an 5,000,000 people had assembled at Washington from all
parts of the world. Every one of this immense multitude had been able to
listen to the speeches and the cheers in the Senate Chamber, although
not personally present there. Wires had been run all over the city, and
hundreds of improved telephonic receivers provided, so that everyone
could hear. Even those who were unable to visit Washington, people
living in Baltimore, New York, Boston, and as far away as New Orleans,
St. Louis and Chicago, had also listened to the proceedings with the aid
of these receivers. Upon the whole, probably not less than 50,000,000
people had heard the deliberations of the great congress of the nations.

The telegraph and the cable had sent the news across the oceans to all
the capitols of the earth. The exultation was so great that the people
seemed mad with joy.

The promised exhibition of the electrical ship took place the next day.
Enormous multitudes witnessed the experiment, and there was a struggle
for places in the car. Even Queen Victoria, accompanied by the Prince of
Wales, ventured to take a ride in it, and they enjoyed it so much that
Mr. Edison prolonged the journey as far as Boston and the Bunker Hill
monument.

Most of the other monarchs also took a high ride, but when the turn of
the Emperor of China came he repeated a fable which he said had come
down from the time of Confucius:

"Once upon a time there was a Chinaman living in the valley of the
Hoang-Ho River, who was accustomed frequently to lie on his back, gazing
at, and envying, the birds that he saw flying away in the sky. One day
he saw a black speck which rapidly grew larger and larger, until as it
got near he perceived that it was an enormous bird, which overshadowed
the earth with its wings. It was the elephant of birds, the roc. 'Come
with me,' said the roc, 'and I will show you the wonders of the kingdom
of the birds.' The man caught hold of its claw and nestled among its
feathers, and they rapidly rose high in the air, and sailed away to the
Kuen-Lun Mountains. Here, as they passed near the top of the peaks,
another roc made its appearance. The wings of the two great birds
brushed together, and immediately they fell to fighting. In the midst of
the melee the man lost his hold and tumbled into the top of a tree,
where his pigtail caught on a branch, and he remained suspended. There
the unfortunate man hung helpless, until a rat, which had its home in
the