The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-06-14
RINGING us UP.
SCIENTISTS THINK coMMuNlcATloie
MAY BE ESTABLISHED. 6


Can we open MP electric communities
ton with the inhnbitants Of MarsS That
Is q question recently considered at !
meeting of the Society of Arts in Lon
don, where Mr.. w. II. Precce, engineer
to the telegraphs department. Of the
British postoffico. read a paper ON ''Eloc.
trio Signaling Without Wires Er.
Preeee oNplaSncdi how hes had recently
demonstrated that wires werc not at all
necessary to establish telephone com.
mmiication.
Under the supervision Of y royal conlf
mission appointed to inquire into clees
tIic communications between the shores
and lighthouses. he had conducted 4
series OF experiments which ,siuply ter,
onstratcd this fact. There Was no diffsy
Guilty in speaking betwecn,tl,e shore aud
Flat Helm. threo miles distance frouf
the place Of experiment. Mr.. Preecss
then went ON 10 say that strange, myss
terious sounds" are heard ON al long
telephone. lines when tina earth isfnsed
Is return, especially in the calm still
ness OF the night Earth pcuzrents, ss
said he. ARE found In telegraph Cir.
cults, and the aurora borealis lights mp
our northern sky when the SUMS phote1A
sphere is disturbed by spots. The suns
surface must at such times DO vioientlyl
disturbed by electrical storms, and II
oscillations are set MP and radiatod
through space in sympathy with thnN
required to affect telephones 90 Ii NOT y
wild dream to say that we nfAS hear en-
this earth q thunderstorm In. the sun. - . z
After further describing the nystexils
GUS sounds which had ATTRACTED his an
tention in the still watches Of the night
Mr. Preece said. fn b thssa,
planets be populated with lbeiaEs hks
ourselves, having the gift Of lAnguassl
and the knowledge to adapt the greed
forces of nature 10 their wants. then IL
they could oscillate immense stores Of
electrical energy to and fro In tele-s
graphic order, 1t would be possible for
rs to hold commune by telephone With
the people OF Mars. - u. >iilS,ssss NJ,
These mysterious sounds which so
puzzle Mr.. Preece seem to correspond
with those noticed by Thomas A. Edi-
son, who has turned Ogden meunsain in
New Jersey into q great magnet and
coiled miles of wire about IT. At the
time of the last opposition Of Mars ho
noticed an increase Of the seismic NUT
terings, which have recently been 30
violent. Mr.. Edison and Mr.. Precce are
only two of the scientists who are now,
experimenting along these lines, and
the whole scientific world ia watching
the progress being made Neither Mr..
Edison nor Mr.. Preeoe has bean 30 bold
as to say that the strange sounds referred
to are messages sentsby the inhabitanta
Of Mars to those Of earth, but they have
not otherwise explained them,
On the other. hand shers' are many
scientists firm In the belief that the NEXT
few years win witness the opening up
Of communication between the psople.
Of the two planets. This conviction has
been enormously strengthened by The
strange lights seen at the Lick observe
tory when Mars was under observation
during its opposition over a. year agoa'
The three lights were arranged Id astri-r
angle. Nightly as the great red orb rese
from her ocean bed to the vault Of heav-
en- the lights flashed out as soon rs dark
ness had set in, and in the immense lens
OF the Lick telescope they glowcd with
steady and continued effulgence. Was
this an effort of the inhabitants of Mars
to attract the attention Of those ON
earth?
Such had been the opinion Of Flam-
marion. who had argued in favor OF
earth signaling back with . triangle Of
lights 80 miles across. It was shown
that the conditions Of Mars were more
nearly those of earth than Of any other
planet. Both of the snew caps could b
plainly seen and may be seen now In
any first class telescope, for Mars Is now
to be observed in the morning about so
degrees west and II degrees southsfrom
Venus in the constellation CabriCosn. I
The well defined atmosphere Of Mars Is
also plainly visible, and astronomers
can tell by the increase or decrease q
its snow caps and its position in.reeard
to the sun the progress Of its seasons
and whether or not the Marsians arc
having cold winter The canal theory
of Schiaparelli has likewise many b.
levers, who assert that the strange
straight lines ON Mars are canals built
by its highly civilized inhabitants.
Mr.. Preece says he has kept q record
Of the strange, mysterious sounds which
have attracted his attention while Edi-
son has done likewise. These will re-
quire much study to decipher II they
are messages from Mars. The Preeoc
discovery, on the other hand. puts it in
the power of the people Of earth to send
direct electrical currents to Mars, whose
inhabitants are SO much in adyance.of
ourselves that they may be athletic help
us out in the work of opening mp CON
verse A pantomimic electrical inter
change will be necessary for some time,
but what will be the emotions OF the
scientific world when the message is
sent out that communication has been
established? ~
There are those who firmly assert tha1 !
this is an experienceSof the Immediate
future, that electricity is the universal
force and the one whereby the planets
will come into communication with
each other, if they ever do. The mys-
terry of electricity is the strange fiuotua-
tions is undergoes II 1t were an earth
property solely, IL would be steady, as .
It would be were it common to ali the
universe and not interfered with. But
its strange goings and comings, its APP
parent relations to the sun, and yet its
known sympathy with other heavenly
bodies, seem to show that somebody
somewhere is fooling with the dynamo
and cutting off and turning on the our
rent. New York World :.
PcneiI Cedar.
Good pencil cedar is getting SO scarce
that one great firm has begun to culti-
vate forests of cedar {Juniperous Yir-
giniana) In Germany. At Echlcss Stein
there is q cedar forest which covers IS
acres, and the head Of tho firm has for
many years maintained nurseries and ]
plantations of cedars on his land in Ba- ]
varia grown from seed which he i'm
ported from Florida - Chicago Herald.
They Were Talking About Dogs.
well, /" said Snaggs, 81 think many
dogs have more sense than their mas
ters.
Eyes. " chimed in CYa0rx sI have a