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Th< Btrawil Ptapl»Switi—1, Bywll, 8. Thmdiy, Wir—btr If, 1M4 ,v ® "T' • i When Worlds Collide SYNOPSIS • * • — David Ranadell, noted aviator, ar rives at Mew York from South Africa, having been secretly commissioned at Capetown by Lord Rhondln and Pro fessor Bronson, the astronomer, to de liver a case containing photographic plates to Dr. Cole Hendron, In New York. Tony Drake calls at the Hen- drons* apartment. Ransdell arrives and Eve Hendron, with whom Tony is deeply In love, introduces Tony to Ransdell. New York newspapers pub lish a statement by Hendron and con curred in by sixty of the world’s greatest scientists. The statement says that Professor Bronson has discovered two planets, which must have broken away from another star or suit and traveled through Interstellar space un til they came to a region of the heav ens which brought them under the attraction of the sun. CHAPTER II—Continued ‘“The two bodies have remained associated, approaching us together and at the same speed. Both now show disks which can be measured. It can now be estimated that, when first observed, they had approached within the distance from the sun of the plan et Neptune. It must be remembered, however, that they lie In an entirely different direction. ‘“Since coming under observation, they have .moved within the distance of the orbit of the planet Uranus, and are app'roaching the distance of Sat- urn. — “ ‘Bronson Alpha—which is the name temporarily assigned to the larger of the two new bodies—appears In the telescope similar in slxe to Uranus. That is, its estimated diameter is something over forty thousand miles. Bronson Beta, which is the smaller cronson ueia, wmcn is me smauer dld not do 80 thl3 niornIng . K yto. time they the sun, of the two bodies, has an estimated- ha.lug the untusted coffee for itt ex^ ing to piss us clile to be sur^ biJt diameter of eight thousand miles. It euse, called attention to himself and ’ ’ By EDWIN BALMER •ml PHILIP WYLIE Copyright by Bdwla Balmor * Philip Wytla WNU Sorvtco ♦r describe the conditions likely to con front all of us on the world as soon as they clearly define themselves.* “ ‘When will this supplementary statement be made?* “ ‘As soon as possible.’ “‘Tomorrow?’ “‘No; by ne means as soon as to morrow.’ “‘Within a week? Within a month?’ “ *1 would say that it might be made within a month.’” Tony was on'his feet, and In spite of himself, trembling. There was no possible mistaking of the undertone of this astounding announcement It spelled doom, or some enormous al teration of all conditions of life on the world equivalent to complete dis aster. The League of the Last Days I There was some reference to It in another column, but Tony scarcely caught its fcoherence. Where was Eve; and what, upon this morning, was she doing? How was she feeling? What was she thinking? Might she, at last, be sleep ing? She had been up all night, and at work assisting her father. The state ment had been released at one o’clock in the morning. How much more than this, which hadabeen told, did Eve now know? Plainly, manifestly, the scien tists knew more—much, much more, which they dared not yet tell the pub lic. Dared notJ That was the fact. Kyto, who usually effaced himself, is similar in size, therefore, to the earth. “ ‘Bronson Beta at present is in ad vance of Alpha in their approach toward the solar system; but they do not move in parallel lines; Beta, which is the smaller, revolves around Alpha so that their positions constantly change. “ ‘They have both come definitely within the sphere of gravitational in fluence of the sun; but having arrived from Interstellar space, their speeds of approach greatly exceed the veloci ties of our familiar planets in their orbits around the sun. “ ‘Such are the observed phenomena. -The following is necessarily highly speculative, but it is offered as a pos sible explanation of the origin of the two Bronson bodies. " ‘It has long been supposed that about other stars than ours—for of course our sun is only a star—are oth er plants like the earth and Mars and Jupiter. It Is not presumed that J all • ■tin lire surrounded,by planet^V but I It has been estimated that probably at least one star in one hundred thou- Batld has dn’HnpPd « plynft^nry • aya. tern. Among the many billions of stars, there are probably millions of suns with planets. It is always possible that some catastrophe would tear the planets away. It would require noth ing more than the approach of an other star toward the sun to destroy the gravitational control of the sun over the earth and Venus and Mars and Jupiter and other planets, and to send them all spinning into space on cold and dark careers of their own. “ This world of ours, and Venus and Mars and Jupiter and Saturn, would then wander throughout indefinite ages—some of them perhaps eternally doomed to cold and darkness; others might, after Incalculable ages,, find another sun. “ ‘It might be assumed, for purposes of explanation of the Bronson bodies, that they once were planets like our earth and Uranus, circling about some life-giving sun. A catastrophe tore them away, together with whatever other planets there might have been, and sent them into the darkness of Interstellar space. These two—Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta—either were associated originally, or else estab lished a gravitational influence upon each other in the journey through space, and probably have traveled* to gether through an Incalculable time until- they arrived In a region of the heavens which brought them at last under the attraction of the sun. Their previous course, consequently, has been greatly modified by the sun, and as a result, they are now approaching US.’” .-W— At this point, the prepared state ment of Cole Hendron terminated. Tony Drake was sitting up straight In bed, holding the paper before him and trying, with his left hand and without looking away, to strike a mqtch for the cigarette between his lips. He did not succeed, but he kept on try ing while his eyes searched down the column of questions put by the re- - porters to Doctor Hendron—and his answers. “‘What will be the effect of this approach upon the earth?’ “It Is Impossible yet to tell* “•But thene will be effects?* ‘Certainly there will be effects.’ “ ‘How serious?’ ” Again Cole F»ndron refused to an swer. “’It is impossible yet to say.’ “ ‘Will the earth be endangered Y “Answer: ‘There will undoubtedly be considerable alterations of condi- Hone of Hfe here.’ _ .'“‘What sort of alterationsY “ ‘That will be the subject of a later statemenV Doctor Hendron replied. •The character and degree of the dis turbance which we are to undergo la now the subject ^f study by a re- son’s plates and calculations simply confirmed what really was certain; Father checked them over. Then he gave It but That’s what’a made ev erything so changed.” “Yet you didn’t give out everything you know, Eve.” “No, not everything, Tony.” “You know exactly what’s going to happen, don’t you, Eve? It’s going to be doomsday, isn’t it?” “No, Tony—more than doomsday." “What can be more than that?” “Dawn after doomsday, Tony. The world is going to be destroyed. Tony, oh, Tony, the world is going to be most thoroughly destroyed,; yet some of us will not die I Or we need not die—if we accept the strange chal lenge that God is casting at us from the skies I” . “The challenge that God casts at us —what challenge? What do you mean?” “I’ll try to tell you, Tony: There are two worlds coming toward us— two worlds torn, millions of years ago perhaps, from another star. For mil lions of years, probably they’ve been wandering, utterly dark and utterly frozen, through space; and now they’ve found our sun; and they’re go ing to attach themselves to it—at our expense. For they are coming into the solar system on a course which will carry them close—oh, very close indeed, Tony, to the orbit of the earth. They’re going to Join up at' the same distance from the sun\as we are. Do you understand?” In spite of himself, Tony blanched. “They’re going to hit the earth, you mean? I thought so.” “They’re not going to hit ^he earth, Tony, the first time around. The first apoaslbU group. will attempt to ventured, “Mister, of course, compre hends the news?’’ “Yes, Kyto; I understand It—partly, at anyJjat«.” “I rifSy inquire, please, perhaps the significance?’’ Tony stared at the little Jap. He had always liked him; but suddenly he was assailed with a. surge of fel low feeling for this small brown man trapped like himself on the rim of the world. Trapped! That was It. Trapped was the word for this strange feeling. “Kyto, we're in for something.” “What?” “Something rather—extensive, Kyto. One thn& is sure, we're all in for it together.” “General—destruction?” Kyto asked. Tony shook his head, and his reply surprised himself. “No; if it were Just that, they’d say it—the end of every thing. People after all in a way are prepared for that, Kyto.” Tony was re»Konlng in himself as much as talk ing to Kyto. “No; this can’t be Just— destruction. It doesn't feel like It, Kyto.” "wnat else couid it be?” questioned rhe Jap, practically. Tony, having no answer, gulped his coffee; and Kyto had to attend to the phone, which was ringing. Five minutes after the telephone rang Tony Drake was at the Hen- drons*. The place was policed. Men, women and children from Park ave nue, from Third and Second avenues, crowded the sidewalks; sound film trucks and photographers obstructed the street. Radio people and report ers refused admittance, picked up what they could from the throng. Tony, at last, made proper contact with a policeman. * The officer -escorted him In. The ele vator lifted him high to the pent house on the roof. No one was about but the servants. Miss Eve, they said, was in the breakfast room; Doctor Hendron still was asleep. “Hello, Tony! Come in!” Eve rose from the pretty little green table in the gay chintz curtained nook which they called the breakfast room. Her eyes were bright, her face flushed the slightest bit with her excitement. Her hands grasped his tightly. Longing for her leaped in Tony. D—n every thing else! He pulled her within his arms and kissed her; and her lips, as they had last night, clung to bla. Their hands held to each other a moment more; then Tony stepped back. She had dressed but for her frock itself; she was in negligee, with her slim lovely arms in Ic&se-lace-decked silk, her white^heck and bosom half exposed. He bent and kissed her neck. “You’ve breakfasted, Tony?” “Yes—no. Can I sit with you here? I scarcely dreamed you'd be up, Eve, after your night.” “You’ve seen the papers? We were through with them before three. That Is, Father then absolutely refused to say any more or see anyone else. He went to sleep.” > “You didn’t." "No; I kept thinking—thinking—* “Of the end of everything, Eve?” “Part of the time, I did; of course I did; but mors of the time of you." “Of me—last night Y’ “I hoped you’d come first thing to day. I thought you would ... It’s funny what difference the formal an nouncement of it makes. I knew it all last night, Tony. I’ve known the general truth of it for weeks. But when it was a secret thing—something shared just with my father and with his friends—it wasn’t the same as now. OM knew 1ft but 'still dldn^t ad-; mlt it, even to one’s self. It was {heo- retical—in one’s head, like a dream, not reality. We didn’t really do much. Father and L last night I mean do much In proving up the facts and figures. Father had them all be fore from other men. Professor Bron- - - "•A/ . if we havti the will aod the skin <s4 the nerve 1 We could send a rocket to the moon today, if It would do us any good. If any one could poealbly live on the moon after he got there. Well, Bronson Beta will paes us closer than the moon. Bronson Beta Is the slse of the earth, and therefore can have an atmosphere. It la perfectly pos sible that people—who are able to reach It—can live there. “It’s a world, perhaps very like oura, which has been lu immutable cold and darkness for millions of years, prob ably, and which now will be coming to life again. ^ “Think of It, Tonyl The tremen dous, magnificent adventure of making a try for it I It was a world once like ours, circling around some sun. Peo- -ple lived on it; and animals and plants and trees. Evolution had oc curred there, too, and progress. Civi lization bad come. Thousands of years of It, maybe. Tens of thousands of years—perhaps much more than we have yet known. Perhaps, also, muph less. It’s the purest speculation to guess in wbat stage that world was when it was tom from its sun and sent spinning into space. “But In whatever stage it was In, you may be sure it is in exactly that stage now; for when it left its sun, life became extinct.' The rivers, tha lakes, the seas, the very air, froze and became solid, encasing and keep ing everything Just as it was, though it wandered through space for ten million years. But as It approaches the sun, the air and then the seas will thaw.- The people cannot possibly come to life, nor the animals or birds or other things; but the cities will stand there unchanged, the imple ments, their nomes—all will remain and be uncovered again. “If this world were not doomed, what an adventure to try for that one, Tony! And a possible adventure—a perfectly possible adventure, with the powers at our disposal today!” collected,-aflei a wiiHg, tfigt^ Balcom had bid him to learn from Hendron, as definitely as possible, the date and nature bf the next announce ment How would It affect stocks? Would the Stock Exchange open at ait? He remembered, at last, I! was a business day; downtown he had duties—contracts to buy and orders to sell stocks. He did not venture to ask to have Hendron awakened to speak to him but, before ten o’clock, ‘he did leave Eve. He walked to the subway. “Gimme five cents for a cap of cof- issr —— ^— Tony .stopped,'stared. This pan handler, too, was trapped, with him and Kyto and Eve and ail the rest, on the rim of the world which was com ing to its end. Did he have an Ink ling of it? Whether or not, obviously today he must eat Tony’s hand went Into his pocket. STRING HQLDER - SUNBONNET GIRL • By GRANDMOTHER CLAldC X K\ Attiactive String Holder A ball of string is just as impor taut In a kitchen as a pot holder or a fly swatter. String is used for many purposes, but where Is it when you want It? This attractive string holder is always ready to serte you when hanging in Its place somewhere on tiie kitchen wall. It is to be made up, aud when finished looks like the picture shown above. Sunbonnet Is made of bright colored prints. The face is painted. The ball of string Is in the bonnet. String is used pass ing through a hole in mouth. A very catchy, useful. Inexpensive gift. Package No. A-7 contains percale in prelljr patterns, lines stamped for GERMAN PIQEON, WAR CAPTIVE, IS ENJOYING LIPS Sixteen years ago. Just before tb# end of the World war, writes Helea a Loomis In the Detroit News, Amer» lean soldiers participating In the St. Mihlel drive in France found twf homing pigeons, Rheingold and Helene, in a dugout that bad beea occupied by German soldiers. Both birds were taken captive and Rhein* gold, since rechristened Wilhelm, is still alive and enjoying good healtla at the pigeon lofts of tbs U. S. A. signal corps at Fort Monmouth, N. J., Capt. Edgar L. Clewed, public relations officer of the signal corps, reports. A number of other plged^s were. captured by American forces during the war, but Wilhelm is the sole sur vivor of them all and likewise holds the distinction of being jthe only one of all of them to claim the Royal Bavarian lofts as bis first home. He atlll wears with pride the band bearkig the Imprint of the Ger man royal crown and crest, proof of his former associations with royalty. Like that other Wilhelm, who was destined to spend so many years of ids life on alien soil, and for whom he was named hy his American cap- tors when It was discovered through his leg hand that he had been bred in the Royal Bavarian lofts, the pi geon Wilhelm carries his years well. For at seventeen, an age at which most homing pigeons have long since passed on, he appears as hale and heartv as many much younger birds, por has he lost his excellent homing instincts. cutting, painted face and foundation ready to be made up, also directions lust how to do It Send lb cents for this package. Address—Home Craft Co.—I>ep’t A., Nineteenth and St. Louis Ave. St. Louis, Mo. Enclose a stamped addressed en \elope when writing for any infor mation. Movement to Improve Speech of Collegians Freshmen entering Columbia uni versity are subjected to a new dis cipline. Each in turn is brought be fore a phonograph into which he is 1 obliged to read a few paragraphs containing the story of “Arthur the Young Rat.” The piece was com posed a few years ago by a profes sor at Barnard college, the woman's Speculation about the masses as- ..section of Columbia. It has been At Ten O'clock the Gong Rang, the Stock Merkel Opened. One Man Dropped Dead at His First Glance Upon the Racing Ticker. Ihey^fe-going to- pass us buttr~fff ] them. But the second time they pass —well, one of them is going to pass us a second time, too, but the other one isn’t, Tony. The smaller one— Bronson Beta, the one about the same size as the earth and, so far as we can tell, very much like the earth—is go ing to pass us safely; but the big one, Bronson Alpha, is going to take out the world!” “You know that; Eve?” “We know it! There must be a margin of error, we know. There may not be a direct head-on collision, Tony; but any sort of encounter— even a glancing blow—would be epough and much more than enough to finish this globe. And an encoun ter is certain. Every single calcula tion that has been made shows it. “You know what an exact thing astronomy is today, Tony. If we have three different observations of a mov ing body, we can plot its path; and we’ve hundreds of determinations of these bodies. More than a thousand altogether! We know now what they are; we know their dimensions and. the speed with which they are travel ing. We know, of course, almost pre cisely the forces and attractions which will Influence them—the gngvitational power of the sun. Tony, you remem ber how precise the forecast was in the eclipse that darkened New Eng land. The astronomers not only fore told to a second when it would begin and end, but they described the blocks and even the sides of the streets in towns that would be in shadow. And their error was less than twenty feet. “It’s the same with these Bronson bodies, Tony. They’re falling toward the sun, and tbelr path can be plotted like the path of Newton’s apple drop- U1B ue u uu ping from the bough. Gravity’is the I opened surest aud most constant force lu all creation. One of those worlds, which is seeking our sun, is going to wipe us out, Tony—all of us, every soul of us that remains ou the world when it collides. But the other world—the world so much like this—will pass us close and'go on, safe and sound, around the sun again— “Tony, do yon believe in God?” "What’s that to do with this?” “So much that this baa got me thinking about God again, Tony. God—the God of our fathers—the God of the Old Testament, Tony; the God who did things and meant something, the God ol wrath and vengeance; but the God who also could be merciful to men. For He’s sending two world’s to us, Tony, not one—not just the one that sailed him. What did they think this morning? How differently would they do today? CHAPTER III used as part of an effort to improve the. speech of Barnard girls, appar ently with some success. At any rate the Columbia faculty are determined to take measures for better vocal ex will destroy os. He’s sending the world that may.aave oa, tool” -— “Save us? What do yon mean?" “That’s what the League of the Last Days is working on, Tony—the chance of escape that’* offered by the world like ours, which will pass so close and go on. We may transfer to It, Tony, At ten o’clock the gong rang and the stock market opened. There had been no addition to public knowledge in the newspapers. The news-ticker carried, as additional information, only the effect of the announcement on the markets in Europe, which al ready had been open for hours It was plain that the wild eyes of terror looked across the oceans and the land—across rice fields and prai ries, out of the smoke of cities every where. The stock market opened promptly at ten. One man dropped dead at his first glance upon the racing ticker. On the floor of the Exhange Itself, tlfefe was relative quiet. When the market is most busy, it Is most silent. I’hones were choked with regular, crowded speech. Boys ran. The men stood and spoke in careful tones at the posts. Millions of shares began to change hands at prices—down. Tbe ticker lagged as never in the wildest days of the boom. And at noon, in patent admission of the obvious ne cessity, New York followed the ex ample already set by London, Paris and Berlin. The great metal doors boomed shut. There would be no more trading for an indeterminate time. Until “the scientific situation became cleared up.” ~ When Tony hung up the telephone, he thought vaguely tlrat only foresight during the depression had placed his and his mother’s funds where they were still comparatively safe in spite of the threat of world cataclysm. Comparatively safe—what did that mean? What did anything mean, to day? Balcom came into his office; he put his .head on Tony’s desk and sobbed. a drawer, took out a whisky bottle which had reposed in it unopened for s year, and poured a stiff dose into a drinking cup. Balcom swallowed It as if it were milk, took another, and walked out dazedly. Tony procured his bat aud walked out Every one else was on the street —people in herds and throngs never seen on Wall or Broad street or ou this stretch of Broadway, but who now were sucked in by this unparalleled excitement from the East side, the riv er front, the BoWery and' likewise down from upper Fifth and irom Park avenues All trapped — thought Tony — all trapped together on the rim of the world. Did they know It? Did they feel It? e deluge 'of humanity waa pos sessed of a single Insatiable passion tor papers. But the newspepera told nothing more. Their contents, follow ing the repetition of the announce- ment of the morning, were of a wholly secondary nature, reflecting only Um effect of tbe statement Itself^ to u ooNTurusn. lff«pmrey-sMryouag men, who do not Invariably talk as educated per sons are sup|H>sed to do. It Is to be hoped that a broad view will be taken of the subject The field of endeavor should Include not only pronunciation hut also use of words and quality of voice. A cul tured man or woman should sound so.—Boston Globe. Dickens on Health The advice of Charles Dickens relative to public health can still ba read—with profit, Maflort Wefer points out In an article on “The Doc tors of Dickens” in Hygeia Maga zine. Dickens says in part. "After converting with many members r»f the medical profession In America, I am not singular In tha opinion that much of the disease which does pre vail might be avoided if a few com mon precautions were observed. The custom of hastily swallowing large quantities of animal food, three times a day, and rushing hack to sedentary pursuits after each meal, must be changed; the gentljr sex must go more wisely cltd, andktako more healthful exercise.” MercolizedWax m Keeps SMn Young Absorb ^knUMO wd di Mercolixed Wax daily as • . po^ dJpp^T^a b then ClTT, , fracfiasi y yS?bS22rMr UaUl Leapi From Doctors How to Tyeat Colds Four Points to Remember As colds cause more loss of time and money than any other disease, every one should learn what modern medical science teaches as to V^ir proper treatment. Your doctor has the following objectives: First—To relieve the congestion in the nose and throat, thus aborting, or lightening the attack and reliev ing the symptoms caused by the congestion.—Calotabs, the improved calomel compound tablets, accom plish this by attracting; the excess olood to the bowels. Second—To help the kidneys wash out of the blood the cold-poisons which cause the chilly sensation, feverishness, aches, and mean feel- *irig.—Calotabs are diuretic to the kidneys, assisting them in ridding the blood of the poisons. Third—To expel the germ-laden mucus and toxines from the bowels. thus preventing their abeorption into the blood.—Calotabs accomplish this thoroughly. Fourth—to keep the bile of tho liver flowing freely through and out of the intestines, thus relieving tho biliousness and constipation, which attend and aggravate a cold. Aa Calotabs contain calomel, they pro mote the flow of bile. Thus, Calotabs meet thsse four important objectives of medical treatment for colds. One or two Calotabs at bed time, with a glass of sweet milk or water, ia usually sufficient; but should be repeated the third or fifth night if needed. The milk tones down the action, making it milder, if desired. Why risk doubtful or make-shift remedies? 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