 CHAPTER 15 A WORLD OF HIGHEST INVENTION After my profitable stay in this immense solar system in the Milky Way, I crossed the vast dome of the heavens and lighted on Sirius, the brightest star in all the canopy of night. Here I found the fire-life of Alpha Centaurus, repeated, but I did not pause to study the odd phases presented to my view. Onward I moved to survey the remarkable systems of worlds that revolve around Sirius. It is a veritable medley of planets, large and small, inhabited and barren, sinless, sinful and millennial, a little universe packed in a nutshell, figuratively speaking. The orb of this group that first held my attention is very notable indeed. I have labeled it high invention, and it is still entitled to that distinction. It revolves around Sirius at a distance of 7 million miles and is 33 times as large as our world, with physical features and climate quite dissimilar. Here in this world of ours we are proud of the wonderful genius displayed by our inventors, and is not this conceit pardonable? If this world should stand and inventive genius continue at its present compound rate of progress, what may we expect to see a hundred or a thousand years hence? Now imagine yourself looking down upon a world where the highest inventive skill is found. Such was my privilege at this time in the course of my universal journey. This surprising world is inhabited by a persevering race of human beings, among whom are a large number of illustrious characters who walk in the light of 10,000 years of human achievements. It need not be said that I was intensely interested in a study of this phenomenal world, which I will call ploid. I went from one portion of the planet to another, continually remaining invisible. After I had witnessed the unequal sights, I paused to complete my memoranda, and now, as I review my jottings, I am at a loss to know what few things I should select to try to make intelligible to my fellow men who live on this infinitesimal speck which is our world. First, let me call attention to their triumphs in the vegetable kingdom. The people of ploid have in their possession a remarkable line of fertilizers, not in the form of ground bones, but assiduous juices. These juices were improved for 3,000 years until there was a particular liquid suited to each separate class of vegetables. As used at the present time, a certain amount of the growth acid is poured directly about the seed at the time of planting. This acid has a magical effect upon the soil, and it is possible, by repeated fertilizing, to raise in two weeks a crop of zoftas, a vegetable similar to our potatoes. For raising a crop in two weeks, the fertilizer costs one half the value of the zoftas, and for maturing a crop in four weeks, the fertilizer costs about three eighths of the value of the zoftas. Thus it is possible to raise six of these crops in one of our years. This law obtains throughout the whole vegetable creation. However, in ordinary circumstances, the stimulating acid is used in very light quantities. The people have learned by experience that vegetables have a better flavor when they have been brought to maturity by the slower process. These wonderful fertilizers are a blessed boon in the time of crop failures, for then the same crop can be grown anew from the seed and hurried to maturity before the close of the season. The curse of the vegetable worms has been reduced to a minimum on this world of ploid. The chemists have labored patiently for 1,000 years to produce a substance that will not destroy vegetable seed, and at the same time kill all forms of parasites. The results have been gratifying, and with considerable pleasure I viewed a garden of the various odd-shaped vegetables that are grown without being repulsed at the sight of such crawling specimens as tomato and cabbage worms. The happiest result of this worm-killing substance is seen in the work it accomplishes on fruit and nut trees. There is triple the variety of nuts on ploid, and they are used for food more generally than in our world. There is no such an animal as a hog, and no lard is used. The substitute is found in four varieties of nut oil, the result of a sweet and clean vegetable growth. Nuts are raised in great abundance, for they also supply the base for a spread just as appetizing and more economical than butter. The ploidites have been traveling in the air for 2,500 years, but they cannot control their airship sufficiently in all kinds of weather. The atmosphere of ploid is relatively lighter than ours, which has made aerial travel more difficult to perfect than it would be in our world. The main traffic, both passenger and freight, is carried on by the tube line, a wonderful system perfected through thousands of years of painstaking labor. Two immense tubes lying side by side, each 10 feet in diameter, made of a substance more durable than steel, form the roadbed of this lightning system of travel. The cigar-shaped cars have hard rubber wheels and fit over raised bars all around on the inside of the immense tube. The motor power is called sky-rollic and is communicated throughout the whole tube line by brosis, a porous metal running in thin narrow bands. This tube line runs without a curve from one division of the road to another, except in rare cases where a bend is absolutely necessary. In a mountainous region, I noticed a stretch of tube line without a bend running 60 miles according to our measurement. On prairies, the unbroken stretches are much longer. The cars in this tube line travel with fearful rapidity. It requires two or three miles to reach dashing speed, after which a run of 50 miles is made in 8 or 10 minutes. No precaution need be taken by the motormen as nothing can get into the tube and only one train is allowed in a section at one time. Certain hours are given to passenger traffic and others to freight traffic. An immense amount of freight can thus be carried in one hour. It is possible to send a through freight car 2,000 miles in 10 or 12 hours. Express cars are never connected with passenger cars. They are run on their own schedule and sometimes attached to freight cars. This immense tube line was built by the government at great expense, but it is proving very satisfactory. No storms or floods interfere. No great crossings and no flying dust are known in this tube line, which has brought the ends of ploid together. Think of a person crossing a vast continent in a distance of 1,000 miles in a day. For the cars in this tube line run with frightful speed across the long stretches of level. They make as high as a 300 mile run in 40 minutes without stopping. The signal and telegraph stations are 50 miles apart, sometimes more. In these long runs, the motorman stops only when a signal is turned against him or if by accident he discerns a train in the tube ahead of him. The tube line is lighted by oval transparencies in size and shape resembling an egg soldered in specially prepared holes of the tube. The cars are not supplied with air from the tube. Fresh air is obtained from the evaporation of a semi-solid. On the top of this tube line there is a double railroad used for local travel, both passenger and freight. There are storage batteries. Compared with our world, the fuel of ploid is very scarce, but less is required to supply the industries. Nearly all power is obtained from the winds, running water, and the sun's energy. The winds are harnessed so that they blow not in vain. Almost every home of ordinary intelligence owns one of the many kinds of storage batteries used in this world. These batteries are usually located beneath the lowest floor of the house, and they constitute the reservoir whence is obtained the necessary power for lighting, heating, and cooling the apartments of the home. People who live along streams of water utilize these streams for similar purposes. It is now conceded in ploid that the storage batteries of the home can be supplied as economically and effectively by winds and the sun's heat as by running streams. Hence, it is a common sight to see residences throwing out the old water machinery and introducing the latest design of wind employers or sun harnessers. There are certain emergencies when the storage batteries fail to work or when the power is exhausted. This happens when there is a very slight wind for several days or a heavy drain of power. In such cases, fuel is used for heating and lighting. Palaces of ploid. The palaces of ploid are dreams of beauty and convenience, outshining and surpassing by far the finest mansions on the face of our globe. In these abodes, the sum total of glory and convenience converges, flowing from almost numberless discoveries during the last 100 years. In round numbers there have been 500,000 patents issued in the United States in the 19th century. But the ploidites excel us by double that number for a similar territorial limit. The reward of inventors. Patents are not issued in ploid. The government gives liberal rewards to each inventor or discoverer. The applicant appears personally before the district committee on inventions. If this committee considers the invention worthy of a reward, the applicant is recommended to one of the central committees at the seat of the government. This central committee carefully considers the invention or discovery, places on it an estimate as to its local or governmental value, and fills out papers in accordance with its findings. This paper must be signed by the chief inventor, and the applicant at once receives his first installment, which is continued, in some instances during natural life. In the case of some extraordinary invention, the immediate relatives of the inventor are penchant for five or ten years in his honor. Naturally, under this system, the government owns all inventions, and reaps a heavy return from them, enough to pay all the installments to the inventors and the officer's employee to carry on this branch of the government work. Some particular inventions. One of the most convenient inventions I saw on this planet of ploid was the carrying of a photograph or image along a wire. The people of ploid cannot only talk to one another many miles apart, but they can also see each other while they are talking. This wonderful attachment to their telephones, by which the human face is also carried over the wire, was perfected over one thousand years ago. I herewith give a few uses to which this invention is applied. One, office men have photograph wires connected with their homes, and they can thus talk to and see any one of the family at their pleasure. Two, it can be so arranged that the wife in the home can, by touching a little knob, see into her husband's office with which the wire is connected, or the husband in the office can see into the room of the house with which the connection is made. At either end of the wire, the vision can be obstructed by drawing a curtain over the sensitive plate. Three, the foreman of an industrial workshop can see from his home the men under his charge. Four, the superintendent of any large works can, at his will, peer into any apartment he wishes from his head office. The advantages of this arrangement can be easily seen. Five, a minister can see from his study the nature of the ploid. Six, farmers can watch their cattle and their fruits without leaving the house or barn, according to where the connections are made. Seven, persons can be in bed at night, and if they imagine they hear a robber in any room, they can first turn on the photograph current, and then the light flash. In this way, one can look without leaving his bed into each room of the house. Having given a few illustrations of this marvelous invention, the reader can readily see the variety of uses which it will serve. Their latest discovery in light is a decided improvement over our electric light. I know of no sensible name to give it, but the name that comes nearest to describing it, according to the author of the book, the author of the book, the author of theülercateria, will decide to find what can be seen with light in three hours. This type of light indicates that no other information are available beyond the age of ploid, because the colour of lightheads are shown to describe light. That is Christ. Are we to spend the hour talking about the light, because we can really three general periods of ages, one age of fire, two temperate age, three age of ice. The people teach that there was a race of human beings who inhabited their world when it was yet in a molten state and that, as their earth cooled off, the race became extinct. This age, they claim, was followed by the temperate age, or the age in which they are now living. It is also claimed that, when their earth cools and the frigid blasts freeze out the world, there will gradually commence the age of ice, or the age in which human species will exist by reason of the earth's stiff coldness. I had no way of learning the truth or falsity of this theory. About photography. These ploidites have distanced us in the study of the nervous system, including the intricate problems of the cerebrum and cerebellum. They have ascertained, by long ages of observation and experimenting, the exact effect of every kind of impulse on the brain matter. The experts are able to tell, at a postmortem examination, what kinds of thinking were most prevalent during the subject's life, just as easily as we can judge the great or little use of the arm by an examination of its muscles. But more wonderful, a thousandfold, is their ability to follow the course of thought in a living cerebrum after the brain has been made visible by a light more potent than the X-ray. After this exposure, the operator, with his wizard magnifying lens, watches the tiny tremulous brain cells in their infinitesimal quivering as they carry messages from the soul to the world of sense and being. The voluntary nerve action is distinguished from the involuntary, and there is no escape from the conclusions formed by an expert observer. The parts of the brain at work must of necessity determine the nature of the thought and amplified experiments have been made to prove the correctness of these processes. This scientific mind reading impressed me as the highest expression of inventive skill that had come to my attention in any world of space and gave me new light on some of the old mysteries of mind and matter. I tarried as long as possible on this instructive planet and have not yet forgotten many of the valuable hints of inventions that can be reproduced in my own world. Surely we are far enough away from ploy to escape any charge of infringement should we proceed to patent some of their inventions. CHAPTER XVI A SINGULAR PLANET I visited the other seventy worlds that revolve around Sirius. Among them is one of note called Zik, which is forty-two hundred millions of miles from its sun and is slightly smaller than our world. It is inhabited by a race of pygmies which I will call Zikites. Wonderful indeed is the intelligence of these creatures, although their form is out of symmetry according to our standards. I will therefore avoid a description of their physical features, lest it mar the picture of their accomplishments. The air of Zik is heavy, and the sky is open in its effects. The chemists are thus far found in nature, ninety elementary substances, and it is partly due to this large variety that the Zikites have surpassed their fellow men in thousands of worlds. As you study the past events of this unusual planet, you are reminded of our own history. On Zik there are heathen tribes, and all grades of conflicting civilised nations. War has ridden this distant world for several thousand years, and as yet there is no peace. Notwithstanding all this unceasing upheaval, the tide of human progress has steadily risen. It does appear that the highest light of intellect is generated like electric light through sharp fiction. The Zikites have had their men of war, vessels of mighty strength and death dealing in their action. But all such defence has been abandoned over five hundred years ago, and it came about in a natural manner. One of the many illustrious inventors perfected the submarine boat and the flying machine at about the same time. Their flying machine might appropriately be called in our language the flying devil. For such it is, if you consider its destroying power. One of these ominous looking machines is capable of destroying a whole navy as fast as it can move high in the air from one vessel to another. It can also tear to pieces an enemy's camp that lies in the open field. All this is accomplished by dropping shells composed partly of some elements not found in our world. These shells are made in such a way that they explode as soon as they touch any substance, and the concussion is much more terrible than is caused by our most powerful explosives. Because no ship could hold together under such destructive shells, the nations abandoned their navies and devoted their energy to devising a safe camp for soldiers, and to building these air vessels with additional improvements. It was found that the only way to protect a camp was to cover it with a waterproof shed. So constructed the tenine or ten inches of water would remain on the roof. Then a wide shallow trench was dug around the shed and kept filled with water. These shells will not explode if they fall into that depth of water, but will explode in water of greater depth. You can see at a glance how difficult it is to manage an army under these circumstances. The only redeeming feature is that the enemy also is compelled to resort to the same protection. An international law forbids the destruction of homes in times of war. Wars are of short duration. Usually the decisive conflict is fought in the air, and is the most terrible of them all. Imagine two of these flying devils approaching one another far above the surface of Zik. Each vessel is set in action long before it is in range of the other, in hope of firing the first effective shot. Each party of the conflict knows that the air vessel first struck will be at an end forever, for it will be blown to pieces, and every life on board will be shattered into shapeless masses, while the wreckage falls amidst the burning of the combustibles. What a horrible ending of a short battle! The wisest of the Zikites have proposed many plans to settle international differences, but like us, they have failed to suggest any plan that has proved to be practicable. The largest nation of Zik has advanced far ahead of us on the labor question. But this was not reached until the contest between capital and labor had left its blood mark through many centuries. A brief description of the manner in which the industrial problem was solved will not be at a place. I will waste no words in showing the many points of difference between our customs and those of Zik. After hundreds of years of painful struggling, the many laborers of this largest nation completed a solid organization, and thereby gained control of the whole government. Then, in their zeal to legislate in favour of the labouring classes, the ruling element stepped to the other extreme by passing many unreasonable laws. Things passed along in this unsettled condition until a certain few of the labour leaders, having become wealthy themselves, yielded to a heavy bribe, and amended the laws so as to favour the wealthy minority. The magnates of capital shrewdly took advantage of this tradership, and in the following campaign won the national election. The wealthy, now having the reins of power in their own hands, took the initiative and called for a consultation between the heads of the government and the chief leaders of labour. This proved to be a wise political move, and as a result, a new system of laws relating to all trades and occupations was enacted. The following conditions still prevail. 1. A day's work consists of one fourth less hours. 2. A minimum scale of wages is adopted for each trade. This scale is based upon the price of certain staple articles, and within a certain limit it rises or falls with the price of these necessities. 3. All regular citizens must be supplied with work if they desire it. If they cannot get employment from some firm or corporation, the government officials represented locally must supply it, or its equivalent in money. The government controls enough of the business to employ two-thirds of the male population. This enables the government to take so greater responsibility and bear it with satisfactory results. 4. Any man through negligence failing to support his family is put to the government penitentiary service, and his family is thereafter supported from the public treasury. 5. A widow or orphan is cared for by regular authorities. The bylaws of this fifth article regulate the work of women. 6. No credit is allowed, except on a government credit slip, signed by the local representative of the state. If the bill is not paid by the one making the debt, the amount of which is always stipulated. The government will pay it, and proceed to collect it in one of three ways. The last resort is according to Article 4. There are several other sections governing private ownership of property, land and business. These new laws have had a very good effect. The number of persons getting immensely wealthy gradually decreased, and the average wealth of the labourer has increased. The government has the power at any time to form a trust or combination of any line of business by paying liberally to those already engaged in it. This assists the government in carrying its heavy financial burdens, and every family is assured of support if the soil produces enough to feed the people. And now, if I knew how to describe elements that have no resemblance to anything in our world, I would proceed to tell a story of interest to chemists. These zikites have formed gases and solids unknown to us, and naturally they are capable of performing experiments more wonderful than anything ever known in our world. When I saw the wizard-like performances, I thought that the marvellous feats of the Orient were being performed on a scale more mysterious and magnificent. To see a man play with red hot irons and dance in a seething furnace makes one believe that his eyes are deceiving him. I saw a man draw the birds from heaven and dormant reptiles from the soil, but asked me not to tell how. A few of these zikites have discovered some wonderful secrets of nature, and will not disclose them except to certain ones of their own lineage. One of these secrets is the art of embalming the dead so perfectly that human features are retained forever, unless destroyed by fire or human effort. The embalming fluid contains some of the elements not found in our world, but this is not the total secret. The body must lie in an airtight receptacle, into which a secret gas is pumped. The dead body lying in this receptacle for two hours absorbs certain parts of the gas, which enters the pores and touches those parts of the dead body, not reached by the injected fluid. By this process no part of the body is subject to putrefaction, and the muscles all retain their rigidity, so that one hundred years after burial the features are full, although discoloured. Not many of the common people are thus embalmed, but the bodies of prominent men and women are thus treated at government expense, and downborn generations can look upon the full contour of their faces. Another secret held by these experts is the art of maintaining youthful vigour in old age. This is a very expensive method, and the government prohibits anyone securing this treatment who has not won special honour in one or another particular channel. One of the highest distinctions bestowed upon any citizen of Zik is to grant him the angel's honour, which entitles him to receive the vigour treatment during the balance of his natural life. This one thing, more than any other, is the secret of Zik, having so long a list of illustrious characters. It is the ambition of each boy or girl to make progress, and some day win the angel's honour. The religious life of these Zikites is unusually intense. Their language is much more cumbersome than ours. They have a small book which contains a list of great truths whose authors claim to have been influenced by the all-powerful, or the same as our God. This book has had a remarkable history, and has moulded the life and character of millions. Every person is left to his own notions in religion, and we see here the same picture that confronts us on our own planet, the very good and the very bad in the same house and neighbourhood. They build but few churches, but here and there a home of a believer is the centre of a worshipping company. On special occasions the worshippers rent or secure large public buildings, and have an enthusiastic time, and many places their Bible speaks for place where the departed go after death, beyond the Zik life. These worshippers are linked to their God by the same kind of love cords that bind Christians to their master in our world. You cannot imagine my interest and my joy, as I learned that the Zikites are looking forward to a period of time corresponding to our millennium. Their religious literature is full of references to this coming golden age, and many poetical compositions point to it with rapturous melody of language. When one reads of the size and population of our world he is thrilled with the idea of its greatness, but when he travels over land and sea, visiting the many points of interest, he is impressed forefold with the magnitude of the earth and the vast numbers that populate it. It is infinitely more so in regard to the many suns and planets that compose the universe. I had read of the distances of space and of the number of celestial bodies that are scattered throughout these measureless expanses, and I was profoundly impressed with the vastness of created things and the eternal revolutions of the countless spheres. But when I took my continued flight away from the solar system of Sirius, and was privileged to get a passing glimpse of many other solar systems, I was over-odd a thousandfold at the myriad motions of the myriad worlds, each serving its little part through the passing cycles to carry out the plan of the infinite mind. My next pause was at the glorious constellation of Orion on the star Rigel. This brilliant orb is not inhabited, but more than one half of the worlds revolving around it sustain human life. After I had taken a passing glimpse of a few worlds belonging to this system, I proceeded to visit another world that revolves around Rigel at a distance of sixteen hundred million miles. It is a trifle larger than our world, and is inhabited by only about one tenth as many people. This is the brightest planet I had ever seen, for it dazzled and sparkled like pearls of ice in the sun, and yet it gave forth no light of its own. I soon learned the secret of all this intillation. I had come to a world that seemed to be covered with diamonds and precious stones. The mountains were barren of all vegetation and glistened with all the glory of a hundred rainbows. I presumed that I had come to immense beds of quartz, but the rare brilliancy of the whole scene set me to work to ascertain the value of these stones. To my astonishment I found that the shining mountains and valleys were filled with genuine diamonds and precious stones, some of which are very rare according to our classification. I was dazed at the sight, first because of its brilliancy and beauty, and next because of the fabulous fortunes that were lying at my feet. Then I transported myself to another part of the planet that I might get a view of its living fields of vegetation. Alas, I again met the shining of countless gems, set by nature in ledges of rock, and massed in confused heaps all around me. What a rich world, I inwardly murmured. How can people live on diamonds? As I was thus musing, I sped onward to one of the soil-centres of this world. Here I found a small city built of diamonds and choice stones of which the people thought no more than we do of the stones brought down from our quarries. The soil was almost worshipped. Only the wealthiest could afford to have it in their homes for the growth of flowers. Fortunately the soil is very productive, and by reason of its scarcity it has received such careful attention that all worthless weeds have been actually choked out several thousand years ago. Thus the soil being so desirable and staple an article, it was eagerly sought after by all who lived on this shining world. Yay, some sacrificed their all that they might obtain a goodly portion of the soil. This desire was so great that it became the ruling passion of many people to accumulate soil all the days of their life, and many died of grief because they could not succeed in satisfying their ambitions. Now when the speculators saw that the soil was so indispensable and much desired by the people, and that out of it were the issues of life, the wealthier and more crafty of them said among themselves, Come, let us buy all the soil, we and our brethren in all the soil-centres, and let us call ourselves a trust, signifying that we will trust one another to the secrets of our enterprise. And behold, this saying seemed good in the eyes of these wise men, and they labored diligently until, in the passing of a few years, they had secured under themselves full possession of all the soil of the diamond world. And it was so in the course of time that these corporations held a great meeting, and they said, Barns we will build to store products of the soil, and behold, we will sell from these storehouses to our workmen for the labour that they may render unto us. The scheme was pleasing to all the capitalists, and they rejoiced in the bright prospect of the future. So they built great barns and thus laid away the products of the soil. Then they appointed agents to sell whatsoever the people wished. And it came to pass, as the seasons came and went, that these capitalists gave the labourers less for their toil, and charged them more for food at the supply stations. Thus the conditions became so severe that a man could work from the rising of the sun to the setting thereof, and they earned scarcely enough to keep his family alive. After this manner the landowners grew more and more wealthy, built unto themselves handsome little villages, and lived in happiness and refinement. They also erected for themselves select schools, and reserved beautiful plots for their luxury and amusement. Then did the members of this trust, in order to protect themselves from all possible trouble, pass a civil law forbidding any labourer to own an inch of soil. Thus it was very easy to convict a man of theft if soil could be found upon his person or premises. Now behold, there were many little spots of vegetation scattered here and there over this whole world, but the agents of the trust set out numerous expeditions to gather up all the loose earth that could be found, and carry it to the soil-setters. This work was so completely done that every nook and corner yielded its accumulated dust to enlarge the gardens at the soil-setters, and thereby increase the riches of the trust. Now as time passed on, the children of the labourers were also employed to assist in earning bread, and in the course of a few hundred years the schoolhouses in the district of the labourers were torn down, as it was impossible for these children to receive an education since they must work for their sustenance. After many ages the members of the trust had become so hardened that they no longer regarded the wishes of the labouring people, but pushed everything to increase their own selfish gain, in so much that they succeeded in securing the passage of certain laws making the burdens of the labourers still more heavy. And now, when the capitalists saw that the people did not rebel, they again counseled among themselves on this wise. Why should there be so much labour lost in continually quarrying new sepulchres and our diamond ridges, and why should there be so much dust lying idle in the old graves? Come, let us have a law that the dust in all graves over one hundred years old shall be sold at auction unless the graves are redeemed by a certain amount of soil. Then these empty tombs can be again filled with the dead of our servants and their children. Thus let it be continued throughout coming generations forever. Each year this auction shall be held to dispose of the dust remaining in one hundred year old sepulchres. These suggestions found favour in the eyes of the trust, who proceeded at once to take the necessary steps to incorporate these regulations into the laws of the Commonwealth. The labourers stoutly opposed the adoption of these partial measures, but they were powerless because the trust bribed enough of the legislators to carry their point. All this happened many centuries ago, so that when I was there I saw the full program of one of these spectral auctions, and was chilled with horror at the proceedings. Every year this particular auction is held at each soil centre. The wealthy are able to redeem their sepulchres, but the poor, having no soil, cannot satisfy the law, so the dust of their ancestors must be sold. Labourers are set out to open the one hundred year old sepulchres along the diamond ridges, and carry the coffins to one place. Here they are publicly opened, and the bones and dust gathered into one receptacle after which the weird auction begins. No one can compete with the corporations, and no one tries. The legal form of the auction is soon over, and the half-ton or ton of dust is legally bought by the corporations, whose officers order it to be sprinkled over the gardens. It serves the same purpose as phosphate in our fields. This awful process is repeated each year. The sepulchres, emptied thus, are opened for new burials. So you can see that with all the gruesomeness of this whole business there is an economic side to it, and the people have come to view it all in a philosophical manner. When this wretched custom was first inaugurated a bitter wail ascended from the ranks of the labouring classes, for they well knew whose graves would be opened. Never was there such a stir among the working classes of people. They held mass meetings and grew loudly indignant until the trust became alarmed at the uprising. Then did some of these rich sharpsters, who were best gifted in speech, go out and meet their servants, addressing them thus. Let your hearts be at peace, my fellow-creatures. This new law that we have just passed is a boon to every toiler, for we seek to lighten your burdens by utilizing the idle dust from the tombs. Hereafter we propose to give, free of charge, a sepulcher to every toiler in which he may take his rest for one hundred years. These graves shall be for you and your children for ever. Is it not a precious thought that one hundred years after you are dead, your body shall again mingle with the soil, and, without voluntary effort or pain, help to support your kindred yet unborn? If our present silly custom should prevail, the time will come when half our soil will have been carried to the sepulchers, and therefore your tasks would be more severe. After this manner spake the glib-tongued fellows, and behold their speeches were as oil on the troubled waters. Under their sophistries the labourers were content, and peacefully went to their tasks again after three months of unrest. Then did the members of the corporations consult again, and spake among themselves in this fashion. For our protection let us gather, from the labourers, the youthful and the strong, have them taught in tactics of war, and make it unlawful for any to carry deadly weapons, except these trained men, whom we will call our soil defenders. And if any of the labourers should ask, wherefore are we called to do this work, we shall say to them, for the defence of the soil, and the defence of our families are ye called, therefore quit yourselves nobly. And it shall come to pass that when the labourers commence a foolish struggle for their own selfish gain, we can use these trained soldiers to keep them in peace, and thus we need not spend so much of our breath by way of persuasion. Behold, this thing seemed reasonable and seasonable in the eyes of the trust. They did according to these suggestions, and gathered under themselves, in the name of the civil law, the strongest of the youth, and trained them in all the ways of war. Thus did these workmen lose all their liberties by slow degrees, until they were no more troublesome, but laboured like slaves to get the wherewithal to live. As I witnessed this sad picture resulting from the inhumanity of man to man, I was at once reminded of what I had seen on Mars, and of the struggle now pending in my own world. Once more I breathed a silent prayer to the ruler of all worlds, in behalf of the crushed hands and bleeding hearts that are bruised in order that certain men may make their thousands in a day. I studied the social life of the refined villagers and learned, with much interest, that the word they use for soil is used in the same esteemed connection in which we use the word gold, or diamond. Preachers, teachers, and orators make endless references to the soil. Finally I approached, in a visible form, a few professors who were engaged in a special discussion. They were alarmed at my sudden appearance, not knowing whence I came nor what sort of animal I might be. I quickly calmed their troubled minds by using language they easily understood, and explained that I was neither a ghost nor a spirit, but a mere citizen of another world, having, for a limited period, a free excursion ticket to a thousand worlds, and that I chose their planet as one whereon to spend a fleeting period. Not having been accustomed to such visitants, they were at first skeptical and thoroughly overawed at my presence. I purposefully became as familiar as possible and cautioned them to remain in the self-same room and spread no notice of my presence. To this request they reluctantly consented. After my nonplussed auditors gained their senses somewhat, they ventured to reply to my coaxing questions. These finally led to the following interrogations on their part. How large is your world? came a question from one. Not quite so large as this one, I replied. Have you much soil there? A million times more than you have here. What a wonderfully rich world! The people must be gloriously happy with such fabulous wealth around them. The bulk of my fellow men there are not happy, I sighed. So many spend their lives looking for diamonds and gold, the most of whom are doomed to disappointment. An incredulous smile crept over the faces of my newly made friends, and by it I read the doubt that was arising in their hearts as to the truth of my utterance. My words are sincere, I insisted. If you could take one bushel of your diamonds to the world where I live, you could get more soil for them than you would have on your whole globe. That world is heaven, exclaimed a few of my hearers at once. A world of such abundant soil cannot be any other place. Then I learned that their conception of heaven is not a place of gold-paved streets, but a place where soil is freely distributed even on the sides of the streets. I continued speaking, telling them how diamonds were considered in our world. These professors were astonished beyond measure at my description, and each one seemed to crave for the knowledge to transport a large consignment of their diamonds to our earth, and return with acres of soil to the diamond world. I spent a felicitous period with these queer-shaped scholars of the diamond world. They prayed and begged that I should remain and appear before the corporations. Their spirits drooped when I told them that if I had any more time to spend visibly on their world, I would prefer to comfort the labourers and their suffering families who had been so long deprived of the fair treatment they deserved. My hearers became ashen with fear, now feeling doubly assured that I was a forerunner of some terrible curse that was about to fall upon the trusts and corporations whom these professors were serving so assiduously, without ever speaking a word of protest in favour of the human slaves around them. Once more I related my station, but I spoke in most convincing terms of the eternal curse with which the infinite would visit the guilty of all worlds. As I left them I saw that my last words brought no relief to their faces, and after a long silence they nervously discussed the whole affair, not being able to account for the exceptional experience through which they had just passed. I visited, in a form invisible, the mansions of the rich, and found that the most choice ornaments on their parlor shelves consisted of vials of soil or dirt, and in the homes of the most wealthy only I saw flowering plants. It chanced that I visited this world at the graduating period of the greater schools. This gave me privilege to hear an oration on the soil and the diamond, a synopsis of which I will translate as correctly as I can. It will be remembered that I must use terms and styles suitable to our language. O beautiful soil, thou art but a type of thy maker invisible, thou dost give birth to countless forms, and nurses them all from thy own bosom. From the atom thou bringest the oak, and all its children fall back into thy arms for succor. From thy own heart springeth the infinite types of vegetable beauty, all painted in frescoed by thine own exquisite touches. O mysterious soil, wrapped in thy bosom lie a thousand secrets which, if I could but read, I might interpret and thus learn anew of my creator. Thou holdest the ashes of the million slain, and the dust of all our forefathers. O silent soil, how thou workest without the flying shuttle, or the hum of the busy bees, thou dost thy greatest deeds without the sounding of a trumpet. Silently thy atoms take their place to serve in higher forms. O teach me thy mute language that I may live and sacrifice for others without my crying and my sighing. O humble soil, thy elements when formed into man, or fruit, or any kind of food, return again without complaint when touched by death. May I, like thee, take all my condescension in the spirit of humility. O modest soil, thou art not gaudy like the diamond, sparkling and dazzling in a brilliant show, and living for nothing higher than display. But thou dost lay aside thy feathery tips, leaving the sun of heaven due the shining. Thou permitst water-crystals to give the rainbow hues, whilst thou, in thy own modest way, continuous to yield sustenance for man, and bird, and beast. O instructive soil, wilt thou not, in thy own wise way, speak to the thoughtless man who feels content to grovel with the miserable diamond, who takes his lessons from the dead, dead rock, and feeds his soul upon such flinty food. Open his ears to hear thy words of life and light, and may he see in thee the brighter mirror reflecting the God of all. This one oration, condensed, is a fair sample of the others. I listened to the whole program, and then proceeded once more to view the diamond splendors, before I left this world, where I was well paid for my tarrying. CHAPTER XVIII. OF LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS by William Shuler Harris. CHAPTER XVIII. TRIUMPHANT FEET OF ORION. As I continued ranging among the planets of the constellation of Orion, I felt an indescribable desire to pause at a very small orb which revolves around Scythe, a star of the third magnitude. Here I found, to my surprise, a gem of a world which I will call Holon. It is 500 miles in diameter, and inhabited by a refined race of human beings, radically different from us in physical contour, but remarkably similar to us in their mental aspirations. As a race they greatly excel us in mechanical engineering. Many evidences of their skill might be given, but we will be content to give a description of their monumental engineering feat. Long ages ago Holon had cooled to the center, and it became the ruling passion of her most intelligent inhabitants to communicate from one side of the globe to the other through an opening of 500 miles almost directly through the center of their earth, or more accurately speaking, through the center of gravity. After forty-five hundred years of experimenting the marvelous feat was accomplished. Of all the worlds in the constellation of Orion, large or small, Holon is the only one that has succeeded in this astounding feat, although it has been and is being tried on more than a dozen worlds. This wonderful opening through Holon's center of gravity is lined with sections of ribbed metal which cost the government's fabulous sums. This vast tube was finished thirteen hundred years ago, according to our time. Many lives were sacrificed in the hazardous work of tunneling. Were it not for the ribbed metal which afforded protection with its shelving flanges, the tube could never have been finished. At the present time the tube is used for commercial purposes and for passenger traffic. Airtight cars of special design are used, and only one car is allowed in the tube at one time. You cannot imagine the frightful velocity of the ride, but the passenger is not as conscious of this as you might think. The first fifty miles of the descent is controlled by the exterior or surface engines. The speed is gradually increased until it reaches that of the falling body. Then the motorman releases the wizard car and the speed is steady and terrible until the car dashes past the center of gravity, after which the speed slackens at a regular rate. The car of its own momentum forces its way far toward the opposite surface of their earth. Just as the carriage comes to a stop, the engineer, or motorman, as we would call him, pulls his lever, thereby fastening the car to the ribbed side of the tube. At once a signal is given and the long, thin, but strong rope descends to draw the carriage to the surface. A perfect system of communication is established from one end of the ponderous tube to the other. It frequently happens when an attempt is made to fasten the car that the clamps fail to work, and consequently the carriage commences its second journey toward the center. Another effort is made to hold the carriage when it again comes to a stop, but if this is not successful, then comes the most peculiar experience of all. The carriage of its own momentum continues dashing backward and forward until it comes to rest at the center of gravity. Then the engineer, by communicating with the surface, gets the longest stretch of rope and is drawn 250 miles to the surface. This world has no atmosphere and life is not sustained by breathing, neither by the process found on the moon. The inhabitants get their sustenance from the soil, with which they must be connected, directly or indirectly, over one half the time, or they will suffer in a manner similar to us when we are suffocating. From this faint glimpse of their life it can be seen that the people of Holon in their habits are totally incongruous to all our conceptions, and if one of them were to make a visit to our world, everything he would here see would appear just as ridiculous and unthinkable to him as the things on their globe did to me. As I surveyed this world everything evidenced the fact that these people are born engineers. Our Eiffel Tower and Ferris Wheel would be mere playthings compared with the skyscraping structures that dorm the various parts of this little world. It appears that the international mind runs in this one direction more than in any other, and while they surpass us in this respect they are inferior to us in the limitless field of science and philosophy as well as in the variety of manufacturing plants. In their religion the Holonites have developed to a high degree. They have no sacred book akin to our Bible. Their whole authority comes from the lips of the divine family as we would term it. This family serves for religion the same purpose as the royal family does for the civil realm in some countries of our world. The divine family are genuinely descended from their sacred ancestors, who were by visible show of omnipotent power appointed and consecrated to the sacred work of dispensing truth and officiating in all sacraments. The ordination of all the ministers of Holon must be held by member of this divine family. By reason of this one source of authority there is, therefore, no confliction of creeds. The great battle of the church is within the several infidel organizations that give no heed to the genuine religion. The sacred family received a code of laws which they have held from the beginning and, strange to say, no one is allowed to copy these laws in written or printed form. To do so is a type of blasphemy for which a severe penalty is imposed. Some of the infidel organizations find delight to print all or a part of these laws and scatter them secretly among the people. Such documents fall with as much pain on the premises of a believer as oaths do in our world on the ear of a delicately trained soul. If an infidel wishes to insult a godly pilgrim he can do it no more effectively than by secretly fastening to the believer's residence a piece of material on which is inscribed one or more of these sacred laws. Every believer is required to commit to memory this code of laws by hearing them from the lips of the minister. It is therefore necessary to keep in constant touch with the church service so as to be a continual hearer of these laws, a part of which is repeated every worship day. The minister does not preach in the same sense that we understand preaching. His work comes nearer filling the office of a priest under the old Jewish church. There is much more form and ceremony than is found in our system under the mediator Jesus Christ. The civil law has absolutely nothing to say on the marriage question. All this is held in the domain of the church. In truth the divine family has always regulated this question. If the legality of a marriage is called in question, all that the civil authorities try to determine is whether the marriage ceremony was performed in accordance with the laws of the divine family. If this point can be established, the marriage is declared legal. If not, it is declared to be null and void. This one subject of matrimony has caused more friction between the church and the infidels than all other issues combined. The infidels are bitterly opposed to take their marriage vows before the minister, yet this must be done to make their marriage legal. Divorce laws are unknown, although in rare cases papers of separation are granted by authority and under seal of the divine family. The religious devotees of Holon look forward to a happier existence when their mortal life is ended. Their ideas of this future life are quite similar to our cherished ideas of heaven. In their moral life they have reached a higher plane than we. This is due to the fact that the divine family wield an influence in the civil realm that cannot be broken. CHAPTER XIX. THE MUTE WORLD. I proceeded on my journey until I had reached Alsiani in the famous constellation of Taurus. On one of the planets revolving around Alsiani I found a distinctive class of human beings faintly resembling creatures that I had seen in several other constellations, but of which I have as yet made no special mention. Among these people no audible language is used as a means of communication. One might think that high civilization would be impossible without such a vehicle of thought. But on this mute world humanity has pushed far along in the great interstellar race for supremacy. A description of the physical features of these mutites would not only seem absurd but would be distorting. Can you imagine a beautiful person without ears and void of vocal sound having a head totally out of shape compared with ours and with a bodily framework ridiculously new to us? Such would be a brief word sketch of these far away mortals of unusual intelligence. These people hold all their conversations by pure thought transmission. The sense perception is almost infinitely keen and gestures play no part in emphasizing thought. It is amazing to see with what facility these beings express their ideas one to another. In our life one may conceal his thoughts from the most searching human eye, but this cannot be done on mute. As a consequence each one can read the character of his comrades and the normal citizen well knows what necessary allowance to make for the impure thoughts that flit through the mind of his neighbor. I studied, with absorbing interest, the many phases of this mental telepathy or mind-talking between the two or more persons even though widely separated. Imagine how glorious it must be to have real fellowship with a friend whose face you cannot see and whose hand you cannot touch. There are limits to this delightsome way of talking. A person can hold conversation with only one absent friend at a time, and then only when each one concentrates his thoughts on the other. What wireless telegraphy is to our world, this mental conversation is to the world of mute, and it is possible that we may reach a higher degree of proficiency in this direction after we become still better acquainted with the laws of the human mind. When I think of the many unaccountable heart-thrills that send their emotions of joy and hatred into our passing life, I am somewhat persuaded that we speak this tongueless language more than we imagine. Someday we may learn the secrets that are now so heavily veiled and thereby put to naught the glory of our present modes of communication. Until then we will plot along with the telegraph, telephone, wireless telegraphy, and our ever-changing knowledge of telepathic intercourse. I will give the philosophy of this perfect means of expressing thought as clearly as I can. As sound waves are created in our atmosphere by actual vibration, so are thought waves created on mute by mental activity focused in any one point of the brain. Our way of expressing thought by audible words is not conceivable to these people. If one of their inhabitants were to visit our earth he would be at a loss to account for our movements of mouth and gestures of body when we are in the act of conversation. The social life of mute is marked with many peculiarities. Males and females seldom ever associate together, and social purity sends its sweet influences over the whole planet. A science which is similar to phrenology plays an important part in all the social customs of this sphere. It decides the marital destiny of each person, and no two are recommended to join in wedlock until they have been pronounced physical and mental mates by the official psychologists. On this interesting world I found the most summary punishment for adulterers and fornicators. When these crimes are clearly proven the guilty parties are put to death after a lingering sentence. This is a most terrible punishment, but it has proven that although a few must suffer this penalty the general good of the whole population is much increased. I was much amazed at the construction and possibilities of the human mind when I observed the manner in which certain suspected criminals were examined in order to prove or disprove the crime of which they were charged. The doors of the soul were unlocked, and the past thought images with their mental impressions were thrown open to view. How can a mutite deny the crime which is photographed on the sensitive living plates of his own mind? This reproducing can be affected only by a very special process and is never done against a person's will unless ordered by civil authority. When I saw on the world of mute the possibility of uncovering the past records of the mind it at once suggested to me the possible nature of the final judgment of our world when each will stand face to face with the record of his own deeds brought before him vividly under the light of eternity. In such an event who would think of showing a bold front to deny the accuracy of such a direct reproduction of himself in the flesh? Possibly the human mind may be likened to a phonograph in which we can speak while the cylinder of thought revolves. At any time afterward every syllable may be reproduced accurately. Another striking feature of these mortals is their lack of hypocrisy. Only a small degree of it is found among all the inhabitants of this peculiar planet. No doubt hypocrisy would be greatly lessened in our own social life if we could no longer hide our real thoughts. In mute it is very unsafe to practice deception for as soon as the deceived one appears personally he can readily conjecture by the mental state of the deceiver the nature of the thought that had transpired. Can you realize what a refreshing moral atmosphere exists in a world where conventional lying is almost unknown? In our life the daily sin of the millions is the white or the blue lie. Think of how many we tell in our regular routine of life. We generally give false excuses instead of the real ones. We very seldom blame ourselves for errors, but rather think diligently to study out a way to shift responsibility. Nearly the whole brood of our apologies is hatched from the serpent's egg, and then we ignorantly or hypocritically manifest surprise that our own offspring should develop an inclination to deceive or misrepresent. Here I saw in wide contrast to our own social order the results springing from sincerity that has thrived through a long line of generations, such blessings as are a breath of heaven, rare and beautiful. One might think when considering this strange manner of conversation that it would be difficult for people to express their ideas clearly. It is just the opposite from this, for it is almost impossible for them to express themselves vaguely. They talk from the headquarters of one mind directly to headquarters of another, instead of through a medium of cumbersome words which, in our life, are so often misunderstood. Thus we must admit that we have a tenfold greater struggle than they to be perspicuous in language. I was charmed at this most superior mode of conversation, and saw in it a higher glimpse of the heaven language than in any other type that had yet met my observation in all the worlds of space. The mutites are rapid thinkers, and although they have no sense of hearing, yet they are ultra-sensitive to substantial emissions of vibrating bodies. According to all I could see these people were not hampered by the lack of senses. They live as conveniently in their flesh life as we do. And in their mind or spirit life they are much more refined than we are. Their earth is so different from ours in chemical combinations that the soil is almost transparent, and in general has the appearance of glass. Their homes are built mostly under surface, owing to the terrific cyclonic storms that follow one other in very uncertain succession. The average length of life is about two hundred of our years. They reach their maximum energy of mind at about one hundred years, and among the brighter of the inhabitants can be found a glorious order of intellect. Some of these mental celebrities outshine the brightest creatures of all the solar system in that region of the heavens. After some hesitancy I yielded to a desire to appear in a visible form before an assembled company of mutite philosophers who were gathered in one of the under-surface halls of architectural beauty for consultation. As I entered the vast hall in my natural manner I attracted unusual attention. It was amusing to see how all eyes were fastened upon me as I calmly walked toward the front of the audience. Here I had one of the hardest tasks of all my journey, to converse in a soundless language. I lacked faith at first to make the attempt, but this delay was but for a moment, for I first fixed my mind upon what I wish to communicate, and instantly a dozen or more mutite signified that they were insensitive touch with my thoughts. I will give a small portion of the mental telepathic conversation between myself and my auditors, although I must relate it as if words were actually spoken, or it would be totally unintelligible to the people of my own likeness. Let no one be alarmed, I hurriedly addressed them, as a thousand giant forms were trembling at my appearance. My mission is one of peace. I have come to help rather than harm, I continued. From what section of our world have you come, came a hundred thought flashes in wild confusion? I am not from your world, but from another, I answered with closed mouth as best I could. Then I learned an important feature of this mind-language. A hundred or more interrogations came flying at me in thick confusion. At once the chairman or leader of the meeting gave restrictive orders which actually prohibited my audience from further communication with me, although I might address them. The chairman bid me commune with him, and he thereafter acted as the spokesman of the whole assembly. It was no more difficult for these philosophers to keep their minds closed to me than it is for us to keep our mouths closed in an excitable meeting or debate. The chairman, looking with increasing curiosity at my strangely shaped face and head, interrogated me thus. Are you an angel of light or one of darkness? I am neither. What then can you be? I am a created being from a far-off region of space. I was born on a world which revolves around a star untold millions of miles distant. If you are not a spirit, how could you have traveled such incredible distances? That is yet a mystery to me, I admitted. The power of my flight is much like the mode of your communication, for each alike is mysterious to me. By this time the excitement was intense. No one attempted to grasp me or even approach toward me. I saw by the perplexing mental atmosphere of the chairman that he was being besieged by a host of questions and suggestions, so I relieved the situation by continuing my words. No one need consider my appearance as an evil omen. I am not empowered to curse or bless your world, except by what may flow from my immediate conversation with you. In these sentences I thoughtlessly gestured with my arms. This set my audience wild with mingled merriment and curiosity. Are all as small as you whence you came? queried the chairman. They are all after my pattern with some variations. Pray tell me, what are those gummy flabs at the sides of your head? Those are my ears, I said, with grinning face. They grew there for a purpose. And what can that purpose be? Further question the puzzled chairman. There for the purpose of hearing, I quickly replied. There followed a curious scientific dialogue in which I endeavored to explain the sense of hearing. From this I described the manner of conversation in our world, and showed what an important part hearing played. But all this was beyond the comprehension of my auditors. After a lengthy and most interesting discussion upon the philosophy of sound, the next point of interest centered on my mouth and vocal organs. It was pleasing to consider these subjects because my listeners were such eager questioners and surprised hearers. No wonder that they were unable to grasp such a crude system of conversation as ours. Then the chairman verily begged me to explain the mystery of my mission and of my unprecedented itinerary. How could I have fully satisfied his mind, even if I had endeavored to do so? After all this came the most pleasing communion thus far of all my journey. I learned much by the interchange of ideas. Nature's vast book opened to me some new and charming pages. Toward the close of my stay the affinity between us grew to a marked degree. Although we were widely apart in physical aspect, yet we were supping from the same bowl of affection, and with this happy turn we talked of our permanent companionship. But I cannot abide with you, I reluctantly answered. Ah, torment us not with such a thought, affectingly press the chairman. I have other worlds to visit and must hasten away. Touch me not, I cried, as the chairman unconsciously moved toward me in an urgent appeal. How soon shall we see you again? No more forever, unless you see me in that widest expanse of life which in our world we call heaven. There the pure of all worlds will gather and commingle in delight some fellowship forever. I was then urged beyond all etiquette to tarry a short period and visit certain parts of their world. But I informed them that I had seen more of their world than they imagined, and that the object of my visit had been reached. CHAPTER XX. OF LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDs. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS by William Shuler Harris. CHAPTER XX. BREAF. One of the medium-sized worlds that revolve around Alcyony sustains the shortest lived human beings of our universe. It is seldom that any of the creatures reach more than four years of age according to our standards of time. They are nearly as large as we, and relatively much lighter in weight. All the periods of physical growth are correspondingly decreased. Children walk four or five weeks after birth, and are capable of receiving regular instruction at the age of five months. Strange as it may seem, this sphere, which for convenience we will call brief, revolves very slowly on its axis, so that our world makes 15 times as many revolutions as this planet. It requires but little arithmetic to figure out that the people of brief do not see the sunrise very often. When it does appear in the morning sky, all the public signals blow, and the people appear in one or another of their places of worship. This beautiful custom has been in practice for over 3,000 years. The worship is not sun worship, but a genuine service of thanksgiving to him who ruleth over the sun and supplies it with fuel to burn. It appears that, on all worlds, everything is regulated in accordance with the length of human life. On this world of brief, all vegetables mature in periods so short that one marvels when he hears it. Think of cereals reaching maturity in seven or eight of our days, or during one day of brief. Early in the morning, certain crops are planted and are harvested at night. Two or more days are required for maturing other crops. Actually, the people of brief raise their crops with less labor than is required amongst us. If you were permitted to look upon the public and private life of this incredible world, your first sensation would be dizziness, not to mention the weirdness of all sights that would confront you at every turn. People would seem to be in a mad rush, and it would appear that all business is done with insane rapidity. For those of care and trouble begin to deepen on the faces of these brief fights as they approach an age of what we would call three years, and if by lease of strength they pass on toward an age of four years, it is but an evidence of their exceptional vitality. It seems to be true that the experiences of a long life of sixty or eighty years is crowded into a narrow compass of four years by a miracle of spheres not comprehended by finite minds. No doubt a detailed description of this whirling and dashing life would be of interest to us slow, deliberate creatures, but I can give only a passing glimpse. Journalism. Things happen in such quick succession that the news is hustled out at all hours of the day and night, not on sheets of paper, but through automatic news receivers, machines somewhat akin to our telegraph instruments. The state supplies each home with an automatic news receiver, thus a record is kept in each home of all messages received so that they can be read at leisure. To speak in a manner more easily understood, I will say that the news is telegraphed to each home as soon as possible after the events transpire. But compared to our customs, the news is very scarce. There being no competition, no time or space is required for sensational trash. Thus, if nothing of importance occurs, nothing need be transmitted. The official news sensors decide as to the relative importance of occurrences. There need not be a certain amount of news telegraphed each hour. The government verifies as much as possible all reports before they are transmitted. There are indeed some advantages in the government being in constant touch with each home under its care. The advertising department pays nearly all expenses of this whole system of journalism. Announcements for private gain are paid at a regular rate. It costs more to advertise at certain periods than at other times, all regulated by the customs of the people. Under these regulations, everybody receives the news and only the essential news except advertisements which must come in batches at certain intervals. Of course, people take their choice as to reading advertisements. Their footwear. The soles of the feet of these brieffights are composed of a substance most nearly resembling hoof material. They never think of conferring the feet under any change of climate. If one of the brieffights were to step upon the shores of our rugged earth and see the cotton or wool and leather that lies around our feet, it would appear to him as the most ridiculous thing imaginable, and no doubt his shapely feet of ivory cast would be of more than passing interest to us. Their Raymond. Their Raymond is altogether after new models. Neither the men, women, nor children seem to seek this means for self-beautifying. They seem to think that beauty of character has a radiance more to be desired than the flash of opals or the luster of silks. Their garments partake of the loose flowing order. For instance, a strong fabric of chosen shade is fastened at the neck, hip, knee, and ankle, and lies carelessly over the parts between. The females never graduated to the corset degree, and while they do not cut a scientific figure, yet they surely develop a more ruddy waist after the model intended by the designer of the body. Transportation. The methods of traveling are so contrary to our conceptions and practices that I almost forbear to attempt any description. Yet I was entertained and instructed as I witnessed the moving of humanity along the street of a busy city. Have you ever noticed how quarters of beef are carried from a car to an elevator or refrigerator on steel rods connected with wheels running in a groove or on a specially prepared track? In a city of brief, overhead tracks after such an order run along all business streets and certain resident streets. Spare me a detailed description of this peculiar traveling system. Suffice it to say that a person, enlightening rapidity of motion, rushes from a store, springs upon a passing seat, and is hurled away by the power of an overhead cable system. When an exchange of seats is necessary, it is all done so easily and so quickly that you would wonder why we tolerate trolley cars. In traveling from city to city, a system is in use that I will call the toboggan slide system, although the cars run on wheels. The car is raised in a shaft about 100 feet and then by gravity it dashes two or more miles according to the lay of the land traversed. Then another rise more or less than 100 feet is experienced and then another wild dash. I have no words of praise for this system, although the briefvies can cover considerable territory in an hour. They look upon this gravity system as a wonderful achievement, for it has not been in operation for more than three hundred years. The power of steam has never been utilized. No genius of all this active world of brief ever conceived the idea that almost unlimited power lies wrapped up in thin vapory water. But they have discovered what we would call gaseous oil and have learned to put it to work, so that it is the main force employed in hoisting and all other purposes where power is required. Nothing like a traveling locomotive has ever been made, although I learned that a bright wizard was experimenting and that he prophesied great changes when his gas-propelled vehicle was perfected. Think of how much value an ordinary citizen of our world would be to these briefvies if he could step upon their world and communicate with them concerning the magic wonders of steam and the manner of constructing stationary and movable engines to say nothing of the hidden wonders of electricity. Quadrupeds that take the place of our horses are used for drage, although nothing except the two-wheeled class of vehicles was ever used until some eighty-seven years ago. Public highways. These interesting people excel us in their style and manner of homebuilding, fencing, and making public highways. We are heathenish in our progress along the line of road-making especially. In all my vast journey among the worlds, I found only a few, comparatively, whereon the roads were inferior to ours. In the world of brief, the state prescribes the manner of public highways and each citizen must contribute his share to their creation and maintenance. These briefvies excel us in more than a score of ways. They are much purer in morals, more refined in manner, more harmonious in government, and unusually bright in mathematics. Very intricate and elaborate problems are solved by these people of a few years. They are inferior to us in a hundred ways. In the broad fields of manufacture and invention, they lag a long distance in the rear. This is principally due to their lack of time. Religious life. The religious life of the people of brief is, on an average, of a higher type than is found in our world. Their belief in immortality has run parallel with their existence as a people, and their devotion to their Creator is marked with unusual fervor. Their Redeemer is worshipped quite separately from God and with distinctive adorations. The name of their Redeemer, phonetically rendered, is Kerm Share. The most faithful translation of this word into our language would be God Affluence. Kerm Share, or God Breath, appeared upon brief full-grown and pronounced his benediction on the race, declaring his origin and the purposes of his coming. Similar to Christ, he confirmed his identity by unanswerable miracles. Many, however, disbelieved in Kerm Share and held to the old axiomatic truths. Thus creeds were prevalent, and they remain until now. Only there is much less variety than is found amongst us. Kerm Share set up a new reign and accepted a temporal throne for a season. He finally announced that his ambassadorship would soon cease and that his followers would lose the throne of civil power, that they would be tested for a season in the valley of humiliation and by the fires of terrible persecution, and that they who would endure unto the end would be glorified. These religious features are remarkably similar to the system under which the Christian religion of our globe is fostered. CHAPTER XXI THE LIFE ON WINGS As I darted from world to world, I was not then fully conscious of the vast stretches of space that I had covered. No mortal nor angel-tongue can ever commence to describe the vastness of created things and the trackless oceans of space in which the ponderous suns and planets revolve. According to the classification of our astronomers, I next found myself in the constellation of Perseus, and was again convinced of the weakness of our most powerful telescopes, for I now saw thousands of immense stars, hithero invisible to me. Not one of these stars is within a trillion miles of any other. In this distant system of our universe, I saw that the same plan of creation obtained, around a majority of the stars, a group of various sized worlds revolved. On many of these worlds human life abounds in endless degrees of development and in countless variety of manifestations. I marveled anew as I saw the endlessness of the infinite mind, supporting not only the conscious life of this whole constellation, but also of all the constellations of our universe, and of all the universes scattered at large, throughout the unending depths of space. I paused at a star of variable magnitude in the milky way, but took only a passing glance at the physical wonders of this great sun, compared with which our sun is a mere pygmy. Onward I hastened to one of the larger worlds of this solar system, which for my convenience I will call Swift. Here new wonders opened wide to my view. Human beings charmingly beautiful, moved over the face of the planet, or on wings through the air at pleasure and with great ease. These creatures are about three fourths of our size, and are most gracefully formed. Their whole physical appearance is more similar to a bird than to a human being of our earth. They are relatively much lighter than we, and are covered with nothing akin to feathers. If you were to see them standing in their erect posture, and walking with man-like dignity, you would at once feel that they are the lords of the creation on their world, and so indeed they are. These ethereal creatures have the loveliest eyes of any human beings I have ever beheld in any world. They sparkle with the brilliancy of a diamond, and move with the quickness of electricity. The head is small but symmetrical, and all physical proportions are most harmoniously adapted, even to a nicety that would be pleasing to the most refined tastes of our world. At first I could not understand how these people of Swift could travel so conveniently in the air, for their wings are very small, and the exertion when flying is very limited. But the lightness of the body, the heaviness of the air, and the unusual strength of the Swiftites, each conduces its share to a fortunate result. In my thoughtlessness I envied these gifted people, and wished that when I would return to my world I could enjoy such privilege as a flight. I soon checked this rising curvaceousness, and again contentment flung over me its white mantle. The bodies of the Swiftites are covered by nature with a clean growth of soft silken hair. They change their garments with the seasons, but at all times dress very sparingly and neatly. They are so easily clothed, that all their apparel occasions them no more trouble, than the more seasonal covering of the head gives to our women. The average length of life is nearly 400 years of our time. There are very few worlds in space where the general health of its inhabitants is as perfect as is found on this beautiful planet. There are but few doctors, because there is but little demand for them. Those who are engaged are under government service, and all persons who are unfortunate enough to become ill receive at least all medicine and professional attention free. We are quite an exceptional world in our medical system. In all my journey I saw comparatively only a few worlds that have the private system of medical treatment. Have we not noted the laboring husband bending at his toil for eight or ten hours to pay the physician who calls for a few minutes? In some cases this program is continued for weeks, until the honest toiler finds himself confronted with the doctor's bill and medicine bill to haunt him, until the debt is either forgiven or paid at great sacrifice. On the world of Swift, and in the vast majority of civilized worlds in space, the community or government furnishes a salaried physician within reasonable reach of every home. The doctors of Swift are not expected to work night and day. They have shifts to divide the toil equally. In architecture this distant planet excels us by far. I improved the opportunity and went to witness a magnificent temple of worship which has been in process of erection for over two hundred years. Any conceit that I previously had on account of the large structures of my own world quickly vanished at the sight of this imposing edifice. During my visit the winged workers were laboring on the upper stories and I watched them with great wonderment as they descended from the clouds to carry materials to the higher stories. Can you imagine the picture of workmen flying in all directions with tools, each one busily employed? It is promised that the present generation of employees will live to see the completion of this notable structure. This fast building is the national religious centre of the Swiftites. Each government has such a central station and from it all temples of worship are controlled. Here the church and the state are yet married and the state maintains its religious departments with careful scrutiny. The chief ambition of each government has always been to outshine the others in the glory and magnificence of its central temple which, of course, is fireproof and almost timeproof. One may wonder as he gazes upon this extensive structure why there are seventy thousand sleeping rooms and dining halls built after such extensive plans as to entertain, at one time, twenty-five thousand guests. All this is to accommodate the vast throngs that take their sacred pilgrimage once a year under an arrangement by which one tenth of the able-bodied go each thirty-nine days, which corresponds to our month. The most notable feature of this central temple is the main service room built at fabulous cost and capable of accommodating one hundred thousand pilgrims at one time. The most costly sections of this one room are guarded night and day by armed government soldiers. The religion of these Swiftites is of a very pure kind. The ministers of this national church are fully equipped before entering upon their office. The training schools for ministers attracted my closest attention. Fortunately these people have no language complications as we have, so that a prospective minister can spend some of his time studying the book of God's revelation instead of spending a great portion of his training period in learning the languages in which the book had once been written. A minister's training consists as much in voice culture and the many branches of elocution as it does in acquiring a correct knowledge of God. But in illustrative teaching Swift leads us by far. I was profitably entertained in the main temple as I listened to one of the famous orators discursing to an audience of eighty thousand. Not only did his canary-like voice penetrate to all parts of the large room, but his objective illustrations clinched the truth remarkably well. A series of special services is held at the close of each month. The most wonderful of all these exercises, or renditions, is called the mediator service. This is one of the most spectacular and impressive exercises outside of heaven. Even the famous passion play of Oberammergyu, our world, with the less glorious exhibitions at Horitz and Selchas, all dwindle into insignificance, compared with the mediator service. On the world of Swift during my visit I witnessed the full program of the sublime rendition. The music was inexpressively grand as rendered by the vested mediator choir. Naturally the Swiftites have sweet bird-like voices. Can you conceive the effect of a triple choir of these human warblers, all trained in perfect harmony and unison? When you consider that nearly the whole population witnesses, these special exhibitions at least once a year, you can better understand why the spiritual condition of the people has reached a very high level. I investigated the many interesting features of this inviting world, and found that in some respects we are inferior to these human bird creatures, although in many other respects we are superior. Electricity is known in their world, but they have not yet harnessed it, hence their ignorant of telegraphy, and a long list of similar inventions which we enjoy. In agriculture the Swiftites are ahead of us. They raise their crops with less labour relatively than we. All things considered, it is easier to live on Swift than here. Knowing that my time was limited, I decided to secure some nuggets of truth by a personal interview, so I concluded to appear to the wisest person on the planet, who was a woman of wonderful mental acquirements. In addition to her superior intellect, she was also bewitchingly beautiful. I waited for the best opportunity, and came near to her as she was about to spread her wings for a morning flight from the beautiful summit near her summer home, not wishing to cause her undue alarm. I had first spoke softly, remaining invisible and watching her rare eyes send their glances towards the palmy trees around me, as her wings were relaxing quietly at her side. She was positive of having heard her voice, and as she still further scanned the immediate surroundings, I saw that perplexity was furrowing marks upon her face. Has thou time to spend with a friend from another world? I calmly inquired, as I went still unseen by her. She was nervously agitated, but being of strong fibre, she quickly rallied with her answer. Where art thou, and who art thou? I am on a peace mission from a far distant world. I quietly said, as I slowly became visible to my audience of one. Naturally she was alarmed at my appearance, and consequently I drew gradually farther and farther away, until she gained more self-possession, and turned interestingly toward me. Ah! how can you be a spirit without wings? Were her first unexpected words? But I am no spirit, I said assuringly. You cannot be otherwise, she insisted. Believe what you wish, we have no time for Pali. I am delighted to visit your world, and I desire, if possible, to have some mystery solved. Can you help me? Plume, for that is the name I called her, was much unsettled. She scanned my form with wild curiosity, and I feared that she would at once use her wings at their swiftness. All right, do not fly hence. I quickly urged, I will never harm you, even though we could converse together forever. Believe me true, and rest your wings at heart in peace. My words had some effect toward calming her mind, and with more placid features, she still looked at me harsh shrinkingly. Are you not happy that you have wings with which to fly? I continued, hoping to create a more natural familiarity. Happy? No more than for my feet, my ears, or my life. She answered in a more composed manner. You say that you are from another world, where can that be? Was her welcome query? Then I pointed my finger in the direction of our world, and remarked, if you could travel in that direction on swift wings day and night for a few millions of years, you would still be far, far away from the world where I live. And is that world inhabited by sensible creatures? It is. But how could you have traversed so great a distance? Never can I explain that mystery to you. Be content that I am here. Are you in the image of the other human creatures in that far away world? In general, they are all fashioned as I am. No one having wings? She added with surprise. Not one. How can that be true? Because we were made without them. And have you no way of moving through the air at pleasure? Not without artificial machinery. Artificial machinery? She repeated. What can you mean by that? Of course they have no word for balloon or flying machine, and I found it difficult to describe the shape and explain the philosophy of these things. I did the best I could in her language. And after I finished my description, she for the first time smiled and said, That sort of construction would be a fine thing for the indolence of our world, who, through misuse or lack of use of their wings, have no more ability to fly. This was interesting to me, and I closely inquired as to the cause of this loss of the wing power. Plume grew more and more familiar in her address, and in a long conversation told me of the many conditions that make people unfit to fly. I deduced from our conversation a few of these causes. One, simple neglect. Two, gluttonous life. Three, sensuality of a low and heavy life. Four, pride. Some yield to a superstitious notion that it is honorable to make but little display of themselves, and to allow their wings to be bound or partially clipped. Five, certain kinds of sickness render the wing cords inoperative. I learned that altogether nearly one-half of the population are unable to fly. How my mind flew back to our own life as I was learning of these sad conditions. There is a sort of life on wings in our world, although the wings are invisible. But on account of the low mean lives so many are living, they never rise above the miasmic contagion of the sin and self-level. These unseen wings are either paralyzed or clipped. Plume now actually stepped toward me, what a graceful tread. She was indeed the most charming creature I'd met outside of my own world. She seated herself near me on the rustic bend of a tree, unlike any in our world, and hurried her questions at me, as if she realized that I would not tarry long. At length she gratefully said, I am beginning to believe that you really are a son of another world, or else I'm reveling in a daydream. Happy am I that I can learn from you some of the truths after which I am seeking? Was my evasive reply? Tell me, Plume, something about your faith religiously. I worship the God who made all things, and I'm hoping to live in the wider life after my mortal days are ended. Do you expect to meet in that wider life representatives from other worlds? Ah! I have often thought that it might be so. She answered, as her face brightened in poetic fervour, and her eyes sparkled with seraphic luster. It shall all be so, and much more. I declared, in that life you can fly without wings, and mingle with the pure from the unnumbered worlds of space. What an incentive to a pure life! she quickly added. Talking of wings, do you object if I see more closely the cut and style of your wings? I never before saw a human creature possessing a pair. After a moment's hesitancy she raised her right arm, and with it the one wing unfolded. I ventured near enough to see the intricate network of muscle and bone, woven around the arm, and filling the space between the raised arm and the side of Plume's body. She was surprised at the interest I manifested in the human wing. After this she offered to furnish an able escort to conduct me to several points of interest. All this I declined, and informed my talented friend that I must hasten away to another world. Let me go with you. She strongly insisted. Your wings are not of the right kind, I replied hurriedly. They are strong enough to bear us both, were her inviting words. But not beyond the atmosphere of this world, I explained. I quietly arose, scanned once more the beautiful valley before me, and indicated that I was about to wane into the invisible. Then did her womanly nature assert its supremacy, and she for the first time touched my hand imploringly. Have I been dreaming, or do my eyes deceive me? How can all this be true? Your hand is sensible to my touch. I implore you to remain until I speak to you more about the sciences of your world. In all my journey I never yielded to persuasion before. But somehow I consented to spend a season longer of most charming fellowship, talking of the elements in nature, their chemical affinities, and the laws of matter and mind. Plume was unusually bright in the philosophies, and I gathered from her many truths, which had always before been hidden from me. Finally I became rigid in my determination to leave, for I knew that I could not stay. Grunt me one request, she begged. Let me hear it. Promise me that you will return. Impossible, impossible! The parting that followed was indeed memorable. Without any further notice I suddenly vanished, but still tarried invisibly in close proximity. Plume was now left in deep bewilderment, and I could not even conjecture the details of her warring thoughts. Finally I saw that for which I had tarried. Plume lifted her wings and flew skyward, as beautifully and graceful as any bird of our earthly air.