Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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a^V'«Rr - *v«. AttFWJV-'**'? r, December 11934 When Worlds Collide SYNOPSIS David Ransdell, noted aviator, ^r- rtvee at New York from South Africa, having been commissioned at Cape town by Uord Rhondin and Professor Bronson, the astronomer, to deliver a ease containing photographic plates to Dr. Cole Hendron, In New York. Tony* Drake calls at the Mendrons* apart ment. RanSdell arrives and Eve Hen dron, with whom Tony Is deeply In love, Introduces Tony to Ransdell. New York newspapers publish a state ment by Hendron saying that Profes sor Bronson has discovered two planets, which must have broken away from another star or sun, and have been brought under the attrac- v tlon of our sun. The result of the In- evltabl# collision must be the end of the earth. The approaching bodies are referred to as Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta. By EDWIN BALNER and ramp wylie Copyright by Edwin Balmsr A Philip Wylie WNU Service Tell* Cole Hendron 1 recommend Ivj Lee.” Rising, he left Tony and vanished In the throng. Tony rose, secured his bat and went out The latest newspaper contained a statement from the White House. The President requested that on the mor row every one return to work. It promised that the government would maintain stability In the country and Inveighed violently against the exag- der the wave of watei. There’ll be an earth tide, too.” "Earth tide?" "Earthquakes from the pull on the crust of the earth. Some of the men writing to Father think that the earth will be torn to pieces Just by the first passing of Bronson Alpha; but some of them think It will survive the strain." “What does your father think?" "He thinks the earth will survive the first stress—and that It Is possible that a fifth of the ^population may live through 4, too. Of course that’s only a guess.” M A fifth," repeated Tony. “A fifth of all on the earth." Eve. was watchMg him. Through 1 / / CHAPTER HI—Continued • Tony dropped Into a restaurant, where, though It was only afternoon, an evening hilarity already had ar rived. The Exchange was closed! No one kri^w exactly why or what was to happed. Why care? That was the alf here. Two men of Tony’s age, acquaint ances in school and friends In Wall Street, stopped at his table. “We’re going the rounds. Come along." Their taxi squeezed through Broad way In which frantic policemen wrestled vainly with overwhelming crowds. It stopped at a brownstone house In the West Forties. A night club, and it was crowded, though the sun was still shining. The three floors of the house were filled with people in business clothes drink ing and dancing. On the top floor two roulette wheels were surrounded by players. -Tony saw heaps of chips, the piles of bills. He looked at the faces of the players, and recognized two or three of them. They were hectic faces. The market had closed. This was a real smash—not merely a money •mash—a smash of the whole world ahead. Naturally money was losing its value, but men 1 played tor tt— cheered when they won, groaned when they lost, and staked again. The limit had been taken off the game. Downstairs at the bar, were three girls to whom Tony’s two friends Im mediately attached themselves. They were pretty girls of the kind that Broadway produces by an overnight incubation; girls who had been born far from the Great White Way. Girls whose country and small-town atti tudes had vanished. All of them had hair transformed from its original shade to ashen blonde. Around their eyes were beaded lashes; their voices were high; their silk clothes adhered * to their bodies. They drank and laughed. ed. “Here’s to the ol’ world coming to an end!" Tony sat with them: Clarissa. Jac queline, Bettina. He gazed at them, laughed with them, drank with them; but he thought of Eve. asleep at last, he hoped. Eve, slender as they, young as they, far, far lovelier than they; and bearing within her mind and soul the frightful burden of the full knowl edge of this day. After a while Tony looked again at the motley crowd; and across the room he saw a friend sitting alone In a booth. Tony rose and went toward the man. He was a person—a person age—worthy of notice. He was lean, gray-haired, Immaculate, smooth. His 'dark eyes were remote and unseeing. First nights knew him. Mothers of very rich daughters, mothers of daughters of impeccable lineage, sought him. Wherever the gayest of the gay world went, he could be found. Southamp ton, Newport, Biarritz, Cannes, Nice, peauvllle. Palm Beach. He was like old silver—yet he was not old. Forty, perhaps. A bachelor. He would have liked it If some one of authority had called, him a connoisseur of life and living—he would have been pleased, but he would not have revealed his pleasure. His name was Peter Van derbilt. And he was trapped, too— Tony was thinking as he saw him— trapped with him and Eve and Kyto and the panhandler and Bettina and Jacqueline and all the rest on the rim of the world. Tony cleared his brain. “Hello,” he said. Peter Vanderbilt looked up and his face showed welcome. “Tony! Jove! Of all people. Glad to see you. Sit. Sit and contemplate.” He beckoned a waiter and ordered. “You’re a bit on the Inside, I take It—friend of the Hemlrons. You know a bit more of what’s going Ion." “Yes,” admitted TonyVit was sense less to deny It to this.man. “Don’t tell me. Don’t break confi dences for my sake. I’m not one that has to have details ahead of others. Funny, Isn’t it, to think of the end of all this? I feel stimulated, don’t you? All of It—going to pieces! I feel like saying, ’Thank God!’ I was sick of it Every one was. Civilisation’s a wretched parody. Evidently there was a just and judging God, after all, and He’s taking us in hand again—the way He did In Noah's time. . . Good thing. I say. ' “flat Hendron and his scientists aren’t doing ao well. They’re making a big mistake. They've done splen- dldly—hardly-eonld .lUH^ilope Jtettw up to today. But they’re not well ad- y-vlsed If they heto anything bask much longer; they’d better tell anything— •o matter how bad It Is. They’ll have to, as they’ll soon see. Nothing can be as bad as uncertainty. They're top- aotch scientists, but the human ele ment Is the one thing they can't ana- Igas and reduce to figures. What they aesd Is a eorasel in public relations. gerated reaction of the American ■*<>- [ ft,, mn , nf , hHr w . nfl , h | n pie to the scientists’ statement ’ ness, she bad seen Tony as a normal from Satfth^Aftjca were spread .upon the table. - "You were downtown today, Tony?" “Yes." ’Today they took it, didn’t they I They took It and closed the Exchange, t hear; and half the businesses In town had a holiday. For they’ve known for (Julte some time that some thing has been banging over them, hanging over the market This morn ing we half told them what It Is; and they thought they believed It Just now I told six men the other half— or most of it—and—and you heard them, Tony; they won’t have It The world won’t come to an end; It can’t possibly collide with another world, because—well, for one thing, It never has done such a thing before, and for another, they won’t have tt. Not when you dwell upon tht> details. They, won’t have It v “The trouble Is, men aren’t really educated up to the telescope yet, as they are to the microscope. If a doc- tor took a bit of cell- Onthe Funny Side Two-Piece Frock : ~ in Smart Design Tony smiled. “Business as usual! Business going on, as..usual, during alterations," be thought. He took n taxi to the Hendrons’ apartment. More than a block away from the building, he had to abandon the cab. The crowd and the police cordon about the apartment both had increased; but certain persons could pass. Several men, whose voices he could overbear in loud argument, were with Cole Hendron behind the closed doors of the big study on the roof. No one was with Eve. She awaited him, alone. She was dressed carefully, charm ingly, as she always was. He pressed her to him for a moment; and for that instant when he kissed her and held her close, all wonder and terror was sent away. What matter the end of everything, If first he had her! He had never dreamed o! such delight In possession as be felt, holding her; he had never dared dream of such re sponse from her—or from any one. He had won her, and she him, utterly. Aa he thought of the cataclysm de stroying them, he thought of It com ing to them together, In each other’s arms; and he could not care. tihe feH lt r fully y he. Jler fingers touched his face with a passionate tenderness which tore him. “What's done It for us so suddenly and so completely. Tony?” The shadow of the sword,’ I sup pose, my dear—oh, my dear! I re member reading It In Kipling when 1 was a boy, but never understanding It Remember the two In love when they knew that one would surely die? There Is no happiness like that snatched under the shadow of the sword.’ ’’ “But we both shall die, if either does, Tony. That’s so much better." The voices beyond the closed door shouted louder, and Tony released her. "Wbo'i bm?" —^ man, to whom overythlng that hap pened was happy, felicitous and un- bizarre. The only crises In which she observed hThTwere emergencies on the football field, and alarms in the stock market, which in the first case repre sented mere sport, and In the second, money which he did not properly un derstand, because all his Hfe he had possessed money enough, and more. Now, as she watched him, she thought that she would meet with him—and she exulted therein—the most terrific reality that man had ever , faced. So far as be had yet been called upon, he had met It without at tempting to evade It; his effort had been solely for more complete under standing. A contrast to some of those men— among them men who were called the greatest In the nation—whose voices rose loud again behind Eve- said In reply to Tony’s ques tion, “Six men, the secretary of state, the governor, Mr. Borgan, the chief of a newspaper chain, two more.” She was not thiuking about them. “Sit down, but don’t- sit near me. Tony;' we’ve got to think things out." _“Your father’s told them?" - — “He’s told them what will happen first. 1 mean, when the Bronson bodies—both of them—Just pass close to the world and go on around the sun. That’s more than enough for them now. It’s not time yet to tell them of the encounter. You see, the mere passing close will be terrible enough." •’Why?" “Because of the tides, for one thing. The moon, which Is hardly an eight ieth of the world In mass, raises tides that run forty to sixty feet, in places like the Bay of Fundy." “Of course—the tides,” Tony real ized aloud. “Bronson Beta is the size of the earth, Tony; Bronson Alpha Is esti mated to have eleven to twelve times that mass. That sphere will pass, the first time, within the orbit of the moon. Bronson Beta will raise tides many times as high; and Bronson Alpha—you can’t express It by mere mnltlpllcatlon, Tony. New York will be under water to the tops of its tow ers—a tidal wave beyond all imaglna tlon! The seacoasts of all the world will be swept by the seas, sucked up toward the sk> and washed back and forth. The waves will wash back to the Appalachians; and It will be the same In Europe and Asia. Holland, Belgium, half of France and Germany, half of India and China, will be un one of those men who were just here^ doors. The ranting and shouting ‘offended her; she wanted to go to her father's aid; not being able to, she went to Tony. “Somebody," said Tesy, “seems not to like what he has to he^r." “Who iA.be, Tony?” > J’SomeWoay who Isn’t very used to 'hearing Tvlwt he doesn’t like. . . \ Oh Eve, Eve! v My dear, my dear! For the first time In my life. I’d like to be a poet; I wish for words to say what 1 feel. ..." The sudden unmuffllng of the voices warned them that a door from the study had opened; some one had come out. It was her father. For a few moments he stood regarding them, debating what he should say. “Father,” Eve said, “Tony and I— Tony and I—" Her father nodded. “1 saw you for a few seconds before you realized I was here. Eve—and Tony." Tony flushed. "We mean, what you saw, sir,” be said. “We more than mean It We’re going to be married as soon as we can—aren’t we, Eve?" “Can we, Father?" Cole Hendron shook his head. •There can’t be marrying or love for either of you. No time to tell you why not; only—there can’t." "Why can’t there be, sir?" "There’s going to be altogether too much else. In a few months, you’ll know. Meanwhile, don’t spoil my plans by eloping. And don’t go on doing—what I Just saw. It’ll only make it harder for both of you—as you’ll see when you figure out what’s before you. Tony, there's nothing per sonal In that. I like you. and you know It If the world were going to remain. I’d not say a word; but the world cannot possibly remain. W'e can talk of this later.” The study door again opened; some one called him, and he returned to the argument In the next room. “Now," demanded Tony of Eve, “what In the world, which cannot pos sibly remain, does he mean by that? That we shouldn’t love and marry be cause we’re going to die? AH the more reason for it—and quicker, too.” “Neither of us can possibly guess what he means, Tony; we’d be months behind him in thinking ; for he’s done nothing else, really, for half a year, but plan what we—what all the hu man race—will have to do. He means, 1 think, that he’s put us In some scheme of things that won't let us marry." The argument In Ahe room broke up and the arguers emerged. In a few minutes they all were gone; and Tony sought Cole Hendron In his big study, where the plates which bad come **l Told Them That the Passing ot the Bronson Bodies Would Cauo< the closed tarthquahss on a Beals Unlmafr- Inable; Half the Inland Cities Would Bo Shaken Down." CRITICISM “What do you think of the critics of your plan?" “I resent them," answered Senator Sorghum. , Haven’t they any good ideas?" Obi yea- I may utilize some of them. Nevertheless,.! don’t propose to encourage Vthe nerve they show In expressing them,”. -- £ Encouragement At an English theater they were playing “The Forty Thieves," and as the company numbered only eight, the entry of the robbers Into the cave was achieved by their passing out at the back of the stage and en tering again at the front. Unfortunately one of the robbers walked with a Hmp, and when he had entered five times a voice from the gallery cried: ‘‘Stick it, floppy;, last lap!" PATTERN SSM In this two-piece frock youth Is de lightfully served. Make It of on# of the new fabric prints which look liko wool, or of a smart sheer wookk. II suggests a suit la its trim lines sod neat tailored finish. The yoke ex tends down the front to the edge of the Jacket In a vest effect from undw which a belt partly encircles the waistline. The bow at the neck Is extremely attractive in velvet. Think of it in rust color with the frock la two shades of green. With the dla- DUappointment "So you are going home," aald the kindly stranger to the wanderer. “I suppose they will kill the fatted calf for you?" “Yea, that’s the worst of it,” re plied the wanderer sourly; “I am on a diet and can’t eat any meat”— Pathfinder Magazine. and put it under the microscope, and said, ’Sorry, bnt that means you will die.’ there Isn’t a man of them who wouldn’t promptly put hia affairs to shape. “None of them would ask to look tbroilfch the microscope himself ; he’d know It would mean nothing to him. “But they asked for Bronson’s plates. I showed them; here they are, Tony. Look here. See this field of stars. All those fixed points, those round specks, every single one of them is s star. But see here; there la a alight—a very slight—streak, but still a streak. There, right beside It, Is another one. Something has moved, Tony! Two points of light have moved In a star-field where nothing ought to move! A mistake, perhaps? flaw in the coating of the plate? Bronson considered this, and other possibilities. He photographed the star-field again and again, night after night; atrd each time, youTee, Tony, - the same two points of light make a bit of streak. No chance of mistake; down there, where nothing ought to be moving, two objects have moved. But all we have to show for it are two tiuy streaks on a photographic plate, "What do they mean? ’Gentlemen, the time has come to put.your house Id order!’ The affairs of all the world, the affairs of every one living In the world—. Naturally, they can’t really believe It. Bronson himself. though he watched those planets himself night after night for months, couldn’t real ly believe It; nor could the other men who watched, In other observatories south of the equator. But they searched back over old plates of the same patch of the aky; and they foupd, in that same star- field, what they had missed before— those same two specks always making tiny streaks. Two objects that weren’t stars where only atara ought to be ; two strange object! that always were mov ing, where nothing ’ought to move. “We need only three good obaerva- tlona of an object to plot the course of a moving body; and already Bron son succeeded In obtaining a score of observations of these. He worked out the result, and It was ao sensational, that from the very first, he swore to secrecy every one who worked with him and with whota he corresponded. They obtained, altogether, hundreds of observations; and the result always worked out the same. They all checked— ^ “Eve says she has told you what that result Is to be," Cole Hendron ssid. "Yes,” said Tony, “she told me." “And I told these men who demand ed—ordered me—to explain to them everything we had. I told them- that those specks showing on the Bronson plates were moving so that they would enter our solar system, and one of them would then come into collision with our world. They said, all right. You see, It really meant nothing to them originally. * “Then I told them that, before the encounter, both of these moving bodies —Bronson Alpha anu Bronson Beta— would first pass us close by and cause tides that would rise six hundred feet over us, from New York to Ban Fran cisco—and, of course, Loudon and Faria and all seacoasfa everywhere. ‘They began to oppose that, 'be cause they, could unoerstaud It. I told them that the passing of the Bronsou bodies would cause earth quakes ou a scale unrmaglnable; half the Inland cities- wooTu ' be ahaken down^aad -The, .effect below would set volcanoes Into activity ev erywhere, and as never since the world began. I aald, perhaps, a fifth of the people would sarvive the first passing of the Bronson bodies. I tried to point out seme* of the dress on the surface of tbs earth which weald ht Comparatively safe. - ^ to nn coMTumaB ^ •■i l- Quaint Forms “George Washington had quaint forms of apeech," remarked the stu dlous jperson. “Yes," said Mias Cayenne. “But wouldn’t George say the same of us if be could hear some of the things that go on over the radio." Warning Mrs. B.—What made you count your change ao carefully after pay log our bill? v Mr. B.—The clerk kept saying tha "honesty la the best policy.”—Border Cities Star. Back to Early Standards “Are there any gangsters in Crim son Gulch?" asked the traveling man. “No, air," answered Cactus Joe. “We shoot things out for ourselves. The Gulch continues to favor rugged individualism." AND SHE THOUGHT— grammed sewing chart which accom panies the pattern, even a young girl can easily make the frock. Pattern 2090 It available In Msoa 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Slse 12 takeo 2% yards 54-lnch fabric, and 1% yards 4-1 nch ribbon. Send FIFTEEN CENTS (15c) la coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this pattern. Write plainly name, address and style number. BE 8URB TO STATE SIZE. Address orders to Sewing OKM, Pattern Department, 24S West Sev enteenth street, New York City. PREPARATION “Daddy, I want to be an Arctic as- plorer.” “That’a fine, my boy." “But, daddy, I want to go into training at once." "How so?" "Well, I want a dollar a day for Ico cream so that I can get accustomed to the cold.” Mr. Hardfax—If you think two can live aa cheaply as one, let’s try It. Miso Man-chaser—Oh 1 This la •°—* Mr. Hardfax—You name one wom an and I’ll pick two men and lay $ou two to one on the men. Ambitioa He—I’d like to write the most pop ular book of the day. She—You think that la the way to fame! He—I don’t give a hoot for the fame, It Is the way to fill a pocket book, and that’s what interests me. Hard Luck Story My friend, the visiting nurse, re ports that a very sick patient told her that her illness was caused by bad teeth. The way she put IL was, T should have had my teeth exca vated two. years ago, for pyrex.”— Cleveland Plain Dealer. — ♦ Lot Liko Tk«i Blinks—That dame can aay more foolish things than anybody I ever listened to. Jinks—Yes, her tongue travels along at sixty miles ao hour, while her brain Is Jogging along at about five. The Real Point British Guide (showing places of Interest)—It was in this room that Lord Wellington received his first commission! American Tourist (suddenly inter ested)—How much was ItT And Ho Wont Hia Way Sinister-Looking Individual (rig. nlficantly)—Is yer ’usband at ’oeM, ma’am? Lady (resourcefully)—Well, If htfa finished hip revolver practice, hrB be playing in the beck garden with our bloodhounds. Did yon want ta see him?—London Tit-Bita, UNNEIGHBORLY NEIGHBORS i-v- - Mrs. Tom—Are yon troubled m In your neighborhood with Ing? Mrs. Daw—Yes, a good neighbors never seem to thing 1 want . H Mj • a Length, Not First Voter—How lohg did the can didate apeak, BUI? Bill—About an hdur and a halt First Voter—Ami what was St about? Bill—He didn’t my.—1 f [RPE< * „