Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Final Preparations

November twenty-second.There were still ten days before the last date of departure. Now there was but one last piece of work to be done, and it was a delicate, dangerous, careful work on which Captain Nicholl had staked his The third bet.To be honest, this is to put 400,000 pounds of gun cotton into the Columbia gun. Nicholl once thought that piled up with a terrible amount of low-nitrogen nitrocellulose, which may cause disasters. Maybe his idea is justified. , in any case, under the pressure of the shells, this pile of highly explosive substances is likely to burn itself. Adding to the seriousness of the danger was the indiscretion and carelessness of the Americans, who, in the days of the Civil War, smoked cigarettes and reloaded gunpowder indifferently.But Barbicane wanted nothing more than success than to run aground in port: he therefore selected a group of the best workmen, and set them to work under his eyes, never taking his eyes off them for a moment; Precautions draw to oneself all hope of success.

First, he didn't bring all the gunpowder all at once to the fence at Rocky Hill.He directed the workers to pack the gunpowder in the caravan, seal it tightly, and transport it bit by bit.The most skilled gunpowder workers in Pensacola carefully loaded four hundred thousand pounds of low-nitrogen nitrocellulose into vats of five hundred pounds each, for a total of eight hundred barrels.The wagons, holding ten barrels each, were carried slowly one by one from the Danpa Railroad to Rocky Heights: thus never more than five thousand pounds of gunpowder in the fence.As soon as the car arrived, the workers unloaded the gunpowder with bare feet, and then used a man-operated crane to send barrels into the Colombian muzzle.All the steam engines were moved aside, and there was not a single spark within a radius of two miles.Although it is already November weather, it is still very difficult to keep the mass of gunwool from the heat of the sun.So they prefer to work at night.Using Rumkorf's device, they created artificial daylight in the sky, and even the bottom of the Columbia guns were clearly illuminated.Barrels of gunpowder are neatly arranged at the bottom of the gun, strung together with wires, which can transmit electric sparks to the center of each wooden barrel at the same time.

Yes, they are going to use batteries to ignite gunwool, and all the wires covered with insulating substances reach a small hole that is level with the shells, and then they form a circuit that passes through the thick iron wall, and is formed by a brick wall in the middle of the stone retaining wall. The old air hole rises to the ground.The wire reached the height of the Rocky Hill, climbed a two-mile run of poles, passed through a switch, and was connected to a powerful Bunsen battery.As long as the button is pushed by hand, the circuit is connected, and the four hundred thousand pounds of guncotton immediately start to burn.Needless to say, the battery will not start working until the last moment.

On November 28, all 800 barrels were lowered under the Colombian guns.This work has been successfully completed.But how many moments of fear and tension passed through Chairman Barbicane!He forbade people from going through the fence, but it was a waste of effort. Many curious people climbed the fence every day, and some of them were so reckless that they ran to the middle of the cotton barrels to smoke.Barbicane was driven mad with rage every day.Maston tried his best to help him, desperately drove the intruders out of the fence, and picked up one by one the unextinguished cigarette butts that the Americans had left everywhere.This is a real headache, because there are more than 30,000 people crowded outside the fence.Michel, Ardan volunteered to escort the caravan to the mouth of the Columbia Cannon; while he was chasing the daredevils, the chairman of the Cannon Club caught him with a snowball in his mouth, and set a terrible example for others , So I couldn't believe this bold smoker anymore, so I had to send someone to monitor him.

In short, the inventor of the cannon seems to have been blessed by heaven, nothing exploded, and the work of loading the gunpowder was successfully completed.Captain Nicholl's third bet was again dubious.Now it was only necessary to load the shell, which had only to be placed on thick gunwool. However, before starting this work, it is necessary to put in the "cannonball compartment" the things needed for the journey. There are quite a lot of things. The location is also taken.You can hardly imagine what this lovely Frenchman intends to take to the moon.What a pile of crap.Barbicane intervened, taking only what was essential.

There are several cold and heat gauges, barometers, and telescopes in the toolbox. Three travelers were eager to observe the moon halfway, for easier acquaintance: This new world, they brought Bill and Maderell's lunar chart, printed in four pages, and considered a true masterpiece of patient surveying, this celestial body against all the topography of this part of the earth, The lunar map has been carefully drawn; volcanoes, deep valleys, craters, circular basins, peaks, and grooves are all clearly visible, with correct orientation and realistic size. Mountains and Leibniz Mountains are marked with names as far as the cold sea stretching in the Arctic region.

This was a valuable material for the travelers, who could study this new world before they landed. They also took three rifles, three patented shotguns with explosive bullets, and a lot of powder and buckshot. "Don't know what's going to happen to us," Michel Ardan said. "People or animals there may think that our visits are malicious! So you should be prepared." Along with self-defense weapons, there are pickaxes, hand saws and other indispensable tools. Needless to say, there are also Clothing adapted to the cold polar regions and the hot tropics. Michel Ardan wanted to take a team of animals, not a pair of every kind, of course, because he saw no need for snakes, tigers, alligators, and other vermin to adapt to the lunar climate.

"No," he said to Barbicane, "but with a few pack animals, bulls or cows, donkeys or horses, on the one hand it will beautify the lunar landscape, and on the other hand we may be able to use them "Agreed, dear Adam." The President of the Cannon Club replied, but, ours: The cannonball car is not Noah's Ark. It has neither the ability nor the mission. So we can only do what we can. The three argued for a long time, and finally decided to take Captain Nicholl's beautiful hunting dog and a strong Newfoundland dog.A few boxes of the most useful seeds were also included among the indispensable.If Michel Ardan had his way, he would have brought some more sacks of earth and was going there to plant the seeds, anyway: he took a dozen saplings, tied them with grass, and put them in a corner of the shell .

What remained now was the important question of food, for it should be expected that they might land in an absolutely deserted area, and Barbicane did very well, bringing with him enough food for a year.However, in order not to surprise the reader, we should add that these grains, including meat and vegetables, are squeezed into the smallest volume by hydraulic presses, while at the same time retaining a large amount of nutrients: such food naturally cannot be prepared in great variety. meals, but participation in such an expedition should not be too demanding.Fifty gallons of schnapps were also stored, and only two months' worth of fresh water; indeed, from recent observations by astronomers, no one doubted that there was a certain amount of water on the surface of the moon.As for food, only a lunatic would believe that the inhabitants of the earth would find nothing to eat on it.This, Michelle.Adam has no doubts.If he had doubted it, he would not have set off.

"Besides," he said to his friends one day, "friends on Earth. Will not abandon us, forget us. " "Of course not!" Maston replied. "What do you mean by that?" Nicholl asked. "It couldn't be easier," replied Michel Ardan. "Aren't the Columbia guns still here? Well! Every time the moon appears at the zenith under favorable conditions, it doesn't have to be at perigee, that is, they can send us bombs almost every other year." One ration, and we'll just have to wait on the agreed day." "Hurrah! Hurrah!" cried Maston, as if he had made up his mind.

"What a good idea! No doubt, honest friends, we will never forget you!" "I'm totally counting on you! You see, this way, we can always receive news from Earth, and on our side, we would be fools if we couldn't find a way to contact our best friends on Earth! " These few words of confidence, together with Michel Ardan's resolute attitude and charming courage, made all the members of the Gun Club eager to follow in his footsteps.Obviously, he was talking about something simple, clear, easy, and guaranteed to succeed. Only a worthless guy would stay on this earth made up of water and land instead of following these three explorers to the moon. By the time everything was put into the shell, the water for the springs had filled the spaces between the planks, and the gas for the lighting had been filled into its containers.As for the potassium chlorate for the production of oxygen, and the caustic potash for the absorption of the carbonic gas, Barbicane carried a quantity sufficient for two months, owing to the unforeseen delays on the Burroughs.A singularly ingenious automatic machine ideally undertakes the task of supplying fresh air and clearing stale air.The shell is ready, just place it in the Columbia chamber.This is an extremely difficult and dangerous job. Huge shells were transported to the top of Luanshigang Mountain.Several powerful cranes picked it up and hoisted it above the iron shaft. This is an exciting time.If the iron chain, unable to support the weight of the colossus, suddenly snapped, the shell fell with a plop, and the gunwool would ignite. Happily, nothing happened, and after a few hours the "shell carriage" slipped softly into the gun cavity and rested on the powder like a duvet.Its pressure had no effect other than to compact the powder of the Columbia. "I have lost," said the captain, and he handed over the three thousand dollars to Chairman Barbicane. Barbicane was unwilling to accept the money from his traveling companion, but Nicholl was stubborn and insisted on fulfilling all his obligations before leaving the earth, so he had to give in at last. "Now," said Michel Ardan, "I have only one thing to congratulate you" Which one? " "Good luck losing the other two bets! That way we really don't stop halfway."