The Forrest City times., 1891-05-29
ON LUNA'S OTHER SIDE.
A VISIT TO THE UNKNOWN RE-
 CIONS OF THE MOON.
Why 1t Ia That We Never See but One Side of tho Queen of Night--An Animal and Vegetable Life
 Is on the Other Side.

| NA hhu sekctaotc Aaie is on the Other Side.
 To the naked eye the moon present Some vague markings commonly knowl | collectively as the man in the moon. Look when we will, there appears al ways this same man, and we therefor, conclude that the moon turns constant | ly the same face towards us and tha there is another side to our satellite which we never sec at all.
 l experience an unusual feeling o satisfaction in writing on this subject says Mary l.. Bavtol, in tho Philadel phia Times. for it seems to me that may freely express my. real opinion without the usual fear of successful contradiction. I feel. too. that m, subject is one of general interest fo if, by any chance, the moon should turn over and show her other side fol even single night every telescope ir the land would be pointed at her for hours. Let me in fancy visit the other side of the moon and, as an imaginary spectator, describe this unseen place. The sky Is blue above me, with hero and there a fleecy cloud. Green fields stretch away to distant snow-capped mountains. Brooks are sparkling ir the sunlight as they flow on to broad rivers. The rivers, winding through meadows and forests, pour their wa. ters into a central ocean, over which great ships sail with fair winds.
 I am bewildered for 1 recall the words of great astronomers. They say: The moon has neither air no, water; 1t is dead world without q particle of animal or vegetable life ' But, after all, l find that Kepler was right. Three hundred years ago he taught that tho moon was inhabited by a people called Selenites.
 AS travele1 from place to place up on the moon and came to be familiar with its people. the Selenites, they ex- plained to me the truo form of our satellite, and the reason why it turns but the one side towards the earth. If q wagon wheel or sphere were made very heavy at one part of it's circum- ference and then turned freely on it's axis, it would come to rest with the heavy part down, Such a wheel or sphere raised as high as the moon would continue to point its heavy part towards the earth.
 Ac I 1na,naI f,a,,, .1. l.. moon is like this unbalanced wheel or sphere. The side towards the earth is heavy because of great elevations; whereas the other side ia relatively light because of a central depression in the form of Il great basin. Into this basin all the waters from the elevated side have been gathering for ages. Over this basin all the air and vapors of the moon have been balancing for centuries. Astronomers have fallen into error and denied the presence of air and water upon the moon. because they have adopted, without sufficient evidence, the theory that the moon is round ike n ball or an orange. It's true form is nearly that of sugar loaf.
 One night while the stars were shin ing brightly, l vainly surveyed the heavens in search of the earth. Sur prised that a body so large and so near was invisible, l made diligent inquiry of the Selenites about the matter. was told the following story:
 ''lu ancient times the moon was n sphere slowly revolving on it's axis. The earth, then. as n great luminary rose and set at long intervals. But n cataclysm well-nigh destroyed tho nations of tho moon. The surface. in part sunk to tho depth of many miles. Thus was formed the great basin Then the moon revolving like an un- balanced wheel for n time, gradually came to Il state of rest. As it turned Tor the last time, the earth sunk below he horizon to remain invisible for ever. And. added my informant If it wore possible for you to visit our antipodes, there you would see just overhead, the great bright earth. ap- parently many times larger than the sun.
 My curiosity was greatly excited by this well-told story. I secretly deter mined to undertake q trip to the anti podes. and behold. if possible. this wonderful lundnary. Accordingly, the very next day began my journey to- ward the snow-capped mountains that everywhere lined the distant horizon.
 As travelled along on foot l became conscious that my step was very light. l could run and jump with an ease never before experienced. Recalling Pages high jump of six and one- half feet it occurred to me that l could beat it. And, indeed, many time as I passed bush or wall twelve or fifteen feet high, l lightly Ieaped over 1t, coming ;o she ground with scarcely . jar.
 My strength in every way seemed most wonderful. Stones weighing per- haps four times as much as myself I occasionally lifted in mere sport. Once l throw pebble thousand feet. thus surpassing Hatfeld's great throw of a base ball,
 How does tho earth appear as seen from the moonp One more days jour- ney and l should have known. but alas, my advance was at an end. No one. not even a mountaineer Selenite, could pass these airless mountain summits. Disappointed began my return to tho fertile valley. the great basin of the moon.
 On my way spent some time in a study of the moons vegetation which