The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1888-08-02
ON THE PLANET MARS.
THE CANALS a LONG KNOWN Mys-
Terry or THE HEAVENS.


Facts What Life on Our Neichbo.
Planet IL Supposed To he Like.
NJ Bertheot. one OF the academicians
Is evidently light hearted savant. for he
at once asked NJ de. Lesseps who was
present al the meeting iii he had by
chance a brother protector in Mars.
whereat all the learned astronomers
smiled solemnly This is. surely the
first time that a joke has been imported
from spot $4,000 900 miles of which is
about the distance OF the planet Mars
from our earth The canals perceived b,
NJ Perrotin upon the surface of cur next
outside neighbor in the solar system.
however. are long known mystery of the
heavens. and one that is probably as far
as ever from being solved by the face
tious wizard
Mars happens TO be better situated for
observation by astronomers than any
other body in the sky except the moon
be Is moro than hundred times farther
on than the moon at his very closest APP
proach. and measures only 1920 miles
through at his equator; but. unlike the
moon. he exhibits In turn every portion
OF his surface. rotating in day which is
about half an hour longer than our own
Thus the entire face OF the planet Mars
has been pretty accurately mapped, and
presents diversified aspect OF large
patches of alternating lighter and darker
markings which may naturally suggest
the divisions OF land and water At the
poles of Mars are extensive white regions
which sometimes show up in the field of
the telescope with striking brilliancy and
clearness OF definition; and since these
undergo periodic changes. occasionally
almost vanishing and then shining forth
again at just the seasons when 1t would
be winter with the Martians, astronomers
had been led to call them ''ice caps" and
to believe that we actually behold the
Arctic and Antarctic polar seas of the
planet in the form of these little white
saucers stuck on each end of the ''star Of
war
As for the canals with which NJ Per-
rotin poked scientific fun at NJ de Lesseps,
they are certainly very curious objects.
From sea &c sea, or what looks like it.
run these straight passages. wearing an
appearance, no doubt. of some immense
artificial work--some Panama or Suez
canal on a colossal scale. They do not
alter or extend-there they always arei--
some Of them completed. others appar-
emily imperfect. as II the Martian cham
Der of deputies had refused to sanction a
lottery loan for the fulfillment OF the
original design But when NM. Perrotin
aud Faye begin to talk of engineers"
| and men Ia Mars" it Is necessary 10 re-
| member that to be seen at all. even ns a
| hair line, these canals in Mars would have
to be at least 500 times as broad as the
Fhames-say thirty or forty miles across
| and as their length Is to be reckoned in
hundreds OF miles. the navvies in Mars, ii
they exist, must certainly be wonderful
beingsl
Astronomers. admirable on so MANY
points, are never so stupid and unimagin-
alive as when meditating on the proba
bilities Of life beyond this earth. that old
and fascinating topic OF more worlds
than one They take their terrestrial
notions and experiences much too blindly
into space they ask II there be an atmos.
| phere III the moon. or water in Mars and
il any doubts exist about these elements
they solemnly conclude that these and
other lovely and eligible celestial abodes
ARE teraniless AS IL life were not con.
ceivabe without lungs and liverl As if
we must always carry about with us into
| the glorious promotions of inter-stellar
space the dentist. the anti bilious pill and
bronchitis
1t Is true that for beings constructed
as we nre at present Mars would be
novel and rather surprising kind of
abode Surprising we found dense air
enough to breathe there, and water suffi
cient for tea and washing-which are
both dubious points-the diminished
gravitation Of the little planet is so great
that it would induce a physical and
mental levity fatal to dullness and for
bidding sense of fatigue What Is a
hundred weight here would there weigh
only fifty.six pounds. and we could all go
up stairs five steps ut a time. or Jump
twice our own height with ease and grace.
Then 1t would assuredly be very nice, IL
we were living in the right latitude on
Mars, to have quick moon and q slow
moon, always careering round like splen.
did Chinese lanterns. saving gas bills and
encouraging long walks of lovers and
Martial poetry A fall from a horse
would seldom or never prove at all seri-
Gus in the Martial hunting fields, the
rider would rebound from the soft soil
like an India rubber cushion. Aerial
navigation has quite possibly been solved
long ago by the fortunate people of the
red planet. the conditions being SO ex-
tremely favorable, and who knows, in.
deed, whether the so called canals" are
not vast tobogganing slides. where the
entire population enjoys the unwonted
sense OF swift descent. and some little
spice of perill But we may be sure of
this, that If there be sentient creatures
on the silver and pearl surfaces of Mars
they are Of very different type from our
terrestrial frames, for life is always the
equation Of it's surrounding conditions
and we denizens of the earth have lungs
and larynx simply because we live at
the bottom of an aerial sea. just as fish
possess gills because they breathe the
water.-London Telegraph.
pnir