“On The Martian Way” – 1909 short story by Captain Harry Gore Bishop

Here’s an interesting short story written by U.S. Army officer and author Harry Gore Bishop that was printed in The Railroad Trainman (September 1909): “On The Martian Way”. The plot revolves around a series of tragic events on the Earth-Mars run of a commercial space line company and includes a passenger ship carrying invalids to Mars for the benefits of the salubrious Martian atmosphere. Apparently, the story is “notable as one of the first scientific romances to feature a future of routine commercial space travel; also for its use of radio, friendly Martians, computing machines, and electrical gravity-repelling screens.” Here are the opening lines:

The New York office force of the R.D. Jones Co. caught its breath in a gasp of astonishment when it was announced that Captain Goff was to take out the Columbia with passengers only. Even the superintendent seemed ashamed of the directors' decision, for he had sent the word out to old Williams, the veteran chief clerk, scribbled on a slip of paper, and had then promptly gone out by way of his private entrance....

Originally published in The Broadway Magazine (November 1907), “On The Martian Way” was later reprinted in Amazing Stories magazine (February 1927) and Star Magazine (July 1931). It is unknown if the story was revised over the course of its life.

[via Tinkoo Valia of Variety SF]