The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 15, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 24, 1909 Page: 4 of 8
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«.«/ Sir
I
"Vanishing Fleets." a utery of "what
mltrlit Inn • ha|i|« m il." t'|><t>n III Wash
Jnirii n with Hi' CnllMl Hliiti-w ami Ju|>an
mar war «J11v 1111ll< i stirftnry of tlii'i
lSrltlHli • in 1 •:i-sy. and Mi** Norma Koti- I
ert* . lilef aMc of Invi-iilor Holt* rtn. art
tntrmliici il an lovt i> Japan d«*< lar< war
fiial tak>f tin I'hllli'iilnfv Ouy tlllll'-r
^tBrin for Knglamf Norma Hi l« rt*
ji'inri Wat-hint ton for lh«* Klorlda count
Hawaii ih ohiiI il*t-tl l>V tlx" .lapn All portc
nrr . loiwxl Tokyo learn* of titlRHlnir Jap-
utK>*i fli-ft nnd whole world Ihtohkh eon-
vtnu'd that I'liltt'd Stair* han ,iowirfiil
war nRi'itcy. Kniflsntl ilecltlrs to m-ntl
rt.rt to Atnrrli an water* an a Canadian
proici Hon against w hat tilt HrltlHh mip-
i . v. 1 a ti'i i ihli* mil<inarln<- flotilla Mil
II. i In sent with a in '**a.|f<'. Fieri mys-
«i rlounlv disappear* The kaiser Is rnlN*-
inn Kln«t Kdward of Kngland lt> eon-
fron'od hv Admiral Hevtns of the Fnlted |
State* The l>ri>adti! iinht. MKKest of Knc
land'* warships In din. nvered at an hn- j
pas*al>1e point > thf Thame* Th< slury ,
now i: •<> hark to a time many month?
t>. fort thf >\:tr break* out. and Inventor i
Roberts \ Ik)t•« thf president and cahltH l,
tf 1U11k of nnd exhibiting a metal produc-
tion Thin over, nine* friction wlun elec-
trified ami In <" be applied to v. nncln to
Increase up I to over M' mile* an hour
A cltv for the munufa. ttire of the rnyn-
terlo in ills oM-rv l. hull' on the connt of
j'l. ml.i I r Huberts' Urnt attempt to elec-
trify platen proves a failure.
CHAPTER XV.—Continued.
"It's all ri«ht this time." the In- i
ventor assured him. "Wild current 1
and wi t floor before, badly Insulated
handle, too All fixed up now. Won't
be any accident this time," and so on,
ninklnc tin linn 1 Inspection of his ap-
paratus as he talked. Norma reviewed
her father's work, to be certain that
all was well, and then at a nod from
him took her station at the other mon-
ster which had not been used hither-
to. There was a simultaneous move-
ment on their pari. and. as If suddenly
endowed with a soul, the lights once
more flashed here and there, plarinc
at them with sinister contempt
Frankensti Ins under control!
The admiral, fascinated by the mys-
tery of science, stared at the white-
haired old man who was calmly watch-
ing his play of colors, and then at the
pirl who with equal self possession
and coolness manipulated the stranKe
currents beneath her hands. They
were animated as by one mind, throw-
ing their levers and switches to and
fro at identically the game moment
without lix'kinu at etneh other, and the
click of the closing currents came in
unison. Not until then did th «y step
back from their stations and Inter-
change what seemed to the admiral
ntutiK'l glances of congratulation.
"That assistant of mine is a won
der!" was all the old man said as he
came over, dragged a stool up beside
that on which the officer sat. ami glee-
fully rubbed his hands together. "She
thinks more clearly than I do."
Brockton, who had been tense as a
violin string and had almost forgotten
to breathe drew a long breath and
looked at the girl, who bad been lean-
ing against the wall as though ex-
hausted. but was now watching the !
slowly coollne metal. He would have
asked questions; but the inventor
turned to him and with an air of
triumph said:
"I wish you would Invite all those i
who were here when we made the first j
test. Then you will have the explana
tion unless I am again mistaken."
The admiral obeyed, and even as thi
coolii.g sprays were sifting over 'In
great pieces of metal they came troop
Ing in from the work which they had
resumed. There were men from (In-
draughting rooms with pencils behind
their ears, engineers from the outside
with shirt sleeves rolled up and for-
gotten diagrams under their arms, and
one man came from the laboratory ah
•entmlndedly carrying a test tube,
balancing It so that he might spill
none of the liquid which It contained
Norma was now resting calmly against
one of the huge dead machines.
In a tone of unusual gravity Rob-
erta addressed them. "Hoys." lie be-
gan—they were all boys to him—"you
have witnessed the accidental dlscov
ery, I believe, of the most powerfiA
force the world has ever known You
have been fortunate. In more than
70 years of life I, who have spent the
time In strange studies and stranger
work, have had no privilege so great.
You have all been kind to my daugh-
ter and to me, and I am glad you are
here now ." He paused for a moment,
seeing with Introspective eyes all the
great events of his life. Then, recall-
ing himself from this review, he turned
to Jenkins as a kindred spirit, and to
a boyish officer who stood near at
hand.
"You two," he said, Indicating them
with his hand, "may have the honor of
picking up those plates."
There was an Instant of breathless
astonishment. Jenkins was the lirst to
recover, nnd unhesitatingly walked
forward. The younger man drew
back an though he had received an
order from an insane man consigning
him to Inglorious death. The voire of
the admiral put an end to the wait
"Go ahead!" he aald quietly. "Those
plates may weigh tons; but If Dr. Rob-
erta tells you to pick them up, you
fa ai'H trv It." j
Norma Was Now Resting Calmly Agai nit One of the Huge Dead Machines.
With the absolute precision of train
ing. tin* officer's heels came togethei
and his hand to bis cap iti quick sa
lute. lit; strode to the plates, ant!
stood opposite Jenkins, while the spet
tators craned forward, speculating as
to what freak of madness was io be
demonstrated. Jenkins, grave and tin
questioning, looked across at his com
pnnlon, nodded io him, and togethei
they stooped au<l caught a handhold
Together they gathered their muscles
as if for some prodigious exercise ot
strength, and simultaneously strained
upward.
To the amazement of those within
the room the great masses of metal
came up with such ease that they were
lifted breast high without perceptible
effort.
"Higher, higher!" called the old in
venior. springing toward tbetn and
gesturing with his hands. The plates
rose until they were held with finger
tip!-, and breathless suspense en
chained the spectators.
"Now stand from under! Let go of
them! Let go of them!" yelled Rob
erts. dancing up and down in excite-
ment: but the mtn still held on as if
rendered powerless by astonishment.
"Stand from under!" commanded
the admiral; and discipline again mas
lering them they obeyed, springing
back In the apprehension that the two
immense plates might by some necro
tnancy come crashing down and disap-
pear through the floor. With some-
Win: almost like a sol), so great had
been bis mental strain, Jenkins stood
transfixed. The admiral gave a gasp,
and with one hand poised in the air
stood like a statue. A hammer fell
from the hantl of one of the engineers
standing behind, and the man who
had been tightly clutching the test
tube openetl his fingers anil let It
crash to the floor. In this tinkling
sound of broken glass on cement, an-
other gave a sharp ejaculation and
(txik an Involuntary step forwartl.
They had wit nested the first posi-
tive exhibition of true levltatloD. a
solitl body suspended In the air with
out support. They had seen in times
past with complacency, knowing that
It was dependent upon optical illusion
the conjurer's trick, mystifying to the
outward sense but readily explainable
In the light of Investigation; but hen
before them, beyond the range ol
charlatanry, In perversion of all known
physical laws, there hung motionless
In the air, dependent upon itself for
its flotation, a great mass of metal
that but a short time before would
have been beyond the power of their
combined strength to lift.
And standing placidly beneath It
en.l<>>Ing their surprise and supremelj
triumphant, stood a quiet little old
man smiling up ut his daughter, who.-'
hand he was holding.
CHAPTER XVI.
An Invincible Arm.
The officers, still doubting their
Menses, stood before this uncanny
manifestation like men in a world of
unreality. From without, for souie
unaccountable reason, the vailed
clamor of industry had subsided to
silence, and the soldiers' song wav
finished. Kven the yellow light of the
afternoon which filtered through the
window panes appeared strange, spec-
tral, and unearthly In the shadow of
that massive thine which hovered
above them. Nature seemed bent on
the revocation of her laws, and for an
instant their sonsei reeled in the
struggle for comprehension.
"Old Hill" Roberts broke the spell.
He reached up and touched the tip of
a finger to the mass antl moved 1'
gen ly toward them with no more ex
ertlon than would be necessary to
push a toy balloon. There was no
levity in him when he addre. -i d them,
but rather the simple grandeur of one
who has wre. tcd from Nature one of
her greatest powers, and was now pre-
paring to harness it fur all time, a
slave to pence, progress aud the wei
fare of his fellows.
"My friends.'' he said, "by the dis-
covery of an alloy of metal and metal-
loids we have created a new sub-
stance. which when an electrical cur
rent of certain potentiality Is passed
through it become* intensely radioac
tlve; infinitely more so than radium.
Through there machines.'' and here
i he waved his hantl at the twin appa
j ratus In the rear, "my daughter and
i I have produced electrical manlfesta
i Hons hitherto unsuspected and tin
j known. The metal itself, while radio
1 active iti a certain degree, does not be
i come Intensely so without the appli-
l cation of the excitant current." He
pulled the plate down till It rested on
the floor, and stood upon it, while
they, still awetl, waited for his further
exposition.
"This morning, by an accidental
contact which lasted until the plate
had torn itself loose and broken the
current, I saw to the full the possl
hllitles it contained. The Impact of
the emanations, or radioactive cor
puscles, against the sheet of Insulation
and tank at the bottom drove I'
through the floor and Into the ground
because the corpsucies which flew oft
in the other direction were unimpeded
free and harmless. Had the excitant
current been maintained, the plate
would have hurled Itself indefinite!)
toward the center of the earth."
The officers gave a gasp of some
thing almost approaching incredulity,
with the exception of Jenkins, who
nodded his head and excitedly rubbed
hi* hands.
Roberts picked up a scrap at his
I feet antl held it toward them. "For
I years I experimented upon nnd per
looted this." lit said. "It Is an insu
iatlon which will pass no current ol
■ lectrlclty, and which no known heat
tan destroy. To-day by accident I
learned that It was also an impervious
screen to radioactive emanations. In
ibu second experiment 1 so charged
the alloy in my lower plate that It
merely offsets gravitation. atnl put my
sheet of insular substance between;
and there we have levitution. Those
two plates are working against each
other with nearly equal force, the bal-
ance being disturbed only In ratio to
gra vitation,"
"The solution of the flying ma-
chine!" Jenkins shouted excitedly, and
Huberts, appreciating the engineer's
quick understanding, smiled and re-
sponded :
"Yes, just that."
"Hut what will furnish its propul-
sion?" asked Jenkins, whose mind
was traveling over the possibilities of
rapid flight. The others evinced their
Interest by craning forward.
"It will furnish its own." the sci-
entist answered, "because by the uso
of the apparatus behind it we can
excite its radioactivity to any tlegrce
that might be safe. More plainly, the
moment the current excites and there-
fore increases the power of the lower
plate, a lifting energy could be exerted
which would destroy the equilibrium
of levitatlon and drive the plates Into
the nir with a force corresponding to
the strength or character of the cur-
rent. Ot, on the other hand, If the
upper plate was similarly excited, thus
liberating Its corpuscles, the plate
would be driven toward the earth."
The admiral, who had been slowly
following thi dissertation, seemed
suddenly to have grasped its entire
meaning, anil thrust himself out from
the group with both hands extended
and gesticulating rapidly. "Then all
you have to do," he said, "Is to put
on either end of your airship a free-
board made of this metal, capable of
excitation and insulated on its inner
surface, ami you would thereby bo
able to drive your c. ft in either direc-
tion at any speed you might wljh!"
"That's it exactly," answered Rob-
erts and Jenkins in unison. The In-
ventor continued:
"I can beat a freeboard, however,
because I shall apply my electrical cur-
rent in such a way as to send all tho
corpuscles of radioactive matter in
any direction I may chooxe. I could
with this alloy even create magnets
of unknown pow r I can built a craft
In sections where magnets and radio
active surfaces will alternate."
He was growing excited as the mag-
nitude of the scope of his discovery
dawned upon his imagination. Norma
calmed him down, but the admiral. In-
fected with these visions, took up the
strain and enthusiastically expatiated
to bis companii n- To him the skies
were already filled with flying ships
that were to swoop down over an ene-
my, drop terrific bombs of high ex-
plosives, and thus sweep the seas.
Hut future events, he was to learn,
cannot be predict. | with certainty.
"Well, wt n; ' he said, briskly.
' What next"'1
Your engineers must assist me In
drawing plans. We shall want great
quantities of new material and elec-
trical equipment, and must have them
soon; because when we uet well un-
der way we should be able to create
two or three of these radioplanes each
day,"
The great plates were locked in,
and the group repaired to one of the
offices, where for hours the Inventor
elaborated his scheme of control, the
mechanical means of which were to In-
worked out aud drawings made by the
engineers. Antl as tliev tolled over
their plans there spread from mouth
to mouth throughout the strange col-
ony the story of the marvelous con-
ception, until even the most prosaic
workman found himself dreaming and
specula!Ing over his ta~k. Heforo dusk
had crowded the llnht from the skies,
the Columbia, under a full head of
steam, picked her way out to meet the
ocean swells, and headed for Miami,
where she was to send a message to
Washington, calling for strangely as-
sorted supplies and notifying the anx-
ious naval men that the dry dock
would not be needed.
(To SB ft iNTINt'KP )
Sharpened Feminine Barb.
Difficult subjects require careful
handling, and for this reason a room
clerk at a woman's hotel must have
pedal qualifications, says a New
York letter. One of the many appli
cants to approach a clerk of this class
was a young, prepossessing woman
who, a few days ago, walked to the
It sk aud hesitatingly asked if a room
could be had at moderate price.
'Would you ilke a room at a dollar
ind a half a day?" With a startled
ook she rt plied, "I want one at three
I lollars a week." ' We have rooms at
I hat p:lce, but none vacant. You can
-iee that the office is full of guests.
; tml it Is not probable that wc shall
nave sut h a room as you desire until
nit- of our guests dies—or gets mar-
ried." Sweeping the office with her
eyes, the young woman replied, sweet
ly, "Ob, then, 11 is hopeUss!"
COME AND SEE
MAX M. GLOECKNER,
(AT THE SAME OLD STAND.)
FOR YOUR
Staples Fancy Groceries
FRESH FOAMING LAGER BEER always 011 tap.
FREE LUNCH at alJ hours.
I also sell the Famous Home Made Wiue, made from
tliH uative grape.
Buyer and Seller of COUNTRY PRODUCE.
M. GLiOECKNER,
Bastrop, Texas.
Plumbing and - -
Electrical Supplies. - -
Batli Tubs, Sinks, Closets, Basins, Water Pipe,
Garden Hose, Electrical Pressing Irons, Lamps,
Shades, Chandeliers, Dry Batteries, Eells, Tele-
phones, Dynamos and Motors.
Plumbing, El«etrit! and Telephone Repairs
and Construction Promptly Done.
All Work aud Material Guaranteed. \V« pay pnrt
or all of youi R. R. Fan* to Austin and return when
you trade with us. Write us about it.
715 Congress Ave,
.AUSTIN, TEXAS.
Bacon & Hancock,
We make B-H Guaranteed Metal Polish.
Avenue Hotel, TeS.
«6T Recently Remodeled and Renovafed. New and
beautifully finished office, dininp room and sample room.
tair Kooma single or en auits. with or without private
bath. Rates, $2.00, $2.50 nnd $.'J.OO per day.
D. M. WILSON, Proprietor.
Enlarging Your Business
If you are in
business and vou
want to make
more money you
will tead ever.y
woid we have to
«ay. Are you
•pending your
money lor ad-
vertising in hap-
hazard fashion
as if intended
lor charity, or do vou adver-
tise for direct results?
Did you ever stop to think
how vuur advertising can be
made a source of profit to
you, and how its value can b«
measured in dollars and
cents. If you have not, you
aie throwing money away.
Advertising is a modern
business necessity, but must
be conducted on busmen
principles. If you are not
satisfied with your advertising
you should set aside a curtain
amount of money to lie spent
annually, and then carefully
note the effect it has in in-
creasing your rolume ol busi-
ness; whether a 10, 20 or 30
l er cent increase. If you
watch this gain from year to
you will become intensely in-
terested in your advertising,
and how you can make it en-
laige youi business.
If you try tins method we
believe you will not want to
let a single issue of this paper
go to press without something
from your store.
We will be pleased to hav«
you call on us, and we will
take pleasure in explaining
our annual contract for so
many inches, antl how it can l «
used in whatever amount that
seeuis necessary to you.
If you can sell goods over
the counter we can also show
you why this paper will b«et
serve your interests when you
want to reach the peopla ol
this community.
The Right Kind of
Reading Matter
>' *
> is
I
The home news; the doings of the people in this
town; the gossip of our own community, that's
the first kind of reading matter you want. It is
more important, more interesting to you than
that given by the paper or magazine from the
outside world. It is the first reading matter
you shou#d buy. Each issue of this paper gives
to you just what you will consider
The Right Kind oh
Reading Matter
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Cain, Thomas C. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 15, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 24, 1909, newspaper, July 24, 1909; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth205801/m1/4/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.