"There seemed to be no higher a proportion of the rarer metals in the core than on the surface.
"Although somewhat disgruntled at the results of their investigation, the governmental heads knew that they must keep busy the thousands of men thrown out of employment by the dissolution of armies and navies. So, having nothing better in mind, this fantastic WPA was commissioned to put the shaft on through to the other side of the Earth."
Randall nodded impatiently. "I am familiar with the historical data," he said. "Now if you will give me a resumé of the circumstances which have an immediate bearing on the trouble--"
Andrews colored at the little man's tone, and said gruffly, "I was only reviewing the data from the beginning, because there have been several developments in the past which may well have a bearing on our present difficulty."
The Investigation Agent nodded. "Make the historical review as brief as possible, then."
"After the shaft was completed," Andrews continued, more than a little piqued, "the question arose as to what should be done with the hundred billion dollar hole in the ground, now that it was finally completed.
"Some engineers advised salvaging the incredibly heat-resistant fifty-foot thick cellular caisson of Tungalloy, which alone had made possible the penetration through thousands of miles of molten material under tremendous pressure.
"Others maintained that the cost of removing it would be far in excess of the caisson's value.
"While the battle was raging, J. T. Weller, president of Metals, Inc. came to the fore with an offer for a concession on the Earth-Tube.
"He proposed to construct a tubular car or cage which would traverse the almost eight thousand miles in only four hours--more than twenty four hours less than the time required for a trip to the Antipodes by stratosphere plane.
"His argument for the success of the undertaking lay, not so much in the time saved on the trip, but in the novelty of the method of travel, and its value for giving people a taste of what weightless travel in space ships would be like. His imagination capitalized on the fact that Man is always on the alert for some new and strange way of cheating his perambulatory equipment of its needed exercise.