assembling together 1500 artisans. Attracted by the high pay and considerable bounties offered by the gun club, he had enlisted a choice legion of stokers, iron founders, lime burners, miners, brick makers, and artisans of every trade without distinction of color. As many of these people brought their families with them, their departure resembled a perfect immigration. On the 31st October at 10:00 in the morning, the troop disembarked on the keys of Tampa town and one may imagine the activity which pervaded that little town whose population was thus doubled in a single day. During the first few days, they were busy discharging the cargo brought by the flotillaa, the machines and the rations, as well as a large number of huts constructed of iron plates, separately pieced and numbered. At the same period, Barbcane laid the first sleepers of a railway 15 mi in length intended to unite Stones Hill with Tampa Town. On the 1st of November, Barbane quitted Tampa Town with a detachment of workmen. And on the following day, the whole town of Huts was erected round Stones Hill. This they enclosed with palisades, and in respect of energy and activity, it might have shortly been mistaken for one of the great cities of the Union. Everything was placed under a complete system of discipline, and the works were commenced in most perfect order. The nature of the soil having been carefully examined by means of repeated borings, the work of excavation was fixed for the 4th of November. On that day, Barbane called together his foremen and addressed them as follows. You are well aware, my friends, of the object with which I have assembled you together in this wild part of Florida. Our business is to construct a cannon measuring 9 ft in its interior diameter 6 ft thick and with a stone revetment of 19 1/2 ft in thickness. We have therefore a well of 60 ft in diameter to dig down to a depth of 900 ft. This great work must be completed within 8 months. So you have 2,543,400 cubic feet of earth to excavate in 2555 days. That is to say in round numbers 2,000 cubic feet per day. That which would present no difficulty to a thousand navies working in open country will be of course more troublesome in a comparatively confined space. However, the thing must be done, and I reckon for its accomplishment upon your courage as much as upon your skill. At 8:00 in the morning, the first stroke of the pickaxe was struck upon the soil of Florida, and from that moment that prince of tools was never inactive for one moment in the hands of the excavators. The gangs relieved each other every 3 hours. On the 4th of November, 50 workmen commenced digging in the very center of the enclosed space on the summit of Stones Hill, a circular hole 60 ft in diameter. The pickaxe first struck upon a kind of black earth 6 in in thickness, which was speedily disposed of. To this earth succeeded 2 feet of fine sand, which was carefully laid aside as being valuable for serving for the casting of the inner mold. After the sand appeared some compact white clay, resembling the chalk of Great Britain, which extended down to a depth of four feet. Then the iron of the picss struck upon the hard bed of the soil, a kind of rock formed of petrified shells, very dry, very solid, and which the picss could with difficulty penetrate. At this point, the excavation exhibited a depth of 6 feet and a half, and the work of the masonry was begun. At the bottom of this excavation, they constructed a wheel of oak, a kind of circle, strongly bolted together, and of immense strength. The center of this wooden disc was hollowed out to a diameter equal to the exterior diameter of the colombiad. Upon this wheel rested the first layers of the masonry, the stones of which were bound together by hydraulic cement with irresistible tenacity. The workmen, after laying the stones from the circumference to the center, were thus enclosed within a kind of well 21 ft in diameter. When this work was accomplished, the miners resumed their picks and cut away the rock from underneath the wheel itself, taking care to support it as they advanced upon blocks of great thickness. At every 2 feet, which the hole gained in depth, they successfully withdrew the blocks. The wheel then sank little by little, and with it the massive ring of masonry on the upper bed of which the masons labored incessantly, always reserving some vent holes to permit the escape of gas during the operation of casting. This kind of work required on the part of the workman extreme nicity and minute attention. More than one in digging underneath the wheel was dangerously injured by the splinters of stone, but their arter never relaxed night or day. By day they worked under the rays of the scorching sun. By night, under the gleam of the electric light, the sounds of the picks against the rock, the bursting of mines, the grinding of the machines, the wreaths of smoke scattered through the air, traced around Stones Hill, a circle of terror which the herds of buffaloos and the war parties of the seolles never ventured to pass. Nevertheless, the works advanced regularly as the steam cranes actively removed the rubbish. Of unexpected obstacles, there was little account, and with regard to foreseen difficulties, they were speedily disposed of. At the expiration of the first month, the well had attained the depth assigned for that lapse of time, that is 112 ft. This depth was doubled in December and trebled in January. During the month of February, the workman had to contend with a sheet of water which made its way right across the outer soil. It became necessary to employ very powerful pumps and compressed engines to drain it off so as to close up the orifice from whence it issued just as one stops a leak on board ship. They at last succeeded in getting the upper hand of these untoured streams, only in consequence of the loosening of the soil, the wheel partly gave way, and a slight partial settlement ensued. This accident cost the life of several workmen. No fresh occurrence then forward arrested the progress of the operation and on the 10th of June 20 days before the expiration of the period fixed by barbcane the well lined throughout with its facing of stone had attained the depth of 900 ft. At the bottom the masonry rested upon a massive block measuring 30 ft in thickness whilst on the upper portion it was level with the surrounding soil. President Barbane and the members of the gun club warmly congratulated their engineer Merchesen. The cyclopian work had been accomplished with extraordinary rapidity. During these eight months, Barbane never quitted Stonesill for a single instant. Keeping ever close by the work of excavation, he busied himself incessantly with the welfare and health of his workpeople, and was singularly fortunate in warding off the epidemics common to large communities of men, and so disastrous in those regions of the globe which are exposed to the influences of tropical climates. Many workmen, it is true, paid with their lives for the rashness inherent in these dangerous labors, but these mishaps are impossible to be avoided, and they are classed amongst details with which the Americans trouble themselves, but little. They have, in fact, more regard for human nature in general than for the individual in particular. Nevertheless, Barbane professed opposite principles to these and put them in force at every opportunity. So thanks to his care, his intelligence, his useful intervention in all difficulties, his prodigious and humane sagacity, the average of accidents did not exceed that of transatlantic countries, noted for their excessive precautions. France, for instance, among others, where they reckon about one accident for every 200,000 Franks of work. End of chapter. Chapter 15 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 15, The FET of the Casting. During the eight months which were employed in the work of excavation, the preparatory works of the casting have been carried on simultaneously with extreme rapidity. A stranger arriving at Stones Hill would have been surprised at the spectacle offered to his view. At 600 yardds from the well, and circularly arranged around it as a central point, rose 1,200 reverberating ovens, each 6 ft in diameter and separated from each other by an interval of 3 ft. The circumference occupied by these 1200 ovens presented a length of 2 mi. Being all constructed on the same plan, each with its high quadrangular chimney, they produced a most singular effect. It will be remembered that on the third meeting the committee had decided to use cast iron for the colombiad, and in particular the white description. This metal in fact is the most tenacious, the most ductal and the most malleable and consequently suitable for all molding operations and when smelted with pit coal is of superior quality for all engineering works requiring great resisting power such as cannon steam boilers, hydraulic presses and the like. Cast iron, however, if subjected to only one single fusion, is rarely sufficiently homogeneous, and it requires a second fusion completely to refine it by dispossessing it of its last earthly deposits. So before being forwarded to Tampa Town, the iron ore molten in the great furnaces of Cold Spring and brought into contact with coal and celissium, heated to a high temperature, was carburized and transformed into cast iron. After this first operation, the metal was sent on to Stones Hill. They had, however, to deal with 136 million pounds of iron, a quantity far too costly to send by railway. The cost of transport would have been double that of material. It appeared preferable to freight vessels at New York and to load them with the iron in bars. This, however, required not less than 68 vessels of 1,000 tons, a veritable fleet, which quitting New York on the 3rd of May, on the 10th of the same month, ascended the Bay of Espirita Santo, and discharged their cargos without dues in the port at Tampa Town. Thence the iron was transported by rail to Stones Hill and about the middle of May this enormous mass of metal was delivered at its destination. It will be easily understood that 1,200 furnaces were not too many to melt simultaneously these 60,000 tons of iron. Each of these furnaces contained nearly 140,000 lb weight of metal. They were all built after the model of those which served for the casting of the Rodman gun. They were trapezoidal in shape with a high elliptical arch. These furnaces constructed of fireproof brick were especially adapted for burning pit coal with a flat bottom upon which the iron bars were laid. This bottom inclined at an angle of 25° allowed the metal to flow into the receiving troughs and the 1200 converging trenches carried the molten metal down to the central well. The day following that on which the works of the masonry and boring had been completed, Barbane set to work upon the central mold. His object now was to raise within the center of the well, and with a coincident axis a cylinder 900 ft high and 9 ft in diameter, which should exactly fill up the space reserved for the boar of the Colombi. This cylinder was composed of a mixture of clay and sand with the addition of a little hay and straw. The space left between the mold and the masonry was intended to be filled up by the molten metal, which would thus form the walls 6 ft in thickness. This cylinder, in order to maintain its equilibrium, had to be bound by iron bands and firmly fixed at certain intervals by cross clamps fastened into the stone lining. After the castings, these would be buried in the block of metal, leaving no external projection. This operation was completed on the 8th of July, and the run of the metal was fixed for the following day. "The fed of the casting will be a grand ceremony," said JT Masten to his friend Barbane. "Undoubtedly," said Barbacine, "but it will not be a public fet." "What? Will you not open the gates of the enclosure to all comers? I must be very careful, Masten. The casting of the Colombiad is an extremely delicate and not to say a dangerous operation, and I should prefer it's being done privately. At the discharge of the projectile, a fet if you like, till then, no. The president was right. The operation involved unforeseen dangers which a great influx of spectators would have hindered him from averting. It was necessary to preserve complete freedom of movement. No one was admitted within the enclosure except the delegation of members of the gun club who had made the voyage to Tampa town. Among these was the Brisk Bilsby, Tom Hunter, Colonel Blumsberry, Major Elfenstone, General Morgan, and the rest of the lot to whom the casting of the Colombiad was a matter of personal interest. JT Masten became their ciserone. He omitted no point of detail. He conducted them throughout the magazines, workshops, through the midst of the engines, and compelled them to visit the whole 1,200 furnaces, one after the other. At the end of the 12, 1200th visit, they were pretty well knocked up. The casting was to take place at 12:00 precisely. The previous evening, each furnace had been charged with 114,000 pounds weight of metal in bars disposed crossways to each other so as to allow the hot air to circulate freely between them. At daybreak, the 1200 chimneys vomited their torancets of flame into the air, and the ground was agitated with dull tremblings. As many pounds of metal as there were to cast, so many pounds of coal were there to burn. Thus, there were 68,000 tons of coal which projected in the face of the sun a thick curtain of smoke. The heat soon became insupportable within the circle of furnaces, the rumbling of which resembled the rolling of thunder. The powerful ventilators added their continuous blasts and saturated with oxygen the glowing plates. The operation to be successful required to be conducted with great rapidity. On a signal given by a cannon shot, each furnace was to give vent to the molten iron and completely to empty itself. These arrangements made, foremen and workmen waited the preconcerted moment with an impatience mingled with a certain amount of emotion. Not a soul remained within the enclosure. Each superintendent took his post by the aperture of the run. Barbane and his colleagues, perched on a neighboring eminence, assisted at the operation. In front of them was a piece of artillery ready to give fire on signal from the engineer. Some minutes before midday, the first drilets of metal began to flow. The reservoirs filled little by little, and by the time that the whole melting was completely accomplished, it was kept in obeyance for a few minutes in order to facilitate the separation of foreign substances. 12:00 struck. A gunshot suddenly peeled forth and shot its flame into the air. 1,200 melting troughs were simultaneously opened and 1,200 fiery serpents crept towards the central well, unrolling their incandescent curves. There, down they plunged with a terrific noise into a depth of 900 ft. It was an exciting and a magnificent spectacle. The ground trembled while these molten waves launching into the sky their wreaths of smoke evaporated the moisture of the mold and hurled it upwards through the vent holes of the stone lining in the form of dense vapor clouds. These artificial clouds unrolled their thick spirals to a height of a thousand yards into the air. A savage wandering somewhere beyond the limits of the horizon might have believed that some new crater was forming in the bosom of Florida. Although there was neither any eruption nor typhoon nor storm nor struggle of the elements nor any of those terrible phenomena which nature is capable of producing. No, it was man alone who had produced these reddish vapors, these gigantic flames worthy of a volcano itself, these tremendous vibrations resembling the shock of an earthquake, these reverberations rivaling those of hurricanes and storms. And it was his hand which precipitated into an abyss dug by himself a whole niagra of molten metal. End of chapter. Chapter 16 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, chapter 16, The Colombiad. Had the casting succeeded, they were reduced to mere conjecture, there was indeed every reason to expect success, since the mold had absorbed the entire mass of the molten metal. Still some considerable time must elapse before they could arrive at any certainty upon the matter. The patience of the members of the gun club was sorely tried during this period of time, but they could do nothing. JT Masten escaped roasting by a miracle. 15 days after the casting, an immense column of smoke was still rising in the open sky, and the ground burnt the soles of the feet within a radius of 200 ft round the summit of Stones Hill. It was impossible to approach nearer. All they could do was to wait with what patience they might. Here we are at the 10th August, exclaimed JT Masten one morning. Only 4 months to the 1st of December. We shall never be ready in time. Barbara Kain said nothing, but his silence covered serious irritation. However, daily observations revealed a certain change going on in the state of the ground. About the 15th August, the vapors ejected had sensibly diminished in intensity and thickness. Some days afterwards, the Earth exhaled only a slight puff of smoke, the last breath of the monster enclosed within its circle of stone. Little by little, the belt of heat contracted until on the 22nd August, Barbane, his colleagues, and the engineer were enabled to set foot on the iron sheet which lay level upon the summit of Stones Hill. At last, exclaimed the president of the gun club with an immense sigh of relief. The work was resumed the same day. They proceeded at once to extract the interior mold for the purpose of clearing out the boring of the piece. Pickaxes and boring irons were set to work without intermission. The clay and sandy soils had acquired extreme hardness under the action of the heat, but by the aid of the machines, the rubbish on being dug out was rapidly cartered away on railway wagons, and such was the order of the work so persuasive the arguments of Barbcane's dollars that by the 3rd of September all traces of the mold had entirely disappeared. Immediately the operation of boring was commenced and by the aid of powerful machines a few weeks later the inner surface of the immense tube had been rendered perfectly cylindrical and the bore of the piece had acquired a thorough polish at length on the 22nd of September less than a 12 month after Barbcane's original proposition the enormous weapon accurately bored and exactly vertically pointed was ready for work. There was only the moon now to wait for, and they were pretty sure that she would not fail in the rendevous. The ecstasy of JT Masten knew no bounds, and he narrowly escaped a frightful fall while staring down the tube, but for the strong hand of Colonel Blumsberry, the worthy secretary, like a modern Iostratus, would have found his death in the depths of the Colombiad. The cannon was then finished. There was no possible doubt as to its perfect completion. So on the 6th of October, Captain Nickel opened an account between himself and President Barbcane, in which he debited himself to the latter in the sum of $2,000. One may believe that the captain's wrath was increased to its highest point, and must have made him seriously ill. However, he had still three bets of three, four, and $5,000, respectively, and if he gained two out of these, his position would not be very bad. But the money question did not enter into his calculations. It was the success of his rival in casting a cannon against which iron plates 60 ft thick would have been ineffectual that dealt him a terrible blow. After the 23rd of September, the enclosure of Stones Hill was thrown open to the public, and it will be easily imagined what was the concourse of visitors to this spot. There was an incessant flow of people to and from Tampa Town and the place, which resembled a procession, or rather, in fact, a pilgrimage. It was already clear to be seen that on the day of the experiment itself, the aggregate of spectators would be counted by millions, for they were already arriving from all parts of the earth upon this narrow strip of promontory. Europe was immigrating to America. Up to that time, however, it must be confessed, the curiosity of the numerous comers was but scantily gratified. Most had counted upon witnessing the spectacle of the casting, and they were treated to nothing but smoke. This was sorry food for hungry eyes, but Barb would admit no one to that operation. Then ensued grumbling, discontent, murmurss. They blamed the president, taxed him with dictatorial conduct. His proceedings were declared unamerican. There was very nearly a riot round Stones Hill, but Barbane remained inflexible. When, however, the Colombia was entirely finished, this state of closed doors could no longer be maintained. Besides, it would have been bad taste and even imprudence to affront the public feeling. Barbane therefore opened the enclosure to all comers, but true to his practical disposition, he determined to coin money out of the public curiosity. It was something indeed to be enabled to contemplate this immense colombiad, but to descend into its depths. This seemed to the Americans the nootra of earthly felicity. Consequently, there was not one curious spectator who was not willing to give himself the treat of visiting the interior of this metallic abyss. Baskets suspended from steam cranes permitted them to satisfy their curiosity. There was a perfect mania. Women, children, old men, all made it a point of duty to penetrate the mysteries of the colossal gun. The fair for the descent was fixed at $5 per head. And despite this high charge, during the two months which preceded the experiment, the influx of visitors enabled the gun club to pocket nearly $500,000. It is needless to say that the first visitors of the Colombi were the members of the gun club. This privilege was justly reserved for that illustrious body. The ceremony took place on the 25th September. A basket of honor took down the president, JT Masten, Major Elfenstone, General Morgan, Colonel Blumsberry, and other members of the club to the number of 10 in all. How hot it was at the bottom of that long tube of metal. They were half suffocated, but what delight, what ecstasy. A table had been laid with six covers on the massive stone which formed the bottom of the colombiad and lighted by a jet of electric light resembling that of day itself. Numerous exquisite dishes which seemed to descend from heaven were placed successively before the guests and the richest wines of France flowed in profusion during this splendid repast served 900 ft beneath the surface of the earth. The festival was animated, not to say somewhat noisy. Toasts flew backwards and forwards. They drank to the earth and to her satellite, to the gun club, the union, the moon, Diana, Phoebe, Seline, the peaceful courier of the night. All the haras carried upwards upon the sonorous waves of the immense acoustic tube arrive with a sound of thunder at its mouth, and the multitude ranged round Stonesill heartily united their shouts with those of the 10 revelers hidden from view at the bottom of the gigantic Colombiad. JT Masten was no longer master of himself. Whether he shouted or gesticulated, ate or drank most would be a difficult matter to determine. At all events, he would not have given his place up for an empire, not even if the cannon, loaded, primed, and fired at that very moment were to blow him to pieces into the planetary world. End of chapter. Chapter 17 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 17, A Telegraphic Dispatch. The great works undertaken by the gun club had now virtually come to an end, and two months still remain before the day for the discharge of the shot to the moon. To the general impatience, these two months appeared as long as years. Hitherto the smallest details of the operation have been daily chronicled by the journals, which the public devoured with eager eyes. Just at this moment, a circumstance, the most unexpected, the most extraordinary and incredible, occurred to rouse Aresh their panting spirits and to throw every mind into a state of the most violent excitement. One day, the 30th of September, at 3:47 p.m., a telegram transmitted by cable from Valentia, Ireland to Newfoundland and the American mainland arrived at the address of President Barbane. The president tore open the envelope, read the dispatch, and despite his remarkable powers of self-control, his lips turned pale and his eyes grew dim on reading the 20 words of this telegram. Here is the text of the dispatch, which figures now in the archives of the gun club. France, Paris, 30 September 4 a.m. Barbacane, Tampa town, Florida, United States. Substitute for your spherical shell, a cylindrical conical projectile. I shall go inside. Shall arrive by steamer Atlanta. Michelle Ardan. End of chapter. Chapter 18 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 18, The Passenger of the Atlanta. If this astounding news, instead of flying through the electric wires, had simply arrived by post in the ordinary sealed envelope, Barbcame would not have hesitated a moment. He would have held his tongue about it, both as a measure of prudence, and in order not to have to reconsider his plans. This telegram might be a cover for some jest, especially as it came from a Frenchman. What human being would ever have conceived the idea of such a journey? And if such a person really existed, he must be an idiot whom one would shut up in a lunatic ward rather than within the walls of the projectile. The contents of the dispatch, however, speedily became known, for the telegraphic officials possessed but little discretion, and Michelle Ardan's proposition ran at once throughout the several states of the union. Barbcane had therefore no further motive for keeping silence. Consequently, he called together such of his colleagues as were at the moment in Tampatown, and without any expression of his own opinions, simply read to them the laconic text itself. It was received with every possible variety of expressions of doubt, incredul, and derision from everyone, with the exception of JT Masten, who exclaimed, "It is a grand idea." However, when Barbcane originally proposed to send a shot to the moon, everyone looked upon the Enterprise as simple and practicable enough, a mere question of gunnery. But when a person professing to be a reasonable being offered to take passage within the projectile, the whole thing became a farce, or in plain language, a humbug. One question, however, remained. Did such a being exist? This telegram flashed across the depths of the Atlantic. The designation of the vessel on board which he was to take his passage, the date assigned for his speedy arrival, all combined to impart a certain character of reality to the proposal. They must get some clearer notion of the matter. Scattered groups of inquirers at length condensed themselves into a compact crowd, which made straight for the residence of President Barbane. That worthy individual was keeping quiet with the intention of watching events as they arose. But he had forgotten to take into account the public impatience, and it was with no pleasant countenance that he watched the population of Tampa Town gathering under his windows. The murmurss and viferations below presently obliged him to appear. He came forward, therefore, and on silence being procured, a citizen put point blank to him the following question. Is the person mentioned in the telegram under the name of Michelle Ardan on his way here? Yes or no? Gentlemen, replied Barbara, I know no more than you do. We must know, roared the impatient voices. Time will show, calmly replied the president. Time has no business to keep a whole country in suspense, replied the orator. Have you altered the plans of the projectile according to the request of the telegram? Not yet, gentlemen. But you are right. We must have better information to go by. The telegraph must complete its information. To the telegraph, roared the crowd. Barbacine descended and heading the immense assemblage led the way to the telegraph office. A few minutes later, a telegram was dispatched to the secretary of the underwriters at Liverpool requesting answers to the following queries. About the ship Atlanta, when did she leave Europe? Had she on board a Frenchman named Michelle Ardan? Two hours afterwards, Barbcane received information too exact to leave room for the smallest remaining doubt. The Steamer Atlanta from Liverpool put to sea on the 2nd October, bound for Tampa Town, having on board a Frenchman born on the list of passengers by the name of Michelle Ardan. That very evening he wrote to the House of Breadwelling Company, requesting them to suspend the casting of the projectile until the receipt of further orders. On the 20th October, at 9:00 a.m., the semaphors of the Bahama Canal signaled a thick smoke on the horizon. 2 hours later, a large steamer exchanged signals with them. The name of the Atlanta flew at once over Tampa Town. At 4:00, the English vessel entered the bay of Espirito Santo. At 5, it crossed the passage of Hillisboro Bay at full steam. At 6, she cast anchor at Port Tampa. The anchor had scarcely caught the sandy bottom when 500 boats surrounded the Atlanta, and the steamer was taken by assault. Barbacame was the first to set foot on deck and in a voice of which he vainly tried to conceal the emotion called Michelle Ardan. Here replied an individual perched on the poop. Barbacine with arms crossed looked fixedly at the passenger of the Atlanta. He was a man of about 42 years of age of large build but slightly round shouldered. His massive head momentarily shook a shock of reddish hair which resembled a lion's mane. His face was short with a broad forehead and furnished with a mustache as bristly as a cats and little patches of yellowish whisker upon full cheeks. Round wildish eyes slightly nearsided completed a physioammy essentially feline. His nose was firmly shaped, his mouth particularly sweet in expression, high forehead, intelligent and furrowed with wrinkles like a newly plowed field. The body was powerfully developed and firmly fixed upon long legs, muscular arms, and a general air of decision gave him the appearance of a hearty, jolly companion. He was dressed in a suit of ample dimensions, loose neckerchief, open shirt collar, disclosing a robust neck. His cuffs were invariably unbuttoned, through which appeared a pair of red hands. On the bridge of the steamer, in the midst of the crowd, he bustled to and fro, never still for a moment, dragging his anchors, as the sailors say, justiculating, making free with everybody, biting his nails with nervous aidity. He was one of those originals which nature sometimes invents in the freak of a moment, and of which he then breaks the mold. Amongst other peculiarities, this curiosity gave himself out for a sublime ignoramis. Like Shakespeare and profess supreme contempt for all scientific men. Those fellows, as he called them, are only fit to mark the points while we play the game. He was in fact a thorough bohemian, adventurous, but not an adventurer. a hairbrained fellow, a kind of icorus, only possessing relays of wings. For the rest, he was ever in scrapes, ending invariably by falling on his feet, like those little pith figures which they sell for children's toys. In two words, his motto was, "I have my opinions," and the love of the impossible constituted his ruling passion. Such was the passenger of the Atlanta, always excitable, as if boiling under the action of some internal fire by the character of his physical organization. If ever two individuals offered a striking contrast to each other, these were certainly Michelle Ardan and the Yankee Barbacane, both moreover being equally enterprising and daring, each in his own way. The scrutiny which the president of the gun club had instituted regarding this new rival was quickly interrupted by the shouts and harass of the crowd. The cries became at last so uproarious and the popular enthusiasm assumed so personal a form that Michelle Ardan, after having shaken hands some thousands of times at the imminent risk of leaving his fingers behind him, was fain at last to make a bolt for his cabin. Barbane followed him without uttering a word. "You are Barbane, I suppose," said Michelle Arda in a tone of voice in which he would have addressed a friend of 20 years standing. "Yes," replied the president of the GC. "All right, how do you do, Barb, how are you getting on?" "Pretty well." "That's right." "So," said Barbcane without further preliminary, "you are quite determined to go." quite decided. Nothing will stop you. Nothing. Have you modified your projectile according to my telegram? I waited for your arrival, but asked Barbine again, have you carefully reflected? Reflected? Have I any time to spare? I find an opportunity of making a tour in the moon, and I mean to profit by it. There is the whole gist of the matter. Barb looked hard at this man who spoke so lightly of his project with such complete absence of anxiety. "But at least," said he, "you have some plans, some means of carrying your project into execution." "Excellent, my dear Barbara Kain, only permit me to offer one remark. My wish is to tell my story once for all to everybody, and then to have done with it. Then there will be no need for recapitulation. So if you have no objection, assemble your friends, colleagues, the whole town, all Florida, all America if you like, and tomorrow I shall be ready to explain my plans and answer any objections whatever that may be advanced. You may rest assured I shall wait without stirring. Will that suit you? All right, replied Barbcane. So saying, the president left the cabin and informed the crowd of the proposal of Michelle Ardan. His words were received with clappings of hands and shouts of joy. They had removed all difficulties. Tomorrow everyone would contemplate at his ease this European hero. However, some of the spectators, more infatuated than the rest, would not leave the deck of the Atlanta. They passed the night on board. Amongst others, JT Masten got his hook fixed in the combing of the poop, and it probably nearly required the capston to get it out again. He is a hero. A hero, he cried, a theme of which he was never tired of ringing the changes. And we are only like weak silly women compared with this European. As to the president, after having suggested to the visitors it was time to retire, he re-entered the passenger's cabin and remained there till the bell of the steamer made it midnight. But then the two rivals in popularity shook hands heartily and parted on terms of intimate friendship. End of chapter chapter 19 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. or this recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 19, A Monster Meeting. On the following day, Barbane, fearing that indiscreet questions might be put to Michelle Ardan, was desirous of reducing the number of the audience to a few of the initiated, his own colleagues, for instance. He might as well have tried to check the falls of Niagara. He was compelled, therefore, to give up the idea and to let his new friend run the chances of a public conference. The place chosen for this monster meeting was a vast plane situated in the rear of the town. In a few hours, thanks to the help of the shipping and port, an immense roofing of canvas was stretched over the parched prairie and protected it from the burning rays of the sun. There 300,000 people braved for many hours the stifling heat while awaiting the arrival of the Frenchmen. Of this crowd of spectators, a first set could both see and hear. A second set saw badly and heard nothing at all. And as for the third, he could neither see nor hear anything at all. At 3:00, Michelle Ardan made his appearance accompanied by the principal members of the gun club. He was supported on his right by President Barbane and on his left by JT Masten, more radiant than the midday sun and nearly as ruddy. Ardan mounted a platform from the top of which his view extended over a sea of black hats. He exhibited not the slightest embarrassment. He was just as gay, familiar, and pleasant as if he were at home. To the haras which greeted him, he replied by a graceful bow. Then waving his hand to request silence, he spoke in perfectly correct English as follows. Gentlemen, despite the very hot weather, I request your patience for a short time while I offer some explanations regarding the projects which seem to have so interested you. I am neither an orator nor a man of science, and I had no idea of addressing you in public, but my friend Barbane has told me that you would like to hear me, and I am quite at your service. Listen to me, therefore, with your 600,000 ears, and pleased to excuse the faults of the speaker. Now pray, do not forget that you see before you a perfect ignoramis, whose ignorance goes so far that he cannot even understand the difficulties. It seemed to him that it was a matter quite simple, natural, and easy to take one's place in a projectile and start for the moon. That journey must be undertaken sooner or later. And as for the mode of locomotion adopted, it follows simply the law of progress. Men began by walking on all fours, then one fine day on two feet, then in a carriage, then in a stage coach, and lastly by railway. Well, the projectile is the vehicle of the future, and the planets themselves are nothing else. Now, some of you gentlemen may imagine that the velocity we propose to impart to it is extravagant. It is nothing of the kind. All the stars exceeded in rapidity, and the Earth herself is at this moment carrying us round the sun at three times as rapid a rate, and yet she is a mere lounger on the way compared with many others of the planets, and her velocity is constantly decreasing. Is it not evident, then I ask you, that there will someday appear velocities far greater than these, of which light or electricity will probably be the mechanical agent? Yes, gentlemen, continued the orator, in spite of the opinions of certain uh narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race upon this globe as within some magic circle which it must never outstep. We shall one day travel to the moon, the planets, and the stars with the same facility, rapidity, and certainty as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York. Distance is but a relative expression and must end by being reduced to zero. The assembly, strongly predisposed as they were in favor of the French hero, were slightly staggered at this bold theory. Michelle Ardan perceived the fact. Gentlemen, he continued with a pleasant smile. You do not seem quite convinced. Very good. Let us reason the matter out. Do you know how long it would take for an express train to reach the moon? 300 days. No more. And what is that? The distance is no more than nine times the circumference of the Earth. And there are no sailors or travelers of even moderate activity who have not made longer journeys than that in their lifetime. And now consider that I shall be only 97 hours on my journey. Aha. I see you are reckoning that the moon is a long way off from the earth and that one must think twice before making the experiment. What would you say then if we were talking of going to Neptune which revolves at a distance of more than 2,720 millions of miles from the sun? And yet what is that compared with the distance of the fixed stars some of which such as Arcturus are at billions of miles distant from us. And then you talk of the distance which separates the planets from the sun. And there are people who affirm that such a thing as distance exists. Absurdity. Folly. Idiotic nonsense. Would you know what I think of our own solar universe? Shall I tell you my theory? It is very simple. In my opinion, the solar system is a solid homogeneous body. The planets which compose it are in actual contact with each other. And whatever space exists between them is nothing more than the space which separates the molecules of the densest metal such as silver, iron or platinum. I have the right, therefore, to affirm, and I repeat, with a conviction which must penetrate all your minds. Distance is but an empty name. Distance does not really exist. Harrah, cried one voice. Did it be said it was that of JT Masten? Distance does not exist. And overcome by the energy of his movements, he nearly fell from the platform to the ground. He just escaped a severe fall which would have proved to him that distance was by no means an empty name. Gentlemen, resumed the orator, I repeat, that the distance between the Earth and her satellite is a mere trifle and undeserving of serious consideration. I am convinced that before 20 years are over, one half of our Earth will have paid a visit to the moon. Now, my worthy friends, if you have any question to put to me, you will, I fear, sadly embarrass a poor man like myself. Still, I will do my best to answer you." Up to this point, the president of the gun club had been satisfied with the turn which the discussion had assumed. It became now, however, desirable to divert Ardan from questions of a practical nature, with which he was doubtless far less conversant. Barbane therefore hastened to get in a word and began by asking his new friend whether he thought that the moon and the planets were inhabited. "You put before me a great problem, my worthy president," replied the ortor, smiling. "Still men of great intelligence such as Plutarch, Swedenborg, Bernardand de Sierre, and others have, if I mistake not, pronounced in the affirmative." Looking at the question from the natural philosophers's point of view, I should say that nothing useless existed in the world. And replying to your question by another, I should venture to assert that if these worlds are habitable, they either are, have been, or will be inhabited. No one could answer more logically or fairly, replied the president. The question then reverts to this. Are these worlds habitable? For my own part, I believe they are. For myself, I feel certain of it, said Michelle Ardan. Nevertheless, retorted one of the audience, there are many arguments against the habitability of the worlds. The conditions of life must evidently be greatly modified upon the majority of them, to mention only the planets we should be either broiled alive in some or frozen to death in others, according as they are more or less removed from the sun. I regret, replied Michelle Arda, that I have not the honor of personally knowing my contradictor, for I would have attempted to answer him. His objection has its merits, I admit, but I think we may successfully combat it, as well as all others which affect the habitability of the other worlds. If I were a natural philosopher, I would tell him that if less of caloric were set in motion upon the planets which are nearest to the sun and more on the contrary upon those which are farthest removed from it, this simple fact would alone suffice to equalize the heat and to render the temperature of those worlds supportable by beings organized like ourselves. If I were a naturalist, I would tell him that according to some illustrious men of science, nature has furnished us with instances upon the earth of animals existing under very varying conditions of life. that fish respire in a medium fatal to other animals. That amphibious creatures possess a double existence very difficult of explanation. That certain denison of the seas maintain life at enormous depths and there support a pressure equal to that of 50 or 60 atmospheres without being crushed. that several aquatic insects insensible to temperature are met with equally among boiling springs and in the frozen plains of the polar sea. In fine that we cannot help recognizing in nature a diversity of means of operation, oftentimes incomprehensible but not the less real. If I were a chemist, I would tell him that the aerrolytes, bodies evidently formed exteriorly of our terrestrial globe, have upon analysis, revealed indisputable traces of carbon, a substance which owes its origin solely to organized beings, and which, according to the experiments of Reichenbach, must necessarily itself have been endued with animation. And lastly, were I a theologian, I would tell him that the scheme of the divine redemption according to St. Paul seems to be applicable not merely to the earth but to all the celestial worlds. But unfortunately, I am neither theologian nor chemist nor naturalist nor philosopher. Therefore, in my absolute ignorance of the great laws which govern the universe, I confine myself to saying in reply, "I do not know whether the worlds are inhabited or not, and since I do not know, I am going to see." Whether Michelle Ardan's antagonist hazarded any further arguments or not, it is impossible to say, for the uproorious shouts of the crowd would not allow any expression of opinion to gain a hearing. On silence being restored, the triumphant orator contented himself with the adding the following remarks. Gentlemen, you will observe that I have but slightly touched upon this great question. There is another altogether different line of arguments in favor of the habitability of the stars which I omit for the present. I only desire to call attention to one point. To those who maintain that the planets are not inhabited, one may reply, you might be perfectly in the right if you could only show that the earth is the best possible world in spite of what Faire has said. She has but one satellite, while Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune have each several. An advantage by no means to be despised. But that which renders our own globe so uncomfortable is the inclination of its axis to the plane of its orbit. Hence the inequality of days and nights. Hence the disagreeable diversity of the seasons. On the surface of our unhappy spheroid, we are always either too hot or too cold. We are frozen in winter, broiled in summer. It is the planet of rheumatism, coughs, bronchitis. While on the surface of Jupiter, for example, where the axis is but slightly inclined, the inhabitants may enjoy uniform temperatures. It possesses zones of perpetual springs, summers, autumns, and winters. Every Jovian may choose for himself what climate he likes, and there spend the whole of his life in security from all variations of temperature. You will, I am sure, readily admit this superiority of Jupiter over our own planet, to say nothing of his years, which each equal 12 of ours. Under such opaces, and such marvelous conditions of existence, it appears to me that the inhabitants of so fortunate a world must be in every respect superior to ourselves. All we require in order to attain to such perfection is the mere trifle of having an axis of rotation less inclined to the plane of its orbit. Harrah, roared an energetic voice. Let us unite our efforts, invent the necessary machines, and rectify the Earth's axis. A thunder of applause followed this proposal, the author of which was, of course, no other than JT Masten. And in all probability, if the truth must be told, if the Yankees could only have found a point of application for it, they would have constructed a lever capable of raising the Earth and rectifying its axis. It was just this deficiency which baffled these daring mechanicians. End of chapter. Chapter 20 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 20, Attack and Repost. As soon as the excitement had subsided, the following words were heard uttered in a strong and determined voice. Now that the speaker has favored us with so much imagination, would he be so good as to return to his subject and give us a little practical view of the question? All eyes were directed towards the person who spoke. He was little dried up man of an active figure with an American goatee beard, profiting by the different movements in the crowd, he had managed by degrees to gain the front row of spectators. There, with arms crossed and stern gaze, he watched the hero of the meeting. After having put his question, he remained silent and appeared to take no notice of the thousands of looks directed towards himself, nor of the murmur of disapprobation excited by his words. Meeting at first with no reply, he repeated his question with marked emphasis, adding, "We are here to talk about the moon and not about the earth." You are right, sir, replied Michelle Arda. The discussion has become irregular. We will return to the moon. Sir, said the unknown, you pretend that our satellite is inhabited. Very good. But if selonites do exist, that race of beings assuredly must live without breathing. For I warn you, for your own sake, there is not the smallest particle of air on the surface of the moon." At this remark, Ardan pushed up his shock of red hair. He saw that he was on the point of being involved in a struggle with this person upon the very gist of the whole question. He looked sternly at him in his turn, and said, "Oh, so there is no air on the moon. and pray. If you are so good, who ventures to affirm that? The men of science. Really? Really? Sir, replied Michelle. Pleasantry apart, I have a profound respect for men of science who do possess science, but a profound contempt for men of science who do not. Do you know any who belong to the latter category? decidedly in France. There are some who maintain that mathematically a bird cannot possibly fly and others who demonstrate theoretically that fishes were never made to live in water. I have nothing to do with persons of that description and I can quote in support of my statement names with which you cannot refuse deference to. Then, sir, you will sadly embarrass a poor ignorant who, besides, asks nothing better than to learn. Why, then do you introduce scientific questions if you have never studied them? Asked the unknown somewhat coarsely. For the reason that he is always brave, who never suspects danger. I know nothing, it is true, but it is precisely my very weakness which constitutes my strength. Your weakness amounts to folly, retorted the unknown in a passion. All the better, replied our Frenchman, if it carries me up to the moon. Barbcane and his colleagues devoured with their eyes the intruder who had so boldly placed himself in antagonism to their enterprise. Nobody knew him, and the president, uneasy as to the result of so free a discussion, watched his new friend with some anxiety. The meeting began to be somewhat fidgety also, for the contest directed their attention to the dangers, if not the actual impossibilities of the proposed expedition. Sir, replied our dance antagonist, there are many and incontrovertible reasons which prove the absence of an atmosphere in the moon. I might say that a priori, if one ever did exist, it must have been absorbed by the earth, but I prefer to bring forward indisputable facts. Bring them forward, then, sir, as many as you please. You know, said the stranger, that when any luminous rays cross a medium such as the air, they are deflected out of the straight line. In other words, they undergo refraction. Well, when stars are occulted by the moon, their rays on grazing the edge of her disc exhibit not the least deviation, nor offer the slightest indication of refraction. It follows, therefore, that the moon cannot be surrounded by an atmosphere. In point of fact, replied Ardan, this is your chief, if not your only argument, and a really scientific man might be puzzled to answer it. For myself, I will simply say that it is defective because it assumes that the angular diameter of the moon has been completely determined, which is not the case. But let us proceed. Tell me, my dear sir, do you admit the existence of volcanoes on the moon's surface? Extinct? Yes. Inactivity? No. These volcanoes, however, were at one time in a state of activity. True. But as they furnished themselves the oxygen necessary for combustion, the mere fact of their eruption does not prove the presence of an atmosphere. Proceed again then and let us set aside this class of arguments in order to come to direct observations. In 1715, the astronomers Louville and Halley watching the eclipse of the 3rd May remarked some very extraordinary scintillations. These jets of light, rapid in nature and of frequent recurrence, they attributed to thunderstorms generated in the lunar atmosphere. In 1715, replied the unknown, the astronomers Louville and Hi mistook for lunar phenomena, some which were purely terrestrial, such as meteoric or other bodies which are generated in our own atmosphere. This was the scientific explanation at the time of the facts, and that is my answer now. on again then replied Ardan. Hershel in 1787 observed a great number of luminous points on the moon's surface did he not? Yes, but without offering any solution of them. Hershel himself never inferred from them the necessity of a lunar atmosphere. And I may add that Boore and Murdler, the two great authorities upon the moon, are quite agreed as to the entire absence of air on its surface. A movement was here manifest among the assemblage who appeared to be growing excited by the arguments of this singular personage. Let us proceed, replied Ardan with perfect coolness, and come to one important fact. A skillful French astronomer, Messier Loeda, in watching the eclipse of July 18, 1860, proved that the horns of the solar crescent were rounded and truncated. Now, this appearance could only have been produced by a deviation of the solar rays in traversing the atmosphere of the moon. There is no other possible explanation of the fact. But is this established as a fact? Absolutely certain. A counter movement here took place in favor of the hero of the meeting, whose opponent was now reduced to silence. Ardan resumed the conversation and without exhibiting any exultation at the advantage he had gained simply said, "You see then, my dear sir, we must not pronounce with absolute positiveness against the existence of an atmosphere in the moon. That atmosphere is probably of extreme rarity. Nevertheless, at the present day, science generally admits that it exists. Not in the mountains at all events, returned the unknown, unwilling to give in. No, but at the bottom of the valleys, and not exceeding a few hundred feet in height. In any case, you will do well to take every precaution, for the air will be terribly rarified. My good sir, there will always be enough for a solitary individual. Besides, once arrived up there, I shall do my best to economize and not to breathe except on grand occasions. A tremendous roar of laughter rang in the ears of the mysterious interlocator, who glared fiercely round upon the assembly. Then, continued Ardan with a careless air, since we are in accord regarding the presence of a certain atmosphere, we are forced to admit the presence of a certain quantity of water. This is a happy consequence for me. Moreover, my amiable contradictor, permit me to submit to you one further observation. We only know one side of the moon's disc, and if there is but little air on the face presented to us, it is possible that there is plenty on the one turned away from us. And for what reason? Because the moon under the action of the earth's attraction has assumed the form of an egg, which we look at from the smaller end. Hence it follows by Hosan's calculations that its center of gravity is situated in the other hemisphere. Hence it results that the great mass of air and water must have been drawn away to the other face of our satellite during the first days of its creation. Pure fancies, cried the unknown. no pure theories which are based upon the laws of mechanics and it seems difficult to me to refute them. I appeal then to this meeting and I put it to them whether life such as exists upon the earth is possible on the surface of the moon. 300,000 auditors at once applauded the proposition. Our dad's opponent tried to get in another word but he could not obtain a hearing. Cries and menaces fell upon him like hail. "Enough! Enough!" cried some. "Drive the intruder off!" shouted others. "Turn him out!" roared the exasperated crowd. But he, holding firmly onto the platform did not budge an inch, and let the storm pass on, which would soon have assumed formidable proportions, if Michelle Ardan had not quieted it by a gesture. He was too chivalous to abandon his opponent in an apparent extremity. "You wish to say a few more words?" he asked in a pleasant voice. "Yes, a thousand, or rather, no, only one. If you persevere in your enterprise, you must be a very rash person. How can you treat me as such?" me who have demanded a cylindrical cononical projectile in order to prevent turning round and round on my way like a squirrel. But unhappy man, the dreadful recoil will smash you to pieces at your starting. My dear contradictor, you have just put your finger upon the true and the only difficulty. Nevertheless, I have too good an opinion of the industrial genius of the Americans not to believe that they will succeed in overcoming it. But the heat developed by the rapidity of the projectile in crossing the strata of air. Oh, the walls are thick and I shall soon have crossed the atmosphere. But viddles and water I have calculated for a 12 months supply and I shall be only 4 days on the journey. But for air to breathe on the road, I shall make it by chemical process. But your fall on the moon, supposing you ever reach it, it will be six times less dangerous than a sudden fall upon the earth, because the weight will be only 16th as great on the surface of the moon. Still, it will be enough to smash you like glass. What is there to prevent my retarding the shock by means of rockets conveniently placed and lighted at the right moment? But after all, supposing all difficulties surmounted, all obstacles removed, supposing everything combined to favor you, and granting that you may arrive safe and sound in the moon, how will you come back? I am not coming back. At this reply, almost sublime in its very simplicity, the assembly became silent. But its silence was more eloquent than could have been its cries of enthusiasm. The unknown profited by the opportunity, and once more protested, "You will inevitably kill yourself," he cried. "And your death will be that of a madman, useless even to science. Go on, my dear Unknown, for truly your prophecies are most agreeable. It really is too much, cried Michelle, our Dan's adversary. I do not know why I should continue so frivolous a discussion. Please yourself about this insane expedition. We need not trouble ourselves about you. Pray, don't stand upon ceremony. No, another person is responsible for your act. Who, may I ask? demanded Michelle Ardan in an imperious tone. The ignoramis who organized this equally absurd and impossible experiment. The attack was direct. Barbacine, ever since the interference of the unknown, had been making fearful efforts of self-control. Now, however, seeing himself directly attacked, he could restrain himself no longer, he rose suddenly, and was rushing upon the enemy, who thus braved him to the face, when all at once he found himself separated from him. The platform was lifted by a hundred strong arms, and the president of the gun club shared with Michelle Ardan triumphal honors. The shield was heavy, but the bearers came in continuous relays, disputing, struggling, even fighting among themselves in their eagerness to lend their shoulders to this demonstration. However, the unknown had not profited by the tumult to quit his post. Besides, he could not have done it in the midst of that compact crowd. There he held on in the front row with crossed arms, glaring at President Barbcane. The shouts of the immense crowd continued at their highest pitch throughout this triumphant march. Michelle Ardan took it all with evident pleasure. His face gleamed with delight. Several times the platform seemed seized with pitching and rolling like a weatherbeaten ship. But the two heroes of the meeting had good sea legs. They never stumbled, and their vessel arrived without dues at the port of Tampa Town. Michelle Ardam managed fortunately to escape from the last embraces of his vigorous admirers. He made for the Hotel Franklin, quickly gained his chamber and slid under the bedclo while an army of a 100,000 men kept watch under his windows. During this time, a scene, short, grave, and decisive, took place between the mysterious personage and the president of the gun club. Barbane, free at last, had gone straight at his adversary. "Come," he said shortly. The other followed him onto the key, and the two presently found themselves alone at the entrance of an open warf on Joan's fall. The two enemies, still mutually unknown, gazed at each other. Who are you? asked Barbcane. Captain Nickel. So I suspected. Hitherto chance has never thrown you in my way. I am come for that purpose. You have insulted me publicly, and you will answer to me for this insult at this very moment. No, I desire that all that passes between us shall be secret. There is a wood situated three miles from Tampa, the wood of Scursnaw. Do you know it? I know it. Will you be so good as to enter it tomorrow morning at 5:00 on one side? Yes, if you will enter at the other side at the same hour. And you will not forget your rifle, said Barbcane. No more than you will forget yours," replied Nicl. These words having been coldly spoken, the president of the gun club and the captain parted. Barbacine returned to his lodging, but instead of snatching a few hours of repose, he passed the night in endeavoring to discover a means of evading the recoil of the projectile and resolving the difficult problem proposed by Michelle Ardan during the discussion at the meeting. End of chapter. Chapter 21 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 21, How a Frenchman Manages an Affair. While the contract of this duel was being discussed by the President and the Captain, this dreadful, savage duel in which each adversary became a manhunter. Michelle Ardam was resting from the fatigues of his triumph. Resting is hardly an appropriate expression for American beds rival marble or granite tables for hardness. Our dam was sleeping then badly enough, tossing about between the cloths which served him for sheets, and he was dreaming of making a more comfortable couch in his projectile when a frightful noise disturbed his dreams. Thundering blows shook his door. They seemed to be caused by some iron instrument. A great deal of loud talking was distinguishable in this racket, which was rather too early in the morning. Open the door, someone shrieked. For heaven's sake. Our dad saw no reason for complying with the demand so roughly expressed. However, he got up and opened the door just as it was giving way before the blows of this determined visitor. The secretary of the gun club burst into the room. A bomb could not have made more noise or have entered the room with less ceremony. Last night, cried JT Masten exably insulted during the meeting. He provoked his adversary, who was none other than Captain Nickel. They are fighting this morning in the wood of Scursnaugh. I heard all particulars from the mouth of Barbane himself. If he is killed, then our scheme is at end. We must prevent this duel. And one man alone has enough influence over Barbane to stop him. And that man is Michelle Ardan. While JT Masten was speaking, Michelle Ardan, without interrupting him, had hastily put on his clothes, and in less than two minutes the two friends were making for the suburbs of Tampatown with rapid strides. It was during this walk that Masten told Ardan the state of the case. He told him the real causes of the hostility between Barbane and Nickel, how it was of old date, and why, thanks to unknown friends, the president and the captain had, as yet never met face to face. He added that it arose simply from a rivalry between iron plates and shot, and finally that the scene at the meeting was only the long wished for opportunity for Nickel to pay off an old grudge. Nothing is more dreadful than private duels in America. The two adversaries attack each other like wild beasts. Then it is that they might well covet those wonderful properties of the Indians of the prairies, their quick intelligence, their ingenious cunning, their scent of the enemy. A single mistake, a moment's hesitation, a single false step may cause death. On these occasions, Yankees are often accompanied by their dogs and keep up the struggle for hours. "What demons you are!" cried Michelle Ardan when his companion had depicted this scene to him with much energy. Yes, we are, replied JT modestly. But we had better make haste. Though Michelle Arda and he had crossed the plain still wet with dew, and had taken the shortest route over creeks and rice fields, they could not reach Skirznaw under 5 hours and a half. Barb must have passed the border half an hour ago. There was an old bushman working there, occupied and selling from trees that had been leveled by his axe. Masten ran toward him, saying, "Have you seen a man go into the wood armed with a rifle? Barbane, the president, my best friend?" The worthy secretary of the gun club thought that his president must be known by all the world, but the Bushman did not seem to understand him. "A hunter," said Ardan. Uh, hunter. Yes, replied the bushman. Long ago, about an hour. Too late, cried Masten. Have you heard any gunshots? asked Ardan. No, not one. Not one. That hunter did not look as if he knew how to hunt. What is to be done? said Masten. We must go into the wood at the risk of getting a ball which is not intended for us. Ah, cried Masten in a tone which could not be mistaken. I would rather have 20 balls in my own head than one in barbcanes. Forward then, said Ardan, pressing his companion's hand. A few moments later the two friends had disappeared in the cups. It was a dense thicket in which rose huge cypresses, sycamores, tulip trees, olives, tamarind, oaks, and magnolia. These different trees had interwoven their branches into an inextricable maze through which the eye could not penetrate. Michelle Ardan and Masten walked side by side in silence through the tall grass, cutting themselves a path through the strong creepers, casting curious glances on the bushes, and momentarily expecting to hear the sound of rifles. As for the traces which Barbane ought to have left of his passage through the wood, there was not a vestage of them visible, so they followed the barely perceptible paths along which Indians had tracked some enemy and which the dense foliage darkly overshadowed. After an hour spent in vain pursuit, the two stopped in intensified anxiety. "It must be all over," said Masten, discouraged. A man like Barbame would not dodge with his enemy or ins snare him, would not even maneuver. He is too open, too brave. He has gone straight ahead right into the danger and doubtless far enough from the bushmen for the wind to prevent his hearing the report of the rifles. But surely, replied Michelle Ardan, since we entered the wood, we should have heard. And what if we came too late? cried Masten in tones of despair. For once, Ardan had no reply to make. He and Masten resuming their walk in silence. From time to time indeed, they raised great shouts, calling alternately barbcane and nickel, neither of whom, however, answered their cries. Only the birds, awakened by the sound, flew past them and disappeared among the branches, while some frightened deer fled precipitately before them. For another hour, their search was continued. The greater part of the wood had been explored. There was nothing to reveal the presence of the combatants. The information of the bushmen was, after all, doubtful, and Ardan was about to propose their abandoning this useless pursuit, when all at once Masten stopped. "Hush," said he. "There is someone down there." "Someone?" repeated Michelle Arda. "Yes, a man. He seems motionless. His rifle is not in his hands. What can he be doing?" "But can you recognize him?" asked Ardan, whose short sight was of little use to him in such circumstances. Yes, yes, he is turning towards us, answered Masten. And it is Captain Nickel. Nickel, cried Michelle Ardan, feeling a terrible pang of grief. Nickel unarmed. He has then no longer any fear of his adversary. Let us go to him, said Michelle Ardan, and find out the truth. But he and his companion had barely taken 50 steps when they paused to examine the captain more attentively. They expected to find a bloodthirsty man happy in his revenge. On seeing him, they remained stupified. A net composed of very fine meshes hung between two enormous tulip trees. And in the midst of the snare, with its wings entangled, was a poor little bird, uttering pitiful cries, while it vainly struggled to escape. The bird catcher, who had laid the snare, was no human being, but a venomous spider, peculiar to that country, as large as a pigeon's egg, and armed with enormous claws. The hideous creature, instead of rushing on its prey, had beaten a sudden retreat, and taken refuge in the upper branches of the tulip tree, for a formidable enemy menaced its stronghold. Here then was Nickel, his gun on the ground, forgetful of danger, trying if possible to save the victim from its cobweb prison. At last it was accomplished, and the little bird flew joyfully away and disappeared. Nickel lovingly watched its flight when he heard these words pronounced by a voice full of emotion. You are indeed a brave man. He turned. Michelle Ardan was before him, repeating in a different tone. And a kindhearted one. Michelle Ardan, cried the captain, why are you here? To press your hand, Nickel, and to prevent you from either killing Barbane or being killed by him. Barbacane, returned the captain. I have been looking for him for the last two hours in vain. Where is he hiding? Nickel said Michelle Ardan, this is not courteous. We ought always to treat an adversary with respect. Rest assured, if Barbcane is still alive, we shall find him all the more easily, because if he has not, like you been amusing himself with freeing oppressed birds, he must be looking for you. When we have found him, Michelle Ardan tells you this. There will be no duel between you. Between President Barbcade and myself, gravely replied Nickel. There is a rivalry which the death of one of us. Poo poo said our dad. Brave fellows like you indeed. You shall not fight. I will fight sir. No captain said JT Masten with much feeling. I am a friend of the presidents, his alter ego, his second self. If you really must kill someone, shoot me. It will do just as well. Sir, Nicl replied, seizing his rifle convulsively. These jokes, our friend Masten is not joking, replied Ardan. I fully understand his idea of being killed himself in order to save his friend. But neither he nor Barbane will fall before the balls of Captain Nickel. Indeed, I have so attractive a proposal to make to the two rivals that both will be eager to accept it. What is it? Asked Nicl with manifest incredul. Patience, exclaimed Ardan. I can only reveal it in the presence of Barbacane. Let us go in search of him then, cried the captain. The three men started off at once. The captain, having discharged his rifle, threw it over his shoulder and advanced in silence. Another half hour passed, and the pursuit was still fruitless. Mast was oppressed by sinister forbodings. He looked fiercely at Nickel, asking himself whether the captain's vengeance had been already satisfied, and the unfortunate barbcane shot was perhaps lying dead on some bloody track. The same thought seemed to occur to Ardan. Both were casting inquiring glances on Nickel when suddenly Masten paused. The motionless figure of a man leaning against a gigantic catalpa 20 ft off appeared half veiled by the foliage. It is he, said Masten. Barbane never moved. Our Dan looked at the captain, but he did not wse. Ardan went forward crying. Barbane, Barbane. No answer. Ardan rushed towards his friend, but in the act of seizing his arms, he stopped short and uttered a cry of surprise. Barbacane, pencil in hand, was tracing geometrical figures in a memorandum book, whilst his unloaded rifle lay beside him on the ground. Absorbed in his studies, Barbane, in his turn, forgetful of the duel, had seen and heard nothing. When Ardan took his hand, he looked up and stared at his visitor in astonishment. "Ah, it is you," he cried at last. "I have found it, my friend. I have found it." "What? My plan?" "What plan?" the plan for counteracting the effect of the shock at the departure of the projectile. Indeed, said Michelle Ardan, looking at the captain out of the corner of his eye. Yes, water. Simply water which will act as a spring. Ah, Masten, cried Barbane. You here also himself, replied Ardan. and permit me to introduce to you at the same time the worthy Captain Nickel. Nickel? Cried Barbacane, who jumped up at once. Pardon me, Captain. I had quite forgotten. I am ready. Michelle Ardana interfered without giving the two enemies time to say anything more. Thank heaven, said he. It is a happy thing that brave men like you two did not meet sooner. We should now have been mourning for one or other of you. But thanks to providence which has interfered, there is now no further cause for alarm. When one forgets his anger in mechanics or in cobwebs, it is a sign that the anger is not dangerous. Michelle Ardan then told the president how the captain had been found occupied. I put it to you now, said he, in conclusion, are two such good fellows as you are, made on purpose to smash each other's skulls with shut. There was in the situation something of the ridiculous, something quite unexpected. Michelle Ardash saw this and determined to affect a reconciliation. My good friends," said he, with his most bewitching smile, "this is nothing but a misunderstanding, nothing more." "Well, to prove that it is all over between you, except, frankly, the proposal I am going to make to you." "Make it?" said Nickel. "Our friend Barbac believes that his projectile will go straight to the moon." "Yes, certainly," replied the president. and our friend Nickel is persuaded it will fall back upon the earth. I am certain of it, cried the captain. Good, said Ardan. I cannot pretend to make you agree, but I suggest this. Go with me, and so see whether we are stopped on our journey. What? Exclaimed JT Masten, stupified. The two rivals on this sudden proposal looked steadily at each other. Barbara Kain waited for the captain's answer. Nicl watched for the decision of the president. "Well," said Michelle. "There is now no fear of the shock." "Done!" cried Barbane, but quickly as he pronounced the word, he was not before Nickel. "Hurrah! Bravo! Hip hip! Hurrah! cried Michelle, giving a hand to each of the late adversaries. "Now that it is all settled, my friends, allow me to treat you after French fashion. Let us be off to breakfast." End of chapter. Chapter 22 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern, Chapter 22, The New Citizen of the United States. That same day, all America heard of the affair of Captain Nickel and President Barbane, as well as its singular demon. From that day forth, Michelle Arda had not one moment's rest. Deputations from all corners of the Union harassed him without cessation or intermission. He was compelled to receive them all, whether he would or no. How many hands he shook, how many people he was, hail fellow well met with, it is impossible to guess. Such a triumphal result would have intoxicated any other man, but he managed to keep himself in a state of delightful semi-tipsiness. Among the deputations of all kinds which assailed him, that of the lunatics were careful not to forget what they owed to the future conqueror of the moon. One day certain of these poor people, so numerous in America, came to call upon him and requested permission to return with him to their native country. Singular hallucination, said he to Barb, after having dismissed the deputation with promises to convey numbers of messages to friends in the moon. Do you believe in the influence of the moon upon distempers? scarcely. No more do I. Despite some remarkable recorded facts of history. For instance, during an epidemic in 1693, a large number of persons died at the very moment of an eclipse. The celebrated bacon always fainted during an eclipse. Charles V 6 relapsed six times into madness during the year 1399. Sometimes during the new, sometimes during the full moon. Gaul observed that insane persons underwent an excession of their disorder twice in every month at the epics of new and full moon. In fact, numerous observations made upon fevers, some nambulisms, and other human maladies seem to prove that the moon does exercise some mysterious influence upon man. But the how and the wherefore asked Barbane. Well, I can only give you the answer which ergo borrowed from Plutarch, which is 19 centuries old. Perhaps the stories are not true. In the height of his triumph, Michelle Ardan had to encounter all the annoyances incidental to a man of celebrity. Managers of entertainments wanted to exhibit him. Barnum offered him a million dollars to make a tour of the United States in his show. As for his photographs, they were sold of all sizes and his portrait taken in every imaginable posture. More than half a million copies were disposed of in an incredibly short space of time. But it was not only the men who paid him homage, but the women also. He might have married well a hundred times over if he had been willing to settle in life. The old maids in particular of 40 years and upwards and dry in proportion devoured his photographs day and night. They would have married him by hundreds, even if he had imposed upon them the condition of accompanying him into space. He had, however, no intention of transplanting a race of Franco Americans upon the surface of the moon. He therefore declined all offers. As soon as he could withdraw from these somewhat embarrassing demonstrations, he went, accompanied by his friends, to pay a visit to the Colombiad. He was highly gratified by his inspection and made the descent to the bottom of the tube of this gigantic machine which was presently to launch him to the regions of the moon. It is necessary here to mention a proposal of JT Masten's. When the secretary of the gun club found that Barbane and Nickel accepted the proposal of Michelle Ardan, he determined to join them and make one of a snug party of four. So one day he determined to be admitted as one of the travelers. Barbacane paid at having to refuse him, gave him clearly to understand that the projectile could not possibly contain so many passengers. Masten, in despair, went in search of Michelle Ardan, who counseledled him to resign himself to the situation, adding one or two arguments ad homing him. You see, old fellow, he said, you must not take what I say in bad part, but really between ourselves, you are in too incomplete a condition to appear in the moon. Incomplete, shrieked the valiant invalid. Well, yes, my dear fellow, imagine our meeting some of the inhabitants up there. Would you like to give them such a melancholy notion of what goes on down here? To teach them what war is to inform them that we employ our time chiefly in devouring each other in smashing arms and legs and that too on a globe which is capable of supporting a 100 billions of inhabitants and which actually does contain nearly 200 millions. Why, my worthy friend, we should have to turn you out of doors. But still, if you arrive there in pieces, you will be as incomplete as I am. Unquestionably, replied Michelle Ardana, but we shall not. In fact, a preparatory experiment tried on the 18th October had yielded the best results and caused the most well-grounded hopes of success. Barbane, desirous of obtaining some notion of the effect of the shock at the moment of the projectile's departure, had procured a 38in mortar from the Arsenal of Pensacola. He had this placed on the bank of Hillisboro Roads in order that the shell might fall back into the sea and the shock be thereby destroyed. His object was to ascertain the extent of the shock of departure and not that of the return. A hollow projectile had been prepared for this curious experiment. A thick padding fastened upon a kind of elastic network made of the best steel lined the inside of the walls. It was a veritable nest most carefully wadded. What a pity I can't find room in there, said JT Masten, regretting that his height did not allow of his trying the adventure. Within this shell was shut up a large cat and a squirrel belonging to JT Masten, and of which he was particularly fond. They were desirous, however, of ascertating how this little animal, least of all others subject to giddiness, would endure this experimental voyage. The mortar was charged with 160 lb of powder, and the shell placed in the chamber. On being fired, the projectile rose with great velocity, described a majestic parabola, attained a height of about a thousand feet, and with a graceful curve descended in the midst of the vessels that lay there at anchor. Without a moment's loss of time, a small boat put off in the direction of its fall. Some active divers plunged into the water and attached ropes to the handles of the shell, which was quickly dragged on board. Five minutes did not elapse between the moment of enclosing the animals and that of unscrewing the cover lid of their prison. Our dad, Barbane, Masten, and Nickel were present on board the boat, and assisted at the operation with an interest that may be readily comprehended. Hardly had the shell been open when the cat leaped out, slightly bruised, but full of life, and exhibiting no signs whatever of having made an aerial expedition. No trace, however, of the squirrel could be discovered. The truth at last became apparent. The cat had eaten its fellow traveler. JT Masten grieved much for the loss of his poor squirrel and proposed to add its case to that of other martyrs to science. After this experiment, all hesitation, all fear disappeared. Besides, Barbane's plans would ensure greater perfection for his projectile and go far to annihilate altogether the effects of the shock. Nothing now remained but to go. Two days later, Michelle Ardent received a message from the president of the United States, an honor of which he showed himself especially sensible. After the example of his illustrious fellow countryman, the Marque de Lafayette, the government had decreed to him the title of citizen of the United States of America. End of chapter. Chapter 23 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern. Chapter 23. The projectile vehicle. On the completion of the Colombi, the public interest centered in the projectile itself, the vehicle which was destined to carry the three hearty adventurers into space. The new plans had been sent to Breadwill & Company of Albany with the request for their speedy execution. The projectile was consequently cast on the 2nd November and immediately forwarded by the Eastern Railway to Stones Hill, where it reached without accident on the 10th of that month, where Michelle Arda, Barbcane, and Nickel were waiting impatiently for it. The projectile had now to be filled to a depth of 3 ft with a bed of water intended to support a watertight wooden disc which worked easily within the walls of the projectile. It was upon this kind of raft that the travelers were to take their place. This body of water was divided by horizontal partitions which the shock of the departure would have to break in succession. Then each sheet of the water from the lowest to the highest running off into escape tubes toward the top of the projectile constituted a kind of spring. And the wooden disc supplied with extremely powerful plugs could not strike the lowest plate except after breaking successively the different partitions. Undoubtedly, the travelers would still have to encounter a violent recoil after the complete escapement of the water, but the first shock would be almost entirely destroyed by this powerful spring. The upper parts of the walls were lined with the thick padding of leather fastened upon springs of the best steel behind which the escape tubes were completely concealed. Thus, all imaginable precautions have been taken for averting the first shock, and if they did get crushed, they must, as Michelle Ardan said, be made of very bad materials. The entrance into this metallic tower was by a narrow aperture contrived in the wall of the cone. This was hermetically closed by a plate of aluminium, fastened internally by powerful screw pressure. The travelers could therefore quit their prison at pleasure as soon as they should reach the moon. Light and view were given by means of four thick lenticular glass scuttles. Two pierced in the circular wall itself, the third in the bottom, the fourth in the top. These scuttles then were protected against the shock of departure by plates led into solid grooves which could easily be opened outwards by unscrewing them from the inside. Reservoirs firmly fixed contained water and the necessary provisions and fire and light were procurable by means of gas contained in a special reservoir under a pressure of several atmospheres. They had only a turn a tap, and for 6 hours the gas would light and warm this comfortable vehicle. There now remained only the question of air, for allowing for the consumption of air by Barbane, his two companions, and two dogs, which he proposed taking with him. It was necessary to renew the air of the projectile. Now air consists principally of 21 parts of oxygen and 79 of nitrogen. The lungs absorb the oxygen which is indispensable for the support of life and reject the nitrogen. The air expired loses nearly 5% of the former and contains nearly unequal volume of carbonic acid produced by the combustion of the elements of the blood in an airtight enclosure. Then after a certain time all the oxygen of the air will be replaced by the carbonic acid a gas fatal to life. There were two things to be done then. First to replace the absorbed oxygen. Secondly to destroy the expired carbonic acid. Both easy enough to do by means of chlorate of potassium and costic pot ash. The former is a salt which appears under the form of white crystals. When raised to a temperature of 400°, it is transformed into chlorate of potass. And the oxygen which it contains is entirely liberated. Now 28 lb of chlorate of potassium produce 7 lb of oxygen or 2400 L, the quantity necessary for the travelers during 24 hours. Costic pod ash has a great affinity for carbonic acid and it is sufficient to shake it in order for it to seize upon the acid and form bicarbonate of potass. By these two means they would be enabled to restore to the visiated air its life supporting properties. It is necessary, however, to add that the experiments had hitherto been made in villi. Whatever its scientific accuracy was, they were at present ignorant how it would answer with human beings. The honor of putting it to the proof was energetically claimed by JT Masten. Since I am not to go, said the brave artillerist, I may at least live for a week in the projectile. It would have been hard to refuse him, so they consented to his wish. A sufficient quantity of chloride of potassium and of costic potachsh was placed at his disposal together with provisions for 8 days. and having shaken hands with his friends on the 12th November at 6:00 a.m. after strictly informing them not to open his prison before the 20th. At 6:00 p.m., he slid down the projectile, the plate of which was at once hermetically sealed. What did he do with himself during that week? They could get no information. The thickness of the walls of the projectile prevented any sound reaching from the inside to the outside. On the 20th of November, at 6:00 p.m. exactly, the plate was opened. The friends of JT Masten had been all along in a state of much anxiety, but they were promptly reassured on hearing a jolly voice shouting a boisterous harrah. Presently afterwards, the secretary of the gun club appeared at the top of the cone in a triumphant attitude. He had grown fat. End of chapter. Chapter 24 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern, chapter 24, The Telescope of the Rocky Mountains. On the 20th October, in the preceding year after the close of the subscription, the president of the gun club had credited the observatory of Cambridge with the necessary sums for the construction of a gigantic optical instrument. This instrument was designed for the purpose of rendering visible on the surface of the moon any object exceeding 9 ft in diameter. At the period when the gun club assayed their great experiment, such instruments had reached a high degree of perfection and produced some magnificent results. Two telescopes in particular at this time were possessed of remarkable power and of gigantic dimensions. The first constructed by Hershel was 36 ft in length and had an objective glass of 4'6 in. It possessed a magnifying power of 6,000. The second was raised in Ireland at Parson Town Park and belongs to Lord Ross. The length of this tube is 48 ft and the diameter of its object glass 6 ft. It magnifies 6,400 times and required an immense erection of brick work and masonry for the purpose of working it. its weight being 12 tons and a half. Still, despite these colossal dimensions, the actual enlargement scarcely exceeded 6,000 times in round numbers. Consequently, the moon was brought within no nearer an apparent distance than 39 mi, and objects of less than 60 ft in diameter, unless they were a very considerable length, were still imperceptible. In the present case, dealing with a projectile 9 ft in diameter and 15 ft long, it became necessary to bring the moon within an apparent distance of 5 mi at most, and for that purpose to establish a magnifying power of 48,000 times. Such was the question proposed to the Observatory of Cambridge. There was no lack of funds. The difficulty was purely one of construction. After considerable discussion as to the best form and principle of the proposed instrument, the work was finally commenced. According to the calculations of the Observatory of Cambridge, the tube of the new reflector would require to be 280 ft in length and the object glass 16 ft in diameter. Colossal as these dimensions may appear, they were dimminionative in comparison with the 10,000 ft telescope proposed by the astronomer Hook only a few years ago. Regarding the choice of locality, that matter was promptly determined. The object was to select some lofty mountain, and there are not many of these in the United States. In fact, there are but two chains of moderate elevation, between which runs the magnificent Mississippi, the king of rivers, as these Republican Yankees delight to call it. Eastwards rise the Appalachians, the very highest point of which in New Hampshire does not exceed the very moderate altitude of 5,600 ft. On the west, however, rise the Rocky Mountains. That immense range which commencing at the straits of Mellin follows the western coast of South America under the name of the Andes or the Cordiieras until it crosses the ismas of Panama and runs up the whole of North America to the very borders of the polar sea. The highest elevation of this range still does not exceed 10,700 ft. With this elevation, nevertheless, the gun club was compelled to be content, in as much as they had determined that both Telescope and Colombi should be erected within the limits of the Union, all the necessary apparatus was consequently sent on to the summit of Long's Peak in the territory of Missouri. Neither pen nor language can describe the difficulties of all kinds which the American engineers had to surmount. or the prodigies of daring and skill which they accomplished. They had to raise enormous stones, massive pieces of rot iron, heavy corner clamps, and huge portions of cylinder with an object glass weighing nearly 30,000 lb above the line of perpetual snow for more than 10,000 ft in height. After crossing desert prairies, impenetrable forests, fearful rapids, far from all centers of population, and in the midst of savage regions, in which every detail of life becomes an almost insoluble problem. And yet, notwithstanding these innumerable obstacles, American genius triumphed. In less than a year after the commencement of the works, towards the close of September, the giant reflector rose into the air to a height of 280 ft. It was raised by means of an enormous iron crane. An ingenious mechanism allowed it to be easily worked towards all the points of the heavens and to follow the stars from the one horizon to the other during their journey through the heavens. It had cost $400,000. The first time it was directed towards the moon, the observers evented both curiosity and anxiety. What were they about to discover in the field of this telescope which magnified objects 48,000 times? Would they perceive peoples, herds of lunar animals, towns, lakes, seas? No. There was nothing which science had not already discovered. And on all the points of its disc, the volcanic nature of the moon became determinable with the utmost precision. But the telescope of the Rocky Mountains before doing its duty to the gun club rendered immense services to astronomy. Thanks to its penetrative power, the depths of the heavens were sounded to the utmost extent. The apparent diameter of a great number of stars was accurately measured, and Mr. Clark of the Cambridge staff resolved the Crab Nebula in Taurus, which the reflector of Lord Ross had never been able to decompose. End of chapter. Chapter 25 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 25, Final Details. It was the 22nd of November. The departure was to take place in 10 days. One operation alone remained to be accomplished to bring all to a happy termination. An operation delicate and perilous, requiring infinite precautions, and against the success of which Captain Nickel had laid his third bet. It was, in fact, nothing less than the loading of the Colombi and the introduction into it of 400,000 lb of gun cotton. Nickel had thought, not perhaps without reason, that the handling of such formidable quantities of peroxidil would, in all probability, involve a grave catastrophe, and at any rate that this immense mass of eminently inflammable matter would inevitably ignite when submitted to the pressure of the projectile. There were indeed dangers acrewing as before from the carelessness of the Americans, but Barbine had set his heart on success and took all possible precautions. In the first place he was very careful as to the transportation of the gun cottton to Stones Hill. He had it conveyed in small quantities, carefully packed in sealed cases. These were brought by rail from Tampa town to the camp and from thence were taken to the Colombiad by barefooted workmen who deposited them in their places by means of cranes placed at the orifice of the cannon. No steam engine was permitted to work and every fire was extinguished within 2 mi of the works. Even in November, they feared to work by day, lest the sun's rays acting on the gun cotton should lead to unhappy results. This led to their working at night, by light produced in a vacuum by means of room corfs apparatus, which threw an artificial brightness into the depths of the colombiad. There, the cartridges were arranged with the utmost regularity, connected by a metallic thread, destined to communicate to them all simultaneously the electric spark, by which means this mass of gun cotton was eventually to be ignited. By the 28th of November, 800 cartridges had been placed in the bottom of the Colombi. So far the operation had been successful, but what confusion, what anxieties, what struggles were undergone by President Barbcane. In vain had he refused admission to Stones Hill. Every day the inquisitive neighbors scaled the palisades, some even carrying their imprudence to the point of smoking while surrounded by bales of gun cotton. Barbcame was in a perpetual state of alarm. JT Masten seconded him to the best of his ability by giving vigorous chase to the intruders and carefully picking up the still lighted cigar ends which the Yankees threw about. A somewhat difficult task, seeing that more than 300,000 persons were gathered around the enclosure. Michelle Arda had volunteered to superintend the transport of the cartridges to the mouth of the Colombiad. But the president, having surprised him with an enormous cigar in his mouth, while he was hunting out the rash spectators to whom he himself offered so dangerous an example, saw that he could not trust this fearless smoker, and was therefore obliged to mount a special guard over him. At last, Providence being propitious, this wonderful loading came to a happy termination, Captain Nichols third bet being thus lost. It remained now to introduce the projectile into the Colombi, and to place it on its soft bed of gun cotton. But before doing this, all those things necessary for the journey had to be carefully arranged in the projectile vehicle. These necessaries were numerous, and had Ardan been allowed to follow his own wishes, there would have been no space remaining for the travelers. It is impossible to conceive of half the things this charming Frenchman wished to convey to the moon. A veritable stock of useless trifles, but Barbine interfered and refused admission to anything not absolutely needed. Several thermometers, barometers, and telescopes were packed in the instrument case. The travelers being desirous of examining the moon carefully during their voyage in order to facilitate their studies, they took with them Boer and Murdler's excellent Mapa Selonographica, a masterpiece of patience and observation, which they hoped would enable them to identify those physical features in the moon with which they were acquainted. This map reproduced with scrupulous fidelity the smallest details of the lunar surface which faces the earth. The mountains, valleys, craters, peaks and ridges were all represented with their exact dimensions, relative positions and names from the mountains Durfell and Legnets on the eastern side of the disc to the Mar Frigorus of the North Pole. They took also three rifles and three fouling pieces and a large quantity of balls, shot and powder. "We cannot tell whom we shall have to deal with," said Michelle Ardan. "Men or beasts may possibly object to our visit. It is only wise to take all precautions." These defensive weapons were accompanied by pickaxes, crowbars, saws, and other useful implements, not to mention clothing adapted to every temperature from that of the polar regions to that of the torid zone. Ardan wished to convey a number of animals of different sorts, not indeed a pair of every known species, as he could not see the necessity of a climatizing serpents, tigers, alligators, or any other noxious beasts in the moon. Nevertheless, he said to Barbane, some valuable and useful beasts, bulocks, cows, horses, and donkeys, would bear the journey very well, and would also be very useful to us. I dare say, my dear Ardan, replied the president, but our projectile vehicle is no Noah's arc, from which it differs both in dimensions and object. Let us confine ourselves to possibilities. After a prolonged discussion, it was agreed that the travelers should restrict themselves to a sporting dog belonging to Nickel and to a large Newfoundland. Several packets of seeds were also included among the necessaries. Michelle Ardan indeed was anxious to add some sacks full of earth to sew them in. As it was, he took a dozen shrubs carefully wrapped up in straw to plant in the moon. The important question of provisions still remained, it being necessary to provide against the possibility of their finding the moon absolutely barren. Barbara managed so successfully that he supplied them with sufficient rations for a year. These consisted of preserved meats and vegetables reduced by strong hydraulic pressure to the smallest possible dimensions. They were also supplied with brandy and took water enough for 2 months, being confident from astronomical observations that there was no lack of water on the moon's surface. As to provisions, doubtless the inhabitants of the earth would find nourishment somewhere in the moon. Ardan never questioned this. Indeed, had he done so, he would never have undertaken the journey. Besides, he said one day to his friends, "We shall not be completely abandoned by our terrestrial friends. They will take care not to forget us." "No, indeed," replied JT Masten. "What do you mean?" asked Nickel. "Nothing would be simpler," replied Ardan. "The Colombiad will be always there." Well, whenever the moon is in a favorable condition as to the zenith, if not to the perigee, that is to say about once a year, could you not send us a shell packed with provisions which we might expect on some appointed day? Harrah, harrah, cried JT Masten. What an ingenious fellow. What a splendid idea. Indeed, my good friends, we shall not forget you. I shall reckon upon you. Then you see, we shall receive news regularly from the earth, and we shall indeed be stupid if we hit upon no plan for communicating with our good friends here." These words inspired such confidence that Michelle Ardan carried all the gun club with him in his enthusiasm. What he said seemed so simple and so easy, so sure of success, that none could be so sortedly attached to this earth as to hesitate to follow the three travelers on their lunar expedition. All being ready at last, it remained to place the projectile in the Colombi, an operation abundantly accompanied by dangers and difficulties. The enormous shell was conveyed to the summit of Stones Hill. there. Powerful cranes raised it and held it suspended over the mouth of the cylinder. It was a fearful moment. What if the chain should break under its enormous weight? The sudden fall of such a body would inevitably caused the gun cotton to explode. Fortunately, this did not happen. And some hours later, the projectile vehicle descended gently into the heart of the cannon and rested on its couch of peroxil, a veritable bed of explosive iderown. Its pressure had no result other than the more effectual ramming down of the charge of the Colombiad. I have lost," said the captain, who forthwith paid President Barbcane the sum of $3,000. Barbcane did not wish to accept the money from one of his fellow travelers, but gave way at last before the determination of Nickel, who wished before leaving the earth to fulfill all his engagements. "Now," said Michelle Arda, "I have only one thing more to wish for you, my brave captain." "What is that?" asked Nicl. It is that you may lose your two other bets. Then we shall be sure not to be stopped on our journey. End of chapter. Chapter 26 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Vern, Chapter 26. Fire. The 1st of December had arrived, the fatal day. For if the projectile were not discharged that very night at 10 hours 46 minutes 40 seconds p.m. more than 18 years must roll by before the moon would again present herself under the same conditions of zenith and perigee. The weather was magnificent. Despite the approach of winter, the sun shone brightly and bathed in its radiant light that earth which three of her denisonens were about to abandon for a new world. How many persons lost their rest on the night which preceded this long expected day? All hearts beat with disquitude, save only the heart of Michelle Ardan. That imperturbable personage came and went with his habitual business-like air, while nothing ever denoted that any unusual matter preoccupied his mind. After dawn, an innumerable multitude covered the prairie, which extends as far as the eye can reach, round Stones Hill. Every quarter of an hour, the railway brought fresh excessions of sightseers, and according to the statement of the Tampa Town Observer, not less than 5 millions of spectators throng the soil of Florida. For a whole month previously, the mass of these persons had bivwacked round the enclosure and laid the foundations for a town which was afterwards called our dance town. The whole plane was covered with huts, cottages, and tents. Every nation under the sun was represented there, and every language might be heard spoken at the same time. It was a perfect babble reenacted. All the various classes of American society were mingled together in terms of absolute equality. Bankers, farmers, sailors, cotton planters, brokers, merchants, watermen, magistrates elbowed each other in the most free and easy way. Louisiana creoles fraternized with farmers from Indiana. Kentucky and Tennessee gentlemen and hotty Virginiaians conversed with trappers and the halfsavages of the lakes and butchers from Cincinnati. broad-brimmed white hats and panas, blue cotton trousers, light colored stockings, camric frills were all here displayed, while upon shirt fronts, wristbands, and neck ty upon every finger, even upon the very ears, they wore an assortment of rings, shirt pins, brooches, and trinkets, of which the value only equaled the excrable taste. Women, children, and servants in equally expensive dress surrounded their husbands, fathers, or masters, who resembled the patriarchs of tribes in the midst of their immense households. At meal times all fell to work upon the dishes peculiar to the southern states, and consumed with an appetite that threatened speedy exhaustion of the viddling powers of Florida. ricocheted frogs, stuffed monkey, fish chowder, underdone possum, and raccoon steaks. And as for the liquors which accompanied this indigestible repast, the shouts, the viferations that resounded through the bars and taverns decorated with glasses, tankers, and bottles of marvelous shape, mortars for pounding sugar, and bundles of straws. Mint jeulip roars one of the barman. Claret sangri shouts another cocktail brandy smash real mint jeulip and the new style. All these cries intermingled produced a bewildering and deafening hubbhub. But on this day 1st December such sounds were rare. No one thought of eating or drinking. And at 4 p.m. there were vast numbers of spectators who had not even taken their customary lunch. And a still more significant fact, even the national passion for play seemed quelled for the time under the general excitement of the hour. Up till nightfall, a dull, noiseless agitation such as precedes great catastrophes ran through the anxious multitude. An indescribable uneasiness pervaded all minds. An indefinable sensation which oppressed the heart. Everyone wished it was over. However, about 7:00, the heavy silence was dissipated. The moon rose above the horizon. Millions of her hailed her appearance. She was punctual to the rendevous, and shouts of welcome greeted her on all sides as her pale beams shone gracefully in the clear heavens. At this moment, the three intrepid travelers appeared. This was the signal for renewed cries of still greater intensity. Instantly the vast assemblage, as with one accord, struck up the national hymn of the United States, and Yankee Doodle, sung by five millions of hearty throats, rose like a roaring tempest to the farthest limits of the atmosphere. Then a profound silence reigned throughout the crowd. The Frenchmen and the two Americans had by this time entered the enclosure reserved in the center of the multitude. They were accompanied by the members of the gun club and by deputations sent from all the European observatories. Barbacine, cool and collected, was giving his final directions. Nickel, with compressed lips, his arms crossed behind his back, walked with a firm and measured step. Michelle Ardan, always easy, dressed in a thorough traveler's costume, leather gators on his legs, pouched by his side, in loose velvet suit, cigar in mouth, was full of inexhaustible gay, laughing, joking, playing pranks with JT Masten. In one word, he was the thorough Frenchman and worse, a Parisian to the last moment. 10:00 struck. The moment had arrived for taking their places in the projectile. The necessary operations for the descent and the subsequent removal of the cranes and scaffolding that inclined over the mouth of the Colombiad required a certain period of time. Barba had regulated his chronometer to the tenth part of a second by that of Merchesen the engineer who was charged with the duty of firing the gun by means of an electric spark. Thus the travelers enclosed within the projectile were enabled to follow with their eyes the impassive needle which marked the precise moment of their departure. The moment had arrived for saying goodbye. The scene was a touching one. Despite his feverish gayity, even Michelle Ardan was touched. JT Masten had found in his own dry eyes one ancient tear which he had doubtless reserved for the occasion. He dropped it on the forehead of his dear president. "Can I not go?" he said. "There is still time." "Impossible, old fellow," replied Barbacane. A few moments later, the three fellow travelers had ensconed themselves in the projectile and screwed down the plate which covered the entrance aperture. The mouth of the Colombiad, now completely disenccumbered, was open entirely to the sky. The moon advanced upwards in a heaven of the purest clearness, outshining in her passage the twinkling light of the stars. She passed over the constellation of the twins, and was now nearing the halfway point between the horizon and the zenith. A terrible silence weighed upon the entire scene. Not a breath of wind upon the earth, not a sound of breathing from the countless chests of the spectators. Their hearts seemed afraid to beat. All eyes were fixed upon the yawning mouth of the Colombiad. Merchesen followed with his eye the hand of his coronometer. It wanted scarce 40 seconds to the moment of departure, but each second seemed to last an age. At the 20th, there was a general shutter, as it occurred to the minds of that vast assemblage that the bold travelers shut up within the projectile were also counting those terrible seconds. Some few cries here and there escaped the crowd. 35 36 37 38 39 40 fire. Instantly, Merchesen pressed with his finger the key of the electric battery, restored the current of the fluid, and discharged the spark into the breach of the Colombi. An appalling, unearly report followed instantly, such as can be compared to nothing ever known, not even to the roar of thunder or to the blast of volcanic explosions. No words can convey the slightest idea of the terrific sound. An immense spout of fire shot up from the bowels of the earth as from a crater. The earth heaved up and with great difficulty some few spectators obtained a momentary glimpse of the projectile victoriously cleaving the air in the midst of the fiery vapors. End of chapter chapter 27 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern. Chapter 27. Foul Weather. At the moment when that pyramid of fire rose to a predigious height into the air, the glare of the flame lit up the whole of Florida, and for a moment day superseded night over a considerable extent of the country. This immense canopy of fire was perceived at a distance of 100 miles out at sea. and more than one ship's captain entered in his log the appearance of this gigantic meteor. The discharge of the Colombia was accompanied by a perfect earthquake. Florida was shaken to its very depths. The gases of the powder expanded by heat, forced back the atmospheric strata with tremendous violence, and this artificial hurricane rushed like a water spout through the air. Not a single spectator remained on his feet. Men, women, children, all lay prostrate like ears of corn under a tempest. There ensued a terrible tumult. A large number of persons were seriously injured. JT Masten, who despite of all dictates of prudence, had kept in advance of the mass, was pitched back 120 ft, shooting like a projectile over the heads of his fellow citizens. 300,000 persons remained deaf for a time as those struck stupified. As soon as the first effects were over, the injured, the deaf, and lastly, the crowd in general woke up with frenzied cries. "Hurrah for our da! Harrah for barbcane! Harra for nickel!" rose to the skies. Thousands of persons, noses and air, armed with telescopes and race glasses, were questioning space, forgetting all contusions and emotions in the one idea of watching for the projectile. They looked in vain. It was no longer to be seen, and they were obliged to wait for telegrams from Long's Peak. The director of the Cambridge Observatory was at his post on the Rocky Mountains, and to him, as a skillful and persevering astronomer, all observations had been confided. But an unforeseen phenomenon came in to subject the public impatience to a severe trial. The weather, hereto for so fine, suddenly changed. The sky became heavy with clouds. It could not have been otherwise after the terrible derangement of the atmospheric strata and the dispersion of the enormous quantity of vapor arising from the combustion of 200,000 lb of peroxil. On the marorrow the horizon was covered with clouds, a thick and impenetrable curtain between earth and sky which unhappily extended as far as the Rocky Mountains. It was a fatality. But since man had chosen so to disturb the atmosphere, he was bound to accept the consequences of his experiment. Supposing now that the experiment had succeeded, the travelers, having started on the 1st of December at 10 hours 46 minutes 40 seconds p.m. were due on the 4th at 0 p.m. at their destination. So up to that time it would have been very difficult after all to have observed under such conditions a body so small as the shell. Therefore they waited with what patience they might. From the 4th to the 6th of December inclusive, the weather remaining much the same in America. The great European instruments of Hershel Ross and Focal were constantly directed towards the moon. For the weather was then magnificent. But the comparative weakness of their glasses prevented any trustworthy observations being made. On the seventh the sky seemed to lighten. They were in hopes now, but their hope was of but short duration, and at night again thick clouds hid the starry vault from all eyes. Matters were now becoming serious, when on the 9th the sun reappeared for an instant, as if for the purpose of teasing the Americans. It was received with hisses, and wounded, no doubt, by such a reception, showed itself very sparing of its rays. On the 10th, no change. JT Masten went nearly mad, and great fears were entertained regarding the brain of this worthy individual, which had hitherto been so well preserved within his gutaperta cranium. But on the 11th, one of those inexplicable tempests, peculiar to those intertropical regions, was let loose in the atmosphere. A terrific east wind swept away the groups of clouds which had been so long gathering, and at night the semidisk of the orb of night rode majestically amidst the soft constellations of the sky. End of chapter. Chapter 28 of From the Earth to the Moon. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Fern. Chapter 28, the final chapter called A New Star. That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited, burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union, and then darting across the ocean, ran through all the telegraphic wires of the globe. The projectile had been detected thanks to the gigantic reflector of Long's Peak. Here is the note received by the director of the Observatory of Cambridge. It contains the scientific conclusion regarding this great experiment of the gun club. Long speak December 12 to the officers of the Observatory of Cambridge. The projectile discharged by the Colombia at Stones Hill has been detected by Mesur's Belfast and JT Masten 12th December at 8:47 p.m. The moon having entered her last quarter. This projectile has not arrived at its destination. It has passed by the side but sufficiently near to be retained by the lunar attraction. The rectal linear movement has thus become changed into a circular motion of extreme velocity and it is now pursuing an elliptical orbit around the moon of which it has become a true satellite. The elements of this new star we have as yet been unable to determine. We do not yet know the velocity of its passage. The distance which separates it from the surface of the moon may be estimated at about 2,833 miles. However, two hypothesis come here into our consideration. One, either the attraction of the moon will end by drawing them into itself and the travelers will attain their destination or two, the projectile following an immutable law will continue to gravitate round the moon till the end of time. At some future time, our observations will be able to determine this point. But till then, the experiment of the gun club can have no other result than to have provided our solar system with a new star. Signed J. Belfast. To how many questions did this unexpected day give rise? What mysterious results was the future reserving for the investigations of science? At all events, the names of Nickel Barbacane and Michelle Ardan was certain to be immortalized in the annals of astronomy. When the dispatch from Long Peak had once become known, there was but one universal feeling of surprise and alarm. Was it possible to go to the aid of these bold travelers? No, for they had placed themselves beyond the pale of humanity by crossing the limits imposed by the creator on his earthly creatures. They had air enough for two months. They had viddles enough for 12. But after that there was only one man who would not admit that the situation was desperate. He alone had confidence and that was their devoted friend JT Masson. Besides, he never let them get out of sight. His home was henceforth the post at Long's Peak, his horizon, the mirror of that immense reflector. As soon as the moon rose above the horizon, he immediately caught her in the field of the telescope. He never let her go for an instant out of his sight, and followed her assiduously in her course through the stellar spaces. He watched with untiring patience the passage of the projectile across her silvery disc, and really the worthy man remained in perpetual communication with his three friends, whom he did not despair of seeing again someday. Those three men, said he, have carried into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With that one can do anything and you will see that someday they will come out all right. End of chapter end of book. Thank you for listening and do not fail to listen to Round the Moon Jules Fern sequel to this book.