The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-17

/ What anthos1ey II 20 1stossnlus the r1ght
| Of any esuntry 70 ssna IN smbassader
% ~ unitsd 0tatss Tke rsssiasnG =
| required - receive On amhnesaAer-thA
/ 10, DO other branch Of the government
csn do 20. but It stiIl leaves spen the
/ question whether the sxscuttys or the
| legislative body shall Aesermnlne Whist
| u and what II not IN independent na-
tion having ths international authority
| se appoint tt own aubassadon.
|
rnn SAm-Ovv Lsvn % T6E srARs-
The proxrsss made n astronomy dur
Ing the past nifty years u far greater
than during the whole previous period
u research Yet II - very dieappoint-
| Ing t. learn from Prof. Simon New
comb that not Al the AIS which We
now possess bring ~ much nearer de-
termination Of the question whether
any Of the planets are inhabited, 20 say
nothing Of the stars. It has never besn
seriously accepted ~ probable that the
stars were inhabtted any more than the
sun II. A thsory has been advanced
that beneath the savsiops Of Aams
which surrounds the sun there may b
. solid body upon which sentisnt
light exists. but this II the wildcat
speculation ard - not based upon any
conAttiens that ws can concsive. Wen
dsrfui achievements have resulted from
the increased power Of telescopes. the
uses Of the spectroscope end the en-
ployment Of the photographer's sem
sitivs plate for observations. They
have brought us usually nearer to our
stellar ne:shbors. but not near enough
20 do more than display more clearly
the wonders Of the heavens.
some Of TIE results Of modern inquiry
are referred to by Prof. Newcomb in
what may Be regarded - = synopsis OF
our present knowlsdgs. Mars has re-
celved greater attention than the other
planets because Of Ito nsarness and the
possibilities Of its being in : condition
10 sustain life. We are Z long way on
yet from any definite information. The
canals or channels Of Mars. which
seemed to promise so much In enabling
us TO substantiate some sort of n.y.
.pothesis, are now found to exist in
somewhat similar forms upon Mercury,
Venus and the satellites Of Jupiter.
This deprives them Of much Of the
probability that they are artificial. that
IL, the work of inhabitants.
Venus also promised at one time to
form the basis upon which We could
establish some idea Of planetary con-
ditions. but schiapareilis conclusions
that she always presents the same face
to the sun. as the moon does to the
earth. compel US to abandon any no.
ton Of similarity between that planet
and our world. II that should be true.
there must be as great . difference be-
tween the Inhabitants Of one Of Its hem
ispheres and the other as between either
OF them and those Of the earth.
There Is q fair certainty that Jupiter
Is encempassed by clouds. Whether
this red body II solid or not Is still a
question. The clouds are far more
dense and uniform than ours, and
therefore II there II any life on that
planet |, must be subject to conditions
with which human life has had no ex.
perience.
So far AZ this earth 10 concerned SCI
enee has established beyond doubt that
the axis Of rotation varies SO much that
every fourteen months the North pole
completes 4 revolution In an irregular
curve. getting sometimes az much az
thirty feet from the central point Dur
ing the present year the deviation
should reach It's maximum. The sup
posed cause OF this errancy OF the pole
IL the motion Of the great masses of air
on our planet. together with the earth's
lack OF perfectly spherical shape
tlc sliVsk AErAftS OF recent
astronomical research are 10 be found
In our knowledge OF the fixed stars. II
has long been known that II took three
years for light 10 come from the near.
est star. and that It takes forty years
for light TO reach Us from the Pole star.
yegsi has recently made measurements
by which ne processes to determine the
location Of q star whose light takes
three hundred years 10 traverse the dis
lance between 1t and the earth. An.
other theory OF astronomers. that when
credits the sgn with travelling with all
iss planets toward the constellation
Lyra, is now accepted as an incon,yo-
vsstihle fact. II Is now found beyond
doubt that many OF the great aged
stars are suns mitch larger than ours
and that they have planetary systems
70. unlike that es cssr gym ard that