The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-01-30
The Lunar Wonders Revealed by the
Advancing Sunlight.

A Rochester journalist who visited
Professor Swift the other evening, and
had view of the moon, says The tele-
scope, with a power of thirty-six di-
ameters, was turned upon the moon. At
first the food Of light was binding, and
the view was but cursory. The moon
looked like a shield of embossed silver
the shield of Achilles-hung by his
goddess mother in the azure of the
heavens. Professor Swift looked over
the field, and noted as he looked many
of the interesting points, and suggested
that we follow the sunrise on the moon.
On the moon the dawn advanced at the
rate of ten miles an hour, lighting up
new fields and furnishing to him an ever
changing panorama. Still, there is
naught but desolation, yawning craters,
and sharp peaks of volcanic fires. No
water laves the desolate and rugged
shores of its great sea bottoms. But in
the gray plains, where some astronomers
think an ocean once spread, craters are
seen with perpendicular walls. The.
gray plains can be seen with the naked
| eye, forming what is called I" the man
| in the moon," on map like the Eastern
Continent. Under the telescope we
could trace what seemed at first to be
shore lines on the borders of this plain
On closer inspection, instead of wave
washed sand, these lines appeared to be
but rounded steps formed by successive
lava bursts spreading over the plain and
making, by the lessening flow, the grad
ual exhausting of the volcanic force.
From one of the largest craters rise
three volcanic cones, the SUBMITS of
which are tipped with sunlight before
the floor of the crater is lighted. In
another large crater two cones arise.
/ From the larger crater rays spread out,
as though the volcanic force cracked
the firm crust in its upheaval, injecting
l through the broken surface ridges of
dazzling white lava, that spread out like
the arms of cuttle-fish covering vast
surface. i..s .4a... 4aiI., ..a.. d.. t.t
i The grandest phenomena are to be OBJ
served by following the sun on the moon.
The advancing dawn forms a ragged
crescent line upon the surface still in
darkness. The SUMS rays pass over
4 dark chasms and low fields, lighting up
ragged mountain tops far in advance.
They appear like little islands of light
lying off the coast of an illuminated
sea. High mountains and crater walls
near.the shore of light cast deep shadows
The circular rims of crater are illumi
mated, and shine like rings of silver
, glittering upon a cushion of darkness
The advancing dawn now lights up the
bases of the outlying mountains tha'
but moment ago showed buta speck
, of light, and still new mountain top
! are tipped with silver far in advance
5 The sunlight strikes upon the side of ,
circular wall of q crater, and there is
5 silver crescent, with a black space be
tween it and the sea of light. Slowly tn,
: summit OF other portions of the circula
: wall are lighted up, and then the sun
! light invades the depths of the crater
a while the shadow of the wall neares
s the sun stretches half across the floor o
the chasm. Frequently great gaps ar
broken in the crater walls, and streak
!. of light stream across the floor. Th
I Jagged rocks, in calm, cold beauty, shin
i and glitter in the fierce white light
e The mountains are mountains of desc
lation, and the valleys are valleys o
e silence and death. They are wrinkles
! ! with the flow of lava and torn with up
: : heavals. The moon is dead. No air, n
$ sea, no forest shade, or living thing. Th
r moon is never-failiug source Of delight
h 1t is also awful in, its suggestions Q
g power and in its loneliness Of utter desc
y latlon. MO ELiHiEEL .rA1Gw .tI ti,. Fl.