St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-01-07
THERE'S NOLIFE ON LUNA
Yerkes Telescope Shows the Moon
Is Uninhabited.
Thereby Showing the Assertions Of
French Astronomers to De Er-
roneous-No Air or Vege-
tatiOn.


Neither water, nor air, nor vegetation,
nor evidence of life in any form can be
seen on the moon through the most
powerful telescope ever constructed
The great Yerkes telescope has already
entered upon its career of scientific use
fitness by adding further proof 10 the
vell-established fact that the moon Is
dead world II has been trained upon
the lunar sphere by two OF the pest
known astronomers OF this country
who are connected with the 1erkes OBJ
servatory, at a time when by peculiar
coincidence the scientists of Paris were
greatly agitated over the discovery OF
what were believed to be indications OF
rivers and plants up on the moon.
II was the good fortune of f. L. o.
Wadsworth. one of the observatory
staff, to get the first glimpse OF the
moon through the Yerkes telescope. Il.
f. Barnard was the next member of the
staff to gaze at the far-away planet, and
the conclusions of these two learned
gentlemen are identical in that they
agree that neither discovered anything
of Importance to the scientific world.
The peculiar lines and spots noticed by
the Partisan astronomers on the map
of the lunar planisphere that is being
photographed in the Mendon obserya-
tory were not to be seen through the
Yerkes telescope, There was nothing
additional to be noticed but an unusual
amount of detail on the surface OF the
moon never seen before.
"Thc moon is a magnificent sight seen
through the Yerkes instrument" said
Mr.. Barnard recently. "One can see an
enormous number of small details never
seen before, such as small craters and
minute crevasses, but there are no
traces of air nor vegetable life to be de-
teoted. 1t is possible that the lines
found on the photographs taken at the
Mendon observatory might be crevasses
! don't pretend to say what they repre-
sent. only know that the observations
taken here fail to give any confirmation
of the theories of the Partisan astron-
omers."
The reported discoveries at the
French observatory aroused the inter-
est of Il number of astronomers who
gathered at the Yerlles observatory for
the purpose of attending its dedica-
ton. None of the number was
ready to give any Endorsement of the
theory that life prevailed in any form
on the moon, however, and all agreed
with the opinion expressed in these col
umns the other day by S. W. Burnham.
If the atmospheric conditions had been
favorable it is likely that every one of
the distinguished scientists would have
availcd himself of the chance to peep
at the moon but this pleasure had to
be foregone, because of the clouds.
"Thcre are just as good photographs
taken through small Instruments as
with large ones" said George +. Hale,
director of the Yerlies observatory.
prof. Loewy, director of the Paris OBJ
ycrvatory, has undoubtedly made the
best photographs of the moon, but the
best photographs ever made will not
show as much as can be seen through a
12-inch telescope. The lines noticed in
the photographs of the Mendon OBJ
servatory have always been noticed, and
no astronomer has yet ventured to as
scrt that they represent active rivers.
| entirely agree with the views of Mr..
Durham on the subject"
Carl Runge, director Of spcctroscopy
at the observatory in Hanover, Ger
many, is another one of the distin-
guished visitors at the Yerkes observa-
tory who holds contrary views to those
reported as coming from Paris. He con-
sidered it very improbable that a photo
graph of the moon would be made that
would show objects 1000 feet long or
high. With Prof. Hale, he believed it
possible that the spots on the Mendon
photographs which were not consid-
cred shadows, were to be accounted for
as variations in the color of the moons
crust.
Among the other astronomers present
at the Yerkes observatory were Simon
Newcomb, director of the Washington
observatory; Prof II. c. Lord, director
of the Emerson Mcmillan observatory
at the Ohio state university, and Prof.
George II. Comstock, director of the
Washburn observatory of the Wiscon-
sin state university at Madison. The lat
ter will present n paper before the dis
tinguished gathering of special interest
under the circumstances. 1t is entitled
atmosphere of the Moon," and will
contain the final conclusions of Prof
Comstock aftcra prolonged study of the
subject.--Chicago TimesH Herald