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Acolyte, v. 4, issue 1, whole no. 13, Winter 1946
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LITTLE-KNOWN SCIENTIFICTIONISTS FRANCIS T. LANEY 2. Cyrus Cole -o0o- CYRUS COLE is another of the many one-book scientifictionists of the late nineteenth century. In his case, "Little-known" is an understatement; apart from the fact that he lived at one time in Garden City, Kansas, absolutely no information can be learned about him. He wrote but the one book; it apparently was never reviewed in any periodical indexed in standard library reference works; and this book, the product of an obscure Chicago publisher, appeared in only the one edition. James Sandoe suggests that Cyrus Cole may perhaps be a pseudonym, a theory to which this writer subscribed for a time; but a reconsideration of certain internal evidence makes it seem more probable that he was an amateur writer like Chauncey Thomas. Cole certainly deserves a place in the annals of science fiction as an imaginative writer of the first rank. His one book, The Auroraphone; A Romance (Chicago: Chas. H. Kerr, 1890, 249 p, 7 1/4") is far more than just another piece of nineteenth century fantasy. Among the plethora of fantastic ideas about which The Auroraphone is built might be mentioned an intelligently handled and very early use of interplanetary wireless telegraphy, and astoundingly modern-reading anticipations of such major scientifictionists as Karel Capek and W. Olaf Stapledon. The apparent chief purpose of the book is to outline Cole's ideas of Utopia; unlike the majority of his contemporaries in that genre, Cole managed to write a story of high entertainment value, one which is still quite readable 55 years after its publication. Its chief flaws for the modern reader are the handling of the negro man-servant and the extremely inept and badly dated romantic scenes. The Auroraphone tells of Gaston Lesage, a recluse and a scientist, who has invented a workable wireless telegraphy outfit. He is dumbfounded to receive a message in Morse purporting to be from Saturn. At just about this time, a group of college students out on a vacation ramble in a covered wagon ride into Lesage's secluded far-western camp. (The inordinate amount of space given to these college students, their trip, and later to their extremely stilted amours is difficult to justify.) In any event, two-way communication is soon set up between Saturn and Earth. Earth's part in the interchange is largely limited to acknowledgements of the messages sent by the Saturnians, first Rulph Bozar and later a character with the unearthly and alien name of John Smith broadcasting a long and detailed history of the ringed planet. It is here that Cole takes the opportunity to describe his Utopia, which of course is on Saturn. The story eventually ends with a marriage or so among the college students and a breaking off of broadcasting by the Saturnians. The plot, such as it is, of The Auroraphone does not interest us today; nor are the Utopian sections worth any especial notice, being little different, basically, from similar elements in many other stories of the late 19th century. The Auroraphone deserves our attention for the wealth of scientifictional incident. -- 22 --
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LITTLE-KNOWN SCIENTIFICTIONISTS FRANCIS T. LANEY 2. Cyrus Cole -o0o- CYRUS COLE is another of the many one-book scientifictionists of the late nineteenth century. In his case, "Little-known" is an understatement; apart from the fact that he lived at one time in Garden City, Kansas, absolutely no information can be learned about him. He wrote but the one book; it apparently was never reviewed in any periodical indexed in standard library reference works; and this book, the product of an obscure Chicago publisher, appeared in only the one edition. James Sandoe suggests that Cyrus Cole may perhaps be a pseudonym, a theory to which this writer subscribed for a time; but a reconsideration of certain internal evidence makes it seem more probable that he was an amateur writer like Chauncey Thomas. Cole certainly deserves a place in the annals of science fiction as an imaginative writer of the first rank. His one book, The Auroraphone; A Romance (Chicago: Chas. H. Kerr, 1890, 249 p, 7 1/4") is far more than just another piece of nineteenth century fantasy. Among the plethora of fantastic ideas about which The Auroraphone is built might be mentioned an intelligently handled and very early use of interplanetary wireless telegraphy, and astoundingly modern-reading anticipations of such major scientifictionists as Karel Capek and W. Olaf Stapledon. The apparent chief purpose of the book is to outline Cole's ideas of Utopia; unlike the majority of his contemporaries in that genre, Cole managed to write a story of high entertainment value, one which is still quite readable 55 years after its publication. Its chief flaws for the modern reader are the handling of the negro man-servant and the extremely inept and badly dated romantic scenes. The Auroraphone tells of Gaston Lesage, a recluse and a scientist, who has invented a workable wireless telegraphy outfit. He is dumbfounded to receive a message in Morse purporting to be from Saturn. At just about this time, a group of college students out on a vacation ramble in a covered wagon ride into Lesage's secluded far-western camp. (The inordinate amount of space given to these college students, their trip, and later to their extremely stilted amours is difficult to justify.) In any event, two-way communication is soon set up between Saturn and Earth. Earth's part in the interchange is largely limited to acknowledgements of the messages sent by the Saturnians, first Rulph Bozar and later a character with the unearthly and alien name of John Smith broadcasting a long and detailed history of the ringed planet. It is here that Cole takes the opportunity to describe his Utopia, which of course is on Saturn. The story eventually ends with a marriage or so among the college students and a breaking off of broadcasting by the Saturnians. The plot, such as it is, of The Auroraphone does not interest us today; nor are the Utopian sections worth any especial notice, being little different, basically, from similar elements in many other stories of the late 19th century. The Auroraphone deserves our attention for the wealth of scientifictional incident. -- 22 --
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