Chapter 9 Chapter nine

Golden! ...it's gold! Initially, people were skeptical.Some thought it was a mistake that would not be long before it was discovered; others thought it was a great hoax set by talented troublemakers. If this is the case, the Paris Observatory will undoubtedly come out in a hurry to deny this account, otherwise, it would be a pure misinformation to say that this account was written by it. Let us tell everyone at once, the Paris Observatory will not come out and deny it.On the contrary, the observatories of various countries rushed to repeat the experiments performed by their French counterparts, and unanimously confirmed the conclusions of the experiments.Therefore, this strange phenomenon cannot but be regarded as an indisputable fact.

So everyone was mesmerized! We all know that optical lenses are a big seller whenever there is a solar eclipse.Then think about it, how many telescopes of all shapes and sizes were sold during this memorable event!Never was a king or queen, a famous singer or a ballerina, so long and fascinated to watch as this shooting star, while this wonderful shooting star was indifferent and proud in the infinite The universe continues to function normally. The weather continued to be clear, which was perfect for observation.Therefore, Mr. Dean Forsyth never left his round tower, and Mr. Sidney Hudson never left his square tower.Both endeavored to ascertain the last few facts about the meteor, its size, its mass, and not to miss any unexpected peculiarities that might have been discovered in the course of serious research.If it is true that the question of who discovers the meteor first is intractable, what advantage will the one who discovers some of the secrets of the meteor have over two rivals!Isn't the issue of this bolide the current primary issue?Contrary to those Gauls who cared nothing until the sky fell from their heads, all mankind today has only one wish, that this meteor stop its motion and fall under the force of gravity, making its space-traveling billions of gold Be a treasure to our planet.

What calculations were made to determine the exact amount of these billions of gold!Unfortunately, these calculations are unfounded, because the size of the meteor's core is still unknown. No matter how big the value of the meteor core is, it is always astonishing, which is enough to make people fantasize. On May 3, the Weston Standard published a chronicle on the subject, which, after a round of discussion, concluded thus: "Even if the core of the Forsyth-Huddleson bolide is a sphere with a diameter of only ten meters, if the sphere is made of iron, it would weigh 3,773 tons. But if the same sphere is Consisting entirely of pure gold, it would weigh 10,830 tons and be worth more than 31,000,000,000 francs."

We see here that, in terms of fashion and trends, the Standard newspaper, which takes the lead, adopts the metric system of measurement for calculations.Let us congratulate it warmly on this! So even though this kernel is so small, it will have that much value! ... "Is that possible, sir?" asked Omicron, stammering after reading the Chronicle. "Not only is it possible, but it is quite certain," replied Mr. Dean Forsyth solemnly. "To get the answer, one has only to multiply the average price of gold, which is three thousand and one hundred francs per kilogram, by the mass of the meteor core." .The mass is derived from the volume, and the method is very simple. Use this formula-V = π D3-."

"Oh, not bad!..." Omicron said as if he understood, but in fact all this was as incomprehensible to him as a bible. "But," went on Mr. Dean Forsyth, "the papers keep linking my name to that fellow's!" The Doctor is probably thinking the same thing on his part. As for Mademoiselle Lulu, when she read the Chronicle of the Standard, she made such a contemptuous flick of her little red mouth that would have humiliated the bolide worth thirty-one billion francs. It is well known that the temperament of journalists makes them instinctively exaggerate.One said two, and the other said three without thinking.It was not surprising, therefore, to read the answer in that day's Weston Evening Post - worded in a reprehensible partiality to the other side -:

"We cannot understand why the Standard's estimate appears to be so cautious. Let us be bold. Even on plausible assumptions, the inner core of the Hudson meteor is a hundred meters in diameter. According to such a length, it can be concluded that the weight of this pure gold sphere is 10,083,488 tons, and its value exceeds 310,026,000,000,000 francs, that is, a fourteen-digit number!" "Clumsy" jokingly pointed out when enumerating these astonishing figures that the imagination cannot reach: "Besides, the number of centimes has not been counted." Meanwhile, the weather remained clear, and Mr. Dean Forsyth and Dr. Huddleson pursued their investigations more persistently than ever in the hope of being at least the first to ascertain with certainty the size of the meteor's inner core.Unfortunately, it's not easy to discern the outline of a meteor's inner core from its dazzling coma.

Only once, on the night of the 5th and 6th, did Mr. Dean Forsyth feel sure of himself.The radiance of the light fades for a moment, revealing an intensely glowing sphere. "Omiclon!" cried Mr. Dean Forsyth in a voice hoarse with excitement. "What is it, sir?" "That kernel!" "Yes... I saw it." "We finally got it!" "Cough!" Omicron yelled, "I can't see clearly anymore!" "It doesn't matter, anyway, I saw it!... I will get the honor!... Send a telegram to the Pittsburgh Observatory as soon as the doors open tomorrow... This time, that damned Hudson can't insist..."

Is Mr. Dean Forsyth dreaming it himself, or is Mr. Hudson really letting him get the upper hand!No one knew of this, and the letter intended for the Pittsburgh Observatory was never sent. On the morning of May 6th, newspapers around the world published this newsletter: "The Greenwich Observatory has the honor to report that, through calculations and a series of satisfactory observations, it has arrived at the following result: The bolide made of gold is a sphere with a diameter of 110 meters and a volume of about 696,000 cubic meters. "The weight of such a golden sphere should be more than 13 million tons. Calculations show that this is not the case at all. The actual weight of this bolide is less than one-seventh of the above figure, weighing only 180 tons." 167,000 tons, which is equivalent to the weight of a gold sphere with a volume of about 97,000 cubic meters and a diameter of nearly 57 meters.

"From the above investigations, we must draw the following conclusion: since the chemical composition of meteors need not be discussed, we can think that there are some large voids inside the metal constituting the inner core, or—this seems more reliable—these The metal is in a powder state. In this case, this inner core has a porous structure like a sponge. "Regardless of the situation in this regard, the above calculations and observations allow us to determine the value of the inner core more accurately. This value, calculated according to the current market price of gold, is not less than 5788 billion francs ’ So if the diameter of the inner core is not a hundred and ten meters, as the Weston Evening Post supposed, it is not ten meters, as the Standard says.The truth is somewhere between these two assumptions.If this bolide had not been destined to follow its eternal orbit over the earth, its present size would have sufficed to satisfy the most greedy desires.

When Mr. Dean Forsyth learned the value of his shooting star, he exclaimed: "I found it, not the bastard on the square tower. It's mine, and if it hits the ground, I'll have fifty-eight thousand billion francs!" And on that side, Dr. Hudson also pointed to the round tower threateningly and said to himself repeatedly: "This is my property, my stuff... is my legacy to the children, spinning in space. If it falls to the ground, it will be fully owned by me, and I will be a family five. A millionaire of 800 billion!" Undoubtedly, in this case, Vanderbilt, Hearst, Rockefeller, Pierpont, Morgan, McKay, Gould, and other American millionaires, along with Dr. Hudson and Dean Compared with Mr. Forsyth, they are nothing more than worthless snacks!

This is their current situation.If they haven't gone mad, it's because their minds are very strong! Frances and Mrs Hudson could easily see how it would all end.But how can you hold these two opponents on the slippery slope?It is impossible to talk to them calmly.They seemed to have forgotten about the proposed wedding and were only thinking about their rivalry.It's a pity that the newspapers all over the city keep up their feud. The articles in these newspapers, which are usually peaceful, are now crazy.And those unlikable characters are also involved, and it seems that people who are usually easy to get along with are also involved in the right and wrong. The Punch never ceased to irritate these two rivals with satires and cartoons.This paper is at least adding salt to the fire, if not adding fuel to the fire!Add its salt (gossip) to the conversation, so that the fire crackles more cheerfully!So it was even feared that Mr. Dean Forsyth and Dr. Hudson would fight for the bolide with arms in hand, and solve the problem with an American-style duel.Not much good for this unmarried couple's marriage! Fortunately for world peace, the public calmed down just as these two paranoiacs were losing their minds.It was finally accepted that since the shooting star was out of reach, it didn't matter if it was golden or worth billions. It's true that people can't get enough of it.Every time the meteor makes one revolution, it will appear exactly at a certain fixed position in the sky calculated by people.So it's a constant speed, and, as the Weston Standard pointed out at the outset, there's no reason for it to slow down at any point.Therefore, this bolide will always orbit the earth, just as it seems to have always revolved around the earth in the past. These opinions, propagated with great fanfare in the newspapers of the world, have calmed the minds of the people.Everyone gradually stopped thinking about meteors, everyone sighed regretfully at this invisible treasure, and went back to their old business.The Punch of May 9 noted that the public had grown indifferent to the events which had excited them a few days earlier.It continued its apparently smug joke, blaming the meteor's two discoverers for everything. "When," cried the Punch at the end of its article, "these two sinners whom we point out, deserving of the public's scorn, will be punished? It was not enough that they tried to destroy their native land at once." , and now they have wreaked havoc on the most respectable families. Last week a friend of ours, blinded by their deceitful assertions, squandered a large fortune in forty-eight hours. This unfortunate The guy is counting on meteor billions! And now the billions are going to fly under our eyelids... no, over our eyelids! What will happen to our friend's children in the future? Shall we still use Explain, we are accustomed to regard this friend as a symbol of 'the crowd'? We propose that the inhabitants of the earth unanimously file a lawsuit against Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson for a sentence of fifty thousand 788 billion francs in damages. We demand that they be paid without mercy." The two parties never knew that such an unprecedented and impossible lawsuit threatened them. While everyone else was turning their attention to things on earth, Mr. Dean Forsyth and Mr. Sidney Hudson still roamed the blue sky and insisted on using their stubborn telescopes there search.