Looking for pre '59 edition story information verification

[older_gent]

Hi!

Can someone please help?  In the 1959 edition of "The House on the Cliff", the boys use a telescope.  Frank states that one can make out human figures at a distance of 24 miles.  Joe adds that a person can be identified at about 2 1/2 miles. 

For historical reasons, I'd like to know if the same information about the capabilities of the telescope appears in pre-59 editions, before the re-writing. 

Why?  Well, it's an interesting optics problem and telescope quality and capability is a function of time . . .

Thanks

[SDLagent]

I have the 1927 edition of the book...I'll take a look.

[tomswift2002]

The boys never use a telescope in the original 1927 text of The House On The Cliff.  Infact, they see the disturbance out in the bay after they've been at the Polucca house, by using their own eyes, while they are traveling on a road.

But if you want to find out what happens in the book, then I would suggest that you pick up either a Grosset & Dunlap copy of the book that was in print from 1927-1959, or one of the Applewood reprints that has been on the market since 1991.

[older_gent]

Thanks tomswift2002.  That was just the information I was looking for.  A curious part of the '59 rewrite was that the main and finder telescope eyepieces were stolen early in the story but were never mentioned again.  Must have been the 25 -> 20 chapter reduction . . .

[SDLagent]

Well, as tomswift2002 said the telescope didn't appear in the original text, so I don't think what you mention has anything to do with the chapter reduction.

[tomswift2002]

A curious part of the '59 rewrite was that the main and finder telescope eyepieces were stolen early in the story but were never mentioned again. 

Must've just slipped the author's memory...

[Fenlaur]

They did mention the eyepieces again when the man who stole them confesses and tells the boys where to find them.