A Journey in Other Worlds [20]
coast, we convert the motors into dynamos, while
running at full speed, and so change the kinetic energy of the
descent into potential in our batteries. This twentieth-century
stage-coaching is one of the delights to which we are heirs,
though horses are still used by those that prefer them.
We have been much aided in our material progress by the facility
with which we obtain the metals. It was observed, some time ago,
that when artesian and oil wells had reached a considerable
depth, what appeared to be drops of lead and antimony came up
with the stream. It finally occurred to a well-borer that if he
could make his drill hard enough and get it down far enough,
keeping it cool by solidified carbonic acid during the
proceeding, he would reach a point at which most of the metals
would be viscous, if not actually molten, and on being freed from
the pressure of the crust they would expand, and reach the
surface in a stream. This experiment he performed near the hot
geysers in Yellowstone Park, and what was his delight, on
reaching a depth scarcely half a mile beyond his usual stopping-
place, to be rewarded by a stream of metal that heralded its
approach by a loud explosion and a great rush of superheated
steam! It ran for a month, completely filling the bed of a
small, dried-up river, and when it did stop there were ten
million tons in sight. This proved the feasibility of the
scheme, and, though many subsequent attempts were less
successful, we have learned by experience where it is best to
drill, and can now obtain almost any metal we wish.
"'Magnetic eyes' are of great use to miners and Civil engineers.
These instruments are something like the mariner's compass, with
the sensitiveness enormously increased by galvanic currents. The
'eye,' as it were, sees what substances are underground, and at
what distances. It also shows how many people are in an
adjoining room--through the magnetic properties of the iron in
their blood--whether they are moving, and in what directions and
at what speed they go. In connection with the phonograph and
concealed by draperies, it is useful to detectives, who, through
a registering attachment, can obtain a record of everything said
and done.
"Our political system remains with but little change. Each State
has still two United States Senators, though the population
represented by each representative has been greatly increased, so
that the Senate has grown numerically much more than the House.
It is the duty of each member of Congress to understand the
conditions existing in every other member's State or district,
and the country's interest always precedes that of party. We
have a comprehensive examination system in the civil service, and
every officeholder, except members of the Cabinet, retains his
office while efficiently performing his duty, without regard to
politics. The President can also be re-elected any number of
times. The Cabinet members, as formerly, usually remain in
office while he does, and appear regularly in Congress to defend
their measures.
"The really rapid transit lines in New York are underground, and
have six tracks, two being used for freight. At all stations the
local tracks rise several feet towards the street and slope off
in both directions, while the express tracks do this only at
stations at which the faster trains stop. This gives the
passengers a shorter distance to descend or rise in the
elevators, and the ascent before the stations aids the brakes in
stopping, while the drop helps the motors to start the trains
quickly in getting away.
"Photography has also made great strides, and there is now no
difficulty in reproducing exactly the colours of the object
taken.
"Telephones have been so improved that one person can speak in
his natural voice with another in any part of the globe, the wire
that enables him to hear also showing him the face of the speaker
though he be at the antipodes. All telephone wires being
underground and kept by themselves, they
running at full speed, and so change the kinetic energy of the
descent into potential in our batteries. This twentieth-century
stage-coaching is one of the delights to which we are heirs,
though horses are still used by those that prefer them.
We have been much aided in our material progress by the facility
with which we obtain the metals. It was observed, some time ago,
that when artesian and oil wells had reached a considerable
depth, what appeared to be drops of lead and antimony came up
with the stream. It finally occurred to a well-borer that if he
could make his drill hard enough and get it down far enough,
keeping it cool by solidified carbonic acid during the
proceeding, he would reach a point at which most of the metals
would be viscous, if not actually molten, and on being freed from
the pressure of the crust they would expand, and reach the
surface in a stream. This experiment he performed near the hot
geysers in Yellowstone Park, and what was his delight, on
reaching a depth scarcely half a mile beyond his usual stopping-
place, to be rewarded by a stream of metal that heralded its
approach by a loud explosion and a great rush of superheated
steam! It ran for a month, completely filling the bed of a
small, dried-up river, and when it did stop there were ten
million tons in sight. This proved the feasibility of the
scheme, and, though many subsequent attempts were less
successful, we have learned by experience where it is best to
drill, and can now obtain almost any metal we wish.
"'Magnetic eyes' are of great use to miners and Civil engineers.
These instruments are something like the mariner's compass, with
the sensitiveness enormously increased by galvanic currents. The
'eye,' as it were, sees what substances are underground, and at
what distances. It also shows how many people are in an
adjoining room--through the magnetic properties of the iron in
their blood--whether they are moving, and in what directions and
at what speed they go. In connection with the phonograph and
concealed by draperies, it is useful to detectives, who, through
a registering attachment, can obtain a record of everything said
and done.
"Our political system remains with but little change. Each State
has still two United States Senators, though the population
represented by each representative has been greatly increased, so
that the Senate has grown numerically much more than the House.
It is the duty of each member of Congress to understand the
conditions existing in every other member's State or district,
and the country's interest always precedes that of party. We
have a comprehensive examination system in the civil service, and
every officeholder, except members of the Cabinet, retains his
office while efficiently performing his duty, without regard to
politics. The President can also be re-elected any number of
times. The Cabinet members, as formerly, usually remain in
office while he does, and appear regularly in Congress to defend
their measures.
"The really rapid transit lines in New York are underground, and
have six tracks, two being used for freight. At all stations the
local tracks rise several feet towards the street and slope off
in both directions, while the express tracks do this only at
stations at which the faster trains stop. This gives the
passengers a shorter distance to descend or rise in the
elevators, and the ascent before the stations aids the brakes in
stopping, while the drop helps the motors to start the trains
quickly in getting away.
"Photography has also made great strides, and there is now no
difficulty in reproducing exactly the colours of the object
taken.
"Telephones have been so improved that one person can speak in
his natural voice with another in any part of the globe, the wire
that enables him to hear also showing him the face of the speaker
though he be at the antipodes. All telephone wires being
underground and kept by themselves, they