Lancaster High School - Mirage Yearbook (Lancaster, OH)

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16 DEBRIS. c Iu I-abi tod North America in prehistor- ic ages. We walked a short distance away from the airship, examining the dif- ferent specimens of plants, and were about to return when we were start- led by a great crash behind us. We glanced back hastily to see if any- thing had befallen the airship, but it was not there. Moreover a thin col- umn of vapor seemed to be rising from the spot we had just left. Hushing back frantically we found a heap of burning rubbish underneath where the airship had been. We were stunned; we could not realize the en- ormity of the disaster which had be- fallen us. Illlndly extinguishing the blaze to save the remainder of the silk of which the bag had been com- posed. in the vain hope of being able to use it again. I happened to notice a hole in the ground about eight inch- es in diameter which I had not seen before, and which seemed to be fresh- ly made. Not for a long time, how- ever. did I guess the truth; a meteor had struck the bag and exploded the gas. Imagine our situation! Separated from civilization by a barrier which had hitherto proved insurmountable, and with our only means of returning destroyed in the most unbelievable manner imaginable, we had good cause to despair. When we were finally able to real- ize what the disaster meant to us. we both sat on the ground for many hours incapable of thought or motion. Then an idea struck my mind. With the assistance of my brother I crudely fashioned some of the silk from the demolished bag into the shape of a small balloon. I then soak- ed it in some of the preparation which I had discovered in my laboratory at St. l.ouis. the bottle of it which I had brought on the expedition having mi- raculously escaped breakage in the disaster. We had also brought a quantity of sulphuric acid with us. which we thought might be needed in soldiering some parts of the engine in case anything went wrong. The bottle containing this had fallen on some waste, and thus had also escap- ed being broken. We had consider- bly more than we should have need- ed for the purpose for which it had been brought, but a miserable pit- tance for what I now intended to use it. I improvised a gas generator into which I put some bits of broken iron from the engine, and poured over it the acid. We collected the escaping gas in the crude balloon, and to our satisfaction obtained a sufficient amount to fill it. We then closed the opening in it by means of a tightly- tied string, and I am writing this com- munication with the intention of en- closing it in a bottle, attaching the bottle to the little balloon, and trust- ing to Providence that favorable winds may blow it into hands where it will be understood. I realize that there is not one chance in a million that this will happen, but if it should do so. I desire the reader to communi- cate with Mr. Henry H. Manteli, of Cleveland. Ohio, or Mr. Robert P. Cannon, of Dayton. Pennsylvania. ! desire another expedition to be fitted out similar to the one my brother and I have undertaken, for the pur- pose of rescuing us from the position in which we find ourselves, and am willing to defray all the expenses of the undertaking. While there Is no danger of starving here, owing to the life sustaining fruits, etc., to be found, yet I fear the solitude will be- fore long drive us insane. We shail at once proceed to gather a supply of wild nuts and vegetables, and to erect a shelter for the long winter night, which will naturally bring us to a state of infinite gloom and despair, yet which I anticipate will not be ex- tremely cold, since the warmth hero comes from within, rather than from without the earth. Kindly use your inllucnce toward a speedy rescue, and remain forever the benefactor of Your humble servant. CASSIUS H. SMITH. Elwood Butler, ’09. Guess Who This Space Belongs to ♦ RUDOLPH RISING Fashionable Merchant $ Tailor. Ready-Made Clothing and Gents' Furnishing Goods. No. 133 West Main St. LANCASTER, OHIO.

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DEBRIS. 15 i One Chance in a Million. ❖ + + + ROFESSOH L. M. Har- M rison stood on the deck V of the trans-Atlantic liner Oceanic.” gazing 1 ' '• v '• v v ■; curiously at a small speck which appeared suspended in the air some distance in advance of the steamer. There was a dead calm, and as the boat progressed the speck took a definite shape, and seemed to be a minature balloon supporting an object of as yet indeterminate character. It now ap- peared that the balloon was in direct • line with the path of the steamer, and that the boat would soon be directly under it. The professor kept his eve riveted upon it as though fascinated, and when the bag appeared directly over the ship it was seen to strike the iron point of the wireless termin- al at the masthead. The object at- tached to the bag fell heavily and struck the deck almost at the profes- sor's feet. There was a sound of breaking glass, and the pieces of what had been a small bottle lay on the deck, and beside them a roll of manuscript tied with a blue ribbon. Harrison picked up the manuscript, and carried it to the privacy of his state-room to read. The following is a correct copy: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I was born in St. I.ouis in the year 1865. My father was a merchant of moderate means, and had difficulty in supporting his large family of seven children. At an early age I develop- ed a decided taste for science, and my life has been devoted to it ever since. I went through college large- ly on my own efforts, and three years after completing my course I receiv- ed a legacy of ten million dollars from a gentleman who died without heirs, and for whom I had once done N a great service, the nature of which cannot be revealed. This made me independent for life, and made it pos- sible for me to devote my entire at- tention to science. In the course of my research I discovered a compound, which, when applied to Japanese silk made the latter almost impervious to hydrogen, which is the gas used In long distance balloon races. Natu- rally my discovery was of great im- portance in aeronautics, but before revealing it to the world I dec'ded to make use of it in an expedition, the feasibility of which I had long been considering. In other words. I deter- mined to make a dash for the pole from an island in the Arctic ocean !• . an airship of special construction. I was well aware that a similar expedi- tion had failed but a short time be- fore. but I thought that with a little different management it could be made a success. I determined not to make my intention public, but to car- ry it out in the most quiet manner possible. Secretly I had a silk bag made capable of carrying about a thousand pounds when inflated. I al- so purchased a gasoline engine espec- ially constructed for airship use. which was of great power, and yet comparatively of very light weight. I then went to New York, chartered a small sea-going steamer, and fitted it with modern tools and gas genera- tors needed in airship work. After engaging a crew for the vessel, and sufficient provisions to last six months. I had the airship placed n the hold in sections and we set sail for Francis Joseph land, which lies north of the eightieth degree of lati- tude. We calculated to arrive there about the last of June. My younger brother was to accompany me on the expedition, and had already been of infinite assistance in making the pre- parations and keeping our plans se- cret. On the third day out we en- countered a great storm, which all but destroyed our little vessel, but which aided our progress by blowing from the southwest. We had fair weather for the re.st of the voyage, and In due time reached our destina- tion. We had expected to erect an aerodome here for the shelter of the airship after it had been put togeth- er. but as the weather was very calm, and gave every indication of continuo- Ing so. we decided to start as soon a.s it was possible to put the machine together. This we did in a few days, and after giving the crew of the ves- sel instructions to return to New York and leave us to our fate if we did not return within a stated limit of time, we cut loose and ascended, with the engine running at a speed calculated to carry us northward at a rate of thirty miles an hour. This speed soon carried us far out over the northern sea. and it is beyond the power of man to imagine a more deso- late scene than that which lay be- neath us. At the same time man cannot describe the vastness, and the grandeur of it all. Nothing but the forsaken northern ocean was to be seen, except the speck of land far to the southward which we had left a. few hours before. We kept our air- ship at the height desired by means of two horizontal planes at the rear. The basket was about seven feet long and four wide, and was constructe! of a very tough and pliable, yet light material, brought from the re- gions of the upper Amazon in Brazil. We had taken the precaution of bringing about twice as many pro- visions as we thought we would need in the time the trip would require, and also brought some of my newlv- discovered preparation for treating the silk of which the bag was composed. We were now fairly started for the pole—that spot toward which man had so often directed hlg efforts, and had as often failed. What was our horror, seven hours after we had started, suddenly to see the engine stop. There we were— two hundred miles from the nearest land, suspended over the Arctic Ocean, incapable of movement. One cannot describe in fitting terms the horror of the situation. My brother, who is a fair mechanic, quickly exam ined the engine, and said that fortu- nately it was nothing serious. After working at it industriously for a while he started it again, and it apparently ran as good as ever. After a few more hours of travel- ing. the temperature, which had natu- rally been very cold, began to moder- ate perceptibly, and continued to do so until it had become quite warm. You are probably aware of the fact that the form of the earth is not th..t of a perfect sphere, but that it is an oblate spheriod: that is. its polar dia- meter is less than its equatorial, so that it Is flattened at the poles. This shape was probably given to it at the time it was a molten mass, when the centrifugal force caused by its rapid revolution had the tendency to force the molten matter toward the equa- tor and away from the poles, thus leaving the surface flat in these re- gions. The difference between the equatorial and polar diameters is es- timated at twenty-six miles, so that the surface at the poles is approxi- mately thirteen miles nearer the cen- ter than at other points. Now it is known that the temperature of tin earth varies inversely as the distance from the center, the center being still a molten mass. The best illustration of this is in the case of deep mine?, which are always warmer near the bottom than at the top. Thus the theory has been advanced that the poles have a moderate climate, but I had always been skeptical of this un- til now. We now soon caught sight of land directly ahead which seemed to be covered with vegetation. In a short time we were directly over the land, which extended farther than the eye could reach, despite our elevation. In compliance with my brothers wishes we descended at this point, securing the airship by the anchor in the cux tomary manner. The vegetation we saw was of striking appearance, and radically different from any I had ever heard of as growing on any oth- er part of the earth. Naturally this was to be expected, on account of the peculiar character of the seasons, each year containing but one day and one night, each of six months dura- tion. Wo saw two small animals about the size of a cat. wfilch in form resembled a species thought to have

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