 Chapter 17 of Topsy-Turvy. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Jean Luft, Topsy-Turvy by Jules Verne, translated by Anonymous. What had been done at Kilimanjaro during eight months of this memorable year? The country of Wa Masai is situated in the eastern part of Central Africa, between the coast of Zanzibar and the regions of the large lakes where the Victoria Nianza and the Taganica form a great interior ocean. The part best known is that which has been visited by the Englishmen Johnston, Count Tekeli and the German Dr. Meyer. This mountainous land is under the sovereignty of Sultan Bali Bali, whose people consist of 30,000 or 40,000 neighbors. Three degrees below the equator is situated the chain of Kilimanjaro, where here reaches its greatest altitude. Among other peaks is the Mount of Kibo, with an altitude of 5,704 meters. The important ruler of this region has under its domination toward the south, north and west, the vast and riddle plains of the Wa Masai, which stretch from the lake of Victoria Nianza across the province of Mozambique. A few leagues below Kilimanjaro is the small village of Kisongo, the regular residence of the Sultan. This capital is in reality only a large hamlet. It is occupied by a very intelligent and industrious people who work themselves as industriously as their slaves under the iron rule which Bali Bali imposes on them. The Sultan rightly ranked as one of the most remarkable rulers of those people of Central Africa who tried to escape the influence or, more correctly, the domination of England. At this capital of Kisongo, President Barbeque and Captain Nicole, accompanied by six men who were devoted to them, arrived in the first week of January of the current year. On leaving the United States, once their departure was only known to Miss Evangelina Skorbit and JT Masson, they had embarked in New York for the Cape of Good Hope, once a vessel transported them to Zanzibar on the island of the same name. There, a bark secretly chartered by the Sultan brought them to the port of Mambas on the African border on the other side of the channel. An escort sent by the Sultan waited for them at this port. And after a hard voyage, nearly a hundred leagues across this terrible region, obstructed by forests, deep marshes, etc., they arrived at the royal residence. After knowing the calculations of JT Masson, President Barbeque had already put himself in communication with Bali Bali through the help of the Swedish explorer, who had passed several years in this part of Africa. As the Sultan had become one of their most ardent admirers since their trip to the moon, a trip whose reputation had gone as far as these countries, he had a great friendship for these courageous Yankees. Without telling him for what the purpose it was, Imbi Barbeque had easily obtained permission from the Sultan to undertake important works at the southern foot of Kilimanjaro. In return for a large sum estimated at $300,000, Bali Bali had bound himself to furnish them all the workmen necessary. In other words, the captain and his friends were authorized to do at Kilimanjaro whatever they liked to do. They could dispose of the large chain of mountains according to their desires, they could tear them down if they liked, or they could take them away if they would be able to do so. In consequence of these arguments which the Sultan had made at his own figure, the North Polar Practical Association was as much proprietor of this country as they already were to the polar region. The reception which President Barbeque and Captain Nicole received at Kisonga was very cordial. Bali Bali displayed an admiration amounting to adoration for the celebrated travelers who had made this dangerous voyage to reach the country around the North Pole. He had in short an extraordinary sympathy for the creators of these mysterious operations which were going to be accomplished in his kingdom. He also promised them absolute secrecy on his part as well as on the part of his people whose cooperation was assured to them. Not a single Negro who worked at their shop would be allowed to leave them for a single day under pain of the most severe punishment. This is how this operation was veiled in mystery so that the most active and sharpest agents of America and Europe failed to penetrate it. If it was finally discovered, it must have been that the Sultan modified his severe rules after the accomplishment of the works and that there were traitors and babblers, even amongst the Negroes. In this way, Richard W. Trust, consul at Zanzibar, had received wind of what was going on at Kilimanjaro. But then at that date, the 13th of September, it was too late to stop President Barbeque in the accomplishment of his design. And now, why had Barbeque and company chosen the wamasai for the theater of their operations? First, because the country suited them in regard to its geographical situation, as it was in a very little known part of Africa, and it was very far from the territory usually visited by travelers. Then the mass of Kilimanjaro offered them all the qualities of solidity and material necessary for their work. And, moreover, on the surface of this country were found the raw materials which they needed in a condition very easy to handle. A few months before leaving the United States, President Barbeque had learned from the Swedish explorer that at the foot of Kilimanjaro, iron and coal were plentiful on the ground. No mines to dig into, no fields to explore, a thousand feet deep in the earth's shell, iron and coal were so plentiful, even for this great undertaking, that they only had to stoop down to pick it up. In other words, there existed in the neighborhood of this mountain enormous fields of nitrate of soda and of iron perites, which were necessary for the manufacture of molymalineite. President Barbeque and Captain Nicole had taken with them only 10 people of whom there were absolutely sure and no one else. These 10 men had to supervise the 10,000 Negroes put at their disposal while valley-valley, and to them was given the task of manufacturing the monster cannon and its not less monster projectile. Two weeks after the arrival of President Barbeque and his associate at Guamasi, three large workshops were established at the southern foot of Kilimanjaro, one for the cannon foundry, the second for the manufacture of the projectile, and the third for the manufacture of the molymalineite. Now, first of all, how had Barbeque and the company met the problem of manufacturing a cannon of such colossal dimensions? We will see and understand at the same time that the difficulty of creating such a device was not easily comprehensible by the inhabitants of the world. In reality, the making of a cannon a million times larger than that of the 27 centimeters was a superhuman work. Already great difficulties had been met in the manufacture of pieces of 42 centimeters long, which would throw a projectile of 780 kilos with 274 kilograms of powder. Barbeque and the company did not think of these difficulties. It was not a cannon, not even a mortar, which they intended to make, but simply a gallery board in the massive rock of Kilimanjaro, a shaft of a mine, if you wish to call it so. Evidently, this shaft of a mine, this enormous elongated mine, could replace a metal cannon, the location of which would have been as dear as difficult and to which it would be necessary to give an unwieldy thickness to avoid all risk of an explosion. Barbeque and the company had always entertained the idea of operating in this manner, and if the notebook of J.T. Mastin mentioned a cannon, it was that of 27 centimeters which had been used in the calculations as a basis. Consequently, a spot was chosen at a height of 100 feet on the southern slope of the chain. Nothing would be in the way of the projectile when it would fly out of the mouth of this tunnel bored in the massive rock of the Kilimanjaro. It was with extreme precision and not without very hard work that the men could dig this gallery. But Barbeque and the company could readily make preparations with simple machines put in action by means of compressed air which was secured by using the powerful falls of water from the mountains. In the holes bored through the headings of the shaft were placed charges of mollambulinite, and nothing was more necessary than this violent explosive to shiver the rock extremely as hard as it was. The thousands of workmen led by their ten cooperators under the general direction of Barbeque and company labored with a great deal of zeal and intelligence to bring the work to a speedy end. At the end of six months, the shaft measured 27 meters in diameter and the lining of it 6 meters in thickness. As it was absolutely necessary that the projectile should glide through the board perfectly smooth, the interior of it was covered with the casting exactly prepared. In reality, this part of the work was very similar to that of a celebrated Columbia of Moon City, which had sent the projectile to the moon. But such work as this was impossible to the ordinary engineers of this world at present. As soon as the boring was finished, the workmen pushed on with the work at the second workshop. At the same time that this metallic lining was being made, they were also employed at making the enormous projectile. For this operation it was necessary to obtain a cylindrical mass, which would weigh 80 million kilograms or 180,000 tons. It must be understood that there was never any idea of melting this projectile into one single piece. It had to be manufactured in thousand-ton pieces, which would be hoisted one after the other into the shaft and put in place over the chamber where the mellum and night was stored. After having been jointed each to the other, these pieces would form a compact hole which would fit the sides of the tubular lining. In regard to the construction of the massive furnaces to affect the melting of the metal, there was met perhaps the greatest difficulty. Ten furnaces of ten meters each in height were at the end of a month in working order and able to produce each 180 tons per day. This would be 1,800 tons for 24 hours, 180,000 tons after 100 work days. In regard to the third workshop made for the manufacture of the mellum and night, the work was easily done but under such secret precautions that the composition of this explosive it has not been possible to state perfectly. Everything went along splendidly. It could not have been possible to have met with more success in any factory. One would hardly expect to escape an accident of some sort on a 300,000-frag job. It is easily understood that the sultan was delighted. We followed the operation with a considerable interest and the presence of his majesty helped greatly to make these negroes work as hard as possible. One day, Bally Bally asked what all these operations were going on for. He received his reply from President Barbeque. It is works that he which will change the face of the earth a work which will bring the greatest glory on the greatest sultan of all the eastern kings. By the 29th of August the works were entirely finished. The shaft was bored to the wished four-point. It was provided with a smooth bore with a 6 meters diameter. At the bottom of the shaft replaced the 2,000 tons of melamineite then came the projectile 105 meters long. After deducting the space occupied by the powder and projectile there remained still 492 meters before the muzzle was reached which secured all the effect possible that a recoil produced by the expansion of the gas. Now the first question which might come up was would the projectile deviate from the trajectory assigned to it in no way for the calculations were absolutely correct. They indicated to what extent the projectile would deviate to the east of the meridian of Kilimanjaro because of the rotation on the earth of its axis and what would be the form or the curve which it would describe because of its enormous initial velocity. Secondly would it be visible during its course? No, because in going out of the shaft it would be thrown in the shadow of the earth and it could not be seen. For inconsequence of its low trajectory it would have a very sharp angle of velocity compared with the earth's course. In fact, Barbican and Captain Nicole could well be proud of their work which had so far succeeded in its every detail. Why was JT Mastin not there to watch this great operation founded on the figuring which he had done and who was it that kept him so far away so very far when this terrible detonation would wake the echoes as far as the furthest horizon of Africa? Thinking of him, his two associates did not know that the secretary had been compelled to keep him away from ballistic cottage after having got out of prison and hidden himself in a safe place from the savage people. They did not know to what extent indignation had been roused against the engineer of the NPPA. They did not know that they too would have been burnt or hanged and tortured to death if it had been possible to have reached them. Really, they ought to have been glad that at the moment when the shooting would take place, they would only be saluted by the cries of the sneaker people of eastern Africa. At last, said Captain Nicole to President Barbican, when on the 22nd of September, they were standing before their finished work. Yes, at last, said Impay Barbican. For the chance it was the place at our disposition, this admirable melanite, said Captain Nicole, which will make you the most illustrious person on the earth, Nicole. Without doubt, Barbican, modestly answered Captain Nicole, but do you know how much it would have been necessary to dig out Kilimanjaro if we had only gun cotton equal to that which threw a projectile to the moon? How much, Nicole? 180 galleries, Barbican. Well, we would have dig them, Captain. And 180 projectiles of 180,000 times. We would have melted them, Nicole. It was useless to expect reasonable conversation between two persons of this type. But after they made the trip to the moon, what would they not be capable of? Only a few hours before the minute when the gun was to be fired, and while President Barbican and Captain Nicole were congratulating themselves, Alcide Pidoux closeted in his studio at Baltimore uttered a cry of hurrah, as if he were crazy. Then, suddenly, getting up from the table which was covered with figures and calculations, he cried out, ah, what a fool Mastin is, what a stupid fellow. His whole program would go in the suit, Christopher Columbus. Why did I not see this before? If I only knew where he was at this moment, I would not have seen him to have supper with me and to sip a glass of champagne at the very moment when they are going to fire off the gun. And after these and many exclamations which he generally used in playing with, he said, oh, the fool, without a doubt he must have been dull when he made these calculations for this affair of Kilimanjaro. He will find it very necessary to make another. Know what a fool with his canon. End of Chapter 17 Recording by Jean Loft Chapter 18 Chapter 18 of Topsy-Turvy This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Topsy-Turvy by Jules Verne translated by Anonymous. Chapter 18 in which the population of Omasai assembled to hear President Barbican say, fire to Captain Nicol. It was in the evening of the 22nd of September that memorable date which public opinion credited with an influence as unlucky as that of the 1st of January of the year 1000. Twelve hours after the sun had passed the meridian of Kilimanjaro, that is at midnight, Captain Nicol was to touch off the terrible canon. Kilimanjaro being 35 degrees east of the meridian of Paris and Baltimore 79 degrees east of said meridian, there was a difference of 114 degrees between these two places or 456 minutes in time or 7 hours and 36 minutes. So the exact moment at which the shooting would take place would be 5 hours and 24 minutes post meridian in that great city of Maryland. The weather was magnificent. The sun had just gone down on the plains of Omasai behind a horizon of perfect purity. It was impossible to wish for a prettier night, one more calm or starry in which to throw the projectile across space. Not a cloud would be mixed with the artificial vapors developed by the deflagration of the melan-melanite. They were not able to get into the projectile. In the first second, they would have traveled 28,000 kilometers. Sultan Bali Bali with the great personages of his court, that is his finance ministers and his ministers of public works together with the black brigade who had helped in the great work were all assembled to watch the different steps of the shooting. But with great precaution a position three kilometers from the shaft board in the Kilimanjaro so that they would have nothing to fear from the concussion of the air. Several thousand natives deputed from Kisango and neighboring states in the south of the province by the orders of the Sultan were present to witness this splendid spectacle. A wire was stretched connecting an electric battery to the touch hole of the shaft ready to send the current and start the deflagration in the middle of the night. As a preliminary, an excellent meal had been served at the table of the Sultan for his American guests and the persons of his court all at the expense of Bali Bali who did everything very grandly as long as he was reimbursed by the members of the firm of Barbican and Company. It was eleven o'clock when this feast commenced at seven thirty was finished and at the end of it the Sultan proposed a toast to the members of the NPPA and to the success of their great enterprise. An hour yet and the change in the geographical and climatic conditions of the earth would be accomplished. President Barbican, his associate and his ten helpers took their places around the cannon to the interior of which ran the wire of the electric battery. Barbican with his chronometer in his hand counted the minutes and never in his life did they seem to belong to him. The minutes seemed not merely years but centuries. At ten minutes before midnight Captain Nickel and Barbican approached the key which put the electric thread in communication with the shaft of Kilimanjaro. The Sultan, his court and the crowd of natives formed an immense circle around the cannon. It was important that the shooting should take place at the exact moment that is at the moment when the sun would cut that equinoctial line which it would never leave again in its apparent orbit around the earth. 5 minutes to 12 4 minutes 3 minutes 2 minutes 1 minute to 12 President Barbican watched the hands of his chronometer lighted by a lantern which was held by one of his helpers while Captain Nickel, one of the apparatus was ready to connect the circuit of electricity. 20 seconds 10 seconds 5 seconds 1 second not the slightest tremor could be noted in the hand of the impassive Nickel. His partner and himself were no more excited then at the moment when they waited sitting in the projectile for the Columbia to fire them to the regions of the moon. At this moment Captain Nickel pressed the button. A terrible detonation followed the echoes of which spread to the furthest corners of the province of Omasai. A sharp whistle passed the crowd a terrible rush of air caused by the milleards of milleards of measures of gas made by the instantaneous deflagrations of the 2,000 tons of melamelenite. It might be described as one of those meteors in which all the violence of nature is accumulated sweeping across the earth. The effect could not have been more terrible if all the cannons of the whole globe had been joined together with all the thunderbolts of heaven at all had united in one grand report. End of Chapter 18 recorded by David Lawrence April 2010 in Brampton, Ontario Chapter 19 of Topsy Turvey This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Patty Cunningham Topsy Turvey by Jules Verne Translated by Anonymous Chapter 19 in which JT masked and regrets that the crowd did not lynch him when he was in prison. The capitals of two worlds the largest cities as well as the smaller ones stood waiting terror-stricken. Thanks to the journals which had published the news broadcast over the world everyone knew the precise hour at which the shooting would take place and the local hour which corresponded with that of Kilimanjaro situated 35 degrees east allowing for the difference of longitude. A few of the principal cities the sun traveling a degree in four minutes were as follows at Paris 9.40 p.m. at St. Petersburg 11.31 p.m. at London 9.30 p.m. at Rome 10.20 p.m. at Madrid 9.15 p.m. at Berlin 11.20 p.m. at Constantinople 11.26 p.m. at Calcutta 304 a.m. at Nanking 505 a.m. Baltimore it was said twelve hours after the passage of the sun of the meridian of Kilimanjaro it was 5.24 p.m. it is impossible to describe the pangs which were produced at this moment the most powerful of modern pens would be helpless at the task the people of Baltimore stood fearing that they would be swept off the surface of the earth by the terrible mass of water which would fall on their city they expected to see the Bay of Chesapeake empty itself upon them then besides the city even should the waters not come upon it would be terribly shaken up by the shock which would be produced the monuments would be destroyed its best quarter swallowed up at the bottom of the abysses which would open through the surface of the ground these fears ran through the different parts of the globe which were not scheduled for submersion by the upheaval of the oceans every human being felt the marrow in his bones creep and shake at this fearful moment yes all trembled all save one person and that one was the engineer Alcide Pyrdot as he had not had time to make known to the public the discoveries which he had made by means of his last calculations he drank a bumper of champagne to the health of both worlds in the cafe of one of the best known hotels just as the 24th minute after 5 o'clock corresponding with midnight at Kilimanjaro was reached at Baltimore nothing at London, Paris, Constantinople Berlin nothing, not the least shock Mr. John Milne standing in his coal mine at Shemakui with a seismometer which he had arranged there did not note the least abnormal movement in the earth's shell in this part of the globe in Baltimore the heavens were cloudy and it was impossible to note in the apparent movement of the stars which would have indicated the change in the earth's axis what a night J.T. Mastin passed in his place of safety which was unknown to all save Mrs. Evangelina Scorpit he was beside himself this visionary engineer he could not rest in his place of hiding he seemed to have grown old in one day and look sharply out to see if the daily course of the sun was modified this would have been a certain proof of the success of his work this change could not be seen even on the morning of the 23rd of September because at this date the star invariably rises in the east for all points of the globe the next day the sun travelled over the horizon the same as it had always done the European delegates had assembled on the platform of their hotel they had by their side instruments of extreme precision which would enable them to note if the sun took a course in the direction of the equator a few minutes after the rising of the sun the great disk inclined away towards the Australian Hemisphere nothing was changed in its apparent course Major Donnellan and his associates saluted the heavenly torch with enthusiastic haras and gave it a reception like a favourite star in the theatre the heavens were in superb condition the horizon free from the vapours of the night never did the great sun god present a more beautiful aspect in such splendid condition before the astonished public and precisely at the place marked by the laws of astronomy said Eric Baldenac Yes, by our old astronomy said Boris Karkov and these fools pretended to destroy it well, they will have their expenses to pay and ridicule to endure besides added Jacques Jansen by whose voice Holland seemed to speak all alone and the Arctic regions will eternally stay under the ice as they have discovered said Professor Jan Harald Hurrah for the sun said Major Donnellan such as it is, it has been and always will be sufficient for our earth Hurrah, hurrah repeated in a single voice the representatives of old Europe at this moment Dean Tudrink who had not said anything so far made this very cautious remark but perhaps they did not shoot yet not shoot yet said the Major heaven grant that they have fired off the cannon twice rather than once and that was exactly what J. T. Mastin and Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet were saying the wise and the ignorant were united this time by the logic of the situation even Alcide Perdot repeated it and added even if they did shoot, what is the difference the earth will not stop waltzing on its old axis and turning as it used to do in fact no one knew what had happened at Kilimanjaro but at the close of the day an answer came to the question which was engrossing the attention of mankind a cable-gram arrived in the United States and here is what this dispatch sent by Richard W. Trust consulate Zanzibar contained Zanzibar September 23, 7.25 a.m. to John S. Wright minister of state the cannon was fired off yesterday evening at midnight exactly by the device board in the southern part of Kilimanjaro passage of the projectile was accompanied with a powerful whirl and a terrible detonation whole provinces destroyed by the concussion of the air ocean agitated as far as Mozambique Channel a large number of vessels disabled and thrown on the coast towns and villages destroyed everything else is well Richard W. Trust yes everything else went on well nothing had been changed in the state of worldly affairs save the terrible disasters produced in Wamosai which was partly deluged by the artificial waterspout and the shipwrecks which were produced by the current of air the same thing precisely happened when the Columbia threw its projectile to the moon the shock to the ground of Florida was it not felt through a radius of a hundred miles yes certainly but this time the effect should have been a hundred times stronger whatever had happened the dispatch gave two pieces of information to the interested people of the old and new worlds first that the enormous cannon had been erected in the flank of Kilimanjaro second that the gun had been fired at the fixed hour and now the whole world uttered an exclamation of intense satisfaction followed by a great burst of laughter the trial which Barbican and Co. had made had entirely failed the calculations of J.T. Mastin were good only for the wastebasket the N.P.P.A. could only announce its failure but perhaps it might be that the Secretary of the Gun Club had made a mistake in his calculations rather would I believe that I have been mistaken in the affection which I feel for him said Mrs. Avengelina Skorbit but beyond all the most discontented human being was J.T. Mastin when he saw that nothing had been changed in the movement of the earth that the conditions remained precisely the same as they were since the creation he hoped that some accident had prevented the success of Barbican and Co. and that his associates had met with some disaster but there was the cable-gram from Zanzibar which stated without a doubt that the operation had taken place failed and what of the formulas and calculations on which he had spent so much time is it possible that a cylinder 600 meters long 27 meters wide throwing a projectile of 180,000 kilograms with a deflagration of 200 tons of millimonite with an initial velocity of 2800 kilometers would not be sufficient to move the earthly axis it did not seem probable but why? so J.T. Mastin in a state of violent excitement declared that he would quit his retreat Mrs. Evangelina Scorbit tried in vain to prevent it not that she feared for his life as all danger of that sort had passed but the insults which he would have to bear the jokes which would be cracked about him the remarks which would be made in regard to his work she wanted to spare him from these and then moreover what would his associates of the gun clubs say? did they not have to thank this man for the want of success of their operation and for making them ridiculous? was he not the man who had figured out the whole affair and on whose shoulders rested all the responsibility? J.T. Mastin would not listen to any one he resisted the begging and tears of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbit he went out of the house where he had kept himself hiding he was recognized and those who had trembled for fear of the consequences of his work now took revenge by joking and laughing at him and this in many thousand different ways he was forced to listen to jeering remarks even from the street gammons ah they shouted here is he who wanted to change the axis of the earth who wanted to discover coal mines around the North Pole who even wanted to remove it in short the secretary of the gun club was compelled to return to the mansion of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbit who used all her wealth of tenderness to console him it was in vain however J.T. Mastin could not be consoled as his cannon had produced upon the earth's sphere no more effect than a simple pop gun would have done a fortnight went by in this way and the world resumed its daily routine and did not even think any longer of the projects of the NPPA a fortnight and no news yet from President Barbican and Captain Nickel had they perished by the discharge in the land of Wa Masai had they sacrificed their lives in the most mysterious operation of modern times no after the detonation both were overthrown along with the Sultan and his court and a thousand natives in one grand tumble but they all got up after a little time strong and hearty did you succeed asked Wally Wally rubbing his shoulder do you doubt it me doubt it but when will you know in a few days said Barbican did he appreciate that the operation had failed perhaps but he never would have acknowledged it before the Sultan at Wa Masai 48 hours later the two partners had taken leave of Wa Masai not however before having paid an enormous sum for the damage done to the country as this amount of money went into the private purse of the Sultan and as his subjects did not receive one cent of it he had no reason to complain of the operation then the two associates followed by their ten helpers reached Zanzibar where they found a vessel to take them to Suez from there under false names the steamer Morris brought them to Marseille then they took the train to Paris they arrived without having had any collision or accident and taking the railroad to Avra they arrived in time to go to America by the Borgoyne of the transatlantic line in twenty-two days they made the trip from Wa Masai to New York and on the fifteenth day of October the two knocked at the door of the mansion of New Park at three minutes past noon an instant afterwards they found themselves in the presence of Mrs. Evangelina Skorbit and J.T. Mastin End of Chapter 19 Recording by Patty Cunningham Chapters 20 and 21 of Topsy Turvy This is the LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Topsy Turvy by Jules Verne translated by Anonymous Chapter 20 in which this story as truthful as it is improbable is finished Barbican Nickel Mastin You We and in this plural pronoun uttered simultaneously by the two associates in a single voice might be heard of flood of irony and reproaches J.T. Mastin pressed his iron hook on his forehead Then, with a voice which seemed to stick in his throat he said Did your shaft at Kilimanjaro really have a diameter of 27 meters? Yes, sir Did your projectile really weigh 180 millions of kilograms? Yes And was the shooting really done with two thousand pounds of melomolonite? Yes This thrace repeated yes fell on J.T. Mastin like masses of stone on his head Then I can only conclude he said What? asked President Barbican As follows said J.T. Mastin As the operation did not succeed the powder did not give to the projectile an initial velocity of 2800 kilometers Really? said Captain Nickel with a tone of sarcasm Yes Your melomolonite is only good to charge pistols of straw Captain Nickel sprang up at this remark which was an outrageous insult to him Mastin, he said Nickel You ought to be blowing up with the melomolonite No, gun-cotton, that is more sure Mrs. Evangelina Scorpit had to interfere and cool these two enraged gunners down Gentlemen, she said, between associates And anyhow President Barbican resumed with a very calm expression What is the good of criminations? It is certain that the calculations of our friend J.T. Mastin were correct As it is certain that the explosive of our friend Nickel had sufficient power Yes, we have only employed no one quantities of science We lacked experience Why did we fail? Perhaps we may never know Well, said the Secretary of the Gun Club we will commence all over again And the money which has been spent for this operation is a dead loss, observed Captain Nickel But public opinion, said Evangelina Scorpit will not allow you a second trial What will become of our Arctic region, said Captain Nickel Where will the stock of the NPPA fall to? said President Barbican Well, it has already fallen so far that the stock was offered at the price of old paper This then was the result of the gigantic operation This was the memorable fiasco to which the superhuman projects of Barbican and company had led If ever engineers, unlucky engineers were laughed at in public If ever the newspaper made drawings, songs and paragraphs not at all flattering to the people mentioned in them This occasion exceeded them all President Barbican, the directors of the new society and their associates of the gun club were universally sneered at In every language they were made ridiculous And to make it easier to the whole population of the world to read the scornful articles were printed in Volapook In Europe, especially all the remarks and songs to make the persons of the NPPA ridiculous were spread broadcast The great hit was made by a Frenchman who composed the ballad which was sung in every concert hall in France and America But will we never know to what the failure of this enterprise was due? Did this failure prove that the operation was impossible of realisation? That the powers at the disposal of mankind would never be sufficient to bring about a change in the earth's movement? Did it prove that the country around the North Pole would be removed to those regions where the sun and heat would melt the ice without human help? Information on this subject came a few days after the return of President Barbican and Captain Nicol to the United States A very simple paragraph appeared in the Times of the 17th of October Here is the article We all know that the result of the operation to create a new axis has been nothing However, the calculations of J. T. Mastin, founded on established facts would have produced the desired result if, through an unexplainable slip an error had not been embraced in them from the beginning When the celebrated secretary of the gun club took for a basis of his calculations the circumference of the earth's sphere he figured it at 40,000 metres in place of 40 million metres and to which the failing of the operation is due Where could such an error come from? Who could have provoked it? How could such a remarkable calculator commit such an error? It is certain that had the problem of the modification of the earth's axis being correctly figured it would have had been exactly solved but this forgetting of three zeros has made a change at the end of the calculation of twelve knots It is not a canon one million times larger than that of 27 centimetres which was necessary A trillion of these canons throwing a trillion projectiles of 80,000 tonnes each would be necessary to displace the North Pole Admitting that the melomelonite had the expansive power which had been attributed to it by Captain Nickel Therefore the whole shock under the conditions under which it was produced has displace the North Pole only three thousandths of a millimetre and has only changed the level of the ocean to the most nine thousandths of three thousandths of a millimetre In regard to the projectile fired it will be a small planet and will belong in future to the solar system sustained by solar attraction outside Pirdu So this want of attention on the part of J.T. Mastin at the beginning of his calculations had produced such a humiliating result for his company But even if his associates were very angry against him if everybody laughed and joked at him it is only fair to state in his favour that this mistake which had wrecked the operation had spared the world a terrible catastrophe A flood of telegrams and letters arrived from all parts of the world congratulating J.T. Mastin on his mistake of three knots J.T. Mastin, more downhearted and crushed than ever would not listen to the hurrahs which the world now uttered for him President Barbican, Captain Nickel, Tom Hunter with the wooden legs, Colonel Bloomsbury the gay Billsby and his associates would never pardon him but Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet she could not be angry with him, most excellent lady J.T. Mastin had begun to do his calculations over again refusing to admit that he was wrong on that point He was, however the engineer, outside Perdue, had not made a mistake having learnt his error at the last moment when he had no time to make it known he had remained perfectly composed among all the fright and terror of those about him That was why he proposed a toast of champagne at the moment when the shooting was taking place in the old world Yes indeed, three knots had been forgotten in the circumference of the earth Suddenly J.T. Mastin remembered the whole matter It was the beginning of his work when he had shut himself up in the ballistic cottage and written the number 40 million on his blackboard At that moment the electric bell began to ring with great force J.T. Mastin went to the phone He exchanged a few words with Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet Suddenly a terrible stroke of lightning from the storm through the telephone knocked over his blackboard and himself He got up, commenced to write over again the numbers which had been halved rubbed out on his blackboard He had just written the numbers 40,000 when the telephone rang for the second time He went again to listen to Madame Scorbet and when he did begin his work he forgot to put on the last three knots of the earth's circumference It was the fault of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet If she had not interrupted him he would not have been thrown on the floor by the shock from the telephone He would not have noticed anything of lightning and thunder and all his mass of figures and calculations would not have ended in a mistake What a terrible blow it was to this unhappy lady when J.T. Mastin was compelled to tell her the circumstances which had produced the mistake Yes, she was the cause of the disaster It was on her account that J.T. Mastin found himself dishonored through the long years which he had yet to live as nearly every member of the gun club usually lived to the age of a hundred years After this conversation at New Park J.T. Mastin had gone away from the mansion He went back to his ballistic cottage and walked into his study muttering to himself Well, now I am not good for anything any more in this world Not even good enough to get married? said a broken voice at his elbow It was that of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet absolutely crushed and heartbroken she had followed him Dear Mastin, she began Well, yes, he said but only under one condition that I shall never make any mathematical calculations My dear friend, I have a horror of them and to the excellent widow Thus it happened that the secretary of the gun club made Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet Mrs. J.T. Mastin In regard to the article of outside pierdue we might say that it brought him into great celebrity and reputation It was translated into all languages printed in every paper and thus his name became known all over the world The father of his old sweetheart had refused him his daughter's hand after telling him that he could not give him his daughter as he was too smart But now, after having read his article and being unable to understand it without any help he began to feel sorry and know better He sent him an invitation to dine with him and his daughter Chapter 21 Very short Since enough has been said to make the world's population feel perfectly sure again And now the inhabitants of the world could again be perfectly easy President Barbican and Captain Nicol will not again begin that enterprise so woefully miscarried J.T. Mastin will not again figure out any calculations however free from mistakes The article of outside pierdue has told the truth What the law of mechanics proves to us is that to produce a displacement of the axis of 23 degrees and 28 minutes even with the melamelenite a trillion cannon similar to the one which had been bored into the cliff of Kilimanjaro would be necessary But our whole sphere bored over its whole surface is too small to accommodate them Therefore the inhabitants of the earth may sleep in peace to modify the conditions in which the earth is moving is beyond the efforts of humanity It is not meat that mere humanity should change anything in the order established by our creator in the system of the universe End of The Voyage Extraordinaire End of Chapters 20 and 21 Recording by David Lawrence May 2010 in Brampton, Ontario End of Topsy Turvy by Jules Verne Translated by Anonymous