out of misanthropy and disgust for politicking, but also for a belief in human transcendence (an "Omega Point", according to Popescu). Sevastos pointed out that Stahl's "social criticism" was of the "aggressive" kind, quoting a passage in which the narrator reads Iorga's initials, "dear as they will once be to all Romanians", into the lunar surface. Stahl considered publishing the work, and showed it to Iorga for a critical opinion. He met Iorga's opposition, who asked him "to forget the moon and stars" and write a new book using the style around the first chapter, in which Stahl depicts life in turn-of-the-century Bucharest. Therefore, Stahl's literary debut was in 1910 with Bucureștii ce se duc ("Vanishing Bucharest"), serialized in Iorga's Neamul Românesc journal, then bound together as a volume issued in Vălenii. Iorga later described Stahl, alongside Ion Agârbiceanu, Romulus Cioflec and Dumitru C. Moruzi, as Neamul Românescs leading prose writer. The book is feted for its colorful depictions of Bucharesters at the beginning of the 20th century, but also for outlining the conservative thesis favored at Neamul Românesc. Stahl sees modern Bucharest as a playing ground for handmaidens and their aroused admirers, riddled with "moronic" pastimes such as binge drinking and visits to the City Morgue. Stahl also protests against the Haussmannian renovation of downtown Bucharest, and proposes that all condemned buildings be photographed and inventoried for historical reference. Stahl followed up with humorous sketch stories: Dela manevre ("From the Maneuvers"), printed by Iorga in 1912, and the 1915 Macabre și viceversa ("Macabre Ones and Vice Versa"). He did eventually publish his science fiction novel: first in 1913, serialized in Victor Anestin's Ziarul Călătoriilor magazine, then as a single volume in 1914. In the latter popular edition, produced at the Bucharest Institute of Graphic Arts, the "astronomical novel" was illustrated by Stoica D. and Ary Murnu. At an unknown later date, Stahl also produced a volume of Schițe parlamentare ("Parliamentary Sketches"), with models of oratory, samples of ignominious behavior, and memoirs of parliamentary disputes. World War I During the early 1910s, Stahl made visits to the Romanian communities of Austria-Hungary, and in particular to those of Transylvania and Partium. Under Germanic influence, Transylvanian Romanian intellectuals had devised their own shorthand system, codified by Vasile Vlaicu. However, Stahl was contracted by Romanian National Party leaders to record their February 1911 meeting with the constituents of Arad, Békés and Csanád counties,