Ford hunted excitedly through the technical specs of the ship, occasionally gasping with astonishment at what he read – clearly Galactic astrotechnology had moved ahead during the years of his exile.

Evident in the representation of three of early cinema's most popular stars, this tendency to construct the persona anagraphically - to refer to the self as a token of a transindividual category -- is a common feature of early fan discourse.

The land line was eight months later in its completion than was anticipated, but the fleet of cable ships, sent out by the British Australian Telegraph Company, arrived in Port Darwin at the date appointed by them: November 6th, 1871.

It may be a tall-tale, but there is a grain of truth to it as well.