optics is
still very defective, and though our mile-and-three-quarter telescopes."

"Listen to that, Peer," broke in Mr. Smith, turning to a second
scientist. "Optical science defective! Optical science is your
specialty. But," he continued, again addressing William Cooley, "failing
with Jupiter, are we getting any results from the moon?"

"The case is no better there."

"This time you do not lay the blame on the science of optics. The moon
is immeasurably less distant than Mars, yet with Mars our communication
is fully established. I presume you will not say that you lack
telescopes?"

"Telescopes? O no, the trouble here is about inhabitants!"

"That's it," added Peer.

"So, then, the moon is positively uninhabited?" asked Mr. Smith.

"At least," answered Cooley, "on the face which she presents to us. As
for the opposite side, who knows?"

"Ah, the opposite side! You think, then," remarked Mr. Smith, musingly,
"that if one could but--"

"Could what?"

"Why, turn the moon about-face."

"Ah, there's something in that," cried the two men at once. And indeed,
so confident was their air, they seemed to have no doubt as to the
possibility of success in such an undertaking.

"Meanwhile," asked Mr. Smith, after a moment's silence, "have you no
news of interest to-day?"

"Indeed we have," answered Cooley. "The elements of Olympus are
definitively settled. That great planet gravitates beyond Neptune at the
mean distance of 11,400,799,642 miles from the sun, and to traverse its
vast orbit takes 1311 years, 294 days, 12 hours, 43 minutes, 9 seconds."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" cried Mr. Smith. "Now inform the
reporters of this straightaway. You know how eager is the curiosity of
the public with regard to these astronomical questions. That news must
go into to-day's issue."

Then, the two men bowing to him, Mr. Smith passed into the next hall, an
enormous gallery upward of 3200 feet in length, devoted to atmospheric
advertising. Every one has noticed those enormous advertisements
reflected from the clouds, so large that they may be seen by the
populations of whole cities or even of entire countries. This, too, is
one of Mr. Fritz Napoleon Smith's ideas, and in the Earth Chronicle
building a thousand projectors are constantly engaged in displaying upon
the clouds these mammoth advertisements.

When Mr. Smith to-day entered the sky-advertising department, he found
the operators sitting with folded arm