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Page 88 (102 of 780) July of 1915 "88 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER July, 1915
Baron Munchhausen's New Scientific Adventures - By Hugo Gernsback
BANG!!!Bang! Bang! Bang! ! Four terrible shots rang out. A heart-rending m o a n—piercing cry. Then a long,ominous silence.
bang ! BANG ! ! Two more shots more terrible first ones.
"Dick!! Dick!!!" 'No answer. ""Oh, Dick!!! Less answer.
The pine trees -on the cliff moaned plaintively In the otherwise oppressive silence. Suddenly a lone owl hoo-hood sharply and simultaneously a flash of lightning illuminated a scene of overpowering -dread. I looked on a g h a s t—my
hair stood on end. 1 trembled violently, for what 1 had seen there was so terrible, so dreadful, so awful that it is impossible for a human being to describe it. For that reason I must refrain.
Now, honest, admit it. Was that mot a good beginning? You can't deny that it grinned you. The trouble these days is that it is ratherhard work to make people read -stories. Most stories are not worth reading to begin with. You look at the heading and feel lukewarm. Then you read the first sentence and chances are you immediately form the opinion that the
author is an insufferable bone head.
At that, you may do him an injustice. He probably is only a second rate idiot. No matter, you won't read his stuff. hat's where advertising pays. Put something real exciting at the beginning, even if it has no bearing at all on the rest of the story. Most anything goes, the more mysterious the better. Also advice to authors whose rent comes due too
frequently—the longer you draw it out the better. For the editor—unless he is an old crust and blue pencils most of it—will pay you real money for that dope unless, of course, his sense of humor has gone to smash entirely. Most editors' has.
(Editorial Note.—We found it necessary to suppress 29 pages of Mr. Alley's manuscript here, as his remarks became entirely $00 personal and too caustic. —Editor.)
Now it is a proven fact, supported by much evidence, that people in these days are fond of terminating things once started. Just so with a story. You begin reading a tale, no matter how painful, and once you have spent three minutes on it ninety-nine chances out of one hundred you will see it through to the end. It's like a good "ad." If once you are made to read
He remained suspended in midair without anything supporting him
the headline you probably will read the rest of it. It is the same with a story. Hence I beg your pardon for having taken an unfair advantage of you ; in these times of fierce competition "us poor authors" must resort to unusual means, even if it is against all international laws. Just like the German submarine warfare. Of course, I must admit that the plan has its defects. For with female women it don't work. You see they are foxy. You can't fool them that easy. For they have a cantankerous habit of reading the end of a story first! They laugh up their sleeves—if sleeves are in style that season —and the poor simp of an author who (Copyright, 1915, by H. Gernsback. All rights reserved.) thinks he is going to spring a big surprise on them at the very end has another guess coming !
So the smart author double-crosses you and puts the real end somewhere in the middle of the book. Then on the last page he arranges for a tearful parting of the hero and the heroine, intimating strongly that the two will never, never be married. That leaves you guessing. For if you haven't read the entire story how were you to know that they really got married in the end (in the middle of the book) ? But the smart author simply tacked on a few chapters—after the end -
—showing that the heroine aidn't like the hero's liver and that likewise the hero objected to the heroine's gall and to the scent of her face powder. So after things became unbearable they got a divorce—at the end of the book.
That's what I call good construction of a story. But to get down to business.
After I had dusted myself off and had made certain that the various members of my anatomy were still on intimate
terms with one another I limped off in the direction of my home. As I was not in a hurry I took my time about it. I
chuckled inwardly for the good reason that on account of my various bruises I dared not chuckle outwardly; as with General Joffre in France time worked for me.
But I get ahead of myself again and being too indolent to rewrite this paragraph and putting it ahead of the one above you will have to read it as I wrote it. If you don't approve of that I suggest that instead of reading the first paragraph first, to read it after the ones that follow this. That will simplify matters considerably.
The facts are briefly these : At the very beginning of this story I have told you how I had been of immeasurable benefit to the human race. I told you how as president of the "American Wireless Mouse-Trap Co." I had rid the country of mice and rats. I had told you how far-famed I was for being the first man to talk all around the globe with my historic wireless telephone. The name of I. M. Alier is linked with the greatest scientists of the world. For that reason I did not think myself immodest when I went to see Mayor Ezrah
July, 1915 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER 89
Coddlemaker, of Yankton, the town of my birth, with a simple suggestion. There is a small triangular plot at the
intersection of Main and High streets. It had come to my ears that a syndicate had been formed to purchase this plot from the city with the object of opening a combination hot frankfurter, flower and barber shop there. As the city would have to erect a monument to my honor sooner or later, and as the site was ideal for this purpose, I went to the City Hall and told the Mayor so. I thought I might as well arrange for the monument during my life-time.
Mayor Coddlemaker, who had always been a staunch friend of mine, received me warmly. While I explained my mission to
him, the color of his usual pink face changed to that of a fresh boiled lobster. Then it went over to a delicate shade of purple. I know now that his inner temperature must have risen from 100° in the shade to 150° in less than two minutes. I began to feel sorry for him that he had neglected to attach a safety valve to himself; it would have been decidedly useful just then.
Fearing that His Honor was about to blow up the City Hall with his own person, I tendered him a HIglass of water. This,
however, did not have the desired effect on him, but instead he took on four shades deeper of a beautiful purple and emptied the contents of the glass in my face. Most of it went down the neck of Coddlemaker's secretary, who was working with his back turned toward mine. While I wheeled around to apologize to the secretary, Mayor Coddlemaker, who is an ex-prizefighter, took me by the nap of my neck and spun me around like a top. This seemed to limber him up somewhat, and he became so delighted that he tried me out as a carpetsweeper, my face forming the business end of the sweeper. His Honor then amused himself for some minutes in playing ball with me. I obliged him by taking the part of the ball. My sense of humor being sadly deficient, I failed to see the joke after awhile. I told His Honor so between my rapid trips up to the ceiling and down into the Mayor's fists.
He bellowed something about him and the town of Yankton being made the center of derision with that fool "Miinchhausen" story of mine. He playfully added that the papers poked fun at him day and night for letting me stay out of the lunatic
asylum. He also mentioned that Yankton had become a permanent feature in all the comic supplements of the country, that on account of my hair-brained story I had definitely ruined not only his career, but the future of the town as well. He gleefully remarked that he had been itching to lay hands on me for a whole month and he thanked me profusely for having satisfied his itch ! Whereupon he dumped me in his waste basket and while his secretary held the door open His Honor mptied the waste basket with a flourish. Without waiting to apologize I took a hasty departure.
Now comes the paragraph where I had dusted myself, etc., etc. See above. On my way home I sympathized deeply with Mr. Galilei Galileo, of Pisa, Italy. He told the world that the earth was not standing still, as popularly thought, but
that it spun around like a top ! Whereupon the world poked fun at him and his fellow citizens playfully intended to burn him at the stake. But Galileo was a good talker and an elegant advertiser. He kept telling them E pur si muove, also what an advantage it would be to have the earth spin around, because everybody would get a ride for nothing, and on the trip around people would see lots of new scenery in the universe. He also was careful to tell them that if the earth was to stand still, there would be no seasons any longer and, furthermore, one side of the globe would have a perpetual day and the other side a perpetual night. If by chance Italy should come on the dark side—well, good night !
So they thought it best to let Galileo have his way and passed a resolution to let the earth spin around indefinitely.
Not that I want to compare myself with Galileo. Far be it from me. I only mention it to show how misguided the world
is at times. It was so in Galileo's times and is so now.
In years to come my story about Munchhausen will be believed, just as Galileo's preposterous idea that the earth
moves is universally accepted to-day. Just now I am a martyr to a just cause.
In due time Yankton will erect that monument for me, or my name is not I. M. Alier.
I once took a fool notion in his head and to have you tell me all about it." "Of course, I will tell you, but let me
see, where did I stop last night Oh, yes I believe my power gave out when I told you of my first impressions after the 'Interstellar' left the earth behind."
The moon overhead was full and we could almost see it grow larger as we rushed toward it through space at an incredible speed. Professor Flitternix and I had calculated that we ought to traverse the 240,000 miles separating the moon from the earth in about 104 hours. This is an average of 2,300 miles an hour and may seem excessive, but in reality it is but a low speed, as speeds go in the universe. The calculation is very simple, too, and well known to astronomers.
Nothing very
Is the moon really a dead and barren world as our scientists contend ?
The most powerful telescopes can only scan the moon's surface, but we know nothing of the interior. The versatile Munchhausen has been doing some exploring and he tells us a few things, which somehow, sound plausible. Incidentally, do you know that you can jump thirty feet high without much effort on the moon ? If you don't, this story will tell you all about it, —and a good deal more.
Whatever Miinchhausen's shortcomings might be, he certainly is prompt. If I were his wife I probably would adore him,
for he is always on time to the second. If there were a Mrs. Munchhausen I am sure she never would have to wait with the supper for him. He would be there on the dot, or he would have a mighty good excuse, and be it said here, Munchhausen
does not make excuses as a rule. My clock had just began striking the eleventh hour that evening when, true to his word, Munchhausen "called." There was the familiar, piercing screech in my 'phones, growing louder and louder, and in another second communication between Miinchhausen's station on the moon and my own station in the sleepy old town of Yankton, Mass., was once more established.
"Good evening, my dear Alier," it came in clear, deep tones, in that sepulchral voice I had come to cherish, "are you ready for our nightly chat?" "Indeed I am, Your Excellency," I made haste to reply, "how is your health this evening ?"
"Perfect, perfect, my boy. Never felt better in my life. The air up here is so invigorating that I actually grow younger
each day !" "But I thought there was no air on the moon, my dear Baron. I am real anxious eventful happened during the trip to the moon. Flitternix was busy with astronomical observations, while I was engrossed with the machinery most of
the time.
For the first hour after our departure from the earth we tried to become familiar with the many odd phenomena which presented themselves to us, due to the sudden, almost total, absence of gravity. MnnH The "Interstellar," no longer subject to the attraction of the earth, due to its gravity insulator, was only subject to the moon's gravitational attraction. But as we were some 200,000 miles distant from that body its comparative feeble attraction had but little effect on our bodies in the inside of our flyer.
For, according to the law of gravitation, our 1,000-ton flyer weighed but 110 lbs. at this distance from the moon.
Flitternix was the first to find this out. He had been pointing to the planet Mars with his hand stretched out toward one of the glass portholes overhead. While I looked at this beautiful planet I suddenly heard Flitternix exclaim. He was eying his arm in astonishment. It was still outstretched,' but pointing slightly upwards this is what happened:
On earth his arm would have fallen down to his side of its own accord by the action of gravity, the arm weighing, let us
say, 10 to 12 lbs. Inside of the Interstellar,"^ with practically no gravitation, his arm weighed less than 1-10 ounce ; furthermore, our feet were still pointing toward the earth, where there was no gravitational attraction, due to our gravity insulator.
The only attraction coming from the moon overhead, his arm was pulled slightly upward by a force of less than one ounce.
To bring his arm in its normal position it was necessary for him to use his muscles, which he did with a foolish grin.
We then switched on the entire Marconium netting, thereby insulating us from the moon's attraction also. We were now
no longer subjected to any outside gravitational attraction of any kind. Still the "Interstellar," due to its momentum, continued to move forward in space with its original speed.
Some curious phenomena? were now observed by us. The mass of the "Interstellar" being relatively small, its force of
gravity was but very minute. When you consider that on earth this globe, with its volume of 600,000,000,000,000,000.000 tons
(90 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER July, 1915) attracts my body with 170 lbs. to its surface you will understand that the volume of the "Interstellar," with its 1,000 tons, in accord with Newton's law can attract my body with but an infinitesimal fraction of a pound. Therefore, practically speaking, all objects within our flyer were without
weight. For a while we amused ourselves with odd experiments. Thus I would lift up Flitternix with my little ringer and place him on my outstretched palm ; he weighed less to me than if he had been a child's balloon. Buster, my terrier, became careless and started to jump around, with the result that he went clean up to the ceiling with a thump. His body being elastic he came down with the same speed as he had gone up. There was another thump and he went right back to the ceiling once more with undiminished speed. He simply could not stop any more. He was like a rubber ball bouncing up and down. There being no gravitational force to retard his speed, only the air in the room as well as the friction of his body against the ceiling and the floor ; this acted as a slight brake to take up his energy expended originally.
It was, however, so slight that after he had bounced back and forth some 200 times, howling frightfully all the while,
we took pity on him and stopped him with our hands. After that he became very careful in his movements and we found it
wise to imitate him.
We had to move about very cautiously and very slowly; any attempt to walk quick, for instance, was disastrous. Like
Buster, it was exceedingly difficult to stop ourselves once started. We could, of course, walk on the ceiling or on the sides of the room with as equal facility as on the floor, for the reason that there is no "up" or "down" in free space. You could lay down most anywhere without danger of falling or even rolling. As our bodies had no weight, it mattered not where we lay down, either. Thus, stretching yourself out, with nothing but the sharp edge of a chair supporting your back, was as comfortable as laying on your cot. You see you weighed nothing, consequently your body could not press down hard on anything, and for that reason you could not possibly feel uncomfortable no matter how you rested.
The most delightful experiment, however, was when I took Flitternix and brought him to the center of the "Interstellar" while he was sleeping. Taking my hands away from him he remained, of course, where he was, i. e., suspended in
midair without anything supporting him. There being no gravity he could not fall down nor up, for that matter. I then
walked on the ceiling and called him. In a few seconds he woke up. I think he must have been the most surprised man
in the universe just then. He began clawing the air and looked wildly about him you see he thought he was still on earth
and he imagined he was going to fall down ! That goes to show how strong habits and instincts are. In a few seconds,
however, he remembered where he was and "sat up." He certainly looked ludicrous sitting suspended there in midair beg-
ging me to pull him either up or down. I was so convulsed with laughter at his helplessness and the situation was so droll that I resolved to see the experiment through; for that reason I told him that I refused all assistance. By that time he had become interested in the situation himself and after thinking a little while he began jerking his body back and forward in the fashion of an acrobat on a swinging trapeze. This gave his body sufficient momentum and in a few seconds he had landed laughingly on the opposite wall."
I had listened to the Baron with amazement, but I knew that what he had said coincided with Newton's law of gravitation. There was, however, one point which I had revolved in my mind and which was not clear so I commented "What you have just related is certainly exceedingly interesting, my dear Baron, but there is one point I would like you to elucidate : How did you finally effect the landing on the moon?"
"'Not so impatient, my dear, I was just coming to that. When at the end of the 100th ho.ur we were but some 600 miles from the surface of the moon, which by this time had become so big that it filled up most of the sky overhead, we switched on the portion of the Marconium netting turned toward the moon. The other half of the netting, which heretofore had insulated us gravitationally from the earth, was then switched off. Now the earth began pulling us again and in a few minutes, with our momentum expended, we were going earthward once more.
Immediately we reversed the currents
in the Marconium wire netting, with the
result that we fell toward the moon again.
In this manner, by manipulating the Mar-
conium netting, I could vary the speed as
well as the direction of the "Interstellar"
at will and within a short while we were
pilllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIW
SYNOPSIS
g I- M. Alier, an eccentric young scientist gg of Yankton, Mass., who claims as his own g
g many new as well as startling inventions, g= far ahead of anything as yet discovered, g" owns the largest radio-telephone plant in the g
g country. One evening he hears strange g
g noises over his phones and immediately a §j
g sepulchral voice is heard. It is Miinchhau- gg sen, one of the greatest yarn and story gg tellers of all times. Miinchhausen explains g
I how it came about that he did not die in g
g 1797, as popularly thought, and he further- g
g more gives unrefutable proof that his home g:
is on the moon at present.
H Alier wants to know why Miinchhausen =
g went to the Moon and how. The latter then g
g explains how Prussia persecuted him and g
g how he went over the the Allies and sue- g
g ceeded in capturing Berlin in a wonderful g
g manner. However, it was not a complete g
g success, so the Baron left Europe for g
g America. He immediately constructs a gg machine which is to take him into space to g
g the moon. Miinchhausen has discovered §j
g how to neutralize Gravity by means of g
g Electricity, and he applies this invention to gg his space flyer, the "Interstellar." The g
g machine proves a success; it responds and g
g is lifted with tremendous speed towards the g= moon.
g ,
This story started in the May issue, g
g Back Numbers will be supplied at 10c. gg each Postpaid.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim
but a few miles distant from the moon's
surface. We carefully scanned its rugged
face with our glasses and we finally de-
cided to make our landing in the plain
known to astronomers as Mare Nubium.
This plain, which in past aeons undoubted-
ly was part of an ocean, but now devoid
of all water, measures several hundred
miles across and in some sections it has a
very level appearance ; moreover it looked
sandy like a desert through our telescopes
and we decided that we could probably
make a successful landing there.
By carefully manipulating the switches
controlling the Marconium wires the "Inter-
stellar's" wide landing belt finally rolled
gently over the volcanic sand of the moon
and the flyer came to a dead stop 102 hours
after leaving the earth.
It was a supreme moment. We were
the first humans to land on the moon and
we were naturally quite overcome with emo-
tion for some time. Had I not been the
first to conquer space and break away from
the earth? Was I not the Columbus of
a new world, a world far greater than any
explorer ever discovered? Had I not
opened the door of the universe that had
been locked to all mortals since the begin-
ning of our little world? Had I not
thrown off the fetters which chained
humanity to its poor, sordid planet for
aeons ?
I think I had a right to feel elated.
However, hard work lay before us.
For centuries it had been the conviction of
scientists that the moon was a dead world,,
devoid of any atmosphere, water and
vegetation. Of course, in the absence of
these three necessities life could not exist.
This we realized only too well, but at best
the earth's scientists had no absolute
proofs; after all, their conclusions were
but theories, although very plausible as
well as convincing theories.
Knowing all this we proceeded very
carefully. The first test we made was
naturally to ascertain if there was any
atmosphere on the moon. This test was
very simple. We opened a small stop-
cock leading to the outside and we then
listened with strained ears. We had tried
the stopcock test out in space midway be-
tween the earth and the moon and the air
had been drawn out with a loud hiss.
While we were listening now there was no
hiss, but we could feel the air being drawn
out strongly from the "Interstellar" when
placing the finger on the opening of the
stopcock.
From this we concluded that there must
be some kind of an atmosphere on the
moon, although probably a very rarefied
one. This relieved our anxiety immensely
and I suggested at once to test the lunar
air on Professor Flitternix's canary bird,
Pee-Pix.
This was met with violent opposition by
Flitternix, who made the counter-suggestion
to try it on the dog first, the dog being
Buster, my fox terrier. This suggestion
was not met with wild enthusiasm by my-
self either, and a deadlock followed.
Finally, however, we drews lots and I lost.
Buster therefore was the first terrestrial
being to inhale the lunar atmosphere.
With a heavy heart we placed him into
the ejector and closed the door behind him;
he was now in the air lock. By moving
two. levers the outside door of the ejector
was opened and Buster was in the moon's
atmosphere. In another second he had
hopped to the ground, anxiously watched
by us through the glass plate portholes.
We saw him sniffing at first, whereupon
he began coughing violently for some min-
utes. After that he seemed to become
quieter and he commenced to walk around
in a curious, excited manner, as if under
the influence of a drug.
We could not understand this, but con-
tinued watching him with concern. With-
in an hour, however, he seemed to have
become acclimatized and he behaved nor-
mally.
I reasoned that if Buster could stand it
we could, and I said so to Flitternix. The
professor was of the same opinion and we
decided to risk it. We opened the door
carefully, leading to the outside, drew a
deep breath and stepped out. In another
second we had landed on the moon.
The first sensation was a strong ringing
in our ears and the curious sense of light-
ness of our bodies. The latter sensation,
however, was not new to us, as we had
experienced it already in the "Interstellar,"
due to the absence of gravitation. We now
took a careful breath and started to cough
violently at once. Nor could we stop it
at once. The "air" which we inhaled
(Continued on page 122.)
BARON MuNCHHAUSEN'S NEW
SCIENTIFIC ADVENTURES.
(Continued from page 90.)
"tasted" exactly like sulphuric acid fumes,
similar to the fumes given off by a stor-
age battery when it is "gassing." After a
few minutes we became accustomed to the
sharp atmosphere, but we found it very
hard to breathe at first. Then our be-
wildered senses became conscious of the
fact that we felt a warm glow all over our
bodies and in a few minutes we became ex-
hilarated as if intoxicated. For three-
quarters of an hour we were actually
drunk, and it was exceedingly hard to think
clearly during that time. This effect, how-
ever, wore off too, and at the end of the
second hour we could breathe fairly easy,
although our lungs pained terribly and we
spat blood at frequent intervals.
An analysis of the moon's atmosphere
made by us shortly thereafter explained
our odd behavior and the strange effects
of the new air upon us. To begin with,
the moon's air is very thin, only about
l-16th the density of the earth's atmos-
phere. Where the earth's atmosphere is
composed of about 79 per cent, nitrogen
and 21 per cent, oxygen, the moon's at-
mosphere contains 26 per cent, carbon diox-
ide, 24 per cent, nitrogen and 50 per cent,
oxygen. The carbon dioxide caused us
to cough so violently while the invigorating
oxygen in its prepondering proportion in the
air intoxicated us. If the moon's air were
as dense as that on the earth I doubt if a
human being raised and brought up on
earth could survive. But by being l-16th
as dense as the terrestrial atmosphere, to-
gether with the fact that oxygen is very
beneficial to the respiration, it becomes
possible to endure the moon's thin air com-
fortably. It is interesting to note that if
vitally necessary human nature will adapt
itself successfully to even the most diffi-
cult surroundings. This we found out
speedily ; within 48 hours we not only-
breathed with comfort and wholly without
pain, but we found the new air so enjoy-
able as well as invigorating that we looked
forward with dread of again inhaling the
stuffy terrestrial atmosphere. After one
grows accustomed to the singular smell of
the moon's air one comes to cherish it. It
acts like a powerful tonic, the oxygen no
doubt being largely responsible for this.
At first, of course, we found it very diffi-
cult to walk on the moon's surface, for
the reason that we weighed so little now.
The earth being 50 times as large in bulk
and 1.66 times denser than the moon, it
naturally attracts all bodies with much
greater force than does the moon.
Thus a stone weighing one pound on
earth weighs but 0.167 lb. on the moon,
which is just one-sixth of th: weight the
stone has on earth. My own weight on
earth being 170 lbs. it naturally follows thai
I could weigh but 28 lbs. on the moon.
Buster, who weighs some 10 lbs. on earth,
weighs but 1% lbs. on the moon. He
found this out soon when he began to
jump about. On earth he would not have
jumped higher than about 4 feet. On the
moon his IV2 lbs. carried him six times
higher, for he expended as much muscular
energy in his jump as he was accustomed
to do on earth. Consequently he went up
some 24 feet into the air. This frightened
him considerably, for he had never jumped
so high in all his life. As in the "Inter-
stellar," he became more careful thereafter
and limited his jumps to 10 or 15 feet in
height.
Flitternix, as well as myself, amused our-
selves in a jumping contest for some time
and it was astonishing to us how high we
could jump. Twenty-five to 30 feet was
easy of accomplishment, and we did not
come down hard either, for we weighed so
little. One thing, however, we found out
speedily. The moon's atmosphere even at
the little elevation of 30 feet becomes so
thin that it is impossible to breathe. For
that reason we discontinued our high jumps
soon and preferred long horizontal jumps
after that. Subsequently we established the
following facts
The only atmosphere in which any kind
of living creatures could exist extended but
20 feet above the surface of the moon.
Sixty feet above the moon there was no
trace of atmosphere. Here the vacuum
of space begins. On earth, it will be noted,
no atmosphere exists beyond 35 miles above
sea level. Thus we found it impossible to
scale the lunar mountains or even a low
hill.
There being so little atmosphere on the
moon, no clouds whatsoever, and but very
little wind, it follows that the temperature
of the moon's surface must be rather com-
fortable. We measured 78° Fahrenheit in
the shade of the "Interstellar." Nor did this
summer heat subdue during the long day of
nearly two weeks. (The length of the day
on the moon is almost two weeks, the length
of the night being of the same duration.)
This intense sunlight also made it impossible
to walk about without some form o.f protec-
tion, but as we had brought our tropical
sunshades along we were but little troubled
on our long tramps, despite the heat. With-
out this precaution our hands and face
blistered rapidly, due no doubt to the effect
of the sun's ultra-violet rays through such
a thin atmosphere, which offered but little
protection.
After several hours immediately follow-
ing our landing we concluded to leave the
desert in order to investigate the nearest
chain of mountains some 60 miles distant.
Re-entering the "Interstellar" we started
our tractor machinery and the big globe
began to roll on its wide landing belt over
the hot sands of the moon at a comfortable
speed. In a few hours we came to a dead
stop in the shade of an enormous moun-
tain rising some 16,000 feet above the sur-
face of the moon. No vegetation or any
sort of life could be perceived anywhere,
but curious marks on the ground convinced
us that there must be indeed some form
of life on the earth's satellite.
Arming ourselves with our large caliber
guns we set out to follow the tracks.
Buster, who ran ahead of us with his nose
to the ground, had become excited and
within a ten minutes' walk we entered an
immense canyon with almost perpendicular
walls several thousand feet high. This
canyon was nearly closed at the top and
We named it Bustcrium in honor of Buster,
my fox terrier, who was the first ter-
restrial being to land on the mou.n.
But now, my dear Alier, I must termi-
nate our chat for this evening. This is
moving day for us. The sun is chasing us
rapidly and Flitternix says we have only
three hours before the shadow overtaken
us."
"I do not quite follow you, my dear
Munchausen ; won't you be a little more
explicit, please?"
"Certainly, my boy. You know that the
moon revolves on her axis once in about
27 days. Her term of daylight must there-
fore be the half of 27 days, or nearly two
weeks, and her night must consequently be
of the same length.
"At the present we are somewhat in the
neighborhood of the moon's equator.
Within a few hours the spot on which I
sit will be in the dark—it will be
night —the beginning of the lunar two
weeks' night. Already the sun is low in
the heavens. As the temperature will fall
below zero as soon as night sets in, and a
we do not cherish 10 be frozen we have
no other choice but to move our present
position. We will, therefore, break up
our camp shortly and will board the "Inter
stellar" once more. A few hours' ride will
bring us to the other side of the moon,
where it is now morning. Once we reach
that spot we can make camp again for two
weeks, the duration of the lunar day.
"Well,! must hurry, my dear boy; any-
how, it is one o'clock for you now and I
have an idea that your bed is calling you.
Therefore, au revoir till next time."
Keee-ee-ee-ee, Zeee-ee-ee-ee-ee. Zeee-eee-
ee-eee e e e e e eeh-blob-blobb-flum-, and
he was gone. The ether was quiet once
more.
Page 88 (102 of 780) July of 1915 "88 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER July, 1915
Baron Munchhausen's New Scientific Adventures - By Hugo Gernsback
BANG!!!Bang! Bang! Bang! ! Four terrible shots rang out. A heart-rending m o a n—piercing cry. Then a long,ominous silence.
bang ! BANG ! ! Two more shots more terrible first ones.
"Dick!! Dick!!!" 'No answer. ""Oh, Dick!!! Less answer.
The pine trees -on the cliff moaned plaintively In the otherwise oppressive silence. Suddenly a lone owl hoo-hood sharply and simultaneously a flash of lightning illuminated a scene of overpowering -dread. I looked on a g h a s t—my
hair stood on end. 1 trembled violently, for what 1 had seen there was so terrible, so dreadful, so awful that it is impossible for a human being to describe it. For that reason I must refrain.
Now, honest, admit it. Was that mot a good beginning? You can't deny that it grinned you. The trouble these days is that it is ratherhard work to make people read -stories. Most stories are not worth reading to begin with. You look at the heading and feel lukewarm. Then you read the first sentence and chances are you immediately form the opinion that the
author is an insufferable bone head.
At that, you may do him an injustice. He probably is only a second rate idiot. No matter, you won't read his stuff. hat's where advertising pays. Put something real exciting at the beginning, even if it has no bearing at all on the rest of the story. Most anything goes, the more mysterious the better. Also advice to authors whose rent comes due too
frequently—the longer you draw it out the better. For the editor—unless he is an old crust and blue pencils most of it—will pay you real money for that dope unless, of course, his sense of humor has gone to smash entirely. Most editors' has.
(Editorial Note.—We found it necessary to suppress 29 pages of Mr. Alley's manuscript here, as his remarks became entirely $00 personal and too caustic. —Editor.)
Now it is a proven fact, supported by much evidence, that people in these days are fond of terminating things once started. Just so with a story. You begin reading a tale, no matter how painful, and once you have spent three minutes on it ninety-nine chances out of one hundred you will see it through to the end. It's like a good "ad." If once you are made to read
He remained suspended in midair without anything supporting him
the headline you probably will read the rest of it. It is the same with a story. Hence I beg your pardon for having taken an unfair advantage of you ; in these times of fierce competition "us poor authors" must resort to unusual means, even if it is against all international laws. Just like the German submarine warfare. Of course, I must admit that the plan has its defects. For with female women it don't work. You see they are foxy. You can't fool them that easy. For they have a cantankerous habit of reading the end of a story first! They laugh up their sleeves—if sleeves are in style that season —and the poor simp of an author who (Copyright, 1915, by H. Gernsback. All rights reserved.) thinks he is going to spring a big surprise on them at the very end has another guess coming !
So the smart author double-crosses you and puts the real end somewhere in the middle of the book. Then on the last page he arranges for a tearful parting of the hero and the heroine, intimating strongly that the two will never, never be married. That leaves you guessing. For if you haven't read the entire story how were you to know that they really got married in the end (in the middle of the book) ? But the smart author simply tacked on a few chapters—after the end -
—showing that the heroine aidn't like the hero's liver and that likewise the hero objected to the heroine's gall and to the scent of her face powder. So after things became unbearable they got a divorce—at the end of the book.
That's what I call good construction of a story. But to get down to business.
After I had dusted myself off and had made certain that the various members of my anatomy were still on intimate
terms with one another I limped off in the direction of my home. As I was not in a hurry I took my time about it. I
chuckled inwardly for the good reason that on account of my various bruises I dared not chuckle outwardly; as with General Joffre in France time worked for me.
But I get ahead of myself again and being too indolent to rewrite this paragraph and putting it ahead of the one above you will have to read it as I wrote it. If you don't approve of that I suggest that instead of reading the first paragraph first, to read it after the ones that follow this. That will simplify matters considerably.
The facts are briefly these : At the very beginning of this story I have told you how I had been of immeasurable benefit to the human race. I told you how as president of the "American Wireless Mouse-Trap Co." I had rid the country of mice and rats. I had told you how far-famed I was for being the first man to talk all around the globe with my historic wireless telephone. The name of I. M. Alier is linked with the greatest scientists of the world. For that reason I did not think myself immodest when I went to see Mayor Ezrah
July, 1915 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER 89
Coddlemaker, of Yankton, the town of my birth, with a simple suggestion. There is a small triangular plot at the
intersection of Main and High streets. It had come to my ears that a syndicate had been formed to purchase this plot from the city with the object of opening a combination hot frankfurter, flower and barber shop there. As the city would have to erect a monument to my honor sooner or later, and as the site was ideal for this purpose, I went to the City Hall and told the Mayor so. I thought I might as well arrange for the monument during my life-time.
Mayor Coddlemaker, who had always been a staunch friend of mine, received me warmly. While I explained my mission to
him, the color of his usual pink face changed to that of a fresh boiled lobster. Then it went over to a delicate shade of purple. I know now that his inner temperature must have risen from 100° in the shade to 150° in less than two minutes. I began to feel sorry for him that he had neglected to attach a safety valve to himself; it would have been decidedly useful just then.
Fearing that His Honor was about to blow up the City Hall with his own person, I tendered him a HIglass of water. This,
however, did not have the desired effect on him, but instead he took on four shades deeper of a beautiful purple and emptied the contents of the glass in my face. Most of it went down the neck of Coddlemaker's secretary, who was working with his back turned toward mine. While I wheeled around to apologize to the secretary, Mayor Coddlemaker, who is an ex-prizefighter, took me by the nap of my neck and spun me around like a top. This seemed to limber him up somewhat, and he became so delighted that he tried me out as a carpetsweeper, my face forming the business end of the sweeper. His Honor then amused himself for some minutes in playing ball with me. I obliged him by taking the part of the ball. My sense of humor being sadly deficient, I failed to see the joke after awhile. I told His Honor so between my rapid trips up to the ceiling and down into the Mayor's fists.
He bellowed something about him and the town of Yankton being made the center of derision with that fool "Miinchhausen" story of mine. He playfully added that the papers poked fun at him day and night for letting me stay out of the lunatic
asylum. He also mentioned that Yankton had become a permanent feature in all the comic supplements of the country, that on account of my hair-brained story I had definitely ruined not only his career, but the future of the town as well. He gleefully remarked that he had been itching to lay hands on me for a whole month and he thanked me profusely for having satisfied his itch ! Whereupon he dumped me in his waste basket and while his secretary held the door open His Honor mptied the waste basket with a flourish. Without waiting to apologize I took a hasty departure.
Now comes the paragraph where I had dusted myself, etc., etc. See above. On my way home I sympathized deeply with Mr. Galilei Galileo, of Pisa, Italy. He told the world that the earth was not standing still, as popularly thought, but
that it spun around like a top ! Whereupon the world poked fun at him and his fellow citizens playfully intended to burn him at the stake. But Galileo was a good talker and an elegant advertiser. He kept telling them E pur si muove, also what an advantage it would be to have the earth spin around, because everybody would get a ride for nothing, and on the trip around people would see lots of new scenery in the universe. He also was careful to tell them that if the earth was to stand still, there would be no seasons any longer and, furthermore, one side of the globe would have a perpetual day and the other side a perpetual night. If by chance Italy should come on the dark side—well, good night !
So they thought it best to let Galileo have his way and passed a resolution to let the earth spin around indefinitely.
Not that I want to compare myself with Galileo. Far be it from me. I only mention it to show how misguided the world
is at times. It was so in Galileo's times and is so now.
In years to come my story about Munchhausen will be believed, just as Galileo's preposterous idea that the earth
moves is universally accepted to-day. Just now I am a martyr to a just cause.
In due time Yankton will erect that monument for me, or my name is not I. M. Alier.
I once took a fool notion in his head and to have you tell me all about it." "Of course, I will tell you, but let me
see, where did I stop last night Oh, yes I believe my power gave out when I told you of my first impressions after the 'Interstellar' left the earth behind."
The moon overhead was full and we could almost see it grow larger as we rushed toward it through space at an incredible speed. Professor Flitternix and I had calculated that we ought to traverse the 240,000 miles separating the moon from the earth in about 104 hours. This is an average of 2,300 miles an hour and may seem excessive, but in reality it is but a low speed, as speeds go in the universe. The calculation is very simple, too, and well known to astronomers.
Nothing very
Is the moon really a dead and barren world as our scientists contend ?
The most powerful telescopes can only scan the moon's surface, but we know nothing of the interior. The versatile Munchhausen has been doing some exploring and he tells us a few things, which somehow, sound plausible. Incidentally, do you know that you can jump thirty feet high without much effort on the moon ? If you don't, this story will tell you all about it, —and a good deal more.
Whatever Miinchhausen's shortcomings might be, he certainly is prompt. If I were his wife I probably would adore him,
for he is always on time to the second. If there were a Mrs. Munchhausen I am sure she never would have to wait with the supper for him. He would be there on the dot, or he would have a mighty good excuse, and be it said here, Munchhausen
does not make excuses as a rule. My clock had just began striking the eleventh hour that evening when, true to his word, Munchhausen "called." There was the familiar, piercing screech in my 'phones, growing louder and louder, and in another second communication between Miinchhausen's station on the moon and my own station in the sleepy old town of Yankton, Mass., was once more established.
"Good evening, my dear Alier," it came in clear, deep tones, in that sepulchral voice I had come to cherish, "are you ready for our nightly chat?" "Indeed I am, Your Excellency," I made haste to reply, "how is your health this evening ?"
"Perfect, perfect, my boy. Never felt better in my life. The air up here is so invigorating that I actually grow younger
each day !" "But I thought there was no air on the moon, my dear Baron. I am real anxious eventful happened during the trip to the moon. Flitternix was busy with astronomical observations, while I was engrossed with the machinery most of
the time.
For the first hour after our departure from the earth we tried to become familiar with the many odd phenomena which presented themselves to us, due to the sudden, almost total, absence of gravity. MnnH The "Interstellar," no longer subject to the attraction of the earth, due to its gravity insulator, was only subject to the moon's gravitational attraction. But as we were some 200,000 miles distant from that body its comparative feeble attraction had but little effect on our bodies in the inside of our flyer.
For, according to the law of gravitation, our 1,000-ton flyer weighed but 110 lbs. at this distance from the moon.
Flitternix was the first to find this out. He had been pointing to the planet Mars with his hand stretched out toward one of the glass portholes overhead. While I looked at this beautiful planet I suddenly heard Flitternix exclaim. He was eying his arm in astonishment. It was still outstretched,' but pointing slightly upwards this is what happened:
On earth his arm would have fallen down to his side of its own accord by the action of gravity, the arm weighing, let us
say, 10 to 12 lbs. Inside of the Interstellar,"^ with practically no gravitation, his arm weighed less than 1-10 ounce ; furthermore, our feet were still pointing toward the earth, where there was no gravitational attraction, due to our gravity insulator.
The only attraction coming from the moon overhead, his arm was pulled slightly upward by a force of less than one ounce.
To bring his arm in its normal position it was necessary for him to use his muscles, which he did with a foolish grin.
We then switched on the entire Marconium netting, thereby insulating us from the moon's attraction also. We were now
no longer subjected to any outside gravitational attraction of any kind. Still the "Interstellar," due to its momentum, continued to move forward in space with its original speed.
Some curious phenomena? were now observed by us. The mass of the "Interstellar" being relatively small, its force of
gravity was but very minute. When you consider that on earth this globe, with its volume of 600,000,000,000,000,000.000 tons
(90 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER July, 1915) attracts my body with 170 lbs. to its surface you will understand that the volume of the "Interstellar," with its 1,000 tons, in accord with Newton's law can attract my body with but an infinitesimal fraction of a pound. Therefore, practically speaking, all objects within our flyer were without
weight. For a while we amused ourselves with odd experiments. Thus I would lift up Flitternix with my little ringer and place him on my outstretched palm ; he weighed less to me than if he had been a child's balloon. Buster, my terrier, became careless and started to jump around, with the result that he went clean up to the ceiling with a thump. His body being elastic he came down with the same speed as he had gone up. There was another thump and he went right back to the ceiling once more with undiminished speed. He simply could not stop any more. He was like a rubber ball bouncing up and down. There being no gravitational force to retard his speed, only the air in the room as well as the friction of his body against the ceiling and the floor ; this acted as a slight brake to take up his energy expended originally.
It was, however, so slight that after he had bounced back and forth some 200 times, howling frightfully all the while,
we took pity on him and stopped him with our hands. After that he became very careful in his movements and we found it
wise to imitate him.
We had to move about very cautiously and very slowly; any attempt to walk quick, for instance, was disastrous. Like
Buster, it was exceedingly difficult to stop ourselves once started. We could, of course, walk on the ceiling or on the sides of the room with as equal facility as on the floor, for the reason that there is no "up" or "down" in free space. You could lay down most anywhere without danger of falling or even rolling. As our bodies had no weight, it mattered not where we lay down, either. Thus, stretching yourself out, with nothing but the sharp edge of a chair supporting your back, was as comfortable as laying on your cot. You see you weighed nothing, consequently your body could not press down hard on anything, and for that reason you could not possibly feel uncomfortable no matter how you rested.
The most delightful experiment, however, was when I took Flitternix and brought him to the center of the "Interstellar" while he was sleeping. Taking my hands away from him he remained, of course, where he was, i. e., suspended in
midair without anything supporting him. There being no gravity he could not fall down nor up, for that matter. I then
walked on the ceiling and called him. In a few seconds he woke up. I think he must have been the most surprised man
in the universe just then. He began clawing the air and looked wildly about him you see he thought he was still on earth
and he imagined he was going to fall down ! That goes to show how strong habits and instincts are. In a few seconds,
however, he remembered where he was and "sat up." He certainly looked ludicrous sitting suspended there in midair beg-
ging me to pull him either up or down. I was so convulsed with laughter at his helplessness and the situation was so droll that I resolved to see the experiment through; for that reason I told him that I refused all assistance. By that time he had become interested in the situation himself and after thinking a little while he began jerking his body back and forward in the fashion of an acrobat on a swinging trapeze. This gave his body sufficient momentum and in a few seconds he had landed laughingly on the opposite wall."
I had listened to the Baron with amazement, but I knew that what he had said coincided with Newton's law of gravitation. There was, however, one point which I had revolved in my mind and which was not clear so I commented "What you have just related is certainly exceedingly interesting, my dear Baron, but there is one point I would like you to elucidate : How did you finally effect the landing on the moon?"
"'Not so impatient, my dear, I was just coming to that. When at the end of the 100th ho.ur we were but some 600 miles from the surface of the moon, which by this time had become so big that it filled up most of the sky overhead, we switched on the portion of the Marconium netting turned toward the moon. The other half of the netting, which heretofore had insulated us gravitationally from the earth, was then switched off. Now the earth began pulling us again and in a few minutes, with our momentum expended, we were going earthward once more.
Immediately we reversed the currents
in the Marconium wire netting, with the
result that we fell toward the moon again.
In this manner, by manipulating the Mar-
conium netting, I could vary the speed as
well as the direction of the "Interstellar"
at will and within a short while we were
pilllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIW
SYNOPSIS
g I- M. Alier, an eccentric young scientist gg of Yankton, Mass., who claims as his own g
g many new as well as startling inventions, g= far ahead of anything as yet discovered, g" owns the largest radio-telephone plant in the g
g country. One evening he hears strange g
g noises over his phones and immediately a §j
g sepulchral voice is heard. It is Miinchhau- gg sen, one of the greatest yarn and story gg tellers of all times. Miinchhausen explains g
I how it came about that he did not die in g
g 1797, as popularly thought, and he further- g
g more gives unrefutable proof that his home g:
is on the moon at present.
H Alier wants to know why Miinchhausen =
g went to the Moon and how. The latter then g
g explains how Prussia persecuted him and g
g how he went over the the Allies and sue- g
g ceeded in capturing Berlin in a wonderful g
g manner. However, it was not a complete g
g success, so the Baron left Europe for g
g America. He immediately constructs a gg machine which is to take him into space to g
g the moon. Miinchhausen has discovered §j
g how to neutralize Gravity by means of g
g Electricity, and he applies this invention to gg his space flyer, the "Interstellar." The g
g machine proves a success; it responds and g
g is lifted with tremendous speed towards the g= moon.
g ,
This story started in the May issue, g
g Back Numbers will be supplied at 10c. gg each Postpaid.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim
but a few miles distant from the moon's
surface. We carefully scanned its rugged
face with our glasses and we finally de-
cided to make our landing in the plain
known to astronomers as Mare Nubium.
This plain, which in past aeons undoubted-
ly was part of an ocean, but now devoid
of all water, measures several hundred
miles across and in some sections it has a
very level appearance ; moreover it looked
sandy like a desert through our telescopes
and we decided that we could probably
make a successful landing there.
By carefully manipulating the switches
controlling the Marconium wires the "Inter-
stellar's" wide landing belt finally rolled
gently over the volcanic sand of the moon
and the flyer came to a dead stop 102 hours
after leaving the earth.
It was a supreme moment. We were
the first humans to land on the moon and
we were naturally quite overcome with emo-
tion for some time. Had I not been the
first to conquer space and break away from
the earth? Was I not the Columbus of
a new world, a world far greater than any
explorer ever discovered? Had I not
opened the door of the universe that had
been locked to all mortals since the begin-
ning of our little world? Had I not
thrown off the fetters which chained
humanity to its poor, sordid planet for
aeons ?
I think I had a right to feel elated.
However, hard work lay before us.
For centuries it had been the conviction of
scientists that the moon was a dead world,,
devoid of any atmosphere, water and
vegetation. Of course, in the absence of
these three necessities life could not exist.
This we realized only too well, but at best
the earth's scientists had no absolute
proofs; after all, their conclusions were
but theories, although very plausible as
well as convincing theories.
Knowing all this we proceeded very
carefully. The first test we made was
naturally to ascertain if there was any
atmosphere on the moon. This test was
very simple. We opened a small stop-
cock leading to the outside and we then
listened with strained ears. We had tried
the stopcock test out in space midway be-
tween the earth and the moon and the air
had been drawn out with a loud hiss.
While we were listening now there was no
hiss, but we could feel the air being drawn
out strongly from the "Interstellar" when
placing the finger on the opening of the
stopcock.
From this we concluded that there must
be some kind of an atmosphere on the
moon, although probably a very rarefied
one. This relieved our anxiety immensely
and I suggested at once to test the lunar
air on Professor Flitternix's canary bird,
Pee-Pix.
This was met with violent opposition by
Flitternix, who made the counter-suggestion
to try it on the dog first, the dog being
Buster, my fox terrier. This suggestion
was not met with wild enthusiasm by my-
self either, and a deadlock followed.
Finally, however, we drews lots and I lost.
Buster therefore was the first terrestrial
being to inhale the lunar atmosphere.
With a heavy heart we placed him into
the ejector and closed the door behind him;
he was now in the air lock. By moving
two. levers the outside door of the ejector
was opened and Buster was in the moon's
atmosphere. In another second he had
hopped to the ground, anxiously watched
by us through the glass plate portholes.
We saw him sniffing at first, whereupon
he began coughing violently for some min-
utes. After that he seemed to become
quieter and he commenced to walk around
in a curious, excited manner, as if under
the influence of a drug.
We could not understand this, but con-
tinued watching him with concern. With-
in an hour, however, he seemed to have
become acclimatized and he behaved nor-
mally.
I reasoned that if Buster could stand it
we could, and I said so to Flitternix. The
professor was of the same opinion and we
decided to risk it. We opened the door
carefully, leading to the outside, drew a
deep breath and stepped out. In another
second we had landed on the moon.
The first sensation was a strong ringing
in our ears and the curious sense of light-
ness of our bodies. The latter sensation,
however, was not new to us, as we had
experienced it already in the "Interstellar,"
due to the absence of gravitation. We now
took a careful breath and started to cough
violently at once. Nor could we stop it
at once. The "air" which we inhaled
(Continued on page 122.)
BARON MuNCHHAUSEN'S NEW
SCIENTIFIC ADVENTURES.
(Continued from page 90.)
"tasted" exactly like sulphuric acid fumes,
similar to the fumes given off by a stor-
age battery when it is "gassing." After a
few minutes we became accustomed to the
sharp atmosphere, but we found it very
hard to breathe at first. Then our be-
wildered senses became conscious of the
fact that we felt a warm glow all over our
bodies and in a few minutes we became ex-
hilarated as if intoxicated. For three-
quarters of an hour we were actually
drunk, and it was exceedingly hard to think
clearly during that time. This effect, how-
ever, wore off too, and at the end of the
second hour we could breathe fairly easy,
although our lungs pained terribly and we
spat blood at frequent intervals.
An analysis of the moon's atmosphere
made by us shortly thereafter explained
our odd behavior and the strange effects
of the new air upon us. To begin with,
the moon's air is very thin, only about
l-16th the density of the earth's atmos-
phere. Where the earth's atmosphere is
composed of about 79 per cent, nitrogen
and 21 per cent, oxygen, the moon's at-
mosphere contains 26 per cent, carbon diox-
ide, 24 per cent, nitrogen and 50 per cent,
oxygen. The carbon dioxide caused us
to cough so violently while the invigorating
oxygen in its prepondering proportion in the
air intoxicated us. If the moon's air were
as dense as that on the earth I doubt if a
human being raised and brought up on
earth could survive. But by being l-16th
as dense as the terrestrial atmosphere, to-
gether with the fact that oxygen is very
beneficial to the respiration, it becomes
possible to endure the moon's thin air com-
fortably. It is interesting to note that if
vitally necessary human nature will adapt
itself successfully to even the most diffi-
cult surroundings. This we found out
speedily ; within 48 hours we not only-
breathed with comfort and wholly without
pain, but we found the new air so enjoy-
able as well as invigorating that we looked
forward with dread of again inhaling the
stuffy terrestrial atmosphere. After one
grows accustomed to the singular smell of
the moon's air one comes to cherish it. It
acts like a powerful tonic, the oxygen no
doubt being largely responsible for this.
At first, of course, we found it very diffi-
cult to walk on the moon's surface, for
the reason that we weighed so little now.
The earth being 50 times as large in bulk
and 1.66 times denser than the moon, it
naturally attracts all bodies with much
greater force than does the moon.
Thus a stone weighing one pound on
earth weighs but 0.167 lb. on the moon,
which is just one-sixth of th: weight the
stone has on earth. My own weight on
earth being 170 lbs. it naturally follows thai
I could weigh but 28 lbs. on the moon.
Buster, who weighs some 10 lbs. on earth,
weighs but 1% lbs. on the moon. He
found this out soon when he began to
jump about. On earth he would not have
jumped higher than about 4 feet. On the
moon his IV2 lbs. carried him six times
higher, for he expended as much muscular
energy in his jump as he was accustomed
to do on earth. Consequently he went up
some 24 feet into the air. This frightened
him considerably, for he had never jumped
so high in all his life. As in the "Inter-
stellar," he became more careful thereafter
and limited his jumps to 10 or 15 feet in
height.
Flitternix, as well as myself, amused our-
selves in a jumping contest for some time
and it was astonishing to us how high we
could jump. Twenty-five to 30 feet was
easy of accomplishment, and we did not
come down hard either, for we weighed so
little. One thing, however, we found out
speedily. The moon's atmosphere even at
the little elevation of 30 feet becomes so
thin that it is impossible to breathe. For
that reason we discontinued our high jumps
soon and preferred long horizontal jumps
after that. Subsequently we established the
following facts
The only atmosphere in which any kind
of living creatures could exist extended but
20 feet above the surface of the moon.
Sixty feet above the moon there was no
trace of atmosphere. Here the vacuum
of space begins. On earth, it will be noted,
no atmosphere exists beyond 35 miles above
sea level. Thus we found it impossible to
scale the lunar mountains or even a low
hill.
There being so little atmosphere on the
moon, no clouds whatsoever, and but very
little wind, it follows that the temperature
of the moon's surface must be rather com-
fortable. We measured 78° Fahrenheit in
the shade of the "Interstellar." Nor did this
summer heat subdue during the long day of
nearly two weeks. (The length of the day
on the moon is almost two weeks, the length
of the night being of the same duration.)
This intense sunlight also made it impossible
to walk about without some form o.f protec-
tion, but as we had brought our tropical
sunshades along we were but little troubled
on our long tramps, despite the heat. With-
out this precaution our hands and face
blistered rapidly, due no doubt to the effect
of the sun's ultra-violet rays through such
a thin atmosphere, which offered but little
protection.
After several hours immediately follow-
ing our landing we concluded to leave the
desert in order to investigate the nearest
chain of mountains some 60 miles distant.
Re-entering the "Interstellar" we started
our tractor machinery and the big globe
began to roll on its wide landing belt over
the hot sands of the moon at a comfortable
speed. In a few hours we came to a dead
stop in the shade of an enormous moun-
tain rising some 16,000 feet above the sur-
face of the moon. No vegetation or any
sort of life could be perceived anywhere,
but curious marks on the ground convinced
us that there must be indeed some form
of life on the earth's satellite.
Arming ourselves with our large caliber
guns we set out to follow the tracks.
Buster, who ran ahead of us with his nose
to the ground, had become excited and
within a ten minutes' walk we entered an
immense canyon with almost perpendicular
walls several thousand feet high. This
canyon was nearly closed at the top and
We named it Bustcrium in honor of Buster,
my fox terrier, who was the first ter-
restrial being to land on the mou.n.
But now, my dear Alier, I must termi-
nate our chat for this evening. This is
moving day for us. The sun is chasing us
rapidly and Flitternix says we have only
three hours before the shadow overtaken
us."
"I do not quite follow you, my dear
Munchausen ; won't you be a little more
explicit, please?"
"Certainly, my boy. You know that the
moon revolves on her axis once in about
27 days. Her term of daylight must there-
fore be the half of 27 days, or nearly two
weeks, and her night must consequently be
of the same length.
"At the present we are somewhat in the
neighborhood of the moon's equator.
Within a few hours the spot on which I
sit will be in the dark—it will be
night —the beginning of the lunar two
weeks' night. Already the sun is low in
the heavens. As the temperature will fall
below zero as soon as night sets in, and a
we do not cherish 10 be frozen we have
no other choice but to move our present
position. We will, therefore, break up
our camp shortly and will board the "Inter
stellar" once more. A few hours' ride will
bring us to the other side of the moon,
where it is now morning. Once we reach
that spot we can make camp again for two
weeks, the duration of the lunar day.
"Well,! must hurry, my dear boy; any-
how, it is one o'clock for you now and I
have an idea that your bed is calling you.
Therefore, au revoir till next time."
Keee-ee-ee-ee, Zeee-ee-ee-ee-ee. Zeee-eee-
ee-eee e e e e e eeh-blob-blobb-flum-, and
he was gone. The ether was quiet once
more.