“No. He was not going to the place for which we were bound. But he told
us that just behind the spur of the mountain we would find an Indian
village. And there we rested for a day and refreshed ourselves, and
filled our provision bags, and procured a guide to the road we wished
to take. The rest of my journey was made in safety.”
“But, father, I don’t think that was a tropical snow-storm, when it
happened in so cold a place. I always think of tropic as meaning hot.”
“It was a tropical snow-storm George, certainly, for we were in the
tropics, only a few degrees south of the equator. The weather was cold
because we were so high up in the air.”
HOW THREE MEN WENT TO THE MOON.
That is, how it is said that they went to the moon. That no man ever
did go is very certain, and that no one ever will go, is very probable,
but true as these statements are, they did not prevent a Frenchman from
writing a story about a trip to the moon, undertaken by two Americans,
and one Frenchman.
I cannot tell you all this story, but I can give you a few of the
incidents that occurred during the journey, and although these are
purely imaginary, they are very interesting and amusing. If any one
ever had made this journey he would probably have gone as these three
people went in the story. Everything is described as minutely and
carefully as if it had really happened.
The journey was made in an immense, hollow cannon ball, or rather a
cylindrical shot, which was fired out of a great cannon, nine hundred
feet long!
This cannon, which was pointed directly at the spot where the moon
would be by the time the ball had time to reach it, was planted in the
earth in Florida, where thousands of people congregated to see it fired
off.
When the great load of gun-cotton was touched off by means of an
electrical battery, there was a tremendous explosion, and away went
the great hollow projectile, with the three travelers inside, directly
towards the moon.
This projectile was very comfortably and conveniently arranged. The
walls were padded and there were springs in the floor, so that the
inmates might not receive too great a shock when they started. It was
furnished with plenty of provisions, with contrivances for lighting and
ventilating it, and a machine for manufacturing atmospheric air, which
is something that travelers do not expect to find at the moon.
There were thick plate-glass windows in the sides, and everything that
could be thought of to make the trip comfortable and safe was found in
this curious aerial car.
[Illustration: THE DOGS THAT STARTED FOR THE MOON.]
Not only were there three men in the projectile, but it contained
two dogs and some chickens. The picture shows the dogs, which were
handsome creatures, and it will also give you an idea of the inside
arrangements, with the telescope, and the guns hanging on the wall.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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