On The Martian Way (1907)

[Marcus L. Rowland]

David Salo has very kindly given me the test of an excellent 1907 SF
story I'd never previously heard of - On The Martian Way by Captain
(later General) H. G. Bishop, U.S. Army.

It has
Spaceships and routine commercial interplanetary flight!
Friendly aliens!
Interplanetary radio!
Computing machines!
Antigravity!
Suspense!
Tragedy!
and much more.

On line, and accessible from my web sites or via this link:

http://www.forgottenfutures.co.uk/mar_way.htm

--
Marcus L. Rowland www.forgottenfutures.com
www.forgottenfutures.org
www.forgottenfutures.co.uk
Forgotten Futures - The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
Diana: Warrior Princess & Elvis: The Legendary Tours
The Original Flatland Role Playing Game

[Quadibloc]

The story certainly is ahead of its time.

Verne used a cannon which would have flattened the passengers; Wells,
a gravity shield; Burroughs, antigravity. So it's not surprising that
this story also uses a variation of the antigravity theme as well,
instead of rockets.

But the fact that it is a story not simply about a space voyage
itself, but about someone doing something - is reminiscent of Clarke
and Heinlein. Not that this story reached the heights that those
authors did, but treating space as a setting for a story rather than
the story itself is advanced.

John Savard

[Kay Shapero]

In article <5290544a-9285-47db-b585-
9070fe...@u7g2000vbq.googlegroups.com>, jsa...@ecn.ab.ca says...

That and instead of leaving the mechanics completely in the background,
based the significant plot complications on the characteristics of the
spacedrive.

--
Kay Shapero
address munged, email kay at following domain
http://www.kayshapero.net

[Butch Malahide]

On May 26, 12:26 pm, "Marcus L. Rowland"

<forgottenfutu...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> David Salo has very kindly given me the test of an excellent 1907 SF
> story I'd never previously heard of - On The Martian Way by Captain
> (later General) H. G. Bishop, U.S. Army.
>
> It has
>    Spaceships and routine commercial interplanetary flight!
>    Friendly aliens!
>    Interplanetary radio!
>    Computing machines!
>    Antigravity!
>    Suspense!
>    Tragedy!
> and much more.

Very interesting. The Martians are handled sympathetically, the Jew
not so much:

[BEGIN QUOTE]
Winston took the neatly typed sheets and walked out into the main
office where old Captain Goff was talking earnestly with the second
vice president, a smug-faced German Jew, who was in charge of the
company's communication system.

"Don't you vorry, gapting," he was saying, "dose radio receivers
will vork like all get oudt shust as soon as you glear der earth's
atmosvere. Don't vorry, de vill be O. K."

"But remember, Mr. Oldstein," the captain added, gently stroking his
long white beard and fixing his deep blue eyes anxiously on the Jew's
shifting gaze — "remember I carry passengers this trip, and I would
feel greatly relieved if you would have De Muth & Co. send up one of
their experts to have a look at them."

"Vot! Und delay der sailing!" exclaimed the second vice president.
"Und vot you t'ink dem eggsperts cost? Vun t'ousand dollars! Ach! But
here is Meester Vinston mit der orders. Good-by, gapting."
[END QUOTE]

Needless to say, this stereotypical niggardliness results in
catastrophe.