Chapter XIV: Jetta Takes a Hand (2)

The guard pointed an accusing finger at one of these groups and sprang toward the stairs.

The old gentleman's breath and strength were gone. He could only gaze in the direction that had been indicated by the madly running guard; but he had no doubts. A small boy was certainly digging vigorously at the head of a specimen of _Ursus Polaris_ that the curator had represented in the dramatic pose of killing a seal. A protesting wail arose from below as the young naturalist was withdrawn from his field by a capable hand on the slack of his trousers. And presently, chagrined with failure, the culprit was before his grandsire.

"Gee!" he complained, "I was only looking at the polar bear. Are polar bears always white? Are--"

"You'd better take him away, sir," interrupted the sergeant. "He was trying to pry out one of the bear's eyes with the stick of the lollypop I give him. Take him."

The old gentleman extended both hands. His left found a grip in his grandson's coat collar; his right, partly concealing a government engraving, met the guard's with a clasp of gratitude.

"Sergeant," he remarked in a voice tense with feeling, "a half-hour ago I expressed some ridiculous regrets that Drayle's invention had been kept from the world. Now I realize its horrid menace. I shudder to think it might have been responsible for two like him!"

The object of disapproval was shaken indicatively.

"Guard the secret well, Sergeant! Guard it well! The world's peace depends upon you!" The old gentleman's words trembled with conviction.

Then alternately shaking his head and his grandson he marched down the hallway, ebony cane tapping angrily upon the stone.

As the exhausted but happy warrior retraced his steps a high-pitched voice floated after him.

"Grandpa, are polar bears _always_ white?"

* * * * *

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The Reader's Corner

_A Meeting Place for Readers of_

Astounding Stories

_The Invisible X-Flyers_

The following is a semi-technical description of the
operation of the invisible X-flyers used in "Jetta of the
Lowlands" as compiled by Philip Grant in the year 2021 from
official records of the Anti-War Department of the United
States of North America, and discovered recently by Ray
Cummings.

The attainment of mechanical invisibility reached a state of
perfection in the year 2000 sufficient to make it practical
for many uses. For a century this result had been sought. It
came, about the year 2000, not as a single startling
discovery, but as the culmination of the patient labor of
many men during many years. The popular mind has always
considered that science advances by a series of "great
scientific discoveries"; "unprecedented"; "revolutionary."
That is not so. Each step in the progress of scientific
achievement is built most carefully upon the one beneath it.
And generally the "revolutionary, unprecedented discovery"
has very little of itself that is new; rather it is a new
combination of older, perhaps seemingly impractical
knowledge. Every scientific theory, every device, is the
offspring from a large and varied family tree of many
scientific ancestors, each of whom in his day was a
remarkable personage.

Thus it is, with the principles of mechanical invisibility.
I deal here with the famous X-flyers. The operation of the
plane itself is immaterial; its motors; its wing-spread
surfaces; its aerial controls. I am concerned only with the
scientific principles underlying its power of invisibility.

Three scientific factors are involved: First, the process
known as de-electroniration; second, the theories of color
absorption; third, the material, inevitable deflection
(bending) of light rays when passing through a magnetic
field.

I take each of the three in order. The forerunners of
de-electroniration were the Martel effects--the experiments
of Charles Martel, in Paris, in 1937. A new electric
current, of a different character--now called the
oscillating current as distinct from the alternating and
direct--was developed. Metallic plates were
electro-magnetized to produce an enveloping magnetic field
of somewhat a different character from any field formerly
known.

Dr. Norton Grenfell followed this in 1946 by using the
Martel oscillating current to obtain a reverse effect. A
similar disturbance of electrode balance. But not a
surcharge. An exhaustion. An anti-electrical state, instead
of a state of magnetism. A metallic mass so treated--and
with a constant flow of oscillating current holding its
subnormal electronic balance--was then said to be
de-electronired.

Scientific "discoveries" are largely made by the trial and
error system. The scientist takes what he finds. Generally
he does not know, at first, what it means. Martell took his
oscillating current and "discovered" the Martel Magnetic
Levitation, whereby gravity was lessened, and then
completely nullified. Grenfell, with his de-electroniration,
increased the power of gravity. The two were combined by
Grenfell and his associates--and the secret of
interplanetary flight was at hand.

But there was a host of other workers not interested in
space flyers; they probed in other directions. It was found
that the subnormal magnetic field surrounding a metallic
substance in a state of de-electroniration had two unusual
properties: its color absorption was high; and it bent light
rays from their normal straight path into a curve abnormally
great. Yet, though it absorbed the color of the rays
emanating from the de-electronired metal (the metal itself
increasing this result), the magnetic field, while bending
the rays passing through it from distant objects behind it,
nevertheless left their color and all their inherent
properties unchanged.

The principles of color absorption are these:--a pigment--a
paint, a dye, if you will--is "red" because it absorbs from
the light rays of the sun all the other colors and leaves
only red to be reflected from it to the eye. Or "violet"
because all the rest are absorbed, and the violet is
reflected. Or "black" because all are absorbed; and "white"
the reverse, all blended and reflected. Color is dependent
upon vibratory motion. The solar spectrum--its range of
visibility through the primary colors from red to
violet--can be likened to a range of radio wave-lengths;
vibration frequencies; and when we eliminate them all save
the "violet"--that is what we have left, in the radio to
hear, in color absorption to see.

Thus, a de-electronired metal was found to produce black.
Not black as habitually we meet it--a "shiny" black, a
"dull" black; but a true black--a real absence of light-ray
reflection--a "nothingness to see"; in effect, an
invisibility.

A word of explanation is necessary regarding the other
property of the de-electronired field--the bending of
distant light rays into a curve, yet leaving their spectrum
unchanged. It was Albert Einstein who first made the
statement--in the years following the turn of the century at
1900--that it was a normal, natural thing for a ray of light
to be slightly deflected from its straight path when passing
through a magnetic field. The claim caused world-wide
interest, for upon its truth or falsity the whole fabric of
the Einstein Theory of Relativity was woven.

An eclipse of the sun in the 1920's established that light
is actually bent in the manner Einstein had calculated. A
magnetic field surrounds the sun. In those days they did
not know that it is a field of subnormal electronic
balance--in effect, the result of de-electroniration. It was
found, nevertheless, that stars close to the limb of the sun
appeared, not in their true positions, but shifted in just
the directions and with the amount of shift Einstein
predicted. The light rays coming from them to the eye of the
observer on Earth were curved in passing so close to the
sun. But the color-bands of their spectrums were unaltered.

And some of the stars actually were behind the sun, yet
because of the curved path of the light, were visible. I
mention this because it is an important aspect of the
subject of mechanical invisibility.

With the foregoing factors, the secret of mechanical
invisibility is constructed. Gracely, an American--following
a long series of world-wide experiments, tests of current
strength, frequencies of oscillation, suitable metals, etc.,
which I cannot detail here--in 1955 was the final developer
of the mechanisms subsequently used in the X-flyers.

Gracely produced what he christened "aluminoid-spectrite"--a
light-weight alloy which, when carrying an oscillating
electronic current of the proper frequency, produced the
effects I have described. It absorbed from the light rays
coming from the metal, all the colors of the solar spectrum,
well beyond the range of the human eye at both ends of the
scale. The result was a "visible nothingness."

A moment's thought will make clear that term. A visible
nothingness is not invisibility. The fact that something was
there but could not be seen was obvious. A black hat with a
light on it and placed against an average background is
almost as easy to see as a white hat. Gracely's first crude
experiments were made with an aluminoid-spectrite cube--a
small brick a foot in each dimension. The cube glowed,
turned, dark, then black, then was gone. He had it resting
on a white table, with a white background. And the fact that
the cube was still there, was perfectly obvious. It was as
though a hole of nothingness were set against the white
table. It outlined the cube; reconstructed it so that for
practical purposes the eye saw not a white, aluminoid brick,
but a dead black one.

And this is very much what a man sees when he stares at his
black hat on a table. The hat occults its background, and
thus reconstructs itself.

But when Gracely determined the proper vibrations of his
oscillating current to coincide with all the other material
factors he was using, the final result was before him-real
invisibility. He used a patterned background--a
symmetrically checkered surface, most difficult of all. The
light rays coming from this background passed through the
magnetic field surrounding the invisible colorless cube, and
were bent into a curved path. But their own
color-spectrum--in actuality the color, shape, all the
visible characteristics of the background--was not greatly
altered. The observer saw what actually was behind the
invisible cube: the checkered background, sometimes
slightly distorted, but nevertheless sufficiently clear for
its abnormality to escape notice. Thus the cube's outlines
were not reconstructed; and, in effect, it had vanished.

In practical workings with the X-flyers, no such difficult
test as Gracely's cube and rectangular, symmetrically
patterned background is ever met. The varying background
behind a plane--at rest or flying, and particularly at
night--demands less perfection of background than Gracely's
laboratory conditions. I am informed that an X-flyer can
vaguely be seen--or sensed, rather--from some angles and
under certain and unfavorable conditions of light, and
depending on its line of movement relative to the angle of
observation, and the type and color-lighting of its
background. But under most conditions it represents a very
nearly perfect mechanical invisibility.

There is one aspect of the subject with which I may close
this brief paper. I give it without technical explanation;
it seems to me an amusing angle.

The theory of stereoscopics--the vision of the twin lenses
of the human eyes, set a distance apart to give the
perception of depth, of the third dimension--is in itself a
subject tremendously interesting, and worthy of anyone's
study. I have no space for it here, nor would it be strictly
relevant. I need only state that a two-eyed man sees
partially around an object (by virtue of the different
angles from which each of his eyes gaze at it) and thus sees
a trifle more of the background than would otherwise be the
case. And this--these two viewpoints blended in his
brain--gives him his perception of "depth," of
"solidity"--the difference between a real scene of three
dimensions and a painted scene on a canvas of two dimensions
with only the artist's skill in perspective to simulate the
third.

And I cannot refrain from mentioning that in Government
tests of the Anti-War Department to determine the perfection
of the invisibility of the X-flyers, it was a one-eyed man
who proved that they were not always totally invisible!--Ray
Cummings.

_Thank You_

Dear Editor:

I just want you to know this: I am a reader of your truly
named Astounding Stories. I really enjoyed reading the
"Spawn of the Stars," also "Brigands of the Moon," and I am
very glad to hear that we are going to have another of
Charles W. Diffin's stories in the next issue--"The Moon
Master."--J. R. Penner, 376 Woodlawn Ave, Buffalo N. Y.

_"A Wiz"_

Dear Editor:

I am only a young girl sixteen years of age but am greatly
interested in science. I have no master mind by any means,
but have worked out many a difficult problem in school for
my science prof.

Your magazine is a wiz. I haven't missed an instalment
since it started. Give us more stories like "Monsters of
Moyen," and "The Beetle Horde."--Josephine Frankhouser, 4949
Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

_"Pretty Good"_

Dear Editor:

I received Astounding Stories for May and it is pretty good.
The next issue is number six, and I hope it is better than
the previous ones. There have been some stories that do not
belong in a Science Fiction magazine, such as: "The Cave of
Horror," "The Corpse on the Grating," "The Soul Master," and
"The Man who was Dead." There is also another story that was
printed in the May issue that, so far as I think, does not
belong in this magazine: that is, "Murder Madness."

Even all the other stories seem to be fantastic. Weird. Why
not try to publish something on the H. G. Wells, E. R.
Burroughs type of stories, also Ray Cummings' "The Man who
Mastered Time," or "The Time Machine," by Wells?--Louis
Wentzler, 1933 Woodbine St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

_From Ye Reader_

Dear Ye Ed.:

That sounds rather medieval a little for the editor of so
novel a magazine, but nevertheless let's forget that and
talk about some astounding stories.

First, I would suggest that you eliminate all stories of
interplanetary travel (I would be different), as there are
already several magazines on the market which deal almost
exclusively with such stories. Now, tales like "The Beetle
Horde," and those written by Murray Leinster, and those
concerning that Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Bird, and those about
the deep sea, like "Into the Ocean's Depths,"--such stories
are astounding, and good. And once in a while let's have a
humorous story. You know: "A bit of humor now and then--"

Well, anyhow, publish any kind of astounding story, just so
it is different and does not deal with interplanetary
travel.

Now, about the magazine. I think it is a good publication
and I like it werra, werra mooch. I bought it on impulse and
happened to be lucky enough to get the first issue, and nary
an issue have I missed since. Although I possess an abject
horror of any kind of insect, I enjoyed "The Beetle Horde"
to the fullest extent. But here's hoping nothing like that
will really happen.

Another thing I'd like to state is this: Some reader made a
remark about not publishing any of Verne's works. I say you
should. Why should any such great author be disregarded in
so good a magazine? And is it not interesting to note that
some of his stories have become actual realizations? Even
Poe's should be published. All those dead authors whose
stories would be considered good were they living. Why
should any person ask not to have such good stories in your
magazine? Perhaps there are some people who would enjoy
them, but do not have the means nor time to buy these great
works in book form. Think it over, ye Ed., think it over.

And now, to finish up, I'll say: are there any readers like
me--a girl--or do only men and boys read Astounding
Stories?--Gertrude Hemken, 5730 So. Ashland Ave., Chicago,
Ill.

_Short--and Sweet_

Dear Editor:

Congratulations! Have followed up every issue of Astounding
Stories and have found them the best yet. I have one fault
to find and that is you do not publish Astounding Stories
often enough. Thirty days is too far between.--Bernard
Bauer, 235 Holland St., Syracuse, N. Y.

_Yes Sir!_

Dear Editor:

I read Astounding Stories all the time, although I'm just a
boy. I think they're O. K. They give me a great "kick."

I think "The Moon Master" was the best story I ever read.
Please ask Mr. Diffin to write more like it.

But then all the stories are really peppy.--Jack Hudson, St.
Mark's School, Southborough, Massachusetts.

_"Undoubtedly the Best"_

Dear Editor:

Your magazine is undoubtedly the best Science Fiction "mag"
on the stands. Why? Because of your authors. There is not
another Science Fiction book on the stands that has stories
by Victor Rousseau, Murray Leinster Ray Cummings, A. T.
Locke, A. J. Burks, C. W. Diffin, S. W. Ellis and many
others.

Some of your readers want stories by Dr. David H. Keller, Ed
Earl Repp and Walter Kately. Well, I just wanted to tell you
that I have stopped reading all other Science Fiction "mags"
on account of the frequency of these authors in them. So
please, please, don't destroy my last stronghold.

Also, I would not be against reprints. There is only one so
far who has objected to reprints, while there have been
several asking you to reprint A. Merritt's "People of the
Pit." It would not only satisfy your present readers, but,
because of the great popularity of A. Merritt among the
reading circles of to-day, it would gain for you many more
readers.

Harl Vincent is an indispensable acquisition to "our"
magazine. His stories are not only all excellent but his
stories all contain good science. He will bring you many new
readers.

May I add my voice to every other reader's in the cry for
the reprinting of "People of the Pit," by A. Merritt? Why
not give us some stories by him? He's pretty near the best
writer living to-day.

I don't care for the Mars stories by Burroughs. He's too
much long sword and short sword. A Merritt, however, is the
man for you to get and keep.

The schedule for July looks "doggone good" and suggestive to
the imagination. You might increase the contents of the
book.

The only thing wrong with the stories is that you have too
many repetitions. Please get A. Merritt. If you publish
stories by him you will see a very noticeable increase in
your subscription column. Another author who would repeat A.
Merritt's action on your subscription column is Dr. Edward
Elmer Smith. Please see about these authors.--Gabriel
Kirschner, Box 301, Temple, Texas.

_From Young Miss Nightingale_

Dear Editor:

I have been wanting to write to you for a long time but only
now am I able to do so. When I first got a copy of your
magazine I just grabbed it and started reading it. That
magazine had the first installment of "Brigands of the Moon"
in it. Now, after one magazine has been read I nearly burst
until the next one comes.

As for the writers, I like Ray Cummings, Harl Vincent,
Sewell Peaslee Wright, and Murray Leinster best. I like
interplanetary stories best. I also like stories of the
Fourth Dimension and those of ancient races of people living
in uninhabited parts of the earth. So far I have liked
especially well "The Ray of Madness," "Cold Light," "From
the Ocean Depths" and its sequel "Into the Ocean's Depths,"
"Brigands of the Moon," and "Murder Madness." Of course, I
like the others too. I am only a mere girl (that accounts
for this poor typewriting)--only ten years old--but I know
my likes and dislikes.--Ellen Laura Nightingale, 223 So.
Main St., Fairmont, Minn.

_Yessir--H. W. Wessolowski_

Dear Editor:

I have just finished the June issue of Astounding Stories.
It contained some very interesting stories, such as
"Brigands of the Moon," by Ray Cummings, "The Moon Master,"
by Charles W. Diffin, "Murder Madness," by Murray Leinster,
and "Giants of the Ray," by Tom Curry. Although "Out of the
Dreadful Depths," by C. D. Willard, was a good story, it
does not belong in a Science Fiction magazine.

One of the best improvements you could make on Astounding
Stories right now is to cut all edges smooth. I would like
to see at least one full page picture with each story.

Wesso is the only good artist you have. Is Wessolowski his
real name?--Jack Darrow, 4225 N. Spaulding Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois.

Anent Reincarnation.

Dear Editor:

In the July issue of Astounding Stories, a correspondent,
Worth K. Bryant, asks some thought-provoking questions about
the fascinating subject of reincarnation. Although I have
written to Mr. Bryant personally, I would like to present my
views on the subject to all your readers.

Mr. Bryant asks: "Could a person remember his own death in a
former reincarnation?" Yes, he could--if he could "tune in"
on his higher consciousness, or ego. Were that possible, he
could see all his past lives from beginning to end. It is
only the physical self that dies; the ego, or true self, is
immortal and remembers everything that it has experienced in
previous incarnations on the physical plane. But since
consciousness on this plane is expressed through the
material brain, most human beings are unable to recall their
former visits to this world; and it is perhaps better so. If
there were not loss of memory our minds would now range over
the adventures of thousands of years in the past. It would
encompass a vast drama with countless loves and hates, of
many lives filled with pathos and tragedy. Thus to distract
the mind from the present life would retard our progress.
There will come a time in human evolution when the average
person will be able to recall his past incarnations, and
then there will be no need or argument that we have lived
here before, because everyone will remember it.

For those who care to pursue this subject more fully, I
recommend "Elementary Theosophy," by L. W. Rogers,
obtainable at most public libraries.--Allen Glasser, 1610
University Ave., New York, N. Y.

_Prefers the Longer Stories_

Dear Editor:

I've been reading your excellent periodical since the first
issue, and I feel that I'm entitled to an opportunity to
give expression to my reactions to the various issues. Of
course, as a whole, the magazines were uniformly good every
month, but some of the stories, naturally, were better than
others.

In the January issue the best story was "The Beetle Horde"
by Victor Rousseau. I expected a lot from this writer,
having read his "Draft of Eternity," "The Eye of Balamok"
and "The Messiah of the Cylinder." I wasn't disappointed.

The best story in the February issue was "Spawn of the
Stars," by Charles Willard Diffin. Diffin is a newcomer as
far as I know, but he certainly can write.

"Vandals of the Stars" took the honors in the March issue.
A. T. Locke has written some good adventure shorts, but this
was his first fantastic story, to the best of my knowledge.
Come again, Locke! "Brigands of the Moon," by Ray Cummings
was great too.

The best for April was "Monsters of Moyen," by Arthur J.
Burks. Clever idea.

Victor Rousseau rang the bell again in the May issue with
"The Atom Smasher." Let's have other stories of
time-travel--some into the very remote past. Cave man stuff,
you know!

"The Moon Master," by Charles Willard Diffin was the best
for June. Diffin is one of your best writers.

In the last (July) issue, "The Forgotten Planet," by Sewell
Peaslee Wright, I think, takes first place, though
hard-pressed by "Earth, the Marauder" and "The Power and the
Glory."

Now for a few suggestions. In the first place, let's have
less short stories, and more longer ones. In my choice of
stories for each issue, with one exception, I picked the
novelettes. My reason for so doing is the fact that the
authors apparently are not able to do justice to their
themes in the shorter lengths. Of course, there are
exceptions, like Diffin's "The Power and the Glory."

My second suggestion in this: Why not have a fixed position
for your announcement of the stories for the next issue? The
last page, for example. This would be more convenient for
the readers; besides, those of us who have "our mags" bound
into volumes could then cut out the announcement.

Finally, my third suggestion--and the real reason for my
writing this letter. Don't you think it would be a good idea
to publish in each issue the picture of one of the authors,
and a short synopsis of his life? How he started writing,
his experiences, etc. I'm certain that I'm not the only
reader who's interested in the authors. I hope, if
everything else I've said is ignored, you'll at least give
the last suggestion serious consideration.

Why not get the opinion of other readers?

Continued and increasing success to Astounding Stories, best
of the Science Fiction magazines!--P. A. Lyter, 220 Peffer
Street, Harrisburg, Pa.

_Mr. Bates Accepts with Pleasure_

Dear Editor:

It is with greatest pleasure I note the addition of Miss
Lilith Lorraine to your staff, and her initial effort in
your publication. "The Jovian Jest" is but a glimpse of what
is to come. The stories which she has written heretofore
have been real gems of Science Fiction. May I again
congratulate you.

The Science Correspondence Club takes great pleasure in
announcing the enrollment of Capt. S. P. Meek and R. F.
Starzl as members. These authors are well-known to
Astounding Stories readers. Also, we take pleasure in
announcing that we have asked Mr. Bates to become an
honorary member in recognition of his fine work in
furthering Science Fiction.

Our first bulletin has been issued and real progress is
started. For those interested, Mr. Raymond A. Palmer at
1431--34th St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will handle all
inquiries.

In closing, let me say that when a story pleases you
readers, or the work of some author impresses you, write to
the editor and tell him about it. In this way more and
better Science Fiction will appear. Let us all give
Astounding Stories a big hand, you readers! Best wishes of
the Science Correspondence Club and--Walter L. Dennis, F. P.
S., 4653 Addison St., Chicago, Illinois.

_"Bargain"_

Dear Editor:

I have just finished "The Atom Smasher," in your May issue
of Astounding Stories, and liked it very much.

This is the first story that I have read in your magazine,
although I have read other magazines for the past three
years.

I see where you inquire as to the kind of stories your
readers want.

Personally, I think stories of interplanetary travel are the
best, and most demanded by readers of Science Fiction. Try
and have one in each issue.

In my opinion, I see no criticisms to be made on your
magazine. It certainly would be a bargain at several times
the price you ask. I am sure I will continue reading
it--Louis D. Buchanan, Jr., 711 Monroe Ave., Evansville,
Indiana.

_No "Flash in the Pan"_

Dear Editor:

When I bought the first issue of Astounding Stories last
December, I was impressed by its array of splendid stories
and famous authors. I thought, then, that perhaps that first
number was just a flash in the pan, and that succeeding
issues would sink to the level of other Science Fiction
magazines. Happily, I was wrong. Astounding Stories has more
than fulfilled the promise of its initial issue. The stories
are undoubtedly the finest of their kind, and written by the
most prominent Science Fiction authors of the day. I cannot
conceive of any possible improvement in the magazine.

I do wish, though, that you would not heed the gratuitous
advice of certain earnest but misguided correspondents. For
instance, in the June issue, one Warren Williams of Chicago,
suggests that you enlarge the magazine and give each story a
full-page illustration, like other Science Fiction
periodicals. Mr. Williams evidently favors standardization.
As one magazine is, so must the rest be. Please ignore this
request, and others like it. Astounding Stories is
different, unique; just keep it that way, and you will never
lack a host of satisfied readers.

Before closing, I must voice my profound admiration for
Murray Leinster's brilliant and engrossing story, "Murder
Madness." It's the best serial you've printed so far; though
I have high anticipation for Arthur J. Burks' latest novel,
"Earth, the Marauder."--Mortimer Weisinger, 3550 Rochambeau
Ave., Bronx, New York.

_"I Mean Increased"_

Dear Editor:

I wish to thank you for your reply to my letter. I did not
expect you to give me a personal reply: that was why I asked
you to reply to me in "The Readers' Corner." You are the
only editor I have ever known of that goes to the trouble to
giving personal replies to readers. Other magazines require
a nominal fee. That's another score for you!

Your personal letter, as a girl would aptly say, "tickled me
all over."

I am sorry I can't get a subscription just yet, but I am
"bound" to my newsdealer a little while yet, as I
immediately gave him a monthly order for Astounding Stories.

If you are the one who picked the authors, you have the best
taste I have ever seen in one person. But couldn't your
taste be improved? Pardon me, I mean increased. Namely,
please add to your taste: H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E.
Howard.

If you had different authors, in other words, new,
inexperienced authors, I would object to your running more
than one serial at a time, but with the marvelous old-timers
I have no objections, for they can write long ones far
better than they can the shorts. So keep them at work.

The three short stories, "Out of the Dreadful Depths," "The
Cavern World" and "Giants of the Ray," were all very good.
Ray Cummings was wonderful in the way he handled his
"Brigands of the Moon." It was a "wow baby." "Murder
Madness" is a great improvement over "Tanks." "Tanks" was
the worst I've ever read by Leinster. But he came out of his
reverie in "Murder Madness." It's great.

Sewell Peaslee Wright can work wonders with short stories.
Keep his "typer" clicking. By the way, may I say a few good
words for Sophie Wenzel Ellis? If she can duplicate
"Creatures of the Light," maker her repeat.

Victor Rousseau's story, "The Beetle Horde," kept me "all
het up" throughout. "The Atom Smasher" was excellent. I also
greatly like stories of the mighty Atlantis.

I agree with others of your readers that you should not let
Astounding Stories be printed in such a small size. Make it
a little larger, and give us smoother paper, and you will
prosper greatly.

"The Moon Master" was excellent.--Gabriel Kirschner, Box
301, Temple, Texas.

_"Could Kick Myself"_

Dear Editor:

I have just started reading Astounding Stories and could
kick myself for not seeing it sooner. In your latest issue,
"The Moon Master," by Charles Diffin, is great. He sure
knows how to write adventure with science.

I am a member of the Science Corresponding Club and am glad
to say it. In later years the club will be known just like
other big clubs of to-day, "Nationally and
Sciencelly."--John Marcroft, 32 Washington St., Central
Falls, R. I.

_A Full List_

In the January number of Astounding Stories Cummings'
"Phantom of Reality" was the best, followed by Rousseau's
"Beetle Horde."

February: 1--Diffin's "Spawn of the Stars"; 2--Rousseau's
"Beetle Horde"; 3--Ellis' "Creatures of the Light";
4--Meek's "The Thief of Time."

March: 1--Cummings' "Brigands of the Moon"; 2--Locke's
"Vandals of the Stars"; 3--Meek's "Cold Light."

April: 1--Cummings' "Brigands of the Moon"; 2--Burk's
"Monsters of Moyen"; 3--Meek's "Ray of Madness";
4--Pelcher's "Vampires of Venus."

May: 1--Cummings' "Brigands of the Moon"; 2--Leinster's
"Murder Madness"; 3--Rousseau's "Atom Smasher."

June: 1--Cummings' "Brigands of the Moon"; 2--Leinster's
"Murder Madness"; 3--Diffin's "Moon Master."

Please give us a story by H. P. Lovecraft, if you can get
one.--Carl Ballard, 202 N. Main St., Danville, Va.

_"Words Cannot Express"_

Dear Editor:

I have read your wonderful magazine since it was first
published, and words cannot express what a fine magazine I
think it is. All my life, I have hoped that someone would
publish a magazine just like Astounding Stories. A magazine
just full to the brim with the right kind of stories;
thrilling stories of super-science, well written in plain
and convincing English by wide awake authors.

I thought that "The Cavern World" was a whiz of a story, and
"The Moon Master" was so exciting that I sat up late at
night reading it. Let's have more of that kind of science
story, that thrills every red-blooded American.

I hope that you print your magazine on better paper.--David
Bangs, 190 Marlboro St., Boston, Mass.

_Unconvinced_

Dear Editor:

I received the latest issue of Astounding Stories, and in
looking it through I noticed your comments on reprints. Your
argument can easily be shot full of holes, and that's what I
intend to do.

First: Those stories being printed now are far inferior to
the reprints. Even your best stories, such as "Murder
Madness" and "Brigands of the Moon," cannot be compared with
such stories as "Station X," "The Moon Pool," "The Metal
Monster," or "The Columbus of Space" and "The Second
Deluge."

Second: The Saturday Evening Post cannot be compared with
our magazine, for all the stories printed in it can be
obtained in book form, while the scientific novels are
almost all out of print.

Third: There is surely more than one out of a hundred who
haven't read the reprints. Just because some have read them
is no reason that they don't want them. I know, for I have a
large library of reprints and have read, and own, almost
every one of them, yet I would gladly see them again.

Fourth: The authors need not starve. You could easily devote
just a small space for reprints, and many would pay
twenty-five cents for the magazine.

The fairest and most American idea would be to let your
readers vote for this. Here is vote No. 1 for
reprints.--Woodrow Gelman, 1603 President St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

_Praise and Suggestions_

Dear Editor:

I have just finished the July issue of Astounding Stories
and classify the stories as follows:

"Beyond the Heaviside Layer," good; "Earth, the Marauder,"
excellent, best in issue; "From an Amber Block," fairly
good; "The Terror of Air-Level Six," very good; "The
Forgotten Planet," excellent; "The Power and the Glory,"
good; "Murder Madness," very good, but not so much so as
preceding chapters.

Now for a few criticisms:

1. Your magazine (or should I say "our" magazine?) is too
small. Of course, it would be a radical change to make it
larger, but, like others, I think in the end you would gain
rather than lose by it. Most small magazines are cheap
affairs, and to have Astounding Stories small brands it as a
cheap type of magazine. Small magazines are more likely to
be hidden on the newsstands by larger ones, and in most
stores the large magazines have the more advantageous
positions.

2. The edges of your pages are uneven. You look in the index
and find an interesting story is on, for example, page 56.
You skim the pages to find it, and from page 43 you find
yourself suddenly at page 79. Make the paper more even,
please.

3. Don't have advertisements before the stories. Have them
in the rear.

4. Have a full page illustration facing the beginning of
each story. If at the end of a story you find pages won't
turn up right, continue the last page to the back of the
book.

Wesso is excellent. Another good artist is Paul, who draws
for another Science Fiction magazine. Your cover
illustrations are fine.

Summary: Enlarge size of magazine, smooth edges of paper,
have advertisements in rear of book, use full page
illustrations.

If this is expensive, you could charge twenty-five cents
instead of twenty cents, and I, for one, would be glad to
pay the extra nickel as I do for other magazines of Science
Fiction.--Robert Baldwin, 1427 Judson Ave., Evanston,
Illinois.

_"The Readers' Corner"_

All Readers are extended a sincere and cordial invitation to "come over to 'The Readers' Corner'" and join in our monthly discussion of stories, authors, scientific principles and possibilities--everything that's of common interest in connection with our Astounding Stories.

Although from time to time the Editor may make a comment or so, this is a department primarily for _Readers_, and we want you to make full use of it. Likes, dislikes, criticisms, explanations, roses, brickbats, suggestions--everything's welcome here: so "come over in 'The Readers' Corner'" and discuss it with all of us!

_--The Editor._

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