1908, Redbook Magazine, 13 pages
The story of Emil Gluck is told in the style of a retrospective newspaper article, which I do imagine was a well-received format for the time, and London, a newspaper man, was the man to pull it off.
The back story for Gluck is a little too thick for my taste, with his suffering indignity upon indignity from childhood on. The idea though, of a genius avenging himself upon the world through a device of his own making, is appealing.
As a professor Emil is ridiculed for his book Sex and Progress, is vilified by the press and feminist organizations, and labeled an anarchist, eventually losing his professorship. He then retires to private life to build a vengeance device.
The device that Emil invents can remotely set off ordinance from bullets to artillery shells. He begins by avenging himself on law enforcement by setting off the bullets in the guns of officers, resulting in many a shot leg or foot. Things get really interesting when he begins his tour of east coast naval yards!
This is a piece worth checking out for both the concept and the narrative style.
