Night fell and
when I looked again through the telescope and gazed on the countless
hosts of heaven's millions of suns there came into my mind and I
repeated aloud that noble passage in the Bible, "The heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. I remarked to the
Chief Engineer as we went down to the station, that a great many people
visited the observatory, for I had looked in the visitors' book, where
every person was required to sign his name. He replied, "Yes, if a
private company owned it, it would make the stockholders wealthy, for it
has become to the globe-trotters what Mecca is to the Mohammedans for no
tourist would dare to return home without registering at the observatory
and we encourage them by publishing their names in the National Gazette.
"If you would like to accompany me I think I can show you another work
we are engaged in that is adding to the accumulated knowledge of the
ages." I gladly assented and after ten days of railway travel we arrived
at the great platinum mine of Eurasia. It was on the continental divide
between Europe and Asia and had been worked on a small scale at the
surface for a great many years, but had not produced much platinum and
owing to an increasing demand for it in the arts the value of it greatly
exceeded that of gold, while at the present time it is on a par with
silver, owing to the government selling it in the market of the world
for what it will bring and smashing any gambling ring that would attempt
to corner the market.
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