The Portland daily press., 1894-08-11
SIGNALLING TO Us FROM MARS.
A Beam Of Light Which is Over Forty
Million Miles Long.

some of the Most Noted Astronomers, In,
GLIDING Prof. Hall, schiaparelli. the
Italian, and ILLUMINATION, the French
man, Discuss the Peculiar Phenomena
Presented by the Martial PIanet-N by
They Think Human Agencies are at
Work There.
New York Herald.)
II that which many star gazers, num-
oers OF whom do not by any means be-
long to the class of cranks, concede to be
possible, is being attempted on Mars,
The smaller cousin of the earth has taken
stride in light signaling something
like four hundred thousand times as
long as that represented by the flash
light the United States government is
going to mount on Fire Island.
That powerful instrumen t can throw
beam of light one hundred miles. If
the lights which have been seen on Mars
are artificial signals to the earth, the
Marian scientists have succeeded in
throwing beam through almost forty
million miles of space.
"Some day." said Prof. Asaph Hall
of the United States Naval Observatory
in Washington, to the Herald." in 1852,
II hope to visit the planet Mars, like
the micromeyas of Voltaire, aud see
how this question standsn Prof. Hall
has the credit of discovering in 1877, the
Two moons Of Mars, Phobosand Diemos
one of which rises in the east and the
other in the west, SO he knows a thing or
two about the planet. He spoke ocular
~ about the visit. but spoke very seri-
ously about the probability of Mars be-
ing inhabited. At the time Prof. Hall
spoke the whole astronomical world was
sighting its telescopes at the planet
named after the deity of war, because
in It's eccentric orbit it had swung nearer
to the earth than it had been for fifteen
years before. The newspapers teemed
with statements from scientists as to
what they had discovered.
1RIANGLES OF LIGHT.
They saw points of light which were
said to be arranged 80 as to form
triangle, which might have been a cloud,
or might have been volcanoes, but which
more daring and imagin ative persons as
crlbed to artificial means adopted by the
inhabitants of Mars to show the people
of the earth that they were alive and
kicking. The observations also showed
that Prof. Scbiaparelli, the Italian as
trOnomer at Milan, was not only correct
in his statement about the canal system
of Mars, bat that his assertion that the
canals were double was borne out by the
facts. This last point was rather reluc-
tant admitted, some persons think, by
the distinguished astronomers in the
Lick observatory. 1t was Schiapareili's
discovery, and the subsequent map he
drew of the planet, it's canals, it's con-
tinents, it's lakes and its ice caps, which
ga impetus to the theory that Mars
was inhabited.
But many other things were discovered
in that year of 1892 The theory of
seasons such as we have was confirmed.
Vast snow fields were observed to melt
as the spring advanced, and to overflow
into open seas. Great masses of green
were seen slowly to emerge from darker
backgrounds, and there were other evil
dences of conditions such as ours, but
Prof. Pickering, of the Harvard eXpedi-
ton, by which these facts were noted
from the west coast of South America
was not willing to go as far as an as
tronomer who, attempting to ridicule
the Schiaparelli theory few years be-
fore. had said he could see the trees lin
ing the canal.
SOMETHING GOING ON NOW.
And during all that period of observa-
bion during which Mars was in opposi-
5ion to the earth, three or more promi- !
1ent bright projections" as Prof. H olden |
If Lick Observatory put it, were seen on
the southwest limb of Mars. In 1890 |
similar luminous points were noticed,
but the observers decided that they must |
be clouds
Something is happening in Mars just
now which is again causing students OF
the heavens to gaze at it long and earn
estly. A cable despatch in the Herald
our days ago from Kiel announced that
IN July % NJ. Javelle, of the Nice obser-
7atory, had discovered q bright projec- !
ton in the south region of the termina-
or of Mars. So that if the Solar Science
Tub of Mars were really engaged in |
signalling in 1892 it is safe to assume |