Transcriber’s Notes Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. In particular the spelling of proper names viz. Catharine of Arragon remain. In chapter XI: "By the bye," I put in, "it seems to me the Morman has the biggest kick coming against his wives' mothers, yet I've never heard a word.... Morman is almost certainly Mormon or Mormon man. Italics are represented thus _italic_. THE ASBESTOS SOCIETY OF SINNERS The Asbestos Society of Sinners Detailing the Diversions of Dives and others on the Playground of Pluto, with some broken threads of Drop-stitch History, picked up by a Newspaper man in Hades and woven into a Stygian Nights’ Entertainment. BY LAWRENCE DANIEL FOGG MAYHEW PUBLISHING COMPANY 92-100 Ruggles Street Boston, Mass. Copyright, 1906 by Lawrence Daniel Fogg _All Rights Reserved._ Dedicated to JOHN KENDRICK BANGS Who first made Hades a pleasant place of abode and aroused in his reader a desire to go cruising on the Styx CONTENTS: CHAPTER. PAGE. I. THE SUMMONS FROM SATAN 3 II. SHADY SINNERS OF THE STYX 15 III. JOHN BROWN’S BODY AND THE BONES OF JOHN PAUL JONES 31 IV. HENRY THE EIGHTH AND HIS HAREM IN HADES 47 V. WHAT METHUSELAH THINKS OF DR. OSLER 63 VI. THE VIRGIN THRONED IN THE WEST: A TABLOID TANGLE OF LOVE AND HISTORY 75 VII. “BOSS” TWEED ON TAINTED MONEY, WITH SOME NONSENSE DEFINITIONS OF FADS AND FINANCE 95 VIII. HOW THE CREATION CENTERED ABOUT A PETTICOAT: A REVISED VERSION OF DARWIN’S “ASCENT OF MAN” 107 IX. WHEN ADAM WAS A BOY: RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF THE OLDEST INHABITANT 119 X. ELECTION DAY BEYOND THE STYX 129 XI. NOAH’S PERSONALLY-CONDUCTED EXCURSION TO EARTH 143 XII. THE MAN WITH THE MEGAPHONE 153 EPILOGUE. THE LAND OF FULFILLED DESIRE 167 _Pleasantries in Passing._