MONDO
ARRANGED HIS PAPERS AND PUT THEM BACK INTO HIS
brief-case.
Then he bowed briefly to the Boss and the guests and, with a friendly smile for
Rolande,
left
the room.
The
Devil pressed the button on his inter-com.
"No.
506," he said.
An
exceedingly slender young man entered.
The
Boss made the introduction. "This is No. 506, the Stink Devil. His name is
Erek.
And
here, Erek, are some good friends representing the Press, engineering and
medicine.
I
have no secrets from them. Erek has only recently taken up his job."
"About
120 years ago," Erek hastened to explain.
"I
should like you to tell my guests something about your work," said the
Devil.
Erek
inclined his head. "Without air to breathe, there can be no life.
It
is more important than water or nourishment."
"I
beg your pardon," said Erek. "A man draws 26,000 breaths a day but
eats
or
drinks only four times a day."
"Very
well ! Proceed."
"If
it should prove possible to poison the air of life, then the inevitable result
would be that man
would
grow sick and would ultimately be exterminated."
The
Devil elucidated further. "I have offered man the bait of profit and of
superfluous wants.
He
has swallowed it, and ever since has feverishly and laboriously set about
poisoning
the
atmosphere that he breathes."
The
well-dressed, modest and apparently well-bred young man, who did not in the
least look
like
a Stink Devil, opened his brief-case and searched through his papers.
Then
he began his report:
"The
number of smoking chimneys is increasing all over the world.
Industrialization
is advancing on all fronts —"
"Don't
claim credit for that," the Devil interrupted.
"I
arranged for all that long before there was any such thing as a Stink Devil.
Get
on with your report."
"Industrial
deserts are steadily growing.
The
natural surface of the earth is continually being pushed back."
"You're
trespassing on the territory of your colleague of the Department of Soil
Destruction,"
said
the Devil. "Stick to your own."
"In
order to establish the conditions necessary for the success of my work,
I
did my utmost to encourage transports and industrial undertakings to engage
in
the grossly immoral practice of discharging their waste products such as soot,
coal,
cement
dust and poisonous gases directly into the air, the air which is breathed by
all and belongs to all.
In
Pittsburgh alone, the factory chimneys hurl 7 million tons of coal dust into
the atmosphere every year.
Thanks
to the burning of coal and its derivatives,
Great
Britain is annually covered by 16 million tons of dust."
"Not
enough," said the Devil, angrily interrupting. "Compare that with
Pittsburgh,
and
admit that the air breathed by the British is still much too good."
"The
oxygen content of the air in industrial towns has been reduced by one-half per
cent."
"Is
that really worth mentioning?"
"It's
a great deal. The central nervous system is such that it reacts even to minute
changes
in
the quantity of oxygen. Besides, there is also a continual increase in carbon
dioxide,
sulphur
dioxide, ammonia and nitric acid, and this increase is quite substantial enough
to
prepare the ground for chronic ailments. Man has not the experience,
nor
has his scientific knowledge reached a level where he can assess the ultimate
consequences
of
this progressive poisoning.
If
the present rate of industrialization continues,
then
in a hundred years' time the air will contain twice the present quantity of
carbon dioxide."
"And
what do you expect from that?" asked Sten.
"A
great many kinds of plants that are necessary for human life will simply die
out.
There
will be more sickness, both for man and beast; harvests will grow smaller,
and
the quality of food will deteriorate. The carbon dioxide in the air will absorb
and hold fast the warmth given out by the
earth. This will cause the climate to become milder
and
the Polar ice will begin to thaw. As a result,
there
will be a rise in the level of the ocean and whole continents will be
flooded."
The
Devil turned to his visitors. "As you can see, we are ensuring that the
seeds of Death
in
the air will be in plentiful supply."
"Why
seeds of Death?" said the girl. "We doctors look on soot and
coal-dust as sterile.
To
the best of my knowledge, no one has ever traced any infection to them."
"Then
may I assist in the enlargement of your knowledge?" said Frek, a little
patronizingly.
"In
New York a solution was made from soot which had been scraped from the roofs
and
this was injected into mice. All the mice contracted cancer."
Rolande
sat upright, eager to defend the honour of her profession.
"No
doubt it was a concentrated solution.
The
actual quantity of deletarious substances in the air above industrial districts
is minute."
"Yes,
but every day you must multiply that quantity by 26,000.
If,
with each breath, only 3/1,000ths of an ounce of soot is absorbed into the
body,
this
means that the body has daily to deal with 5 pounds of soot. Moreover,
when
you are dealing with carcinogens, there just isn't such a thing as a negligible
or harmless quantity.
It
is precisely these very small intakes that are so dangerous, if absorbed over a
protracted period.
Moreover,
the coal-dust that floats about in the atmosphere reduces the effectiveness of
sunlight
by
four per cent. As a result, the skin is unable to form a sufficient quantity of
Vitamin D,
and
this causes damage to the bone structure. Here lies the origin of
rickets."
Groot
broke into the discussion. "We've got the better of that long ago,"
he cried.
"We
can produce all the vitamins synthetically in any quantity we need,
so
that sunlight has lost its importance, and coal-dust too, for that
matter."
"And
synthetic vitamins are just as effective as the natural ones," added
Rolande.
The
Boss chuckled. "My people have had instructions to go on spreading that
lie.
Man
has got the lunatic idea that he has mastered Nature,
and
so he forgets that a dead thing can never be a substitute for anything that's
alive."
Erek
continued: "The blanket of dust above the towns filters out the
blue-violet energy of the sun,
and
only admits the yellow reddish and ultra red, which causes man to become
excitable,
psychically
tired, ill-humoured, and discontented."
"Excellent,
Erek. That really takes us right into politics."
"It
has been proved that the poisoning of the air produces acute and chronic damage
in
all living organisms. It encourages thrombosis. A dusty air makes for fog,
and
fog has this very useful quality, that it can hold fast and pile up a number of
poisonous gases
which
are equally harmful for man, beast and plant. In this way, we ensure some
thousands
of
deaths every year from fogs, principally among people with heart and lung
complaints.
"Phosphate
factories and aluminium works discharge fluorine into the air.
Fluorine
is a highly effective poison, and does enormous damage.
Bones
lose their calcium content and are easily broken.
Teeth
become diseased, and if exposed for any length of time to fluorine, tend to
fall out.
Milk
production falls sometimes as much as fifty per cent. Grave damage can also be
done
to
plant life. Gases containing fluorine from the aluminium works at Rheinfelden
did
grave damage to meadows and orchards.
Cattle
and bees were poisoned to such an extent that the very existence
of
many of the farms was threatened."
"Excellent,"
said the Boss. "See that the number of phosphate and aluminium works are
increased
without
fail within the next few years. Give that out as one of the things inexorably
demanded by progress."
"I'll
make a note of it."
"And
how is man affected by such poisoning of the air?"
"Symptoms
of poisoning become apparent in the blood, damage is done to the lungs,
there
is a loss of appetite, incurable coughs, chronic headache, respiratory
difficulties,
asthma,
anaemia, nervousness, migraine, sleeplessness, and circulatory trouble – also,
cancer
of the lungs and a lowered immunity against bacteria.
“There
are, however, a number of other symptoms which can be traced to the chronic
poisoning
of
the air, though men have not yet learned to recognize them.
The
University of Oxford has proved that poisoning of the air by industry can
produce
grave
damage to man's genetic equipment, though the precise character
of
the damage has as yet been imperfectly examined."
"Well,
that's something," muttered the Devil, "but we mustn't make too much
of it."
Erek
continued: "Even fishes are injured by these industrial gases."
Here
Sten interrupted him. "I thought your task was essentially the
destruction of man?"
But
the Devil waved him aside.
"Man
cannot exist without Nature. We let him destroy Nature, and so he destroys
himself."
At
this point, Groot once more joined in the discussion. "And since when have
animals
and
plants become guilty of sin?" he asked, with a sneer.
The
Boss looked at the questioner in astonishment. "It rarely happens that an
engineer
or
a technician bothers much about animals and plants,
but
I can comfort you with the assurance that Nature will quickly recover,
as
soon as man has been liquidated."
But
Groot was not satisfied. "To the best of my knowledge," he said,
"many
industries take measures to prevent the discharge of poisonous gases and harmful
dust."
"I
am well aware of that, sir," replied 506. "Although I have left no
stone unturned,
I
have unfortunately not yet succeeded in making all industrialists accept our
devilish principles."
"Is
that a confession that you have failed in your task?" said the Boss, with
a frown.
Erek
turned submissively towards his master. "You are yourself well aware that
even in industry,
we
still have embittered enemies, who are still most regrettably governed by
feelings
of
decency and responsibility. And you know that these try to obstruct our
programme
by
means of various kinds of cleansing apparatus. But their numbers are so small
that
they
really don't count. Incidentally, the various filtering devices are quite inadequate,
so
that the greater part of the poison enters the atmosphere in spite of
them."
The
Boss nodded. "We also see to it," he said, "that such equipment
is very expensive.
Its
acquisition would put many undertakings in the red, and so things go on as
before.
Is
that All, Erek?"
"No, Boss. I found out that I could never succeed in my task if I had only the factories to help me.
Even with the maximum breading of industrialization, large stretches of the earth would remain
free from dust and smoke and would, therefore, remain immune.
Now, I knew that there was a quite excellent substance, a superb carcinogen,
which was produced by the burning of petroleum and its derivatives, namely benzopyren.
I first tried it out by getting people to use petroleum products for lighting purposes,
but progress soon put an end to that so I visualized some kind of a unit that went about on wheels
and produced poisonous gases by the burning of petrol. By letting such units travel along the road
by day and night, this poison gas would be discharged into the air. However,
this seemed a quite hopeless project until men suddenly invented the automobile and took the thing
right out of my hands.
Since my last report, there has been a tenfold increase in motor traffic."
"An
inevitable result of modern progress," interjected Harding.
"There
were other things at work. Above all, I have fostered the delusion that man
really only becomes
man
when he has a car. A man without a car is just an ordinary member of the animal
world.
Also,
I have drummed into men's heads that rolling is a much more distinguished thing
than walking,
and
he now hides his insignificance behind painted tin with chromium fittings.
His
inner hopelessness urges him to keep on the move. Motion is the very food of
his uprooted soul.
He
soothes a sense of his own inferiority by means of speed and noise.
Indeed,
he seeks a hundred ways of escape from his own pitiful condition and does not
realize that
it
accompanies him on every journey. His ability to put his foot on the
accelerator,
and
the stink of his exhaust, have become the criteria of his modern pseudo personality."
"Have
they ever discovered which ingredient in exhaust fumes is an actual
carcinogen?" asked Sten.
"Mr.
Erek has already told us," said Rolande. "It's benzopyrene.
"That's
right?" said Erek. " benzopyrene, an aromatic hydrocarbon.
And
there's no doubt about it being a carcinogen.
They've
produced unmistakable cancer in rats and mice by injecting it, or just painting
the skin."
"What's
true for rats and mice need not be true of man," said Groot.
"Rats
and mice are in many respects more resistant to cancer than human beings;
what's
dangerous for them, can be devastating for man."
"But
surely," said Rolande, "you don't find benzopyrene in exhaust fumes
in
a really concentrated form?"
"No,"
said Erek, "you don't. But, even so, benzopyrene is today an essential
element
in
the air of great cities. Measurements have been made both in Los Angeles and
in London
and
they know that, over a period of thirty years,
people
breathe in 75/10000ths of a gramme of benzopyrene, and this is quite sufficient
to
induce cancer. Of course, diesels are the worst offenders.
A
diesel engine discharges 2 milligrammes of benzopyrene an hour."
"Are
there any statistics about the damage they do?" asked Groot.
"Not
as yet," said Erek. "Perhaps that's because diesels have only been
used
for
about ten years or so on a really extensive scale."
"Patience
! Patience, my friend," cried the Devil. "Wait and see what the
picture will be like in ten,
twenty
or fifty years."
Erek
expressed agreement by a bow to his lord and master.
"We have every reason to hope that by
1990 we shall have achieved a sixfold increase
in
bronchial carcinoma. This means that more people will die of lung cancer than
of all
the
other forms of cancer put together. One thing's certain – I'll increase the
output of diesels
to
the absolute maximum. I'll give out that they're more economical – that should
do the trick."
"I
gather that petrol fumes aren't quite so dangerous?" said Sten.
Erek
turned eagerly towards him. "Between you and me, sir, it's six of one and
half a dozen of the other.
Petrol
almost always maintains an addition of tetra-ethyl-lead. Every car is continually
discharging
poisonous lead compounds into the air we breathe.
The
lead in the dust on the streets of New York has increased in the last few years
by 150 per cent.
The
exhaust fumes also contain nitrogen compounds, formaldehyde and sulphur
dioxide."
"Apart
from lung cancer," said the Devil, "what damage have you been able to
do with these things?"
Erek
drew himself up to his full height. "Oh, we've produced some fine
symptoms.
Damage
to vision, giddiness, sudden loss of consciousness, weakened memory,
but
also all kinds of allergies and skin diseases. The air in our big cities
contains more
than
fifty different chemical combinations. Man does not know for certain what
effect
any
of them will have over a period of decades, either on human, or other forms of
life."
"Anything
more to tell us?"
"Yes,
indeed."
"Oh
well, let's have it."
"The
fumes of these stink wagons are heavier than air.
As
a result of this, children in the great gorges which are the streets of our big
cities
are
in greater danger than adults."
"You
bore me, Erek. You told me all this twelve years ago, and I even remember that
I
gave you an instruction on that occasion; you noted it down and,
of
course, have gone and forgotten it."
"You
mean —"
"I
mean perambulators."
"Oh,
I haven't forgotten that, Boss. Just you look into any of the shops that sell
the things.
You'll
see everywhere my new low-slung types, with little wheels. Once inside them,
a
little child is bound to pass through the deepest and thickest concentrations
of poison,
which
lie close to the ground. I've a whole lot of wonderful sales talk to recommend
these things;
I
tell people that they have a low centre of gravity and so can't tip over and
that even if they do,
the
child hasn't far to fall; all that sort of rot."
"Fine,
Erek, fine ! But what are our opponents doing?"
"Oh,
they're trying to bestir themselves, but they aren't getting anywhere.
The
Automobile Association of Detroit has appropriated 2-1/2 million dollars for
research.
But
all they've managed to think up so far are schemes for having green belts round
the cities,
with
woodland and meadows."
"How
utterly futile ! These green belts always get built over in the end and as for
converting
building
sites into woodlands and parks, does anybody really believe that our staunch
real
estate speculators would permit such a bad piece of business?"
Suddenly
Erek looked uneasy. "I must admit," he said, "that there are
other dangers,
which
might really be serious."
"What
dangers?"
"May
I switch on the television?"
"Do.
What do you want to show us?"
"Professor
Cardan is giving a lecture to the “Academie Francaise” on the poisoning of the
air.
Listen
for a moment."
Every
seat was taken in the Great Hall in the Palais Luxembourg in Paris.
The
vast audience listened tensely to what the famous scientist was saying.
He
was nearly at the end of his lecture:
"Mesdames, Messieurs, I believe I have shown you beyond any possible doubt that the poisoning
of the air we breathe has attained a degree which justifies us in speaking of the danger
of severe chronic poisoning. There seem to be forces all over the world, which are determined
to suppress these facts because they go contrary to their business interests.
Do not be misled.
I invite you, ladies and gentleman, respectfully but pressingly to join my Association
which I have called into being under the title of 'The International League for Combating
the Poisoning of the Air’. I beg you to do your utmost to support the suggestion which
I have now laid before you It is, that the Government should invite representatives
from every Department of Science to undertake research into the dangers arising from
the poisoning of the air and to develop measures to counteract those dangers, and that
it should accompany such invitations by the provision of ample funds."
The
great mass of the audience expressed its feelings in tumultuous applause.
Sten
was delighted. "You see ! There are still brave men and women,
who
dare to take the Devil by the horns."
Satan
laughed. "Another of the fools who think they can put a brake on progress
!
How
has the public reacted, Erek?"
"Very
little interest."
"Excellent
! See that things remain as they are. Our contact men in the Ministry
should
be informed at once that Cardan mustn't have a franc of public money."
"Noted."
"And
not a word in the Press about the dangers of air pollution."
"I'll
do my best, but I must draw your attention to the fact that not all editors
have
as
yet fallen into line."
"Then
hurry up and get a statement from some tame scientist.
Let
him say that there's no such thing as damage from gases, dust or smoke;
that
air pollution only exists in the imagination of crazy enemies of progress and
that Cardan
is
an idiot, that the damages to health which some people profess to have seen,
if
indeed they exist at all, come from other causes.
See
that this statement is splashed across front pages throughout the world's
Press."
"I've
got a note of it, Boss."
Sten
was suddenly wild with fury. "It's devilish," he said. "That's
what it is, devilish!"
Satan
turned his great head slowly towards him. His expression was not unfriendly.
"Thanks
for the appreciation," he said. "What else, Erek?"
"That's
all, Boss."
"I'm
not quite satisfied with your results. Don't give up. I want your next report
in five years' time."
Erek
bowed, and left the room.
"Well,
my dear friends, what have you to say?"
Rolande
and Sten looked helplessly at each other. They were obviously both deeply
shaken.
For
a moment Groot seemed about to say something,
but
he too remained silent and stood looking at the floor as though he did not know
what
to make of the whole business.
Satan
laughed silently.
"I
see I've made an impression on you; I'm very pleased about that.
And
yet, what you've heard up till now is only a small fraction of my programme.
I
will get a number of other Department Heads to report to you, so that you can
get a wider view.
You
will then have no difficulty in recognizing that my dominion over the world is
total
and
unassailable, and that for sensible people no other course is open than to
lead,
as
my friends and assistants upon earth, a life in which respect,
riches
and pleasure are theirs for the asking.”
* *
* * * *