Newspapers / The Kinston Free Press … / July 12, 1898, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of The Kinston Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
1 OF BY XARRETF P.OERVDS COPVRICMT, JS98. BY CARRtTTP. SERVIJi CHAPTER lit , The day appointed for the assembling of the nations in Washington opened bright - and beautiful. Arrangements had been made for the reception of the distinguished gnests at the capitol. No time was to be wasted, and, having as sembled in the senate chamber, the busi ness that had called them together was to be immediately begun. The scene in Pennsylvania avenue when the proces eion of dignitaries and royalties passed up toward the capitol was one never to be forgotten. .Bands were playing, mag niflcent equipages flashed in the morn ing sunlight, the flags of every nation on the earth fluttered in the breeze. Queen . Victoria, with the Prince of Wales escorting ber, and riding in an open carriage, was greeted with roars of cheers; the Emperor. William, fol lowing in another carriage with Em press Viotoria at his Bide, condescended to bow and smile in response to the greetings of a free people. ,. Eaoh of the other monarohs was re oeived in a similar manner. The czar of Russia proved to be an especial fa vorite with the multitude on account of the ancient friendship of his bouse for America. But the greatest applause of all came . when X the president of France, followed by the president of Switzerland and the first syndic of the little republic of Andorra, made their appearance. Equally warm were the greetings extended to the representa tives of Mexico and the South American states. - The crowd apparently hardly knew at first how to receive the sultan of Tur key, but the universal good feeling was In his favor, and finally rounds of hand clapping and cheers greeted his progress along the splendid avenue. ; A happy idea had apparently occurred to the emperor of China and the mikado of "Japan, for, attended by their inter mingled suits, they rode together" in a single carriage. This objeot lesson in the unity of international feeling im mensely pleased the spectators. The scene in the - senate chamber stirred ' every one profoundly.. iThat it was brilliant and magnificent goes with out saying, but there was a seriousness, an intense feeling of expectancy, per vading both those who looked on and those who . were to do the work for Which these magnates of the earth had assembled which , produced an - ineradi cable impression. The president of the United States, of course, presided. Rep resentatives of the greater powers occu pied the front seats, ana some 01 mem were honored with special chairs near the president No time was wasted in preliminanea The president made a brief sj -t'ch. "We have come together," he said, "to consider-a question that equally in tp rests the whole earth. 1 need not re mind yon that unexpectedly and with out provocation on our part the people the monsterB, I should rather say of liars recently came down upon the earth, attacked us in our homes and spread desolation around them. Having the advantage .of ages ' of evolution, which for us are yet in the future, they brought with them engines of death and of destruction against which we found it impossible to oontend. It is ( within the memory of every one in I reach of my voioe that it was through I the entirely unexpected succor : which I Frovidenoe sent us that we were sud- denly and eff eotually freed from the in ' ; vaders. By our own efforts we could I have done nothing. . -': i "But, as yon all know, the first feel fag of relief which followed the death Ct our foes was quickly succeeded by ' the f earjf ul news which came to us from the , observatories that the Martians were undoubtedly preparing for a wo od invasion of our planet. Against this we should have had no recourse ad no hope but for the genius ofv one cl my countrymen, who, as you are all crrare, has perfected means which may tie us not only to withstand the at tack cf those awful enemies,- but to rraet tlem, and, let us hope, to conqner Hen ca their own ground. "lit. Edison is here to explain to what those means are. But we have tlrp fcsother object. Whether we send a Csct cf interplanetary ships to invade liars cr whether we simply confine our retention to wcrka cf defense, in either r- a it will be neecr-.-.ry to raise a very I;..rc"3 euzi cf mosey. 17cr:e of ua has ;-: 1 recovered from the ellecta cf the re c iiav:!en. The earth i3 peer today : t 7 - r : J with itj ccn i itica a tzvr yenrs , ; .1 v a cnzct e!Ic;,7 cr pevcrty to Luis' . m stand in the way. The money, the means, must he had. It will be part of our business here to raise . a gigantio war fund by the aid of whioh we can oonstrnot the equipment and maohinery that we shall require. This, I think; is all I need to say. Let us proceed to business." "Where is Mr. Edison?" oried i voice. , - ' ' , "Will Mr. Edison please step for ward?" said the president There was a stir in the assembly, and the iron gray head of the great inventor was seen moving through the crowd. In his hand he carried one of bis marvel ons disintegrators. I He was requested to explain and illustrate its operation. Mr. Edison smiled. "I can explain its details," be said, "to Lord Kelvin, for instance, bat if their majesties will excuse me, I doubt whether I could make it plain to the crowned heads. V The Emperor William smiled super oiliously. Apparently he thought that another assault had been committed on the divine right of kings. But the Czar Nicholas appeared to be amused, and the emperor of China, who had been studying English, laughed in his sleeve, as if he suspected that a joke had been perpetrated. 1 "I think," said one of the deputies, "that a simple exhibition of the powers of the instrument, without a teohnical explanation of its method of working, will suffice for our purpose." This suggestion was immediately ap proved. In response to it, Mr. Edison, by a few simple experiments, showed how he oonld quickly, and certainly shatter into its constituent atoms any object upon which the vibratory force of the disintegrator should be directed. In this manner he caused an inkstand to disappear under the very nose of the Emperor William without a spot of ink beins scattered upon his sacred person, but evidently the odor of ' the disunited atoms was not agreeable to the nostrils of the kaiser.;;;" Mr. Edison also explained in general terms the principle on which the in- Be was requested to explain and illue- . irate it operation..;.. , ,, strum en t worked. He was greeted with round after round of applause, and the spirit of the assembly rose high. Next the workings of the electrical ship were explained, and it was an nounced that after the meeting had ad journed an exhibition of the flying powers of the ship would be given in the open air. These experiments, together with the accompanying explanations, added to what had already been disseminated through the publio press, were quite sufficient to convince all the representa tives who had assembled in Washington that the problem of how to conquer the Martians bad been solved. The means were plainly at hand. It only remained to apply them. For this purpose, as the president had pointed out it would be necessary to raise a very large sum of money. ' - ;( -.v' '.;- " 'h "How much will be needed?" asked one of the English representatives. "At least $10,000, 000,000," replied the president "It would be safer,' said a senator from the Pacifio coast, "to make it 125,000,000,000." "I suggest" said the king of Italy. "that the nations be called in alphabet ical order, and that the representatives cf each same a sum which it is ready and able to contribute." . "We want the cash or its equiva lent" crated the PaciSo ccast senator. "I shall not follow tha alphabet strictly," said the president, "but shall begin with the larger nations first. Per haps, under the circumstances, it is peper that th-3 Unite! Zltza should r.zi the way. Hr. Secretary," he con tinued, turning fb the secretary- of the treasury, "how muoh can we stand?" "At least $1,000,000,000," replied the secretary of the treasury. A roar of applause that shook the room burst from the assembly. Even some of the monarohs threw up their hats.. The Emperor Tsait'ien smiled from ear to ear. One of the roko tuis, or native '' chiefs, from Fiji - sprang up and brandished a warolub. The president then proceeded to call the other nations, beginning with Austria-Hungary and ending with Zanzibar, whose sultan, Hamoud bin : Mahomed, had oome to the congress in the esoort of Queen Viotoria.' Eaoh contributed liberally. , Germany, coming in alphabetical or der just before Great Britain, bad named, through its chancellor, the Bum of $500,000,000, but when the first lord of the British treasury, not wishing to be behind the United States, named double that sum as the contribution of the British empire, the Emperor'Wil liam looked displeased. -He spoke a word in the ear of the chancellor, who immediately raised his hand. "We will give $1,000,000,000," said the chancellor. Queen Victoria seemed surprised, though not displeased. The first lord of the treasury met her eye, and then, ris ing in his place, said: - ' "Make it $1,500,000,000 for Great Britain." : Emperor William consulted, again with his chanoellor, but evidently con cluded not to increase his bid. But, at any rate, the fund had bene fited' to the amount of $1,000,000,000 by this little outburst of imperial ri valry. . The greatest surprise of all, however, came when the king of Siam was called upon for his contribution. - He had not been given a foremost place in the con gress, but when the name of his coun try was pronounced he rose by his chair, dressed in a gorgeous specimen of the peculiar attire of his oountry, then slowly pushed his way to the front. stepped up to the president's desk and deposited upon it a small box. "This is our contribution," he said in broken English. The cover was lifted, and there dart ed, shimmering in the half gloom of the chamber, a burst of iridescence from the box. . "My friends of ' the western world, " continued the king Of Siam, "will be interested in seeing this gem. Only once before has the eye of a European been blessed with a sight of it Your books will tell you : that in the ; seventeenth century a ..traveler Tavernier, saw in India an unmatched 'diamond which afterward disappeared like a meteor and was thought to have been lost from the earth. You all know the name of that diamond and ijts history. It is the Great Mogul, and it lies before you. How it came into my possession I Bhall not ex plain, v At any rate, it is honestly mine, and I freely contribute it here to aid in protecting' my native planet against those enemies who appear determined to destroy it." .When the excitement whioh the ap pearance of this long lost treasure that had been the subject of so many ro manoes and of such long and fruitless search had subsided, the president con tinued calling the list until he had com pleted it , " . Upon taking the sum of the contribu tions (the Great Mogul was reckoned at $3,000,000) it was found to be still $1, 000,000,000 short of , the i required amount , . The secretary of the treasury was in stantly on his feet -..."Mr. .President," be said, "I think we can stand that addition. Let it be added to the contribution of the United States of .America. " -v -". When the cheers that greeted the con elusion of this business were over, the president announced that the next affair of the congress was to select a director who should have entire charge Of the preparations for the war.; It was the universal sentiment that , no man could be so well suited for this "post as " Mr. Edison himself. . He was accordingly se lected by the unanimous and enthusias tic choice of the great assembly. ."How long a time do you require to put everything in readiness?" asked the president V -; " ; ' 'IGive me carte blanche, ' replied Mr. Edison, "and I believe I can have 100 electric ships and 3,000 disintegrators ready within six months. " . A tremendous cheer greeted this an nouncement . "Your powers are unlimited," said the president "Draw on the fund for as much money as you need." Where upon the treasurer of the United States was made the disbursing oactr cf tha fund, and the meeting adjourned. to be coxtinced.J Subscribe to Tee Daily Fees Tr.riss. ! u. s. 8 of Baltimore, Md., is accepted by the U. S. Government as surety on the bonds of Distillers, Store Keepers and Gaug ers, and all revenue offi cers. ". Rates reasonable. L. HARVEY & SON AGENTS, KlflSTOtf, C. lull GUARANTY ;Seven The Finest of all Mineral Waters. Endorsed by prominent physi cians and all who have used it. A Positive cure for Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Insomnia, and Ner vous Prostration. Infallable cure for Gravel and Stone in theBlad- 7 der. A peerlesa climate, right towering hills. , The Buildings and Grounds Have Been Pnt in Thorough Repair. Good music on piaso and stringed instruments. A first-class barber. Reduced rates on railroads (A, & N. C. and W. & W.) Hacks meet all trains. Post Offiee: Seven Springs. IiaGrangc. Phones From Hotel to LaGrange. Board Jer day $1.50 ; per week $7.00 ; per month $aj Special rates given to families for the season. Wvery stables furnish the best teams for driving. O. p, SMITfl Proprletof. ; Address all correspondence to W. M.UZZEIX, Manager. . f? r r r Tf V JKe II v'.": And we are in the thickest of the fight; Not amid the crash of shot and shell, a; Nor where Spanish bullets fly liker-well, VAs would-be competitors are put to flight: J -WHEN C0XFR0XTED WITH OCR- : Low Prices - and Fine Work '-, ' ' 11-11.. I.I.I 1. .1 I I I I.I ! , In the dob Prmting liine. ! v :. ? .With Power Presses, New and latest Styles Type, plenty 5 i ' of paper stock of various kinds, and competent workmen, we t are prepared to do J , Better Printing It Lower Prices Than Can Be Obtained Elsewhere. 1 1 ; ' : - I r Bring or send all your . t . Have You Seen the ., v; f $35 Crawford It's on Exhibition at J GUY WEBB'S, "THE BIKEMAN." Springs in the midst of pines and oaks and ti. Depot: orders for Job Printing to , . Kinston, N, O. M War is' Qr! ! i 1 !
The Kinston Free Press (Kinston, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 12, 1898, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75