a choice, reject the bad ones, look into the doubtful ones, and welcome the good ones. He soon got rid of those who had only useless or impracticable schemes. A few of the others received a better welcome, and foremost among them was a young man whose broad brow indicated a high degree of intelligence. ‘Sir’, he began, ‘though the number of elements used to be estimated at seventy- five, it has now been reduced to three, as no doubt you are aware?’ ‘Perfectly,’ Francis Bennett replied.
‘Well, Sir, I’m on the point of reducing the three to one. If I don’t run out of money I’ll have succeeded in three weeks.’ ‘And then?’ ‘Then, Sir, I shall really have discovered the absolute’. ‘And the results of that discovery?’ ‘It will be to make the creation of all forms of matter easy – stone, wood, metal, fibrin ….’ ‘Are you saying you’re going to be able to construct a human being?’ ‘Complete… The only thing missing will be the soul!’ Francis Bennett assigned the young fellow to the scientific editorial department of his journal. 10th - - A second inventor, using as a basis some old experiments that dated from the 19th century, had the idea of moving a whole city in a single block.
He suggested, as a demonstration, the town of Saaf, situated fifteen miles from the sea; after conveying it on rails down to the shore, he would transform it into a seaside resort. Francis Bennett, attracted by this project, agreed to take a half-share in it. The proposals heard and dealt with, Francis Bennett went to stretch himself out in an easy-chair in the audition-room. Then, pressing a button, he was put into communication with the Central Concert.
After so busy a day, what charm he found in the works of our greatest masters, based on a series of delicious harmonico- algebraic formulae! During his meal, phonotelephotic communication had been set up with Paris. ‘When do you expect to get back to Centropolis, dear Edith?’ asked Francis Bennett. ‘I’m going to start this