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[The Blog of Phileas Fogg: 1883 onwards] April 12th 1884

From: Harry Hayfield <harryhayfield~at~googlemail.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:58:56 -0700 (PDT)
To: jvf~at~gilead.org.il

As you know when I agreed to do this diary for Professor Smith, I
agreed to list everything that happened to me, however what happened 48
hours ago so shook me I have been agonising about whether I should
repeat it but am sure that Professor Smith would be quite understanding
if I put this in and asked for it not to be published.

The actual event occurred at the American Embassy to which I had been
invited to quite some time ago and the party before hand was quite the
party I can tell you. Not only was President Grant in attendance (as he
was the guest speaker) but I noticed a lot of people I know (not only
in my professional aura as a member of the British Government, but also
as a celebrity!) First of all, I met with a certain Colonel Proctor
(who is now the American secretary of state for the homeland) and
greeted him with the same greeting that I made back in San Francisco
back in 1872. "Yankee!" I said. "Limey!" he replied with a smile and we
shook each other by the hand. Also in attendance was Major Cohen (who I
knew as a Brigadier in charge of the garrison at Benares) who is now in
command of the whole British garrison in India and I also met a certain
person who introduced me to the art of boxing. Inspector (or to give
him his full title, Commissioner) Fix.

After the party the formal part of the evening came to bear. I had
brought my box of tricks to take a transcript of the speech so I could
summarise it to the Prime Minister in case he said anything that he
might want to know about, but my word, I never expected this statement
to come forth:

"I believe that the United States, and indeed the whole world through a
collabration of international science and diplomacy, should commit to
achieving the goal before the end of this decade of sending a man into
space and returning him safely to the Earth. I believe that by choosing
to go into space in this decade and the other things I have mentioned
not because they are simple things to do, but because they are
difficult. I believe that this task will measure the energies of our
skills. I am therefore asking for any volunteers or finanical backers
to help us in this endeavour"

No sooner had President Grant said the word "volunteers" than I felt a
thousand eyes burning into me. It got so much that I had to feign
feeling ill and left the American Embassy as quick as my feet and a
hansom cab could carry me.

Now you can see why I am so concerned about even mentioning this.
Should I accept the invitation of volunteering for this expedition or
should I stay firmly on the earth and continue my role as a Member of
Parliament?

--
Posted By Harry Hayfield to The Blog of Phileas Fogg: 1883 onwards on
4/12/2009 10:57:00 PM

Received on Mon 13 Apr 2009 - 00:59:04 IDT

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