Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Joris Van Dael, and theOnline Distributed Proofreading Team
THE MOON METAL
By Garrett P. Serviss
CONTENTS
I. SOUTH POLAR GOLD
II. THE MAGICIAN OF SCIENCE
III. THE GRAND TETON MINE
IV. THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD
V. WONDERS OF THE NEW METAL
VI. A STRANGE DISCOVERY
VII. A MYSTERY INDEED!
VIII. MORE OF DR. SYX'S MAGIC
IX. THE DETECTIVE OF SCIENCE
X. THE TOP OF THE GRAND TETON
XI. STRANGE FATE OF A KITE
XII. BETTER THAN ALCHEMY
XIII. THE LOOTING OF THE MOON
XIV. THE LAST OF DR. SYX
THE MOON METAL
I
SOUTH POLAR GOLD
When the news came of the discovery of gold at the south pole, nobodysuspected that the beginning had been reached of a new era in theworld's history. The newsboys cried "Extra!" as they had done athousand times for murders, battles, fires, and Wall Street panics,but nobody was excited. In fact, the reports at first seemed soexaggerated and improbable that hardly anybody believed a word ofthem. Who could have been expected to credit a despatch, forwarded bycable from New Zealand, and signed by an unknown name, which containedsuch a statement as this:
"A seam of gold which can be cut with a knife has been found withinten miles of the south pole."
The discovery of the pole itself had been announced three yearsbefore, and several scientific parties were known to be exploring theremarkable continent that surrounds it. But while they had sent homemany highly interesting reports, there had been nothing to suggest thepossibility of such an amazing discovery as that which was nowannounced. Accordingly, most sensible people looked upon the NewZealand despatch as a hoax.
But within a week, and from a different source, flashed anotherdespatch which more than confirmed the first. It declared that goldexisted near the south pole in practically unlimited quantity. Somegeologists said this accounted for the greater depth of the AntarcticOcean. It had always been noticed that the southern hemisphereappeared to be a little overweighted. People now began to prick uptheir ears, and many letters of inquiry appeared in the newspapersconcerning the wonderful tidings from the south. Some asked forinformation about the shortest route to the new goldfields.
In a little while several additional reports came, some via NewZealand, others via South America, and all confirming in every respectwhat had been sent before. Then a New York newspaper sent a swiftsteamer to the Antarctic, and when this enterprising journal publisheda four-page cable describing the discoveries in detail, all doubtvanished and the rush began.
Some time I may undertake a description of the wild scenes thatoccurred when, at last, the inhabitants of the northern hemispherewere convinced that boundless stores of gold existed in the unclaimedand uninhabited wastes surrounding the south pole. But at present Ihave something more wonderful to relate.
Let me briefly depict the situation.
For many years silver had been absent from the coinage of theworld. Its increasing abundance rendered it unsuitable for money,especially when contrasted with gold. The "silver craze," which hadraged in the closing decade of the nineteenth century, was already aforgotten incident of financial history. The gold standard had becomeuniversal, and business all over the earth had adjusted itself to thatcondition. The wheels of industry ran smoothly, and there seemed to beno possibility of any disturbance or interruption. The common monetarysystem prevailing in every land fostered trade and facilitated theexchange of products. Travellers never had to bother their heads aboutthe currency of money; any coin that passed in New York would pass forits face value in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, St. Petersburg,Constantinople, Cairo, Khartoum, Jerusalem, Peking, or Yeddo. It wasindeed the "Golden Age," and the world had never been so free fromfinancial storms.
Upon this peaceful scene the south polar gold discoveries burst likean unheralded tempest.
I happened to be in the company of a famous bank president when theconfirmation of those discoveries suddenly filled the streets withyelling newsboys. "Get me one of those 'extras'!" he said, and anoffice-boy ran out to obey him. As he perused the sheet his facedarkened.
"I'm afraid it's too true," he said, at length. "Yes, there seems tobe no getting around it. Gold is going to be as plentiful as iron. Ifthere were not such a flood of it, we might manage, but when theybegin to make trousers buttons out of the same metal that is nowlocked and guarded in steel vaults, where will be our standard ofworth? My dear fellow," he continued, impulsively laying his hand onmy arm, "I would as willingly face the end of the world as this that'scoming!"
"You think it so bad, then?" I asked. "But most people will not agreewith you. They will regard it as very good news."
"How can it be good?" he burst out. "What have we got to take theplace of gold? Can we go back to the age of barter? Can we substitutecattle-pens and wheat-bins for the strong boxes of the Treasury? Cancommerce exist with no common measure of exchange?"
"It does indeed look serious," I assented.
"Serious! I tell you, it is the deluge!"
Thereat he clapped on his hat and hurried across the street to theoffice of another celebrated banker.
His premonitions of disaster turned out to be but too well grounded.The deposits of gold at the south pole were richer than the wildestreports had represented them. The shipments of the precious metal toAmerica and Europe soon became enormous--so enormous that the metalwas no longer precious. The price of gold dropped like a fallingstone, with accelerated velocity, and within a year every money centrein the world had been swept by a panic. Gold was more common thaniron. Every government was compelled to demonetize it, for when oncegold had fallen into contempt it was less valuable in the eyes of thepublic than stamped paper. For once the world had thoroughly learnedthe lesson that too much of a good thing is worse than none of it.
Then somebody found a new use for gold by inventing a process by whichit could be hardened and tempered, assuming a wonderful toughness andelasticity without losing its non-corrosive property, and in this formit rapidly took the place of steel.
In the mean time every effort was made to bolster up credit. Endlesswere the attempts to find a substitute for gold. The chemists soughtit in their laboratories and the mineralogists in the mountains anddeserts. Platinum might have served, but it, too, had become a drug inthe market through the discovery of immense deposits. Out of thetwenty odd elements which had been rarer and more valuable than gold,such as uranium, gallium, etc., not one was found to answer thepurpose. In short, it was evident that since both gold and silver hadbecome too abundant to serve any longer for a money standard, theplanet held no metal suitable to take their place.
The entire monetary system of the world must be readjusted, but in thereadjustment it was certain to fall to pieces. In fact, it had alreadyfallen to pieces; the only recourse was to paper money, but whetherthis was based upon agriculture or mining or manufacture, it gavevarying standards, not only among the different nations, but insuccessive years in the same country. Exports and imports practicallyceased. Credit was discredited, commerce perished, and the world, at abound, seemed to have gone back, financially and industrially, to thedark ages.
One final effort was made. A great financial congress was assembled atNew York. Representatives of all the nations took part in it. Theablest financiers of Europe and America united the efforts of theirgenius and the results of their experience to solve the greatproblem. The various governments all solemnly stipulated to abide bythe decision of the congress.
But, after spending months in hard but fruitless labor, that body wasn
o nearer the end of its undertaking than when it first assembled. Theentire world awaited its decision with bated breath, and yet thedecision was not formed.
At this paralyzing crisis a most unexpected event suddenly opened theway.