FARGUS, FREDERICK JOHN. 



347 



possesses greater power than dynamite. Gru- 

 son has utilized this compound by charging 

 explosive shells with the two substances in 

 such a manner that, when tired, the ingredi- 

 ents combine, producing the explosive. The 

 shell is then in a condition to produce power- 

 ful destructive effects as soon as time or con- 

 cussion fuse comes into action in the usual 

 manner, ffellhqffite, invented by Hellhoff and 

 Gruson, is a solution of a nitrated organic com- 

 bination naphthalin, phenol, benzine, etc. 

 in nitric acid. This explosive is a liquid, and 

 can not be exploded either by a shock or by 

 an open flame. It acts more powerfully than 

 nitro- glycerin, and is exploded by means of ful- 

 minate of mercury. 



Literature. Among the recent works on the 

 subject of explosives may be mentioned "The 

 Modern High Explosives," by Manuel Eissler, 

 1884; "Explosive Materials, with a Bibliogra- 

 phy of Works on Explosives," 1883; "Elec- 

 tricity applied to Explosive Purposes," Sir F. 

 A. Abel, pamphlet; "Chemical Theory of 

 Gunpowder," Dr. H. Debus, pamphlet. Prof. 

 Charles E. Munroe, of Annapolis, Md., has, 

 since 1882, published in the "Proceedings 

 of the United States Naval Institute " a series 

 of "Notes on the Literature of Explosives." 

 These notes are regularly reprinted in pam- 

 phlet form, and are the most valuable resumes 

 of the subject published in the English lan- 

 guage. 



F 



FARGUS, FREDERICK JOHN, an English au- 

 thor, born in Bristol in 1847 ; died in Monte 

 Carlo, Italy, April 15, 1885. He was an auc- 

 tioneer in his native city, and never was heard 

 of as an author till he attained a sudden repu- 

 tation, in 1884, by a novel entitled " Called 

 Back," which he- published under 

 the pen name of " Hugh Conway." 

 It is said that he wrote it in ten 

 weeks, and received $4,000 for it 

 from a Bristol publisher. It was 

 first printed in November, 1883, 

 in a thin 8vo, which sold for six- 

 pence, and seemed to fall dead. 

 The publisher says: "I used to 

 be irritated by the daily cheerful- 

 ness of Fargus. Of course, he had 

 no risk in the venture whatever, 

 and could afford to come around to 

 my office and gleefully speculate 

 as to what I then sadly deemed 

 to be gross improbabilities. His 

 faith in the ultimate popularity of 

 4 Called Back ' was so remarkably 

 unalterable that I sometimes was 

 tempted to take courage and join 

 him in his wanderings in the air- 

 castles of success. And it was not 

 long before his prophecies were 

 realized. By some good fortune 

 Mr. Comyns Carr had the book 

 placed in his hands as one likely 

 to move his dramatic instincts. It , jH= 

 is reported that that gentleman >^^. 



went to sleep in searching for the 

 merits of the story. But that was 

 in the evening. Next morning he 

 made a further essay, and was at 

 length so captivated by its rich- 

 ness of incident that he tele- 

 graphed straight away to Fargus 

 (with whom he was intimate) a proposition to 

 collaborate with him in dramatizing it. Almost 

 simultaneously a London paper saw in the 

 hook what all the world has discovered in it 

 since. Then the flutter came. On the second 



day afterward I was deluged with telegrams or- 

 dering ' Called Backs.' The early edition was 

 practically unreachable, so I at once resolved 

 to get up the volume in a new form. Naturally, 

 as a provincial house, my productive power 

 was then limited ; but by a supreme effort I 



FBEDERICK JOHN FABGTJS. 



got up the type in a week, stereotyped the 

 pages, and had all my machines running on the 

 novel night and day. The demand became 

 enormous, and I was at my wits' ends to meet 

 it. I had first one new machine laid down, 



