his word, and within six months from the first stroke of the hammer, a hundred electrical ships, each provided with a

y rose and fell, and swung this way and that, upon the tides of the air, as if held by invisible cables, the brilli

ying Ships on Their Mar

rose and fell, and swung this way and that, upon the tides of the air, as if held by invisible cables, the brillian

the electrical ships to survey their surroundings without quitting the interior. It was possible by properly selecting the rate of undulation, to pass the vibratory impulse from the disintegrators through the glass w

s we might at least be able to avoid them by the rapidity of our motions. As he pointed out, the war machines which the Martians had employed in their invasion of the earth, were really very awkward and unmanageable affairs. Mr. Edison's electrical ships, on the other hand, were marvels of

d might have overestimated our powers, but a

g the M

nd for Mars. Nothing further had been heard of the mysterious phenomenon reported from the observatories six months before, and which at the time was believed to indicate the departure of another

e civilized nations, urged their claims to places in the ships. Mr. Edison was compelled, from lack of room, to refuse transportation to more than

reat Nap

gists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, mechanicians, meteorologists and experts in mining, metallurgy and every other branch of practical science, as well as artists and photographers. It was but reasonable to believe that in another

er Anoth

pedition was not large, considering the gigantic character of the undertaking. Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men, together with an abundant supply

long ages of existence, had acquired an experience which made it a most dangerous foe. On both sides there was desperation. The earth was desperate because it foresaw destruction unless it could first destroy its enemy. Mars was desperate because nature was gradually depriving it of the means of supporting life, and its teeming population was compelled to swarm like the inmates of an o

ous powers which the disintegrators had exhibited and the marvellous efficiency of

inds of

eral leading men of science from our own country, were Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh, Professor Roentgen, Dr. Moissan-the man who first made artificial diamonds-and

n. These signals consisted of brilliant electric lights displayed at night and so controlle

Signal

only when, shadowed by clouds or other obstructions, the full sunlight should not fall upon

ally shining. It would be perpetual day for us, except as, by artificial means, we furnished ourselves with darkness for the purpose of promoting sl

tual

the sunlight could not be diffused. Objects would be illuminated only on the side toward the sun. Anything that screened off the direct rays

the electrical ships, Mr. Edison had provided for this emergency by inventing an air-tight dress constructed somewhat after the manner of a diver's suit, but of much lig

r-Tigh

warriors when they reached a point

Cold An

a temperature sufficiently elevated to counteract the effects of the frigidity without. By means of long, flexible tubes, air could be continually supplied to the wearers of the suits, and by an ingenious contrivance a store of compressed air sufficient to last for several hours wa

or when in an airless world, like the moon, where there would be no medium by which the waves of sound could be conveyed as they are in the atmosph

s was connected with a wire which, when not in use, could be conveniently coiled upon the a

ial Te

with one another it was only necessary for them to connect themsel

t Mr. Edison's intention to go direct to Mars. With the exception of the first electrical ship, which he had completed, none had yet been tried in a long voyage. It was desirable that the qualitie

and consequently as favorably situated as possible for the purposes of the voyage. What would be, then, for 99 out of the 100 ships of the squadron,

great squadron of floating ships, with their signal lights ablaze, cast loose and began slowly to move away on their adventurous and unprecedented expedition into the great unknown. A tremendous che

cent Fi

ed, overspreading hundreds of square miles of the surface of the earth with a light almost like that of day, must certainly have been visible to the inhabitants of Mars, if they were watching us at the time. T

rth Was Li

ttom of a volcanic crater, shone the light of the illuminations around New York. But when we got beyond the atmosphere, and the earth still continued to recede below us, its aspect changed. The cup-shaped appearance was gone, and it began to round o

more entirely hidden behind the centre of the earth, we saw its atmosphere completely illu

rly discernible on its surface, streaked and spotted with delicate shades of varying color, and the sunlight flashed and glowed in long lanes across the convex surface of the oceans. Parallel with the Equator and along the regions

This Terrest

ome for which we might gladly expend our last breath. A new determination to conquer or die sprung up in our hearts, and I saw Lord Kelvin, after gazing at the beauteous scene which the earth presented through his e

or," he said. "I shouldn't like to see

s P. Thompson, gripping the handle of an