From the Earth to the Moon, Direct in Ninety-Seven Hours and Twenty Minutes: and a Trip Round It
Page 14
CHAPTER XII.
URBI ET ORBI.
The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties resolved,finally came the question of finance. The sum required was far too greatfor any individual, or even any single state, to provide the requisitemillions.
President Barbicane undertook, despite of the matter being a purelyAmerican affair, to render it one of universal interest, and to requestthe financial co-operation of all peoples. It was, he maintained, theright and the duty of the whole earth to interfere in the affairs of itssatellite. The subscription opened at Baltimore extended properly to thewhole world--_Urbi et orbi._
This subscription was successful beyond all expectation; notwithstandingthat it was a question not of _lending_ but of _giving_ the money. Itwas a purely disinterested operation in the strictest sense of the term,and offered not the slightest chance of profit.
The effect, however, of Barbicane's communication was not confined tothe frontiers of the United States; it crossed the Atlantic and Pacific,invading simultaneously Asia and Europe, Africa and Oceania. Theobservatories of the Union placed themselves in immediate communicationwith those of foreign countries. Some, such as those of Paris, Petersburg,Berlin, Stockholm, Hamburg, Malta, Lisbon, Benares, Madras, and others,transmitted their good wishes; the rest maintained a prudent silence,quietly awaiting the result. As for the observatory at Greenwich, secondedas it was by the twenty-two astronomical establishments of Great Britain,it spoke plainly enough. It boldly denied the possibility of success,and pronounced in favour of the theories of Captain Nicholl. But thiswas nothing more than mere English jealousy.
On the 8th of October President Barbicane published a manifesto full ofenthusiasm, in which he made an appeal to "all persons of good will uponthe face of the earth." This document, translated into all languages,met with immense success.
Subscription lists were opened in all the principal cities of the Union,with a central office at the Baltimore Bank, 9, Baltimore Street.
In addition, subscriptions were received at the following banks in thedifferent states of the two continents:--
At Vienna, with S. M. de Rothschild." Petersburg, Stieglitz and Co." Paris, The Credit Mobilier." Stockholm, Tottie and Arfuredson." London, N. M. Rothschild and Son." Turin, Ardouin and Co." Berlin, Mendelssohn." Geneva, Lombard, Odier, and Co." Constantinople, The Ottoman Bank." Brussels, J. Lambert." Madrid, Daniel Weisweller." Amsterdam, Netherlands Credit Co." Rome, Torlonia and Co." Lisbon, Lecesne." Copenhagen, Private Bank." Rio Janeiro, do." Monte Video, do." Valparaiso and Lima, Thomas la Chambre and Co. " Mexico, MartinDaran and Co.
Three days after the manifesto of President Barbicane 4,000,000 of dollarswere paid into the different towns of the Union. With such a balancethe Gun Club might begin operations at once. But some days later adviceswere received to the effect that the foreign subscriptions were beingeagerly taken up. Certain countries distinguished themselves by theirliberality; others untied their purse-strings with less facility--matterof temperament. Figures are, however, more eloquent than words, and hereis the official statement of the sums which were paid in to the creditof the Gun Club at the close of the subscription.
Illustration: THE SUBSCRIPTION WAS OPENED.
Russia paid in as her contingent the enormous sum of 368,733 roubles.No one need be surprised at this, who bears in mind the scientific tasteof the Russians, and the impetus which they have given to astronomicalstudies--thanks to their numerous observatories.
France began by deriding the pretensions of the Americans. The moonserved as a pretext for a thousand stale puns and a score of ballads,in which bad taste contested the palm with ignorance. But as formerlythe French paid before singing, so now they paid after having had theirlaugh, and they subscribed for a sum of 1,253,930 francs. At that pricethey had a right to enjoy themselves a little.
Austria showed herself generous in the midst of her financial crisis. Herpublic contributions amounted to the sum of 216,000 florins--a perfectgodsend.
52,000 rix-dollars were the remittance of Sweden and Norway; the amountis large for the country, but it would undoubtedly have been considerablyincreased had the subscription been opened in Christiania simultaneouslywith that at Stockholm. For some reason or other the Norwegians do notlike to send their money to Sweden.
Prussia, by a remittance of 250,000 thalers, testified her high approvalof the enterprise.
Turkey behaved generously; but she had a personal interest in the matter.The moon, in fact, regulates the cycle of her years and her fast ofRamadan. She could not do less than give 1,372,640 piastres; and she gavethem with an eagerness which denoted, however, some pressure on the partof the Government.
Belgium distinguished herself among the second-rate states by a grant of513,000 francs--about two centimes per head of her population.
Holland and her colonies interested themselves to the extent of 110,000florins, only demanding an allowance of five per cent, discount forpaying ready money.
Denmark, a little contracted in territory, gave nevertheless 9000 ducats,proving her love for scientific experiments.
The Germanic Confederation pledged itself to 34,285 florins. It wasimpossible to ask for more; besides, they would not have given it.
Though very much crippled, Italy found 200,000 lire in the pockets ofher people. If she had had Venetia she would have done better; but shehad not.
The States of the Church thought that they could not send less than7040 Roman crowns; and Portugal carried her devotion to science as faras 30,000 cruzados. It was the widow's mite--eighty-six piastres; butself-constituted empires are always rather short of money.
257 francs, this was the modest contribution of Switzerland to theAmerican work. One must freely admit that she did not see the practicalside of the matter. It did not seem to her that the mere despatch of ashot to the moon could possibly establish any relation of affairs withher; and it did not seem prudent to her to embark her capital in sohazardous an enterprise. After all, perhaps she was right.
As to Spain, she could not scrape together more than 110 reals. Shegave as an excuse that she had her railways to finish. The truth is,that science is not favourably regarded in that country, it is stillin a backward state; and moreover, certain Spaniards, not by any meansthe least educated, did not form a correct estimate of the bulk of theprojectile compared with that of the moon. They feared that it woulddisturb the established order of things. In that case it were better tokeep aloof; which they did to the tune of some reals.
Illustration: THE MANUFACTORY AT COLDSPRING, NEAR NEW YORK.
There remained but England; and we know the contemptuous antipathy withwhich she received Barbicane's proposition. The English have but onesoul for the whole twenty-six millions of inhabitants which Great Britaincontains. They hinted that the enterprise of the Gun Club was contrary tothe "principle of non-intervention." And they did not subscribe a singlefarthing.
At this intimation the Gun Club merely shrugged its shoulders andreturned to its great work. When South America, that is to say, Peru,Chili, Brazil, the provinces of La Plata and Columbia, had poured forththeir quota into their hands, the sum of 300,000 dollars, it found itselfin possession of a considerable capital, of which the following is astatement:--
United States subscriptions . . 4,000,000 dollars.Foreign subscriptions . . . . 1,446,675 "
------------------Total, 5,446,675 "
Such was the sum which the public poured into the treasury of the GunClub.
Let no one be surprised at the vastness of the amount. The work ofcasting, boring, masonry, the transport of workmen, their establishmentin an almost uninhabited country, the construction of furnaces andworkshops, the plant, the powder, the projectile, and incidental expenses,would, according to the estimates, absorb nearly the whole. Certaincannon shots in the Federal war cost 1000 dollars a-piece. This one ofPresident Barbicane, unique in the annals of gunnery, might well costf
ive thousand times more.
On the 20th of October a contract was entered into with the manufactoryat Coldspring, near New York, which during the war had furnished thelargest Parrott cast-iron guns. It was stipulated between the contractingparties that the manufactory of Coldspring should engage to transportto Tampa Town, in southern Florida, the necessary materials for castingthe Columbiad. The work was bound to be completed at latest by the 15thof October following, and the cannon delivered in good condition underpenalty of a forfeit of 100 dollars a day to the moment when the moonshould again present herself under the same conditions--that is to say,in eighteen years and eleven days.
The engagement of the workmen, their pay, and all the necessary detailsof the work, devolved upon the Goldspring Company.
This contract, executed in duplicate, was signed by Barbicane, Presidentof the Gun Club, of the one part, and T. Murphison, director of theColdspring manufactory, of the other, who thus executed the deed onbehalf of their respective principals.