Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-01-16

4 TERREsTRIAL's EXPENSIVE M
TEREsT N THE RED PLANET.
Travelling Many Theusnnds Of Miles
10 Find the Best Place for setting
Up His s2O,OOO TeIescope-Deiicnte
Work.
(Boston Daily GlobeJ

Mars. Twenty thousand dollars is not
considered too much by him to pay for
single telescope. He Is now on an
s,Ooo-mie journey. in quest of the best
place to build an observatory from which
TO study Mars next year, when 1t Will
shorten the present distance between IT.
self and the earth.
This man is Percival Lowell. He Is a
scholar by instinct, and an astrono-
mer by choice. He Is rich and a bache-
lor and he spends money without stint
in carrying out his chosen work. AS
tronomy Is not fad with him. II Is
his serious life study. The public has
already heard something of Mr.. Lowell
through his establishing an observatory
at Flagstaff, AriZ., and the results OF
his observations there. about which he
has written several valuable articles for
publication in magazines and scientific
journals. II is likely TO. hear a great
deal more OF him In the near future.
though he does not court publicity; but.
on the contrary, rather dislikes it, He
Is in the work for the love Of IT, and
for the advancement OF science.
His latest project Is to establish an OBJ
servatory. II practicable, somewhere in
Algeria, In the interior. among the
mountains, at the edge Of the Great
Desert and he Is now on his way TO
Africa to study the atmospheric condi-
tons there, which he has been told are
very well adapted TO the needs of the
astronomer. If he does not find the air
as clear there as i'm Peru he may give
up the African idea, and have his OBJ
servatory on some Peruvian mountain.
Mr.. Lowell was passenger on the
Spree which limped into Southampton
last week, after being ashore on the
coast of the Isle of Wight. He has as his
travelling companion Mr.. Alvin G.. Clark,
OF Cambridge, the worlds most famous
telescope maker. in whose shop, over by
the Charles-riyer marshes, near the Cot
tage Farm bridge. Mr.. LowelIs latest
telescope is being made. Work on Mr..
Lowelrs telescope goes forward as well
i'm Mr.. Clarks absence as If the maker
were in the little snop by the Charles
every day. for the workmen there are
old and skilled hands. and are under
the direction of foreman who is an
ex.ert.
/ Practically the whole force at the shop
has been at work on the Lowell tele-
scope steadily since August and Friday
the lens was taken from the polishing
table for the first time and tested The
five months OF steady grinding and
polishing TO which IL has been subjected
had brought good results. for II was
found to be in highly satisfactory con-
dition. About five months more work
will be required. Globe man who called
at the shop was informed, to make the
local correction"-that is render the lens
perfectly true over all its surface This
Is a task requiring repeated and, delicate
tests. and the exercising OF the finest skill
in polishing out the defects discovered
through the tests. This work is done en-
tirely by the foreman OF the shop, Mr.
Carl Lundin.
Much has been written OF Avian Clark
and his sons, one Of whom-Alyan G..
! Clark-now conducts the business found
/ ed by his father. and their wonderful art
| of grinding lenses II has been said by
scientists that their work is the nearest
| perfect OF any turned out by human
| hands. Every Bostonian Is interested In
their shop which has no counterpart in
the country. There are only two other
lens-grinding establishments OF note in
the world. one Is In Dublin and the other
/ in Paris.
THE ENGLISH.
OF the eight largest telescope lenses in
existence at the present time six were
made by the Clarks. SIR Lowelrs is the
eighth in point OF size OF the famous
telescope lenses OF the world, but II
| promises to exceed some OF the largest
ones In power. The largest lens ever
made stands completed i'm the Clark shop,
in room next to where the Lowell lens
is being ground. awaiting shipment "a
the Chicago University observatory al
| Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This lens cost
the newly rich university $1,000 The Chi
cago University lens is 20 inches In di.
! ameter. The famous Lick observatory
| lens. the largest now in use. is rs inches
In diameter This was also made by Mr.
| Clark The third largest is the Pultoya
| lens. I'm the Russian Government observ-
atory. a few miles from ST. Petersburg
which was made by Mr.. Clark twelve
years ago. Mr.. Lundin went to Russia
with the lens. and IL was installed under
/ his direction. The fourth and fifth largest
. lenses in use are Of European make
! They are that are Nice. France. % inches
and the one in the Greenwich Observa-
tory. % inches. There are two 25-inct
/ Clark lenses in use in this country. thai
at the Naval Observatory in Washington
and the Leander Mccormick lens in Vir.
! ginia Next In the list comes the Lowell
lens. now being ground. which IL "a inche:
in diameter. 1t is expected that this len:
will have a magnifying power OF 2, 40
| diameters.
The process OF grinding a lens anc
building a telescope is interesting to tn,
lay mind. For an object lesson in pa
tience the work OF tapestry weaver
isn't to be compared with that Of a lens
grinder. The tapestry weaver can SEE
that he IL getting ahead. but the lent
/ grinder cannot. He just grinds away FOL
a year or 80, and then makes a test q
see what he has accomplished. 1t tool
two years and half 10 grind and polisi
the Chicago University lens. and IL viii
take the best part OF year TO grind thu
Lowell lens, with ten hours work a day
The glass from which these lenses arr
ground IL made in Paris. and comes L
the grinders hand with a rough surface
though in the appropriate form and thick
ness required for the lens. Sand Is. o
course the chief factor in its composition
though other ingredients are used 20 i'm
part certain properties, white lead. 10
instance. entering into the glass frCn
which the Lowell lens is being groufd.
The glass is smoothed by being rubbe'
with emery powder under a fiat glass
grinding tool. and then II Is placed on
specially constructed table for the loni
polishing process. 1t rests on a piec
OF tapestry carpet. Small pine blocks
held by screws. keep It from sliding about
and the upper surface is covered with tn
polishing tool. which Is OF iron. coate'
with a thick layer Of coal tar. and owe
that a coat OF beeswax. The beeswa,
surface comes against the glass. II I
divided into Pinch squares. which serv
the purpose better than soli'
surface. The beeswax Is sineared with