| Summary: | The Progress of Science "WHAT can it be?" was the question on every tongue. Every man, woman, and child from the president down to the newsboy was in a state of high excitement. Wireless messages from all over the world were asking the same question. Scientists advanced one theory after another but were finally forced to acknowledge themselves baffled. Meanwhile the commotion went on. Something would soon have to be done, but who would do it. At this point president Mercer of the U. S. who was almost in despair, called upon the class of 1910 of the N. D. A. C. to solve the mystery. The mystery that had caused all of the commotion was this: Almost a month before this story opens, lights were noticed in the northern sky of such intensity and brilliance that at times they lighted up portions of the world as far south as Wild Rice. What caused the lights? The class of 1910 held a consultation and decided to go to the north pole to investigate. Anderson, the great inventor, was to take the party in his latest electric air ship. So determined was the party that in two days all preparations were made and the journey was begun on the morning of the third day. The party was made up of the following persons: Peter Olson, the model farmer from Cando, who made a specialty of raising straight tailed pigs, Lembke, the great author, who had just completed his masterpiece entitled "The Care of Children," Albert Faust, the great musician, who invented the stringless violin, Miss Jessie Thompson, the noted journalist, who edited the athletic news for the Harwood Tribune, Prof. Lough, the world famed scientist and speaker, Allan Clark, the railroad magnate, Tena Grest, who came near being elected president of the U. S. by the Co-ed political party, Harold McKinstry, a noted diplomat, Cecelia Eyolfson, professor of the cosy corners method of flirting at the Hickson Seminary, Howard Darling, who had turned his engineering training to the good use of reclaiming the Chinese, Mark Keeney, mayor of Argusville, Engineer Worst of the Heath-Miller Mining company, Stevens, who was building a hydraulic sub-way across the isthmus of Panama, and Funderhide, who was engaged in surveying routes for Anderson air ship lines. Everything went well until Hudson Bay was reached. It was then ten o'clock and by two thirty-seven the party would be at the north pole if nothing happened. At one minute after ten the engines stopped. Upon investigating it was found that the air was heavily charged with electricity and hindered the motors from working. Things looked serious for a while but Prof. Lough came to the rescue. He had in his pocket an engine he had invented some time before but which as yet was not on the market. The engine was soon attached to the machine. As a motive power to run the engine a can of Lough's special brand of concentrated hot air was used. This can was one that he considered as being extra good as he had kept it since the winter of 1909. At eleven twenty-three the journey was continued and the engine worked so well that it was only two thirty-five when the pole was reached. The party alighted a short distance away and at once began to investigate. A man was seen at work about the pole. It proved to be Peter Nordby, who had disappeared a short time before. The mystery was soon explained. He had made the trip to the pole in one of the Anderson airships and had put to the test an idea for utilizing the power generated by the friction of the pole. To do this he had simply built a large armature about the pole and let the motion of the earth do the rest. He succeeded so well that an estimate showed that power enough could be generated to furnish heat, light, and power for the whole world. 135
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