Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 27: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

in their own dreary thoughts. WOMEN WITH WINGS = A Sequel to “Men With Wings” eae ENTLEMEN,” began the Mentor, as he faced the Py] nine terrestrial leaders, “I realize that you are Be : Bi gether without acquainting you with what I wish premerx4) to discuss, Yet I am certain’ that each of you has already guessed the purpose of this conference!” There were murmurs of assent from the nine men seated around the table, “For a long time,” went on the Mentor, ‘our medical men have been seeking to fight the menace that is threatening to depopulate our world of its women. Ever since the inception of the Winged Race, -in fact; Science has been trying to save the women. who so valiantly carry on the tremendous task-of bringing young into the world, For, 4s you know, at least five in every ten die in giving birth to our winged children. “Thus man-has been able to improve up- on Nature in one way, only to fall down ‘in another, for she has struck down our mothers with a terrible unknown malady that attacks them in childbirth. You. know of our continued efforts to discover what this strange disease is and to find some cure, Gentlemen, our. earth. is. being de- populated of its women! President Adul! How many adult women are recorded liy- ing in your protectorate?” The. Mentor was addressing the representative from Africa, a Negro, “At the present time, Mentor, they num- ber no more than one hundred thousand against five million adult males, Of- fe- mates who have not yet reached their ma-~ turity there are but two million against the forty-odd million young males!” “I see... and gentlemen, that is among a race of people who have heretofore proven themselves extremely. hardy, with only three deaths out of ten women who go through childbirth!” HE Mentor was silent for several moments as he con- sidered these facts, He turned to the Eastern European, a member of the Old World Germanic strains. “President Miiller, how many adult women do you report living?” “Tn all our-territory, sir, there are but fifty thousand, against two million adult males, Of unwed females we have but six million!” “And of young males?” “We have forty-seven million.” “Your death rate among the women is appalling. Your fale population also» has de- creased,” Miiller nodded ‘and his eyes were-grave. “Last year eight of every ten women died, although our physicians fought diligently to save them. And many of the babies also died, thousands... . .” One by one the Mentor called upon the other presidents to make their reports and each had prac- tically the same fearful facts to relate, After the last had spoken the Mentor sat-in his straight backless chair without speaking. The others were also wrapped the present sequel. Had there been a man of the twentieth century present he would have been more than as- tounded by the facts divulged by LESLIE F. STONE O those who read Miss ‘Stone's “Men With Wings” in the July, 1929, ¢ssue of this magazine, we-can offer another treat in There are few of us who do not envy the birds in thelr power to soar above the earth and feel the freedom.from the shackles that have held us perennially to the earti’s sur- Jace. Miss Stone, as usual, shows her ability to write in a very human and interesting fashion, and constantly-intrigues our interest by newerand more strange developments. In this story of-terrestrial and Anterplanetary adventures we meet some of the problems that confront the winged people; and we see how Miss Stone works out. tn an amazingly surprising fashion the ultimate solution. We offer this story as a worthy sequel to the marvélous “Men With Wings.” this: meeting. He could not have understood! And he would haye been vastly surprised to learn of the many changes that had: taken place in the map‘of the-world during the ten cen- ~ turies that had slipped by. In his day it might, indeed, have been possible to foresee that the United States of America would one day include the entire North American continent, together with the islands of the South Seas, and that the numerous nations of Latin. America would be fused in’ one, ‘Tt would also have.-been conceivable to- him that England would gain jurisdiction over one half of Europe and Germany — over the other half; that Arabia would: swallow all of Asia Minor, Turkey and Egypt; the African Negro would come into his. own and, with the exception of Egypt, control all of the Dark Continent; that-the Hindi of India would have possession: of all of southern Asia; China would control Siberia, Manchuria, Korea and Japan, while Australia and New Zealand would join hands as an~ inde- pendent state. The Coming of Wings UT our early-twentieth-century tan might well have-raised his brows up- on hearing that all these great nations now owed their allegiance to the greater office of the Mentor or Planet Ruler whom the nine lesser potentates~elected from their own number, and who ruled from: the - Great Palace at Havana, Cuba, where their conference. was now taking place, And what would have surprised’ ‘him most of all was the remarkable physical change that had come over the inhabitants of the world, as.the appearance of these ten men. with their strange problems bore witness . and the, source of. his wonder would-have lain in the fact that they “possessed natural wings, great, powerful, living wings—more powerful than the wings of the eagle! To understand how Mankind had come itito the heritage of wings one must turn back the yellowed pages of history. to the sixteenth century* to one Howard Mentor, who with his science made wings possible to man, One can-thrill-anew on reading the history of the centuries in the Brazilian wilds-when the little race-of Mentorites struggled to put wings upon their offspring, and fought off the great nations of the earth who sought to punish them for their abduction of women. It=will be recalled: that: the Mentorites stole unwinged women that they might continue to breed an. alated** race. -Schioolchildren know the date when Horace Mentor, descendent of the original Mentor, faced the World Court that existed at that time and de- manded. that his nation be given recognition by the~World, since the winged people had without a doubt proved their superiority over the other nations. And, he won his point, It was a reat day for the planet when the Men- torites were. given that sanction and when America opened her arms to them and even gave per- mission for the Mentorites to breed wings tpon her citizenry. And so with the years the world acknowledged that wings had proved-more efficient than * See “Men With Wings” by Leslie Stone, July, 1929, issue of Arr Wonner Sronres, ** Winged, The Original Story, “Men With Wings,” was published in the July, 1929, issue of this niagarine: Back. copies are available at twenty-five, cents. each,