The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1892-11-26
NEIcHeoRs IN MARS.
Fat Mon There Weigh Nsxts to Nothing
nnl Are Wonderfully Agile.

rst Man There weigh Nsxt to Nothln0
onil Are Wonderfully Agile.
Mars weighs but one-ninth of what
the earth weighs, and, therefore, objects
of given mass weigh here nine times
as much as they would weigh IT taken
to Mars For example, our standard
silver dollar of 4125z grains would
weigh but 45.8 grains in Mars, and
would doubtless be refused by the Mar
tians if rendered in the payment OF
debts, public or private. 1t follows
however, from the lesser power OF the
force of gravitation in Mars that 1t Is Q
uaradise for fat men. The reason thaf1
the elderly person gets tired sooner
than the small boy is not that the
muscles of his legs are inferior uut that
they have more to carry. The fat per-
son here has as powerful muscles as ne
had when lean, but they have greater
weight to bear and they tire under it.
Iu Mars it is different. There our stout
person of 800 pounds would weigh but
3sA, legs and all, so that he could trir
along with his present muscles as light
ly as a kitten. Even the fat lady OF
the museum could easily do her twenty
miles day and not feel it. Agility, we
NAV assume, with vivacity as its accom-
panying virtue, is characteristic OF
the people of Mars Doubtless the Mar
tians, owing to the light burden on
their legs. grow taller than we do, and
are larger and more powerful every
way. Weight restricts Development
The strength of muscle and bone may
be exceeded if an animal exceeds q GER
/ tain size.
| In the sea the whale grows larger
than any terrestrial creature because
the water bears him up. Like the BIZ
cyclist, he has only to propel himself
by moving his legs-that is to say. ms
fms IF man lived in the sea he might
grow much larger than he does. In
Mars he could, with the Same strength
LOT muscle and bone, grow nine times as
large as he does here. A man htty-four
feet in height, with corresponding
development in other directions. would
be a powerful animal He would be
capable of doing an incredible amount
of work yer day. Citizens OF such pro
portions might very we'll undertake the
colossal canals with which the surface
II
of Mars is SO strikingly marked
These canals signify the astonishing
strength and energy of the Martians.
They are supposed to point also to q
pathetic necessity. Their planet, weak
in gravity, is weakening now in all the
natural forces. Its heat is rapidly de
! parting. Its crust is cooling, and as II
cools its strata, like those of our moon
: absorb the water of its oceans. Th'
astronomers of Mars foresec coming
! time when all the water and atmo
r sphere of their planet will disappear
beng absorbed, as in the case OF oul
1 moon, by the chilled material OF its in
, terror. They have dug their canals II
l large part, it is believed, to bring tn
. water of their shrinking oceans to thei
5 fa,nished lands. Originally undertaken
!, perhaps, as waterways, these canal
a are supposed to be now vastly deepene
). channels for the conveyance OF tn
d water required for irrigation and TO
G drinking purposes. The extent and e,
II treme width of the excavations STAG
g gers belief; but it will be remembers
n that Mars is much older than the eartf
c and that with the Martians it is no.
y dig or. die
y So they dig. and they dig doubl
2 lines. They parallel every waterwa.
h possibly to avert the calamity OF wal
!. of water over their vast continents
4. areas in case one of the canals shoul
ir get stopped up by landslide. 1t n
1t been doubted whether the canals
r. Mars are really double, but the astron
e mers of the Lick observatory say thu
ir observed them on the night of Augu
to II with their Incompatible telescop
err and testify that they are distinct
err double They add that they are .'pe
st fectly straight lines passing throui
IN the continents from sea to sea-" As
tn canal in Mars would have to be TWEEN
Id miles wide to be visible with our be
ks telescopes, it is evident that the Ms
tn tians must have given much attenti
.ir to engineering. There is no eviden
ed that they have used steam or electrici
of for transportation or for industrial pr
poses Being under the necessity
ct having a large water supply, 1t is p
VIZ sible that they have not found 1t to p
n to use powers other than water pow
he Besides, land much intersected by I
'ul nails of vast width and depth could
RS well develop an extensive railway s.
a tenn. Without coal-there is no c
elk dence that Mars had carboniferc
nd period-the manufacture of steam
IN gines could make but little progress
lly AS respects electricity, the thinn
he of the atmosphere of Mars would, 1t
IN believed, interfere materially with
OK efficiency of dynamos The electric
Id, would be dispersed somewhat, as 1t is
,ed a vacuum tube, before it could do use
ZEN wo,A,. There could be little magnets
me it is plain, because the planet, besides
I'M ing frozen at both ends and cold in
Nd middle, gets few rays of the sun
source Of all energy in our system
is improbable, in fact, that the Marti
have ever given much attention to
I'M, subtler sciences. They have given Il
ION minds wholly to canals, and canal I
sh- Qing is not an elevating employment
lxet Baltimore Sun
aPS Turkish Baptism.
IN was once present at the baptism
yer q Turkish child and will endeavor
ing describe this ceremony, though it is
en- with which many people dispense,
'.y 4 which is neither legal nor religi