[.Copyright, 1907, 1908, by the Macmillan Company.]
PROLOGUE OF THE STORY.
Germany, bating the Monroe doctrine and ambitious for world's suprem
acy. secretly builds a vast fleet of airships and plaus 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 Pracbentiieger.
I'rince 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 iu a
runaway balloon, accompanied by a lady in whom tie is interested.
Bert Smalhvays, a motorcycle dealer in bard luck, who is in love with
Miss Edna Bunthorne, and his partner, Grubb, are impeVsouating 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 Hut
teridge's airship in some of Butteridge's clothing and hides the plans in his
chest protector. llis balloon drifts over Germany's immense aeronautic park.
German soldiers shoot holes in it and capture Bert. They think he is But
teridge. Soldiers carry him to the cabin of the Vaterland. flagship of the air
fleet. Lieutenant Kurt guards him The vast fleet starts across the ocean
to attack New York. Graf von Wintertield denounces Bert as an impostor,
but offers him £SOO for Butteridge's secret. The prime agrees to take Bert
alontr "as ballast." An American fleet of warships is destroyed by German
warships and Germany's air fleet. A boy on the Vaterland is killed.
How War Came to New York.
O THICK voices at a lower, more
respectful pitch replied.
"I>er prinz." said a voice, J
and all the men became stiller |
and less natural. Down the passage
appeared a group of figures, Lieuten
ant Kurt walking in front carrying a
packet of papers. N
He stopped point blank when he saw
the thing in the recess, and his ruddy
face went white. "So!" said he in sur
prise.
'J|he prince was following him, talk
ing over his shoulder to Von Winter
feid and the kapitan. "Eh?" he said
to Kurt, stopping in midsentence, and
following the gesture of Kurt's hand.
He glared at the crumpled object iu
the recess and seemed to think for a
moment.
He made a slight, careless gesture to
ward the boy's body and turned to the
kapltau.
"Dispose of that," he said in Ger
man, and passed on, finishing his sen
tence to Von Winterfeld in the same
cheerful tone in which it had been be
gun.
The deep impression of helplessly
drowning men that Bert had brought
from the actual fight in the Atlantic
mixed itself up inextricably with that
of the lordly figure of Prince Karl Al
bert gesturing aside the dead body of
the Vaterland sailor. Hitherto he had
rather liked the idea of war as being
a jolly, smashing, exciting. affair,
something like a bank holiday rag on
a large scale, and on the whole agree
able and exhilarating. Now he knew
It a little better.
Late that afternoon Kurt came into
the cabin and found Bert curled up on
his locker and looking very white and
miserable. Kurt had ftlso lost some
thing of his pristine freshness.
"Seasick?" he asked.
"No!"
"We ought to reach New York this
evening. There's a good breeze com
ing up under our tails. Then we shall
see things."
"Yes?"
Kurt did not answer him. He was
measuring their distance from New
Y'ork and speculating. "Wonder what
the American aeroplanes are like," he
said. "Something like our drachenflie
ger. We shall know by this time to
morrow. 1 wonder what we shall
know—l wonder. Suppose, after all,
they put up a fight. Hum sort of fight!"
He whistled softly and mused. Pres
ently lie fretted out of the cabin, and i
later Bert found him in the twilight
upon the swinging platform, staring
ahead and speculating about the things
that might happen on the morrow.
Clouds veiled the sea again, and the
long, straggling wedge of airships, ris
ing and falling as they flew, seemed
like a flock of strange new births in a
chaos that had neither earth nor water,
but only mist and sky.
The city of New York was In the year
of tln> German attack the largest, rich
est. in many respects the most splendid
and in some the wickedest city the
world had ever seen. She was (he su
preme type of the scientific commercial
age She displayed its greatness, its
power, lis ruthless anarchic enterprise
and its social disorganization most
strikingly ami completely. She had
long ousted London from her pride of
place as the modern Babylon. She
was the center of the world's finance,
'— l world's trade and the world's
pleasure, and men likened her to the
apocalyptic cities of the ancient proph
ets. She sat drinking up the wealth
of a continent, as Rome once drank
the wealth of the Mediterranean and
Babylon the wealth of the east. In
hei streets one found the extremes of
magnificence and misery, of civiliza
tion and disorder.
For many generations New York
bad taken 110 heed of war suve as a
k
thing that happened far away, that af
fected prices and supplied the news
papers with exciting headlines and
pictures. The New Yorkers felt per
haps even more certainly than the
Eug'i.sh had done that war in their
own land was an impossible thing, in
that they shared the delusion of all
North America. They felt as secure
as spectators at a bull tight: they risked
their money perhaps on the result, but
that was all. And such ideas of war as
the common Americans possessed were
derived from the limited, picturesque,
adventurous war of the past. They
saw war as they saw history, through
an iridescent mist, deodorized, scent
ed indeed, with all its essential cruel
ties tactfully hidden away. They
were inclined to regret it as something
ennobling, to sigh that it could no
longer come into their own private ex
perience. They read with interest, If not
with avidity, of their new Runs, of their
Immense and still more immense Iron
clads, of their incredible and still more
incredible explosives, but Just what
these tremendous engines of destruc
tion might mean for their personal
lives never entered their heads.
And then suddenly into a world
peacefully busied for the most part
Crowds Assembled to Listen to and
Cheer Patriotic Speeches.
upon armaments and the perfection of
explosives war came—came the shock
of realizing that the guns were going
off; that the masses of inflammable
material all over the world weiv at
last ablaze.
The immediate effect upon New York
of the sudden onset of war was mere
ly to intensify her normal vehemence.
The newspapers and magazines that
fed tiie American mind—for books
upon this impatient continent had be
come simply material for die energy
of collectors were iustantly a corusca
tion of war pictures and of headlines
that rose like rockets and burst like
shells. To the normal high strung en
ergy of New York streets was added a
touch of war fever. (Jreat crowds as
sembled. more especially in the dinner
hour, in Madison square about the
rarragut monument to listen to and
cheer patriotic speeches.
Critli-s of the American character
are disposed to consider that up to the
actual impact of the German attack
the people of New York dealt alto
gether too much with tne us jf
was a political demonstration. I.ittle
or no damage, they urged, wLj doue to
either the German or Japanese force*
by the wearing of buttons, the wavin:
of small flags or the songs. War wit*
a matter of apparatus, of special trail
ing and skill of the most intricate
kind, it had become undemocratic
And whatever the value of the popular
excitement, there can be no denyin;
that the small regular establishment o'
the United States government, con
fronted by this totally unexpected
emergency of an armed invasion fron
Europe, acted with vigor, science anc
imagination.
They were taken by surprise so far
as the diplomatic situation was con
eerned. and their equipment for build
ing either navigables or aeroplanes
was contemptible in comparison with
the huge German parks. Still they set
to work at once to prove to the world
that the spirit that had created the
Monitor and the southern submarines
of 1S(!4 was not dead. The chief of
the aeronautic establishment, near
West Point, was Cabot Sinclair, and he
allowed himself but one single mo
ment of the posturing that was so uni
versal In that democratic time. "We
have chosen our epitaphs." he said to
a reporter, "and we are g'>ing to have
'They did all they could.' Now run
away!"
The curious thing is that they did do
all they could. There is no exception
known. Their only defect. Indeed, was
a defect of style.
One of the most striking facts his
torically about this war and the one
that makes the complete separation
that had arisen between the methods
of warfare and the necessity of demo
cratic support is the effectual secrecy
of the Washington authorities about
their airships. They did not bother to
confide a single fact of their prepara
tions to the public. They did not even
condescend to talk to congress. They
burked and suppressed every inquiry.
The war was fought by the president
and the secretaries of state In an en
tirely autocratic manner. Such pub
licity as they sought was merely to
anticipate and prevent inconvenient
agitation to defend particular points.
They realized that the chief danger in
aerial warfare from an excitable and
Intelligent public would be a clamor
for local airships and aeroplanes to
defend local Interests. Tills, with such
resources as they possessed, might
lead to a fatal division and distribu
tion of the national forces. Particu
larly they feared that they might lie
forced into a premature action to de
fend New York.
They realized with prophetic insight
that this would be the particular ad
vantage the Germans would seek. So
they took great pains to direct the
popular mind toward defensive artil
lery and to divert it from any thought
of aerial battle. Their real prepara
tions they masked beneath ostensible
ones. There was at Washington a
large reserve of naval guns, and these
were distributed rapidly, conspicuous
ly and with much press attention
among the eastern cities. They were
mounted for the most part upon hills
and prominent crests round tlie threat
ened centers of population. They were
mounted upou rough adaptations of
tlie Ooan swivel, which at that lime
gave I lie maximum vertical range 10 a
heavy gun. Much of this artillery was
stui unmounted, and nearly all of it
was unprotected when the German air
fleet reached New York. And down In
the crowded streets, when that oc
curred, the readers of the New York
papers were regaling themselves with
wonderful and wonderfully illustrated
accounts of such matters as:
THE SECRET OF THE THUNDERBOLT
AGED SCIENTIST PERFECTB
ELECTRIC GUN
TO ELECTROCUTE AIRSHIP CREWS
BY UPWARD I.IGHTNINO
WASHINGTON ORDERS FIVE
HUNDRED
WAR SECRETARY LODGE DELIGHT
ED
SATS THEY WILL SUIT THE
GERMANS
DOWN TO THE GROUND
PRESIDENT PUBLICLY APPLAUDS
THIS MERRY QUIP
The German fleet reached New York
in advance of tITe news of rlie Ameri
can naval disaster, it readied New-
York in the late afternoon and was
first seen by watchers at Ocean Grove
and Long Branch coming swiftly out
of the southward sea and going away
to the northwest. The flagship passed
almost vertically over the Sandy Hook
observation station, rising rapidly as It
did so, and In a few minutes all New
\ork was vibrating to the Staten
Island guns.
fTo be continued.]
A GLANCE AT WORLD AFFAIRS
THE expedition into Abyssinia led
by Chiids Friek. sou of Henry
C. Friek, to make natural his-
Tory collections for the Smith
sonian Institution is of particular in- |
terest because Mr. Friek followed close ]
on the trail of Colonel Iloosevelt when
the latter was bringing down big game
in Africa, and his party was said to
have bagged as much as did the for
mer president and his party.
Mr. Friek plans to return with a
great variety of specimens of the ani
mals in the Abyssinian region. These
will be prepared for the national mu
seum by Lieutenant Colonel Edgar A.
Mearns, U. S. A., retired, associate zo
ologist of the museum, who accompa
nies Mr. Friek on the trip.
The region of F.ake Itudolf, discover
ed as late as ISSS by Count Telek and
one of the wildest and most dangerous
sections of the dark continent, is to
be covered by the expedition. It is in
habited by the liamatic people, wholly
uncivilized, yet intellectually superior
to the average tribes of Africa. The
Samali, Callas and Boranna tribes will
also he encountered.
The actual work of the expedition is
scheduled to cover about seven months.
Presidential Politics.
The presidential campaign is warm
ing up, the battle fur delegates in both
parties now being well tinder way. A
meeting of northwestern Democrats
held at Fargo, N. I was attended by
leaders from all this section. Several
Copyright by American Press Association.
Governor John Burke of North Dakota,
Who Was Boomed by Friends.
Democratic governors were present
and spoke As there has been a move
ment to give North Dakota's delega
tion to her governor, John Hurke. this
love feast was regarded in some quar
ters as an effort to promote ills presi
dential boom. Throughout the nation
it may be said, in the time honored
langiuige of the correspondents, that
"the political pot is simmering."
Another Trust Faces Fire.
Detroit is the scene tills time of the
United States government's tight to
break up a so called trust, the alleged
illegal combination of bathtub manu
facturers. In that city are assembled
an impressive array of counsel for both
sides, who are ready for the battle,
which takes place in the federal court.
An important point involved in the
case is the debated right of the de
fendants to control tlie manufacture
and sale of enameled ware with pat
ent tools.
Taft Again on the Move.
President Taft, following his attend
ance at the Ohio society dinner and
the dinner of tlie Aero Club of Ameri
ca in New York city, hurries to Cleve
land. 0., for the banquet of the Tippe
canoe club in celebration of President
McKiniey's birthday. Political sharps
said as soon as the president declared
his intention of going to Ohio that the
visit would mark the real opening of
the Taft campaign for renoniination.
Federal Aid to Good Roads.
There lias long been agitation for
federal aid to good roads, and the
movement toward this end has grown
especially strong in the present con
gress. At a meeting of the federal aid
committee of tlie American Associa
tion l or Highway Improvement and
a convention of other friends of good
roads held in Washington the major
ity of the thirty or more members of
congress who have introduced bills on
the subject were present. Other speak
ers were Charles A. Barrett, president
of the Farmers' union, and represent
atives of tlie American Federation of
Labor and of the national commission
of prison labor. One session was de
voted to a discussion of convict labor
on the roads. The meeting also indors
ed tlie plan for a Lincoln memorial
highway from Washington to Gettys
burg.
Has Most Per Capita Wealth.
Kansas has the largest per capita
wealth based upon the assessed valua
tion of any Male In the Union, accord
ing to figures computed by Mark
Tuily. state treasurer. The per capita
assessment valuation is
Enough Ammunition For Year*.
There is now enough ammunition on
hand to supply the United States army
and navy and state militia for three
and a half years. Brigadier General
Crozler, chief of ordnance of the army,
told the house committee on military
affairs when It was drafting the army
bill for 1013. General Crozler explain
ed that of late the government had
been contracting for enough ammuni
tion from private companies to keep
them running as an "insurance" j
against war.
"1 am certain," said the general,
"that the government arsenals and the
private ammunition manufacturers can
produce enough ammunition to supply
our army as fast as it can be recruited."
The Treaty Split With Russia.
The abrogation of the treaty between
the United States and Russia does not
go into effect until Jan. I, 1913, and ef
forts will be made to frame n new
treaty before that time. At any rate,
there is hardly a possibility that peace
between the two nations will be dis
turbed.
Prober Stanley.
Representative Augustus Owsley
Stanley of Kentucky, chairman of the
special committee to inquire into the
! affairs of the United States Steel cor
poration. was the author of the house
resolution to make tlie investigation.
The special aims of the inquiry were
to find out how the restriction or de
struction of competition, the capital
ization and bonding of the various sub
sidiary concerns of the corporation
and the combination between the offi
cers and agents of one corporation
and those of others had been effected.
The committee was especially author
ized to ascertain if financial panics
had been influenced by the steel trust's
operations.
Mr. Stanley is a native of Kentucky
and is forty-four years of age. He was
educated at Center college. Danville,
Ky.. and began the practice of law in
1804. in 10*10 he was a presidential
elector, which is the only public otHce
he ever held prior to his election to
congress.
International Ski Tournament.
The Norge Ski club of Chicago has
beeu hard at work to make the inter
national skiing tournament. Jan. 27,
28 and 20, at Cary. 111., the biggest ski
meet in the west. The tournament
opens with exhibitions by the best pro
fessional and amateur jumpers in the
world.
The Northwest.
Dr. Charles A. Eastman, a full blood
ed Sioux Indian, author of"The Soul
of the Indian" and other books, be
lieves that the climate of the north
west Is so fine that living there makes
a man big. "Colonel Koosevelt would
never have become president If he had
not spent years out In that country,"
solemnly declared Dr. Eastman at the
annual dinner of the Northwestern so
ciety In New York city. Dr. Eastman
pointed out that tlie northwest was a
part of the country that had produced
such great men of his own race as
Ited Cloud and Sitting Hull.
The Northwestern society is compos
ed of New York men who have mi
grated from the states of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Montana, lowa, North Da
kota, South Dakota and Idaho.
State Life Insurance.
A system of state life Insurance is
officially approved for Wisconsin.
Insurance Commissioner 11. L. likern
has been at work on forms for policies
und blanks for the proposed plan. Wis
consin will be the first state to at
tempt to write life insurance. The leg
islature of 1911 passed a bill providing
for beginning the system. The state
treasurer will be custodian of all mon
eys. and town, city and comity clerks
will accept applications and forward
premiums. The state does not assume
any responsibility beyond paying the
expense.
Our Young Men of Eighty.
Noted as a public and after dinner
speaker, Joseph H. Choate, the prede
cessor of Whitelaw Reid as United
States ambassador to the court of St.
James, celebrated his eightieth birth
Joseph H. Choate, Who Recently Cele
brated Eightieth Birthday.'
day anniversary on Jan. 2-1, with no
thought of giving up. He was admit
ted to the liar in 1855. and flhti Com
pletion of ids eightieth milestone linds
him still a worker In his profession.
Mr. Choate was bora In Salem,
Mass. lie was one of the .committee
of seventy which smashed the Tweed
ring ID New York In [4 B)
TALKED THROUGH ROCK.
Inventor Made His Voice Penetrate
Steel and Concrete.
John L. Griffiths, consul general at
Loudon, in the Consular Ileports wrote
of experiments conducted near Chep
stow for the transmission of the hu
man voice over long distances with the
aid alone of the natural elements.
The inventor Grindel! Matthews sutv
mitted his discovery to a severe test iu
the presence of a number of experts.
He was placed in tha strong room of
a big London commercial house and
locked in, with nine inches of armor
steel, nine inches of fire brick and sis
feet of concrete between bim aud the
| outer world. By means of liis small
; portable apparatus he carried on a cou
| versation with an operator in another
room on the farther side of the build
ing. So distinct and faithful was the
transmission that the experts in at
: tendance were actually able to hear
the tick of his watch notwithstanding
the almost impenetrable mass between
the two instruments.
The inventor was then encaged in
long distance tests in connection with
| the war office and had spoken from
Beaehley, in Gloucestershire, to a
point more than live and a half miles
away near the Severn tunnel outlet on
the opposite side of the river.
The inventor named his instrument
the aerophone.
I
THE HIGHEST RAILWAY.
Tracks at an Altitude of 15,865 Feet In
Peru.
To the question, "Which is the high
est railway in the world'.-" the answer
iis the Central Hail way of Peru. In
other words, the highest point reached
by any railway line is touched by this
road, where the altitude of the rails
reaches 15,865 feet above sea level. To
roach this point from sea level the line
passes through fifty-seven tunnels, ovei
i a dozen of principal bridges, and uti
lizes thirteen switchbacks, but has no
gradient up to \\ 2 per cent, uor doe*
it resort to rack propulsion.
A handcar started at Ticlio will run
unafded to Callao, the seaport, and, as/
: a matter of fact, such a car, equipped!
! with safety brakes, runs before eacn
passenger train, carrying an inspector
| <m the lookout for fallen rocks or other
dangers.
Ticlio is the highest station in the
world.
The next highest line in the world is
that from Antofagasta, Chile, to Oruru
! and La l'az, Bolivia. This line has
| also the distinction of being the nar
j rowest gauge line for such a long dis
tance. The highest point js at Collu
huasl, where the altitude is 15,800 feet.
; sixty-five feet lower than the Peruvian
| line.—London Tit-Bits.
That Well Meaning Person.
;
The man wlio Insists that y6u share
tils umbrella.—Browning's Magazine.
Anvil Spark*.
The truth is stained by the lips of
gossip.
| Trifling vices set the precedent for
I greater ones.
! Figures do not lie, nor should figures
| of speech.
You can always overcome insult by
overlooking it.
He Is blind indeed Whose only or
gan of sight is the eye.
It is better to be the subject of scan
dal than its dispenser.
Lofty thought dues npt need to be
clothed in high sounding words.
The really good wan doesn't enjoy
hearing folks talk too much about liis
goodness.
Who depends upon the inspiration of
the moment Is apt to meet with many
an hour that is not very inspiring.—
Christian Herald.
Safe and Perilous Oils.
It has beeu shown that oil with a
flash point of 239 degrees Fahrenheit
will not ignite if fired into with a
shell, and If dynamite is exploded in
a reservoir of this oil it only throws
up jels Of oil which do not
The orly dangerous liquid fuel ~ils
are those which have not parted
with their volatile, inflammable gases,
such as übsohif'ely crude oils. In all
ordinary commercial fuel, oils these
(tactions are removed, and' tfie oil is
safe and contains no power of spon
taneous combustion. Oil with a fire
test to '4fO <j(pgrees Fahrenheit
•is a»#«fc as coal. and it yvill not tßnite
; .whfsa, l ?tlrt-ed with a nylhot poker nor
'Vheb hot crtnta «r«i «i> '«'» 4-«