Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1919 — Page 2

The DEEP SEA PERIL

by VICTOR ROUSSEAU

This is a weird story of a pseudo-scientific character that concerns the discoveries of an eccentric Americah naval officer, the faith of a young lieutenant in the soundness of his elder’s mind, evidence of the existence of a strange race of undersea beings, amazing adventure during a submarine voyage, and a strong love Interest. It Is one of the weirdest tales put out since the days of Jules terne. Our readers will find it a most gripping story. THE EDITOR.

CHAPTER I. —l— Mad Sea-Captain. Lieutenant Donald Paget, emerging tjrfwn the navy office in Washington in a state of high exuberance at having received command of a submarine, collided violently with a tall, elderly man of angular aspect. The stranger was dressed in a quasinautical costume of his own devising, resembling nothing known to any na> y in the world. His iron-gray beard swept down to his waist, giving him the aspect of a twentieth-century Noah: arid just then tn* was very angry Indeed, for. standing stock-still at the entrance of the building, he shook his enormous fist at one of the porters, whose black and highly shocked expression indicated his unhappy frame of mind at this breach of decorum. “Coniound you, sir!” exclaimed the lieutenant angrily as he recoiled from his impact upon the sturdy figure on which the collision had made no more impression than If he had fallen ■gainst the Washington monument. “Why don’t you 100k —* Then catching sight of the long beard— “ Why, Captain Masterman!” be exclaimed. “Donald Paget!” cried the elderly man, grasping him .by the hand. “Excuse my being upset, but these jacks-in-office will be the death of the republic one of these days. I have just been trying to see the secretary on a matter affecting not only America—in which case his indifference would not Surprise me—but the entire human race. What do you suppose they told me?" “I am inclined to think that you got ' no further than the porter, captain,” replied the lieutenant. “Right, sir!” exclaimed Masterman, beginning to grow angry again. “And If I were not a man of superhuman patience, combined with inexhaustible tact, singular clarity of mind, and tenacity of purpose —in fact, an obstinate old mule —I should let the huriian race go hang!" Lieutenant Paget took the.irate old man by the arm. “I wouldn’t do that, captain,” he said, smiling. “Come and tell me all about it. and let us see whether we cannot devise some means "»f saving the race. You see, now that «he navy department Is so busy on account of the war. perhaps a little leniency with its shortcomings might be tn order, eh?" “The war? What war?”- demanded Masterman. “Why, our few words with the Germans, Masterman,’’ “What’s that? War with the Germans? Yon don’t mean to tell me we are at war with Germany?” “Do you mean to say you don’t know that America and Germany are at war?” demanded Paget incredulously. 1 . “No, sir! And, what’s more, it doesn’t interest me. How the deuce should I know all the gossip and frivolities of the day when I only returned i to the capital yesterday?” “But, my dear captain—gossip and frivolities!" exclaimed the lieutenant. 1 “Surely you have seen newspapers, or ; beard, people talking about it?*> “I tell you I haven’t seen or heard anything! I’ve got more important things to think about. Anyhow, it will : have to be stopped at once," said Mas- . terman, half turning. “I’ll have to go back and see the secretary immediately." However, he suffered his companion ! to lead him out of the building and : along the street, while the lieutenant, I firmly „ convinced that his old friend was mad, held 1 him by the arm tightly and listened to the captain’s disjointed mutterings in the hope of discovering the nature of his delusion. Donald Paget had known Captain Jonathan Masterman when he was at Annapolis, where the old man. who had once been a quartermaster in the navy, held a subsidiary position on the Instructors’ staff. The acquaintance had continued intermittently. Masterman had risen in life until he obtained the command of a ship fitted out, partly by private subscription, partly with the aid of a government subsidy, for the purpose of deep-sea explorationin this and subsequent expeditions he had made a name for himself by the remarkable nature of his discoveries. He had discovered the prolongation of the submarine spur of the continental shelf, extending from the Norwegian coast toward the Faroes; fie bad invented an ( improved net for scooping up the larger denizens of the ocean depths; and then he had nullified all the personal appreciation and fiuue which he had acquired during his various voyages by asserting that Mammalian life existed on the sea

©fir WGCHA/ 3 rtArr

tloor, and by championing the cause of the sea serpent. That was the end of Captain Masterman’s activities so far as the government was concerned. In a final interview the secretary of the navy had said to him: “Persorially I believe in you, Masterman. But it isn’t the discoveries that count, it’s getting the scientific world to believe in them. I believe in the sea serpent, myself, because I’ve seen "three of them; but I wouldn’t dare to admit it, even in my club smoking rwm, and we can’t get you another subsidy. —■ The secretary’s confession duly appeared in a newspaper article, and the cartoonist illustrated it with a drawing showing him as a sea serpent with three heads. In the course of his explanation, Masterman consigned the entire staff of the navy department to that place where brimstone is unmollified with molasses. That ended the secretary’s career, and it would have ended Masterman’s if his had not been ended already. After that the old man became known as a“bore who buttonholed public men and tried to induce them to subscribe to the fitting out of a new deep-sea exploration expedition. For years he haunted the lobbies of the capitol and the clubs, growing more dogged and obstinate and vituperative as he met with dlsappointinent after disappointment. Then, when his case seemed hopeless, he had succeeded In interesting an American millionaire, with whose aid he had fitted out an expedition to the Shetlands and Faroes, from which he had apparently just returned. Lieu-

“What’s That? War With the Germans?”

tenant Paget gathered from his rambling words that lie had lost his ship, and had returned, the sole survivor, in one of the ship’s boats, which he had rowed for several hundred miles across the stormy waters of the North Atlantic. “But I brought my specimen home with me, lad!” he exclaimed, clutching at his companion’s arm. “Think of that, lad! She didn’t want to eat. They don't eat after they’re mature, Donald. That simplified matters considerable. And so I brought her, and I got her safe to my home. Donald —” The old man’s voice failed him. He began muttering to himself absently again. No doubt his terrible experience had unhinged his brain. Lieutenant Paget had always known Mastering to be a natural eccentric, but never pefore had he talked like this about the safety of humanity, and some awful and imminent danger which only he could avert. The lieutenant could see that the old man’s cheeks were sunken; his eyes were wild, and under his long coat the faded blue uniform was shrunken and stained with sea water. Lieutenant Paget felt well disposed toward the whole world, just then. He had been summoned home from service wijth the Atlantic fleet to receive his commission as commander of the' F 55. And Miss Ida Kennedy, the daughter of the American consul general in London, whom he had met there the year before, had written him that she was sailing in company with her aunt by the Beotia for New York. At such a time, when his professional and personal interests were being served so well by fortune. Paget felt that fate had played a wretched trick upon Masterman, whose lifework had utterly failed of recognition owing to his defects of temperament. Though he was sure that the old sea captain was crazed, he admired him as a dar- ' « ■’ - ' - , '• ", '' O

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

Ing seaman and an original genius of a high order. “My dear lieutenant,’l am extremely glad to have met you. Nothing could have been more fortunate,” said Masterman. recovering his equanimity with a suddenness that surprised his friend. “Can you find the time to come into my club and have a little chat with me? It’s the Inventors, but they call it the ‘March Hares,’ I believe, because of some of the queer characters there, in fact, between ourselves, I believe that I am the only member who is entirely sane. I joined It for professional reasons—that is to say, we have an organization and a magazine, for the purpose of getting into touch with people who are interested in our projects. But it’s queer company, Paget, for a coirimon-sense man like myself, with no nonsense about him." “A little trying, I can imagine,” Masterman," said Paget diplomatically. “Trying, sir? It’s a confounded bore to listen to them! For instance, there’s Brum, who has Just been refused a patent for his eighth perpetualmotion machine. And Halfield, our president—he had to resign from three other clubs because he insists that Shakespeare was really James I. “Yes. it’s a queer world, lieutenant; and the oddest thing of all is that when one has something of the utmost importance to the human race to make public, not a single man will take the least interest in it. I can’t induce a single member to listen to me. However, we live and let live; and, as I said, the organization helps. But can you dine with me?” “I’ve nothing particular to do this evening—for the first time in years.’’ “Then do- come in and have dinner with me,” said the old man eagerly. “I won’t pretend that I’m not going to try and enlist your aid to save the human race in spite of those benighted, besotted, blind-as-a-bat blastoderms in the admiralty office, because I am. But I believe that Providence has sent you to me, and if I can’t make you believe me, at least I don’t want it said that Jonathan Roderick Masterman went down into his grave without warning the human race of what, was coming. . “Sir, if the public knew a tithe of what I know, they would make peace with France —Germany? Thank you) —and arm themselves against the most relentless enemy that ever threatened mankind. Sir, you will yet live to see old Jonathan Roderick Masterson’s statue in gold, standing in front of the capitol.” Paget, now quite convinced that his old friend was raving mad. followed him into a queer little building, apparently a combination of club arid hotel. The smoking room, which was situated on the ground floor immediately behind the clerk’s desk, was crowded with members, all talking at once at the top of their voices. As the captain paused to enter his guest’s name in the book, Paget looked in through the drifting smoke clouds. A dozen men had the floor, and were gesticulating furiously. Captain Masterman, having entered his guest’s name, touched him upon the arm. “They’re all mad, my lad, said the old man, surveying the assemblage with a look of pity. “No doubt you wonder how I can associate my name with theirs. If it wasn’t for our magazine, in which our articles appear, and our excellerit organization, I couldn’t bring myself to it.” “Who edits the magazine?” inquired Donald. “That was a matter of some difficulty,” replied Masterman. “It proved Impossible to find a member sufficiently broad-minded to consider the others and allow them space, and nobody would accept my own offer to become the editor, simply out of professional antagonism. Each wanted to utilize the entire available space for his own crazy ideas. So we drew lots for it. Fortunately. I won the editorship last month. Here is a copy,” he added, picking up an attractive little publication that lay on the clerk's desk. “But I am not going to talk to you in the smoking room,” continued Masterman, “for that atmosphere would prejudice you against believing what I am going to say. And I must convince you, my dear boy, because those lunatics are utterly beyond the bounds of reason, and much is at stake. A cataclysm is impending which will inevitably destroy humanity unless we devote our common energies to the maintenance of our lives, our liberties and our civilization.’ 1

Captain Masterman explains to Lieutenant Paget his theory of the existence of a strange race, the existence of whose species, he asserts, menaces the human family.

(TO BE CONTINUED.)

Testing the Eye.

Lecturing on the “Effect on the Eye of Varying Degrees of Brightness and Contrast” before the Illuminating Engineering societv recently, Dr. James Kerr of the public health department of the London county council, referred to some effects which may be surprising. Having to examine long lists pf figures in black type, he tried to facilitate his task by drawing vertical and horizontal lines in red ink, but the different foeusing of the black and red strained his eye and gave him a headache, which did not trouble hiin when all the figures and lines were either black or red. Doctor Kerr quesr tions whether a target is more distinct when a brilliantly illuminated disk appears on a jet black background than when the surroundings were diffusely illuminated. , - ! . ..

TREATY FRAMING IS SLOW PROCESS

Negotiations of Moderii Covenants That Ended Wai% Have Often Taken Months. INTRIGUE COMMON FEATURE Great Issues Involved in the Settlements of the Last Three —Keenest Minds of Church Seek Advantage. New York. —The making of treaties has always been a time-consuming process since the days when the feudal lord or monarch could say to his beaten foe, accept these terms or die. Then the limits of personal force and ambition were the only curb on the victor’s demands, with the sons or daughters or other relatives to be pawns in the game, execution or marriage sealing the hateful bargain. But with the development of states into something more than the individual property of kings and emperors, and the broadening of international relations, the resulting clashes of arms, often lasting for years, were rarely brought to a close except after negotiations that lasted for weeks or months. Over the documents that set-' tied the religious, political, or territorial questions at issue, the keenest minds of church and state fought for advantage. Intrigues and secret deals were a normal incident of the battle of wits, when more than two countries were involved In the difficulty. Many of the peace treaties of the last three centuries are the landmarks of their period, ending or beginning an era in which the future development of peoples or nations was definitely determined. Peace of Westphalia. Such a history-making event was the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thlrty ‘Years’ war—the last of the great conflicts between Catholicism and Protestantism. Beginning as a strife between German states, divided on religious lines, it finally involved France, Spain, Sweden. Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and many Italian states. In 1041 preliminaries of peace were agreed upon at Hamburg by the already wearied contestants, but It was three years before a congress to settle terms was opened and four years after that when first treaties were signed at Osnabruck and Munster, towns of Westphalia. A general and complete peace was finally signed at Munster on October 24, 1648. At Alx-la-Chapelle, on May 2, 1668, was signed the first treaty, known by the name of that town. This was the climax of the struggle between France and Spain for the possession of the Spanish Netherlands. On the death of Philip IV of Spain, Louis XIV claimed a large part of the Netherlands In the name of his wife, a daughter of Philip. The Dutch, alarmed by the French pretensions, which were backed by aggressive military action, summoned England and Sweden to her aid and halted the French advance. Under the treaty Louis kept portions of Flanders which his forces had overrun. The Peace of Ryswick, which was signed at the Dutch village on the outskirts of The Hague in 1697, ended a struggle of nine years between France and the Grand Alliance, a term which ultimately included England, Holland, Savoy, the Holy Roman empire. Brandenburg, Sweden, Spain, Saxony and the Palatinate. A congress of envoys held sessions during most of the summer pf 1697 and finally signed a treaty of peace on September 20. This virtually restored all territorial matters to the status quo ante, but the chief result was to check the ambitions of Louis, under whose rule France had becoirie the first power on the continent, supplanting Spain. Utrecht’s Epoch-Making Agreement. The Peace of Utrecht was the next great agreement between the quarrelsome powers of Europe. It was. in fact, a series of agreements between

CONCRETE BARGE FOR THE NAVY

liw nn*t concrete ban*** to be launched tor the United States navy took to the water at Little Ferry, N..J. The barge will be used to carry oil and tool for ahi pa of the navy.

The years 1713 and 1715 that brought jo a close the war of the Spanish succession (known in American history in its later aspect as Queen Anne’s war). To prevent the union of Spain and France under Bourbon rule, William 111 of England formed another grand alliance, which Included Austria and several German states, including Prussia. An armistice was concluded between France and England in 1712, but it was not unt|l April 13, 1713, that peace was. signed at Utrecht between France on the one side and England on the other. Spain settled with her enemies in the next two years. A second treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed October 18, 1748, marked the conclusion of the war of the Austrian succession, notable for the long and successful effort of Maria Theresa to keep her throne against a host of claimants. - First of the treaties that vitally affected the future of North America was that of Paris, which ended the Seven Years’ war. Beginning with a struggle between Prussia and Austria, the war spread to the German states, Russia, France, Sweden, England and Portugal. Preliminaries of peace were signed on November 3, 1762, but the definitive treaty was not consummated till February 10, 1763. In the settlement, which was of a far-reach-ing character, France lost Canada and much of her India possessions to England. The latter also established her supremacy oh the seas. Just 20 years later it was England’s fate to sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of her former American colonies, and simultaneously to make peace with France and Spain. The negotiations which ended the American Revolution were under way for months. Franklin, Jay, and John Adams, as America’s plenipotentiaries, signed the preliminaries of peace on August 30, 1782, but it was more than a year later (September 3, 1783) that the definite treaty was formally agreed to at Versailles. Treaty of Ghent. At Amiens, on March 27, 1802, England signed a treaty with Spain, France, and the Batavian republic, (Netherlands), wherein the first Napoleonic successes were recognized and accepted. Peace preliminaries had been arranged_at London nearly six months before. The Treaty of Ghent, which closed the second war of the United States with England, required more than four Months for negotiations. Another Treaty of Paris had only a few months before (May 30, 1814), been signed by France with all the allies, who hhd been fighting Bonaparte. By it all the territorial advantages won by Napoleon, were given back. At the dame time provision was made for the calling at Vienna of a conference to settle t}ie general affairs of Europe, disorganized and distracted by the long years of war. The congress of Vienna thus summoned, was the most remarkable assemblage of its kind the world had ever seen. All-of Europe, except Turkey, was represented by delegates, the number of those who assisted at the gathering being over five hundred. Opening on September 30. 1814, it lasted until June 9. 1815, or more than eight months. Crowned heads, including three emperors, were in attendance at various times. An ex-

NEW WEAPON HAS RANGE OF 200 MILES

Worcester, Mass. —A rocket as an agent of warfare over land or sea. having a perpendicular range of 70 miles and a horizontal range of 200 miles or more, and capable of carrying powerful charges of explosives or deadly gases, has been Invented here by Dr. Robert H. Goddard, professor of physics at Clark college. In his experiments, which he an-

traordinary round of festivities was provided, and amid it all the master dipfomats of the epoch (Talleyrand, Metternich and Castlereagh) played their games of intrigue. The unprecedented decisions of this congress dominated the course of European (statesmen for 40 years. The Crimean war (1854-6) was concluded by another Treaty of Paris, which admitted the Porte to the European concert and guaranteed the integrity of the Ottoman empire. The document was signed March 30, 1856, after nearly five weeks of negotiations. The Settlement of 1871. The Franco-Prussian war was brought to an end when preliminaries of a peace treaty were agreed to at Thiers on February 25, 1871. The formal treaty was taken up by a conference at Brussels on March 28. Signature -of the compact was accomplished at Frankfort on May 10, the negotiations thus lasting six weeks. After Russia’s overwhelming success in her war against Turkey in 1877-8, she enforced severe terms by the Treaty of San Stefano (March 3. 1878). Thereupon a congress of the powers was called at Berlin to settle questions involved in what Austria and Great Britain regarded as the undue aggrandizement of the Petrograd government. This gathering, which included among its delegates Salisbury, Beaconsfield, Bismarck, and Andrassy, met on June 13, and closed its labors just one mopth later. The treaty which was signed stripped Russia of a large share of the fruits of her victory. Settlement of the Spanish-American war in 1898 required negotiations that lasted two months and nine days. The first session of the envoys took place in Paris on October 1. In late November there seemed to be danger of a breaking off o£ ’the parley, but the difficulty was smoothed out and the treaty was signed on December 10. It took 27 days for the Russian and Japanese delegates to reach an agreement at Portsmouth, N. H„ in 1899, thus ending their comparatively brief hut sanguinary war. They held their first meeting on August 9, and peace was signed on September 5. First Hague Conference. It was in this same year that the first peace conference was held at The Hague. At the Instance of the czar of Russia 21 European countries and the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Persia and Slam sent representatives to confer with regard to concerted action to maintain general peace. The first meeting of this conclave, which was hailed at the time ns a highly promising effort for the banishment of war, was held on May 18, 1899. Conclusions were reached and a final act signed on July 29, the conference having thus lasted two months and eleven days. Even more impressive in the character of the personnel and the seriousness of the deliberations was the second Hague conference, held in 1907 at the call of President Roosevelt. Forty-six nations sent diplomats, international experts, and political leaders to this gathering, and the conclusions, accepted or rejected by the various powers in the discussion of the broad range of proposals, aiming for peace or at least a mitigation of war’s evils, have an almost cynical interest in the light of the great war. The conference was in session for four months and three days, opening on June 15 and adopting a statement of principles on October 18. The present assemblage in Paris is in effect a Hague conference and a treaty-making body rolled into one. Twenty-six countries are formally rep-, resented in the plenary gatherings.

nounced have attained success, he had the co-operation and worked by the authority of the war department and the Smithsonian institution in Washington, and Clark university and the Worcester Polytechnic institute. Compared with it, the most powerful implements of modern warfare are rendered ineffective, , scientists familiar with the invention assert. Under the system of propulsion worked out by Doctor Goddard the rocket could rise to a height above the earth’s atmosphere, where its range would be increased greatly. Its propulsive power—which military men say is a new contribution to the science of ballistics —lies in an internal combustion engine of high power. fed either by finely pulverized smokeless powder or charges of liquid explosive at regular intervals regulated by clockwork. Experiments with miniature models conducted here have fully, demonstrated its success against an enemy. Instead t of requiring a cannon or mortar to start It, one man from any spot can launch it without apparatus. The destructive agency is in the head of the rocket, though It can be adapted for photographic work as well, the apparatus being automatically released from the rocket proper and descending with a parachute. In the rocket’s simplest form, manufactured St small cost, a foot soldier would become the equivalent of a field cannon for a single shot, for he would carry on his shoulder an instrument of destruction, with its head of gas or high explosive, and fire it from any point where his legs would taka him. And that would often be wherf cannon could not be moved.