The WAR INTHE AIR,
[Copyright, 1907, 1908, by the Macmillan Company.]
PROLOGUE OF THE STORY.
Germany, hating the Monroe doctrine and ambitious for world's suprem
acy, secretly builds a vast fleet of airships and plans to surprise the United
States by means of a sudden attack. Her airship fleet consists of great dirigi
bles of the Von Zeppelin type and small aeroplanes called Drachenflieger.
Prince Karl Albert commands the German airships. Germany and Eng
land have both been endeavoring to buy an extraordinary flying machine in
vented by Alfred Butteridge, who arrives at a British seaside resort in a
runaway balloon, accompanied by a lady in whom he is interested.
Bert Smallways, a motorcycle dealer in hard luck, who is in love with
Miss Edna Bunthorne, and his partner. Grubb, are Impersonating a pair of
"desert dervishes" at the seashore. Bert catches hold of the basket of the
balloon and falls into it just as Butteridge and the lady fall out.
The balloon carries Bert across the North sea. He finds drawings of But
teridge's airship in some of Butteridge's clothing and hides the plans in his
chest protector. His balloon drifts over Germany's immense aeronautic park.
German soldiers shoot holes in it and capture Bert. They think he is But
teridge. Their vast fleet of war airships is about to start to attack New York.
Soldiers carry him to the cabin of an airship.
CHAPTER IV.
The War Fleet Starts For America.
BERT SMALLWAYS stared about
him at the room.
"Rutteridge! Shall I try to
keep it up, or shan't I?"
The room he was in puzzled him.
"'Tisn't a prison and 'tisn't a norfls?"
Then the old trouble came uppermost.
"I wish to 'eaven I 'adu't these silly
sandals on!" he cried querulously to
the universe. "They give the whoje
blessed show away."
His door was flung open, and a com
pact young man in uniform appeared,
carrying Mr. Butterldge's portfolio,
rucksack and shaving glass. "I say,"
he said in faultless English as he en
tered. He had a beaming face and a
sort of pinkish blond hair. "Fancy you
being Rutteridge!"
He slapped Bert's luggage down.
"We'd have started," he said, "in
another half hour. You didn't give
yourself much time."
He surveyed Rert curiously. His
gaze rested for a fraction of a moment
on the sandals. "You ought to have
come on your flying machine, Mr. Rut
teridge."
He didn't wait for an answer. "The
prince says I've got to look after you.
Naturally he can't see you now, but he
thinks your coming providential. I.ast
grace of heaven. Like a sign. Hello!"
He stood still and listened.
Outside there was a going to and fro
of feet, a sound of distant bugles sud
denly taken up and echoed close at
hand; men called out In loud tones
short, sharp, seemingly vital things
and were answered distantly. A bell
jangled and feet went down the cor
ridor. Then came a stillness more
distracting than sound and then a
great gurgling and rushing and splash
ing of water. The young man's eye
brows lifted. He hesitated and dashed
out of the room. Presently came a
stupendous bang to vary the noises
•without, then a distant cheering. The
young man reappeared.
"They're running the water out of
the bailoonette already."
"What water?" asked Rert.
"The water that anchored us. Artful
dodge, eh ?"
Bert tried to take it in.
"Of course." said the compact young
man. "You dou't understand."
A gentle quivering crept upon Bert's
senses. "That's the engine," said the
compact young man approvingly.
"Now we shan't be long."
Another long listening Interval.
The cabin swayed. "Ry Jove, we're
starting already!" he cried. "We're
starting!"
"Starting!" cried Rert, sitting up.
"Where ?"
"What a lark!" cried the young man.
"I say! What a thundering lark!
Don't you know? We're ofT to Amer
ica, and you haven't realized. You've
just caught us by a neck. You're on
the blessed old flagship with the
prince. You won't miss anything.
Whatever's on, you bet the Yaterland
will be there."
"Us! Off to America?"
"Rather!"
"In an airship?"
"What do you think?"
"Me! Going to America on an air
ship! After that balloon! 'Ere! I say,
I don't want togo! I want to walk
about on my legs. Let me get out! 1
didn't understand."
He made a dive for the door.
The young man arrested Rert with a
gesture, took hold of a strap, lifted up
a panel in the padded wall, and a win
dow appeared. "Look!" he said. Side
by side they looked out.
"Gaw!" said Rert. "We're going up!"
"We are!" said the young man cheer
fully. "Fast!"
They were rising in the air smoothly
and quietly and moving slowly to the
throb of the engine athwart the aero
nautic park. Down below it stretched,
dimly geometrical in the darkness,
picked out at regular intervals by glow
worm spangles of light One black gap
in the long line of gray, round backed
airships marked the position from
which the Yaterland had come. Be
side it a second monster notv rose soft
ly, released from its bonds and cables,
into the air. Then, .king a beautifully
exact distance, a third ascended, aud
then a fourth.
"Too late, Mr. Rutteridge!" the
young man remarked. "We're off! I
dare say it is a bit of a shock to you,
but there you are! The prince said
you'd have to come."
"Ix>ok 'ere," said Rert. "I really am
dazed. What's this thing? Where are
we going?"
"This, Mr. Rutteridge," said the
joung man, taking pains to be explicit,
"is an airship. It's the flagship of
Prince Karl Albert. This is the German
air fleet, and it is going over to Amer
ica to give that spirited people 'what
for.' The only thing we were at all un
easy about was your invention. And
lure you are!"
"But—you a German?" asked Rert. '
"Lieutenant Kurt Luft-lieutenant
Kurt, at your service."
"Rut you speak English!"
"Mother was English—went to school j
in England; afterward Rhodes scholar. '
German none the less for that. De
tailed for the present, Mr. Rutteridge,
to look after you. You're shaken by
your fall. It's all right really. They're
going to buy your machine and every
thing. You sit down and take it quite
calmly. You'll soon get the hang of
the position."
Bert sat down on the locker, collect
ing his mind, and the young man
talked to him about the airship.
"Here is the bed," he said, whipping
down a couch from the wall and
throwing it back again with a click.
"Here are toilet tilings," and ho open
ed a neatly arranged cupboard. "Not
much washing. No water we've got;
no water at all except for drinking.
Here's a folding chair and table behind
the door. Compact, eb?"
He took the chair and balanced It on
his little finger. "Pretty light, eh?
Aluminium and magnesium alloy and
a vacuum inside. All these cushions
stuffed with hydrogen Foxy! The
whole ship's like that. And not a man
in the fleet, except the prince and one
or two others, over eleven stone. Could
not sweat the prince, you know. We'll
go all over the thing tomorrow. I'm
frightfully keen on it."
Ho beamed at Bert. "You do look
young," he remarked. "I always
thought you'd be an old man with a
beard—a sort of philosopher. I don't
know why one should expect clever
people always to be old. I do."
Bert parried that compliment a little
awkwardly, and then the lieutenant
was struck with the riddle why Herr
Butteridge had not come in his own
flying machine.
"It's a long story," said Bert. "Look
here!" he said abruptly. "I wish you'd
lend tue a pair of slippers or some
thing. I'm regular, sick of these san
dals. They're rotten things. I've been
trying them for a friend."
"Right O!"
I The ex-Rhodes scholar whisked out
i of the room and reappeared with a
! considerable choice of footwear
pumps, cloth bath slippers and a pur
ple pair adorned with golden suuflow
j ers. Bert chose the pumps.
I The lieutenant broke Into a cheerful
snigger. "Here we are trying on slip
pers," he said, "and the world Rolng
by likg a pauorama below. Rather a
lark, eh? Look!"
Rert peeped with him out of the win
dow, looking from the bright pettiness
of the red and silver cabin into a dark
Immensity. The land below, except
for a lake, was black and featureless,
and the other airships were hidden.
"See more outside," said the lieuten
ant. "Let's go. There's a sort of little
gallery."
He led the way into the long passage,
which was lit by one small electric
light, past some notices in German, to
an open balcony aud a light ladder and
gallery of metal lattice overhanging
empty space. Bert followed his leader
down to the gallery slowly and cau
tiously. From it he was able to watcty
the wonderful spectacle of the first air
fleet flying through the night. They
flew in a wedge shaped formation, the
Yaterland highest and leading, the
trail receding into the corners of the
sky. They flew iu long, regular un
dulations, great dark, fishlike shapes,
showing hardly any light at all, the
engines making a throb, throb, throb
bing sound that was very audible out
on the gallery. They were going at a
level of five or six thousand feet and
rising steadily.
"Jolly it must be to invent things,"
said the lieutenant. "How did you
come to think of your machine firstV"
"Worked it out." said Bert after a
pause "Jest ground away at it."
"Our people are frightfully keen on
you. They thought the British had got
you. Weren't the British keen?"
"In a way," said Bert. "Still, it's a
long story."
"I think it's an immense thing—to
invent. I couldn't invent a thing to
save ray life."
They both fell silent, watching the
darkened world and following their
thoughts until a bugle summoned
them to a belated dinner.
And so presently Bert found himself
sitting to eat in the presence of tiie
"German Alexander," that great and
puissant prince, Prince Karl Albert,
the war lord, the liero of two hemi
spheres. lie was a handsome blond
man, with deep set eyes, a snub nose,
upturned mustache and long white
hands, a strange looking man. lie sat
higher than the others under a black
eagle with widespread wings and the
i German imperial flags. He was, as it
were, enthroned, and it struck Pert
greatly that as he ate lie did not look
at people, but over their heads, like
one who sees visions. Twenty officers
of various ranks stood about the table
—and Bert. They all seemed extreme
ly curious to see the famous Butter
idge. and their astonishment at his
appearance was ill controlled. The i
prince gave him a dignified salutation, |
to which by an inspiration he bowed, j
Standing next the prince was a brown |
faced, wrinkled man with silver spec
tacles and fluffy, dingy gray side
whiskers, who regarded Bert with a
peculiar and disconcerting attention.
The company sat after ceremonies
Bert could not understand. At tiie
other end of tiie table was the bird
faced officer Bert had dispossessed, j
still looking hostile and whispering
about Bert to his neighbor. Two sol
diers waited. The dinner was a plain
one—a soup, some fresh mutton and
cheese-and there was very little talk.
No smoking was permitted, but some
of the officers went down to the little
open .gallery to chew tobacco. No
lights whatever were safe amid that
bundle of inflammable things. Bert
suddenly fell yawning and shivering.
He was overwhelmed by a sense of
his own insignificance amidst these
great rushing monsters of the air. He
felt life was too big for hiin—too much
for him altogether.
He said something to Kurt about his
head, went up the steep ladder from
the swaying little gallery into the air
ship again and so, as if it were a
refuge, to bed.
Bert slept for a time, and then his
sleep was broken by dreams. Mostly
he was fleeing from formless terrors
down an interminable passage in an
airship—a passage paved at first with
ravenous trapdoors and then with
openwork canvas of the most careless
description.
"Gaw!" said Bert, turning over after
his seventh fall through infinite space
that night.
He sat up in the darkness and
nursed his knees. The progress of the
airship was not nearly so smooth as a
balloon. He could feel a regular
swaying up, up, up, and then down,
down, down, and the throbbing and
tremulous quiver of the engines.
His mind began to teein with mem
ories—more memories and more.
Through them, like a struggling
swimmer in broken water, came the
perplexing question, What am I to do
tomorrow? Tomorrow, Kurt had told
him, the prince's secretary, the Graf
von Winterfehl, would come to him
! and discuss his flying machine and
then he would see the prince. He
would have to stick It out now that
he was Butterldge and sell his inven
tion. And then If they found him out!
He had a vision of Infuriated liutter
idges. Suppose after all he owned up,
' pretended it was their misunderstand
ing. He began to scheme devices for
selling the secret and circumventing
Butterldge.
[To be continued.]
» CUNCE AT WORLD ftFFftIRS
TUB president's annual message
was read in both houses of
congress on Dec. 5. The tariff
and the trusts were the two
subjects chiefly emphasized, with rec
ommendations of n parcels post law
and of closer government supervision
of the capitalization of railroads as
close seconds. On the tariff the presi
dent favored a revision of the woolen
schedule in accordance with the re
port of the tariff board, with the un
derstanding that a revision of the cot
ton schedule is to follow soon. On the
trust question a federal incorporation
act was again proposed. As for the
Sherman antitrust law, no amend
ments were recommended except such
as would supplement, strengthen and
more clearly define the intent of the
act. These subjects, together with
currency revision, on which the na
tional monetary commission has al
ready reported, will form the impor
tant subjects of legislation during the
session. There is certain to be a pro
tracted struggle over federal incorpo
rations, tiie opponents of the measure
insisting that such a law would de
prive the states of their power to con
trol the (rusts doing business within
their borders. Two additional issues
that will cause protracted debate are
the direct election of senators, with the
federal control of elections amendment
which was added to it in the senate
during the special session, and second
class postage rates for magazines, on
which a commission headed by Su
preme Court Justice Charles E.
Hughes has been making an inquiry.
The New China.
Despite a few minor reverses the
Chinese rebellion has swept forward
and republics have been proclaimed
in various states of the empire. There
are four possibilities, but none of j
them includes the continuance of the j
Manehu dynasty. The first is that j
Yuan Shih Kai, Imperial China's Hope.
China will become a constitutional
empire under a purely Chinese ruler.
The second is that it will be a republic
made up of many states, and this is
the dream of tlie revolutionists. The
third is that it will be broken up into
a number of republics, and the fourth
is that the powers will intervene aud
partition China among themselves.
Russia already has sent Cossacks to
I'elung; also America and other na
tions have either sent troops or have
made ready to dispatch them.
In Peking the rising has caused ter
ror aud despair, which led to the recall
from exile of Yuan Shih Kai, who has
been called the strong man of China.
For ten years after the coup d'etat in
IS9S, by which the late dowager em
press practically dethroned the late
emperor. Yuan Shih Kai was the great
est man in China, introducing and car
rying out many reforms, especially in
the army, and keeping on good terms
with tiie foreigners. Then the dowager
emprfess died aud was succeeded by a
child, the reigning Emperor Hsuan
Tung, now a boy of five. Hut the real
power was in the hands of the regent,
his father, Priuce Chun, brother of the
late emperor and a mortal enemy of
Yuan Shih Kai. because the last named
had betrayed his brother's plans to the
dowager empress and so led to the
coup d'etat.
A Sane Christmas.
Following the successful crusade for
a "safe and sane Fourth of July" there
followed a movement for a sane Christ
mas, whatever that may mean. Up to
date there is not much indication that
this effort has had any influence. On
the contrary, the signs are that Christ
mas this year will he celebrated a little
more enthusiastically than ever before.
By the way, this is the time to do that
Christmas shopping.
The Indian Durbar.
George V. is not only king of Great
Britain, but emperor of India, and
now is receiving tlie native princes of
that land in the most spectacular dis
play ever beheld on the planet. This
is the first time a sovereign of Eng
land lias ever gone to India, and the
people are celebrating the event ac
cordingly. The durbar is being held
in the ancient capital of Delhi, where
the Moguls used to hold their glitter
ing courts. Never did Mogul have
pageant sjuch as this, however. It Is
estimated that never in human history
was jewelry of such value gathered
together in one place. For the first j
time since 1857 the gate of the kings ,
was opened, and for the first time
since it was stolen long ago the fa
mous Kohinoor diamond reappeared
in India. There is a legend to the
effect that the owner of '.his diamond
holds India. Tiie durbar opened on
Dec. G, the. emperor and empress en
tering instate on the 7tli. Dec. 12
a ceremony equivalent to tiie corona
tion was held. This is the third durbar
under British rule, that of Edward
VII. having occurred in January, 1903,
and of Queen Victoria iu January, 1877.
Italy Suppresses Slave Trade.
One of the gratifying results of the
war between Italy and Turkey is that
Italy is suppressing the slave trade
that formerly flourished in the ports of
Tripoli. In this she is following the ex- 1
ample of France in Algeria, Tunis and
Morocco aud England in Egypt and
other ports to the south. The Italians
vigorously deny the reports of atroci
ties said to have been committed by j
their soldiers on the noneombatants of j
Tripoli, including women and children.
The truth seems to be that tlie Arabs
treacherously turned on the Italians
and began firing on the soldiers and
even on tiie Ited Cross workers with
out warning. With such extreme prov
ocation it is not to be wondered at that
the Italian soldiers committed some ex
cesses, although they deny that they
killed any except those in arms against
them. Turkey has recently been mov
ing for the intervention of the powers,
and it is thought that the unequal
struggle must soon cease, the chief re
sult of the war being that Turkey will j
surrender Tripoli to Italy. Thus passes
Turkish rule in northern Africa, the
land that before tiie advent of the Vau
jdal and the Arab was called the gran
j ary of the world.
Skating on Thin ice.
Another seasonable warning might
j be directed to the boys and girls who
at the present time of the year are in-
Iterested once more in the popular win
ter sport of ice skating. Boys, the
| smaller the more reckless as a rule, are
| wont to display their bravado by risk- |
| ing t heir lives on weak ice, while the j
: height of their foolhardy daring is j
j reached in essaying to skim over the
death trap known as an air hole. Such
| boys are aching for the old fashioned
; seance with pa in the woodshed.
Irrigation and Other Subjects.
| From Dec. 5 to 9 was held in Chi
cago one of the greatest irrigation con
gresses in the history of the nation,
j Representatives had been invited from j
jail the important countries, and many
j of these were in attendance, telling of!
j the efforts toward reclamation of arid
| areas that had bc« n made in their own
I lands. Other important meetings of j
1 the week were the national rivers and
harbors congress, which met in Wash-;
| ington on Dee. t>. a delegation repre-j
! sen ting the Lakes to the Gulf Deep
Waterways association, headed by
President Kavanaugh, being present, j
and the first safety congress held by the
state labor bureau of Minnesota, ex
perts from insurance companies, the!
steel trust and others addressing the j
meeting; the gas and gasoline trades
in Cleveland on Dec. r>-8, the southern
corn show in Atlanta Dec. 5-9 and the
| Empire State poultry show in New
York same dates.
Socialist Mayors.
The increase of the Socialist vote |
!throughout the country still continues
i the subject of serious discussion among
politicians. It was the one surprise of j
! the late election. One of the iiiost sur
\ jir
Rev. George R. Lunn, Socialist Mayor
of Schenectady, N. Y.
prising Socialist victories was that at
Schenectady, N. Y„ where the Rev.
George R. I.unn was elected mayor.
Dr. Lunn is only thirty-eight years
old. He begfin his career iu Schenec
tady as pastor of the First Reformed
church, the oldest in the city. About
three years ago his Socialist teachings
became so pronounced that he was
compelled to resign his pastorate, after
which he organized the United People's
congregation, which recently combined
with the Congregational church. Dr.
Lunn continuing as pastor. He is also
an editor and was a prominent figure
In graft investigations. £SO B]
SHOT DESTROYED MEMORY.
For Fifty Years Old Soldier Couldn't
Recall Where He Hid Treasure.
The story of a wound received in the
civil war which sealed the hiding
place of a fortune for more than half
a century and of a strange trick of
fate which cleared the hider's mem
ory in the evening of life was brought
to Los Angeles by the hider's son, J.
K. Anderson of New Orleans, says the
Herald of that city.
Anderson's father joined in the gold
rush and was one of the miners of the
forty-nine days. He located a claim
in Placer county, near Auburn and
Newcastle. Within a year he had
snatched a fortune from the river
bottoms. Then the call of the south
for volunteers reached him. He buried
the gold beneath the adobe blocks of
a tavern in the vicinity of his claim,
strapped all the precious substance
lie could carry about bis and
hurried to join the Confederate army.
Anderson says his father was struck
in an engagement with the Union
troops by a bullet, which tore open
his scalp and robbed him of his mem
i ory for fifty years. During that time,
i the son says, the parent was like a
child, with all knowledge of the bid
ing place of the gold gone. Before
he died, a year ago, his memory of the
gold rush returned to him, and he was
living again in the past that preceded
his part in the conflict.
It was during these Inst moments
that the old man told his son and
the mother where he had buried what
he claimed was a fortune.
• •
• THE WORLD OVER. •
• •
! • ~~~ •
• It is predicted that within a •
| J few years ships without funnels J
• or boilers, but using oil engines •
| s as motive power, will be making J
• regular passages across the At- •
a lantlc. For submarines such en- 2
J gines have been almost uni- •
J • versally adopted by the admiral- 2
! * ties of all countries except Eug- •
; • land and the United States.
! 2 1" lie maximum of British coal J
• production was in 1007, when the •
; J total mined and brought to the J
• surface was 207,812,000 long tons, o
• Experiments in compressing J
• flour show that its keeping quali- •
i £ ties are prolonged almost indefi- J
• nitely by the process. Its bulk is •
a decreased by one-third. * *
J The largest telephone exchange •
a in existence is that at Hamburg. «
i J which is taking care of 40,000 •
i • lines at present, but accommoda- •
j J tions have been made for future J
! • extensions so that tills exchange •
| J will be enabled to take care of J
• twice as many lines. a
2 It is told of a clock in Brussels J
• that it lias never been wound by •
J human hands. It is kept going J
• by the wind. •
• •
BEETLE IS REMARKABLE.
Its Strength Surprising For Its Size.
Carries SCO Times Its Weight.
! If asked to name the strongest ani
| rnals most persons begin with the lar
gest, the elephants, and continue with
: oxen, horses, etc. This is, of course,
j correct in so far as their total horse
power is concerned, but for real
strength proportioned to the size and
weight of the animal one must goto
the insect world. Compared with in-
I sects, the strength of almost any large
animal and especially of man is absurd,
j A man is considered strong if he can
j drag a mass weighing three or four
I times as much as himself, but the bee
tle will walk with 500 times its weight.
If a man were placed under a wooden
box with five times his weight on top
to hold it down lie would remain there
indefinitely, but to retain a stag beetle
prisoner in the same way one must
pile on top of the box at least 1,800
times its weight.—Harper's Weekly.
Studying the Thumb.
The thumb confesses the man. No
man is clever enough to deceive it. It
has been divided into three parts, typi
fying the three qualities that master
the world—will, logic and love. The
first, or nail phlange, signifies will; the
second, logic; the third, which is the
boundary of the Mount of Venus, love.
When the thumb is unequally de
veloped and the first phlange Is ex
tremely long it is neither love nor log
ic that governs the individual, but
merely sheer will. If the middle
phlange be much longer than the first
reason predominates. Yet the man may
not have the power to will himself to
do that which his reason dictates.
When the third phlange is long and
the thumb is short man is revealed as
tlie slave of the sense, guided neither
by will nor reason.
If the thumb is supple Jointed the
Individual is easy going, spendthrift,
careless of time, money, energy, op
portunity and all things.
If it be firm jointed he is cautious,
watchful, keen, diplomatic, tireless in
. planning, confident and sure of suc
cess, self possessed and self control
ling.—London Tit-Bits.
i
The Population of China.
I According to the latest official re
: turns, the number of inhabitants of
s China proper, Manchuria and the new
i dominion is 312,425,025. And, as we
• have pointed out before, observes the
t National Review (China), the esti-
I mates of China's population have 01.
. ways had a tendeucy to exaggeration,
, and even If 10,000,000 be added for
, Mongolia and Tibet the total is far be-
I low that usually quoted.