The Wonderful Month of War.
Then the great war crashed upon Europe, and it did not come from Asia!
Its sudden outbreak proved many things; first, that invention had not
been entirely exterminated; and second, that artificial laws could not
destroy the divine in humanity.
Above all, the war proved that brawn could not suppress the aspiring
flights of the brain; for during the socialistic era of "human
equality," men with more highly developed inventive faculties, men who
wished to cultivate the spirit that inspires the human to ever excel,
met in mysterious places and plotted!
They felt the time must eventually arrive when the unnatural social
position the Humanists adopted must overbalance itself; hence they
prepared for the impending cataclysm.
It is strange, in the history of the world, how a thread of sympathy
mysteriously binds together those whose souls are suffering from a
common tyranny.
Throughout Europe bands of scientific militants of both sexes met in
secret conclave and plotted for "Another Day."
Yet the great secrecy observed by these insurgents was unnecessary. The
Humanist policy of non-considering and non-observing, of suppressing
originality of thought as being useless in an age of equality, had
dulled the thinking faculty in its followers. Nature has no use for the
non-used, so the socialists were developing into living and working
human automata, in fact, taking life more like an advanced kind of
animal. Was it, therefore, any wonder that they were blind to the
developing danger?
The same circumstances quickened the inventive faculty of the oppressed.
Danger quickens intuition, and the spark of invention shone brightly in
many covert places.
Thought was, however, concentrated on one object, the quickest and
surest method of overthrowing the Humanist policy and installing an
ideal method of living in which not only would there be "equal
opportunities for all," which, though it was the policy of the Humanists
at their inauguration, had developed into "equal opportunities for
leaders," but there would also be the rule of "payment by results."
Inventive genius concentrated upon two objectives:--First, an ideal
method of secret communication between followers; and second, the most
efficient fighting machine--a weapon that would only require a minimum
of personnel to operate. With such a weapon, a small force, such as the
Individualists numbered, would be a match for a multitude.
The ideal means of inter-communication was invented by a Belgian. It was
simply the improvement of the method of transmitting and receiving a
certain type of ether wave through the earth. This wave did not need
aerials, and could only be received and transmitted through certain
instruments that were kept in sacred seclusion in secret places.
With these instruments followers were ever in close touch with each
other, and co-operative measures were detailed for the day of general
uprising.
The fighting machine was also invented by a Belgian. It was the ideal
flying machine, sought since the Wright Brothers conquered the air ten
years before.
The old style of aeroplane only kept in the air when at a great speed,
hence it could not hover. As a weapon of offence it had, therefore, many
disadvantages in bomb-dropping or other belligerent action. These
disadvantages increased according to the height from which the aeroplane
would have to operate; and as the German War of 1915 had improved the
range of air cannon, the old type aeroplane was almost useless for
offence purposes. The dirigible balloon, being lighter than air, was
not always dependable, and having also to operate from a great height,
the rarefied air in those regions seriously affected the gas carriers.
The Belgian "Heliocoptre" carried its propellers above the machine; the
axles, having "universal" joints, enabled them to revolve in any plane,
whilst engines, operating by means of powerful, non-clogging explosives,
generated the enormous power. These "Heliocoptres" were armed with great
"Thermit" shells, which, when they struck and burst, would not only set
free a paralysing gas, but would also produce a molten "thermit" mass of
a heat of over 5000 degrees, which could burn its way even through
armored plate.
It is too recent for me to detail, at length, the remarkable
circumstances following the prescribed day, when these machines
simultaneously rose in various cities, and after but a week's reign of
terror took possession of all Governments in the Humanist nations.
The people generally were not antagonistic to a change of rule. They
were tired of the unnatural life and almost listlessly waited
developments. These did not tarry, for within a very short period the
present systems of Commission Governments were adopted, and Royalties
were recalled to their various kingdoms as governing figureheads.
I only briefly mention this, the shortest war in history, because it was
so recent. Yet it had the greatest bearing upon human development.
Belgium came through it untouched, though it held the centre of
operations.
I shall never forget that wonderful month of war, and the almost
superhuman energy Madame displayed in assisting to direct operations. It
was not strange that her constitution collapsed under the remarkable
strain, and that for a while death hovered round the sick room. Her
complete recovery called for a long sea voyage, which explained why we
entered Sydney Harbor some weeks later.