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Show FUTUKETEANSIT. "Be careful," said my guide "there Is only one more step." Descending safely the step thus indicated, in-dicated, I fonnd myself in a vast hall illuminated by the blinding radiance of electric lights, our footsteps alone sounding sound-ing in the silence. "Where was I? Why did I come there? Who was my mysterious guide? There was no response to these interrogations. inter-rogations. m A long journey in the night, doors oi iron opened and closed noisily, the descent of staircases deeply sunk in the earth that was all I could succeed in remembering inueeu to think. "You are nndoubtedly asking who I am Bnd where you are?" said my guide. "I am Colonel Pierce, at your service, and we are in America in the-city the-city of Boston, in a station." "A station?" said I. "Yes, the terminus of the Boston ana Liverpool Pneumatic Tube company," SnQ Wltn Kcotulc f'" nel Pierce pointed to two long iron cylinders cyl-inders about two meters in diameter which were not far from us. I gazed upon these two cylinders, set In a mass of masonry, having enormous metallic obturators, from whence several sev-eral iron funnels extended, passing through the ceiling. And all at once I understood. , , I remembered to have read a short time previously, in an American newspaper, news-paper, an article recounting an extraor-dinary extraor-dinary scheme for uniting Europe and the new world by two gigantic tubes under the ocean. An invention had been made, and the inventor was the very Colonel Pierce who was my present pres-ent guide. I again read, in thought, the article in the newspaper. . m, L inn oil fh d- -j.ne reporter -- tails of the enterprise, He wrpta that it was constructed of iron, of a length of 3,600,000 meters, weighing weigh-ing 13,000,000 tons; that 200 vessels of 2,000 tons each were necessary to transport the material, each vessel making mak-ing .83 voyages. He showed that this scientific armada carried the steel to two vessels at each end of the route, on board of which the ends of the tubes were held. He explained that the tubes themselves were extended under the waves without intermission in sections of three meters screwed together and powerfully bound by a triple band of 6teel plate, covered with a coat of rosin. in regard to the matter ot its worK-ing: worK-ing: The tubes, which resemble two gigantic gi-gantic pea shooters, earned in their interiors in-teriors a series of passenger cars which were impelled by powerful currents of air in the same manner as the present pneumatic process. A comparison with the steam railroad rail-road system concluded the description, and the author enthusiastically enumerated enum-erated the advantages of the new and audacious system. In the tubes there are no disagreeable noises to cause nervous nerv-ous trepidation, thanks to the internal surface, which is of TjolLshed steel. The temperature is even, the currents of air being modified according to the seasons, sea-sons, and the rates for passengers oi merchandise being extremely moderate by reason of the economic construction and the comparatively small running expenses required for working the invention. in-vention. And the writer went on to state, forgetting for-getting that, despite tho 1,666 kilometers kilome-ters which the rotation of the earth makes each hour, bodies situated at the equator are still subject to the laws of gravity, forgetting that it would he necessary to be released from the operation oper-ation of these, laws to have a speed 17 times greater he went so far as to assert as-sert that trains in consequence of the rapidity of their movement and the curviDg of the earth would be subject to so small an amount of friction that they could be used indefinitely, perhaps to all eternity. All that came to my mind then and there. Thus this Utopia had become reality, and those two cylinders of iron that were near me extended beyond t Qe Atlantic and welded together, as It were, the two continents! Despite what I Baw I was not able to convince myself. There were the tubes truly, but that passengers could be taken by that route I could not bring myself to believe. "Was it possible that a cot-ete current cur-rent of air could be establish! ; nof that length?" I formulated thi j estion' aloud. (. ,. Kditata;-. huge furnace, are sufficient tor fe-JPrpose. The air is loced baVkAvith a power almost al-most without limit, causing a frightful whirlwind, which has a rapidity of uiore than 1,800 kilometers an hour, nearly that of a bpll discharged from a cannon. The speed attained is so rapid that our cars, filled with passengers, occupy but 2 hours and . U minutes in accomplishing the 3,000 miles between Boston and Liverpool." "That is over liSOO miles an hour, I exclaimed. "There is no doubt of it. And there is a peculiar feature about it. The time in Liverpool is 4 hours and 40 minutes faster than ours, therefore a traveler who leaves Boston at 9 o'clock . ill ...irrn of 1?m rrl In the morning win uno at 54 mmuteB past 3 o'clock in the afternoon. af-ternoon. Is not that a rapid journey? On the other handT for example, as our trains start from Liverpool at noon, the voyager can disembark in this station at 9:34 in the forenoon that is to say, almost al-most three hours before he started from the English Eide." I knew not what to think. Was I - ... . O talking with an insane peisuut I have faith in these fabulous theories? "Weil," said I, "it may be so. I Will assume it to be true that your invention in-vention can attain incredible speed, but when yon come to stop, to suddenly arrest ar-rest this rapid motion, will not everything every-thing be shattered?" "By no means," responded the colonel, colo-nel, shrugging his shoulders. "Between our tubes., one of which serves to go and the other to return, and running in opposite currents of air, a communication communi-cation exists upon each side. When a train approaches, we are made aware of the fact by electric sparks, and by means of electricity the force that pushes the train is paralyzed. Left to itself, the train continues on its way from the 4.. niroolv nnauired. and by xnuiuciituxu ftwvtwj i means of a valve which connects with a current the speed becomes gradually slower, until the train is finally checked check-ed by coming in contact with a huge bumper, the shock being scarcely felt. But what good are all these explanations? explana-tions? The only way to know the actual ac-tual working is by experience." And without waiting for me to respond re-spond Colonel Pierce drew out suddenly sudden-ly a handle of polished copper from the side of one of the tubes. A panel running run-ning upon grooves was thrown open, apd through the aperture I saw a succession suc-cession of narrow benches upon each of which two persons were seated Bide by B1UC. : "The pneumatic carriage," explained explain-ed the colonel. "Letus depart. Come." I followed him obediently, and the panel was immediately closed. By means of an Edison lamp which hung from tho center of the carriage I examined exam-ined curiously the place in which 1 found myself. Nothing could be more simple. A . long cylinder, comfortably padded, across which were 50 armchairs bound together in pairs, arranged in parallel rows. At each end a valve regulated the condition of the atmosphere, atmos-phere, that in the rear permitting the air to penetrate the cylinder, while that I in front gave egress to that which had become impure. Some little time passed while I was making my examination, and becoming becom-ing somewhat impatient I said: "Well, colonel, why do we not start?" "Start? We started some time ago, " replied my guide. Was it possible? Could we be en route? Was it really true? I listened attentively, trying to hear some noise which would give evidence of motion. If we had really started, if the colonel had not deceived me in talking about 1,300 miles an hour, we ought to be far from land under the billows of the ocean. Above our heads the crested waves may be beating against each other with fury, are perhaps even at this moment taking us for a monstrcus serpent of an unknown species. The whales are striking their powerful tails against our long iron prison house. But I heard nothing, only a sort of dull, scarcely perceptible buzzing, and plunged in a state of unbounded astonishment aston-ishment and not able to believe in the reality of what was happening I became be-came silent as the time went by. Nearly an hour passed thus, when I suddenly felt a dampness upon my forehead, which awoke me from the torpor into which I was fast falling. I carried my hand to my face. It was wet. Wet! What had happened? Had the tnbfig-der the immense pressure pres-sure ofniense ' deptETt&crCua'" we ur " t.fi6wed up by the ocean? A great fear took possession of me. Bewildered and almost desperate, 1 endeavored en-deavored to cry out in my agony- And I found myself in my own garden gar-den generously sprinkled by a pelting rain, of which the large drops had in-terupted in-terupted my sleep. I had gone to sleep upen a rustic bench while perusing an article written by a Boston reporter, retting forth the fantastic projects of Colonel Pierce, who I fear will new meet with the realization of his absurd hopes. Jules Verne. |