John Strock
John Strock served as Chief Inspector for the Federal Police Department in 1903. When some strange occurrences began at the Great Eyrie in the town of Morganton, North Carolina, Strock was sent to get to the bottom of things. He along with Morganton's Mayor Elias Smith climbed the Eyrie but couldn't reach the top. Strock returned to Washington no closer to discovering the truth than when he'd come.
Once back in Washington, D.C., Strock received a threatening letter posted from Morganton, warning him to stay away from the Eyrie. It was signed only "M.O.W." Two men also spied on his house, but left when approached. Strock's superior, Mr. Ward, then gave him a new assignment. It seemed a deranged motorist was terrorizing the northern United States' roadways, driving at unheard-of speeds, only to vanish as soon as he appeared. Not long after this, a submarine or ship of some sort was spotted in Lake Erie, and an impossibly fast flying machine as also spotted.
Strock couldn't help but wonder if the two were connected, inventions of the same person or persons. Ward agreed with him, and further theorized perhaps the vehicles were actually one vehicle capable of going on land and in the water and in the air. A second letter was sent, this time to the US government, said to have been posted from "on board the Terror," which Strock guessed to be the name of the "triphibian" vehicle, and signed "Master of the World." Strock realized the earlier letter sent from Morganton was from the same person, and that the Great Eyrie was the mysterious inventor's base of operations.
A man in Toledo, Ohio contacted the Federal Police claiming to have seen the Terror. Strock and two other policemen, John Hart and Nab Walker, journeyed to Toledo and met Wells, who led the three to Black Rock Creek where indeed they found the ship in its submersible form, as well as its inventor and captain, the mad genius Robur. A shootout with Robur's men led to Hart being injured, and the Terror hastily made its escape. As it did so, Strock became entangled in the trailing mooring line and was dragged into the water and almost drowned. When he awakened he found himself alive but a prisoner aboard the Terror, bound for the Great Eyrie.
His efforts to ply Robur or his first mate, John Turner, for information about the Terror or their ultimate destination after the Eyrie proved futile. Neither they nor the helmsman of the vessel would even speak to him. He could only guess Robur intended to return to Island X. Strock resolved to somehow stop Robur, and figured he would get his opportunity when Robur, in a fit of apparent madness, flew the Terror into a storm. Before Turner or the helmsman could act, Strock leaped onto Robur to subdue him, only to have the Terror be struck by lightning, lose control and plunge into the sea.
Strock survived and was picked up by a passing ship. As to Robur and his crew, Strock surmised that the three of them had perished and drowned when the Terror sank underwater. He returned home a morose man.
Master of the World (1961 film)
John Strock was a federal agent sent to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1868 to investigate strange phenomenon occurring at a mountain near there. To do a flyover of the mountain, Strock enlisted the services of balloonist and arms manufacturer Prudent. They - along with Prudent's daughter Dorothy and her fiance Phillip Evans - went up in Prudent's balloon the Go-Ahead but were shot down by an unseen foe in the crater of the mountain. They survived the crash.
When they awoke they found themselves held prisoner aboard the airship Albatross by the extremist inventor Robur, who aimed to use his heavily-armed flying warship to put an end to all war by imposing peace as "master of the world." As this involved bombing major cities, sinking warships and in general killing people, Strock believed that regardless of his cause, Robur's ends didn't justify his means. He sought to thwart Robur's goal of world conquest by rigging the Albatross to explode. He and Evans sabotage its armor so that it blew up, damaging the ship. Strock, Dorothy, Mr. Prudent and Evans slid to safety down the airship's mooring line to an island. Robur's first mate Turner shot at them, wounding Strock, but then the Albatross crashlanded in the sea with Robur and his entire crew.
