The WAR IN THE 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 groat dirigi bles of the Von Zeppelin type and small aeroplanes culled Draclienflieger. 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 Butterldge, 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. lie finds drawings of But terldge's airship in some of Butterldge's clothing and hides the plans in his chest protector, ills balloon drifts over Germany's immense aeronautic park. German soldiers shoot holes In It ajid capture Bert. They think he is But teridge. Soldiers carry him to the cabin of the Yaterland. flagship of the air fleet. Lieutenant Kurt guards him. The vast fleet starts across the ocean to attack New York. Graf von Winterfleld denounces Bert as an impostor, but offers him £SOO for Butteridge's secret. The prince agrees to take Bert along "as ballast." The Battle of the North Atlantic. THE Prince Karl Albert had made a profound Impression upon Bert. He was quite the most terrifying person Bert had ever encountered. He tilled the Small ways soul with passionate dread and antipathy.* For a long time Bert sat alone In Kurt's cabin, doing nothing and not venturing even to open the door lest he should be by that much nearer that appalling presence. So it came about that he was proba bly the last person on board to hear the news that wireless telegraphy was bringing to the airship In throbs and fragments of a great naval battle In progress in mid-Atlantic. He learned It at last from Kurt. Kurt came in with a general air of ignoring Bert, but muttering to him self in English nevertheless. "Stu pendous:" Bert heard him say. "Here," he said, "get off this locker." And he proceeded to rout out two books and a case of maps. He spread them on the folding table and stood re garding them. For a time his Ger manic discipline struggled with his English Informality and his natural kindliness and talkativeness and at last lost. "They're at It, Smallways," he said. "At what, sir?" said Bert, broken and respectful. "Fighting! The American north At lantic squadron and pretty nearly the whole of our fleet. Our Elserne Kreuz has had a grueling and Is sinking, and their Miles Standlsh—she's one of their biggest—has sunk with all hands. Torpedoes, I suppose. She was a bigger ship than the Karl der Grosse, but five or six years older. Gods! I wish we could see It, Small ways; a square fight In blue water. gnus or nothing, and all of 'em steam lag ahead!" He spread his maps, he had to talk, and EO he delivered a lecture on the naval situation to Bert. "Here It Is," he said, "latitude 30 degrees 50 minutes north; longitude SO degrees 50 minutes west. It's a good day off ua anyhow, and they're all going southwest by south at full pelt as hard as they can go. We shan't see a bit of It, woVse luck! Not a sniff we shan't get!" The naval situation in the north At lantic at that time was a peculiar one. The United States was by far the stronger of the two powers upon the sea, but the bulk of the American fleet was still In the Pacific. It was in the direction of Asia that war had been most feared, for the situation be tween Asiatic and white had become unusually violent and dangerous, and the Japanese government had shown itself quite unprecedentedly difficult. The German attack, therefore, found half the American strength at Manila and what was called the soeond fleet strung across the Pacific In wireless contact between the Asiatic station and San Francisco. The north At lantic squadron was the sole Ameri can force on her eastern shore. It was returning from a friendly visit to France and Spain and was pumping oil fuel from tenders In mid-Atlantic— for most cf its ships were steamships —when the International situation be came acute. It was made up of four battleships and five armored cruisers ranking almost with battleships, not one of which was of a later date than ISIS. The Americans had indeed grown so accustomed to the Idea that Great Britain could be trusted to keep the peace of the Atlantic that a naval attack on the eastern seaboard found them unprepared even in their imagi nations. But long before the declara tion of war—lndeed, on Whltmonday —the whole German fleet of eight- Ma battleships, with a flotilla of fuel taodaia and converted liners contain ing stores to bo used In rapport of the air fleet, had paaaad through the or Now York. Not only ilitl these iermau battleships outnumber the Americans two to one, but they were nore heavily armed and more modern n construction, seven of thein having llgh explosive engines built of Char ottenburg steel and all carrying Char Orenburg steel guns. The fleets came Into contact on iVcdnesday before any actual declara ion of war. The Americans had strung lut in the modern fashion at distances if thirty miles or so and were steam ng to keep themselves between the lerinans and either the eastern states ir Panama, because, vita! as it was to lefend the seaboard cities, and partic ilarly New York, It was still more ital to save the canal from any attack hat might prevent the return of the naiu fleet from the Pacific. No doubt, aid Kurt, this was now making rec >rds across that ocean, "unless the fapanese have had the same Idea as he Germans." It was obviously be •ond human possibility that the Atneri •an north Atlantic fleet could hope to neet and defeat the German; but. on he other hand, with luck it might ight a delaying action and inflict such lamage as to greatly weaken the at ack upon the coast defenses. Its duty, ndeed, was not victory, but devotion, he severest task in the world. Mean vhile the submarine defenses of New fork, Panama and the other more vital )oints could be putin some sort of irder. This was the naval situation, and uu il Wednesday In Whit week it was he only situation the American people lad realized. It was then they heard 'or the first time of the real scale of he Dornhof Aeronautic park and the >ossibility of an attack coming upon hem not only by sea, but by the air. 3ut it is curious that so discredited ,vere the newspapers of that period hat a large majority of New Yorkers, 'or example, did not believe the most ■opious and circumstantial accounts of he German air fleet until it was ac ually in sight of New York. Kurt's talk was half soliloquy. He itood with a map on Mercator's pro ection before him, swaying to the iwinging of the ship and talking of ;uns and tonnage, of ships and their julld and powers and speed, of stru ggle points and bases of operation. A 'ertain shyness that reduced him to he stutus of a listener at the officers' able no longer silenced him. Bert stood by, saying very little, but vutchlng Kurt's finger on the map. 'They've been saying things like this n the papers for a long time," he re narked. "Fancy it coming real!" Kurt had a detailed knowledge of the Uiles Standish. "She used to be a :rack ship for gunnery—held the rec )rd. I wonder If we beat her shooting, >r how? 1 wish I was la it.l wonder which of our ships beat her. Maybe she got a shell In her engines. It's a running fight! I wonder what the Har juros.su is doing," he went on. "She's my old ship. Not a first rater, but good stuff. I bet she's got a shot or two home by now If old Schneider's up to form. Just think of It! There they are whacking away at each other, great guns going, shells exploding, magazines bursting, ironwork flying about like straw In a gale, all we've been dreaming of for years! 1 sup pose we shall fly right away to New York—just as though it wasn't any thing at all. I suppose we shall reckon we aren't wanted down there. It's no more than a covering flght on our side. All those tenders and storeships of ours are going on southwest by west to New York to make a floating depot for us. SeeV" He dabbed his forefinger on the map. "Here we are. Our train of stores goes there, our battleships el bow the Americana out of our way there." When Bert went /down to the men's mesa room to Ret 'his evening ration - - - •"* « —' * —* t for an In stant. Every one was talking of the battle, suggesting, contradicting; at times, until the petty officers hushed them, it rose to a great uproar. There was a new bulletin, but what it said he did not gather, except that it con cerned the Barbarossa. Some of the men stared at l:im, and he heard the name of "Booteraldge" several times. But no one molested him, and there was no difficulty about his soup and bread when his turn at the end of the cue came. He had feared there might ! be no ration for ldm, and if so he did : not know what he would have done. Afterward he ventured out upon the | little hanging gallery with the solitary • sentinel. The weather was still tine, j but the wind was rising and the rolling j swing of tlie airship increasing. He ! clutched the rail tightly and felt rath er giddy. They were now out of sight of iand and over blue water rising and falling in great masses. A dingy old brigantine under the British tlag rose and plunged amid the broad blue waves, the only ship in sight. In the evening it began to blow and the airship to roll like a porpoise as It swung through the air. Kurt said ; that several of the men were seasick, i but the motion did not inconvenience j Bert, whose luck It was to be of that mysterious gastric disposition which | constitutes a good sailor. lie slept well, but in the small hours the light j awoke him, and he found Kurt stag- i gering about in search of something. SZL They Were Now Out of Sight of Land. He found It at last lu the locker and held it In his hand unsteadily—a com pass. Then he compared his map, "We've (,'hanged ou" direction," he said, "and come intc the wind. I can't make it out. We've turned away from New York to the south. Almost as if we were going to take a hand"— I He continued talking to himself for some time. Day came, wet and windy. The win- j dow was bedewed externally, and they [ could see nothing through It. It was also very cold, and Bert decided to j keep rolled up In his blankets on the locker until the bugle summoned hliu i to his morning ration. That consumed, j he went out ou the little gallery, but j he could see nothing but eddylug | clouds driving headlong by and the j dim outlines of the nearer airships. I.ater In the morning the Yaterland changed altitude and soared up sud- ' denly in a high, clear sky, going, Kurt said, to a height of nearly 13,000 feet. Bert was lu his cabin and chauced to see the dew vanish from the win dow and caught the gleam of sunlight outside, lie looked out and saw once more that sunlit cloud floor he had seen tlrst from the balloon, and the ships of the German air fleet rising oue by one from the white, ns tish might rise and become visible from deep water. He stared for a moment and then ran out to the little gallery to see thla wonder better. Below were cloudland and storm, a great drift of tumbled weather going hard away to the northeast, and the air about him was clear and cold and serene save for the faintest chill breeze and a rare drifting snowflake. Throb, throb, throb, throb, went the engines lu the stillness. That huge herd of airships rising one after another bad an effect of strange, portentous monsters break ing Into an unfamiliar world. fx* h* ruintinucd.l A GLANCE AT WORLD AFFAIBS THE din of ushering in the new year being nil over and gone, the various reform resolutions having been made and some of them already broken, the natural query is, What of 1U127 The only thing we know for sure is that a pres- i identinl election will be held this year, j maneuvering for which is already go- ! iug forward. One peculiar feature of the contest is that presidential prima ries will be held iu several stutes, i thus giving the voters a chance to j give their direct preferences for can- ; didates on both sides. Some of these j primaries come us early as March. | Thus the battle may be expected to | continue with ever increasing fierce- j ness for the next ten months. Committees Getting Busy. Roth of tlie nationrl committees have opened headquarters and are in active preparation for the big fight. The Re puhlicau committee met iu December, | and the Democratic committee will ' soon convene. It Is generally believed i that the Democratic national conven-j tion will be called to meet soon after that of the Republican. These gath- j / Urey Woodson of Democratic National Committee. eringn will, of course, start the public part of the campaign, but it must not be supposed that the real beginning is delayed to that time. A long prep aration is necessary, including the gathering of names bringing of mail ing lists up to date, selecting litera ture, preparing for conventions, choos ing speakers and attending to a thou sand and one other details. For this work Urey Woodson of the Democratic national committee opened headquar ters Iti Chicago as early as last No vember. End of the Circuit Courts. In consequence of u law passed by congress ou March 3, 1011, all the United States circuit courts went out of existence at midnight, Dec. 31. There were seveuty-seven of these courts, doing business at 270 different places. None of the judges went out of office, however, but continued as district judges. The only men who lost their jobs were the circuit court clerks and some minor court officials. American Historical Association. One of the most important meetings of historians aud teachers and students of history has just closed Its sessions. This was the convention of the Amer ican Historical association, which start ed at Buffalo on Dec. 27 and continued till the 30th, the last session being held at Cornell university, a special train carrying the delegates from Buffalo to Ithaca. With tlie Historical associa tion met tlie Political Science associa tion and some other bodies. Because held so close to the Canadian border some attention was also given to Cu nadian history. Notable Scientific Conventions. At the same time the historians were gathered at Buffalo and Ithaca several i scientific conventions were lu session in Washington. Among these were tlie American Association For the Ad vancement of Science, the American i Chemical society and tlie American Economic association. Each"of the eon- , ventions extended from Dec. 27 to 30. The subject of pure foods and drugs was among those discussed by the chemical society. Retiring Old Guard Officers. Shifting to a more martial subject, . the national guard of New York re tired all officers over sixty-four years of age ou Dec. 31. Some of these of- 1 licers were past seventy. There has been a growing teudency In recent years to make tlie national guard of the various states conform more close ly to the rules of the regular army, which in case of war it would be call ed upon to supplement. Echo of Thackeray Centenary. The centeunlal "celebration of the birth of William Makepeace Thackeray was generally held last July, but oue in New York was delayed until Dec. 27. The proceeds of this went to the benefit of Virginia mountaineers. Athletio Events. Despite the fact that midwinter is not a good season for sports, three athletic events of some importance oc curred during the past week. The first of these in point of time were the In- door national athletic championship events held at Madison Square Garden, New York, starting Dec, U)>. Is among the last of flie affairs"that will be pulled off in tills historic/ building, as it Is to tie torn down shortly. On Dec. 27 the Canadian hockey season opened. The following day the Na tional Collegiate Athletic associating} of the United States met in New" York. Another Peace Banq.uet. ).* Despite tlie fact" that tlis earth fct filled witli wars and rumors of wars, the peace advocates are still busy. <-Jn Dec. 30 the citizens' peace banquet committee performed its allot fed fn no tions by holding a peace dinner it# New York. Strange as it may,peein, tlie event caine dangerously near to .war with tiie American I'eace society, headed by Andrew Carnegie. When we cannot-even keep tlie peace be tween peace what hope 'is there for the unregerierajte? .• ■ Harriman Headquarters. With the beginning-of the? new year the headquarters of the Harriman rail roads are in New : -Yorls. 'The change was accompanied by tlie retirement of John C. Stubbs as traffic director of these lines. Another event in the rail road world of- somevimptoft'a'nce' to' the traveling public is the beginning'of work on the new union station in Chi cago. It is to occupy .the site of the old union statipn aud is,to be used by the same railroads—viz, the Pennsyl vania, tlie Rurlington and the Clifeugo, Milwaukee and St. Ptuil, Travelers who pass through the Winfly City have dared to hope tlmt she would some day have a union station into which all the roads would run, but this would be too good to tie true. Besides,"the afore 11 said travelers could not then see so much of Chicago. For Federal Liability Law. The employers' liability and work men's compensation commission, head ed by Senator Sutherland of Utah, has completed its labors and prepared ' its report. Senator Sutherland has an nounced that personally hp.ftivors as sessing the damages for each individ ual case of injury to the employer. o£ the man injured,-but others support a plan for a liability fund'made up by employers, which sthall be' drawn upon in case of accident. This Is a ".sort of insurance, except, that the workmen' themselves do not have to. make tip the fund. It Is believed that the report of this committee will lead to legislation ou tlip subject during tlie present ses sion of congress. Navy Navigation Head. ' ' Commander Philip Andrews, 5 former aid to the secretary of tile ntivjr, be comes head of the all powerful bureau of navigation in the navy -department on Jan. 1, succeeding Rear Admiral Reginald F. Nicholson, who will hoist his flag as commander in. chief of"ilio United States Asiatic fleet. Although Admiral Nicholson is relieved of iiis duty as head of tlie navigation ti'Ureatj the tlrst of the year, he will not as sume his new command lintll some time in March, when lie will relieve' Rear Admiral Murdock. ~ Commander Andrews, born in New York, was appointed from New Jer sey, entering the service iu 18S2. Foreign Events. War continues in many parts of Uie earth, although the speech of the Brit ish foreign secretary. Sir Edward Grey, seems to have dissipated the clouds hanging over England and -Germaftv. ! There have been one or two Issues"-of veracity between Sir Edwurd'sUid 'tiie German foreign minister, H«rr von" Klderleu-Waechter, but.nations seldom go to war over a matter of veracity be- r tweeu their ministers. - - Italy is still plugging away at the Arabs and Turks lu Tripoli, and. there is hope that she may conquer her npw province some day. The Chinese revolutionists .y«>t revoluting, although Yuan Shih Kai . Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary. seemingly has a firmer grip on the sit uation. It now appears probable that some sort of limited monarchy will result In China, with the Manchus singing rather small. Persia has given Into Russia, and It seems only a question of j time until the country will be dividel! between Russia uuf Great Britain. Jj [lß] COMMON PHRASES -■•v - j • Here Are the Origins of Some j Popular Forms of Expression. REAL DUN WAS A COLLECTOR "Mind Your P's and Q's" Attributed to Old English Alehouses' Queer Charge I Account System—How tha Name "Uncle Sam" Was Coined. I Here are the forgotten origins of a | 'number of words and phrases that are J used every day by all manner of men. I Few of the people who use them j know where the came from. (L Joe Dun was a famous bailiff, who j ,)iad n reputation as a collector of bad debts that was second to no one in j England. Whenever one man com plained to another that his debtors : were slow lie was always advised "to Dun them." Millions of people on or about, the fifst of every month are re niinded of the meaning of the short Vjord of three letters, but few of them know anything about old Joe Dun of 1 London toMn.' .< "Not worth a picayune" dates back r to the days when the Frenchmen held Louisiana and New Orleans was the gay capital of what was left of New | l'Vftnce." There was a coin of small i value known as the "picayune." It was j naturally used to show that a tiling •was well nigh valueless, not worth the snap of. a "finger. | An expression that is almost forgot | ten now was "a Hash in the pan." j Since percussion caps, fixed ammuni | tion and breeehloading guns have dis | placet! the flijitlock this expression J lias los't its meaning. It used to l*> j said of any man.who started out brll ! liautly apd failed that lie "was a Hash [in the pau." When men hunted and J fought with flintlock rirles they were frequently annoyed by the powder In j the pan under the flint flaring up and Ilu the rifle" barrel. This mishap was . going- ou* without igniting the charge ! called a "flash. In the pan." IThe word, he when compared with many others and | had a peculiar origin, states the St. j .Republic. It is not derived from ) the adjective "new." Three or four j hundred ytears agy it was unknown. | Wliett' newspapers were first started ■••they had a eustonj of placing at the 4op of theli; first page a sort of a cross. • four„endst<)f the cross lines were marked "N.,'; "W.," "S." This ] Signified that tike paper contained in ; telligence from north, south, east and | west—in fact, from all over the world. "Humbug" is a word that seems to I Express txactly a certain shade of ras ' [ b(i|itj''J ' Its,origin''goes back to .Tames I'll., who ordered coined at tlie Dublin mint a certain coin made of base j metal. Anything that was handiest I WHS used In the making of this money —lead',' copper, pewter and brass were | all poured into the melting pots at dif ferent times. i Sn'low was its intrinsic value that :20 shillings of it was hard ly,, worth twopence. The Irishmen knew this soft bas'e metal as uitn bog, meaning soft copper or worthless moa ' [ e.v.' | Thus the word "humbug" originated through Jiren saying "That is a piece of j uim bog. Don't try to pass any uim i bog on me." In the course of 'time | the Englishman added an "h" to the 4 .froht of the word. - The-expression'"Mind your P's and ( Q's". Is said'to in the j old English alehouses, where custom- J ers! acw.uiits were marked up on the j wall . behind . the'floor of'the taproom. I'ln m.arJdug down these accounts it J was customary to put the initials "P" and. "(J" lit'the head of'every man's I t«;show the number of pints I and quarts he ivtved for. Two lu.Vthical' figures are often Used ajj. belly;..'symbolical of the I lilted States Li America. ' Ofte is known as "l-irotlier Jonathan" and the other is the._bjJtlt:r-i*«uvv!i*"l I'.oth "I originated from actual people. When j Washington weiit fa- Massachusetts to reorganise the' continental army ho | found a great lack of ammunition and supplies. Jonathan Trumbull, then governor of had proved j himself tile strong trtan of New Eng ; land, and his advice was much sought. Placing great reliance on Trumbull. '■ WasWHgton Wfsaid to h'ave remarked: jj.sk 1 Brother Jonathan about j tills." J This was done, and Trumbull was able ..to a'way'out of the diffi cult .Tltemiefortb, when difficulties arosg it became.the byword. "We must ■ conSlilt Rrytber Jyuatlmii," and the name became u jgorJ: of designation for tint* plain, coipmqji sjeuse.of the whole country. ... During the with England in ISIJ a contraCti.Tr visited Troy, N, ,Y., and bought many :9uT>plies for the Ameri ' Can army. , TUy inspector left there by tile army wifs known as "Uncle Sam" Wilson. The casks. Of .ftWdstutf were all matured* Another inspector was the "U. S." meant. He answfej&d tWit he'had no idea unless it referred to "Une le Sam". Wilson. The Joke took jifcKMig thfe workmen and gradually spread over the United States. The expression "to have a feather In one's cap" takes on a certain grew some meaning when Its origin is found. There is an old manuscript in the Brit ish museum which relates of Hungary lu 15'jy, that "it hath been an ancient custom among them that none should wear a feathec iu > hta cap aniens Jib "had killed a Turk. _ it wks. lawful t<i show the number of these slain enei mles by the number of leathers wortl - In the headgear." ■ I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers