Война миров
In London
GunswereinrapidtransitfromWindsor,Portsmouth,Aldershot,Woolwich—evenfromthenorth; amongothers,longwire-gunsofninety-fivetonsfromWoolwich. Altogetheronehundredandsixteenwereinpositionorbeinghastilyplaced,chieflycoveringLondon. NeverbeforeinEnglandhadtherebeensuchavastorrapidconcentrationofmilitarymaterial.
Anyfurthercylindersthatfell,itwashoped,couldbedestroyedatoncebyhighexplosives,whichwerebeingrapidlymanufacturedanddistributed. Nodoubt,ranthereport,thesituationwasofthestrangestandgravestdescription,butthepublicwasexhortedtoavoidanddiscouragepanic. NodoubttheMartianswerestrangeandterribleintheextreme,butattheoutsidetherecouldnotbemorethantwentyofthemagainstourmillions.
Theauthoritieshadreasontosuppose,fromthesizeofthecylinders,thatattheoutsidetherecouldnotbemorethanfiveineachcylinder—fifteenaltogether. Andoneatleastwasdisposedof—perhapsmore. Thepublicwouldbefairlywarnedoftheapproachofdanger,andelaboratemeasureswerebeingtakenfortheprotectionofthepeopleinthethreatenedsouthwesternsuburbs. Andso,withreiteratedassurancesofthesafetyofLondonandtheabilityoftheauthoritiestocopewiththedifficulty,thisquasi-proclamationclosed.
Thiswasprintedinenormoustypeonpapersofreshthatitwasstillwet,andtherehadbeennotimetoaddawordofcomment. Itwascurious,mybrothersaid,toseehowruthlesslytheusualcontentsofthepaperhadbeenhackedandtakenouttogivethisplace.
AlldownWellingtonStreetpeoplecouldbeseenflutteringoutthepinksheetsandreading,andtheStrandwassuddenlynoisywiththevoicesofanarmyofhawkersfollowingthesepioneers.
