Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-04-07

men learned 70 look attentlvely az the
stone underiOOt, while FAR back M the
time Of hist0ry.s dawn, men looked TO-
ward the stars and wondered and Wor-
shipped az what there they saw. Like
the babe stretching rs tiny hands to-
ward the moon, man has ever been
prone 90 reach after the distant ana
the nattainablc, oft-timCs 90 the
neglect Of the near and present
50 old II the science Of the stars that
no trustworthy account of ia origin Ia
tO be found On cXtra-Hcriptural records,
and almost every famous nation Of an
tiquity claims the honor Of its parent
age. Chinese, Chaldeans. HlndoOs, and
Egyptians have severallY been credited
with originating the science Of the
celestial spheres, and some OF the rec
oils claimed by these nations date
back nearly 10 the supposed time OF
the tower OF Babel Abraham Is given
the credit OF having conveyed q knOwl-
edge OF astronomy from Chaldea 10
Egypt
Today astronomy is IN q sense one Of
the most exact Of sciences. and In an
other aspect n ~ largely speculative
lbs practical service TO mankind is un-
disputed: without Il our maps would
.
lion would be faulty. calendars would
be practically unknown, and nayiga-
ton in its larger phases would be Inn
possible.
The illustrated part Of the lecture
began with ylcws OF the sun and prln-
cipol planets drawn 10 scale. showing
this earth of which we think SO much
as an almost imperceptlble dot COM
pared with the sun as a disc ten feet
Ia diameter The suns distance was
said TO be incomprehensible when ex.
pressed IN miles--s3. 900. 900. If Il were
possible 10 make the Journey Boy team,
travelling thirty miles a day over
eight thousand years would be re-
Quired. on By train al the rate Of thirty
miles an hour without stops, 1853 years
would be needed Tor the single trip.
Considerable amusement was created
by a calculation Of the fare for such a
hypothetical solar journey, amounting
at the rate Of four cents per mile TO
nearly four millions Of dollars. A tele-
graphic message would be FIVE minutes.
a ray Of light eight minutes, and a
cannon ball nine and q half years on
the way.
BY the aid OF beautifully colored pic
lures the telescope appearance Of the
suns surface was shown revealing
rice grain and willow-leaf aspects. Sun
spots OF enormous dimensions compared
with which our earth would be like a
chllds BAH at the bottom Of a well
were exhibited The most striking oi
an the solar pictures were those show
ing the fiery promInences the red
flames. and the indoscnbably beautiful
corona, the last named being visible
only at the time Of total ecupses, ex,
oept by the help OF the spectroscope,
BY the aid Of brilliantly colored Views
the operation OF the spectroscope-tha
invaluable adjunct to the telescope, was
made plain.
The moon was shown IN all It's
phases, and by moving pictures its
revolution about the earth. and It's an
nual Journey round the sun were ex-
planned. Some recent photographs
from the Lick observatory revealed
the craters and mountains on the lunar
surface. Think Of volcanic waters
rs miles across, and remember that
the largest active crater on the earth
that OF Kilauea, is only about three
miles IN diameter The force Of CRAWL
~ on the moon IL so small compared
with the earths gravitation. that
man Weighing here $50 pounds would
tip the balance on the moon at 90
pounds. From the moon the earth
must be a magnificent globe thirteen
times larger than the full moon 70 az,
with a correspondingly brilliant earth
shine. The different eclipses were
COMMUNICATION partial. and annu-
lar
Turning his attention 10 the stars. the
lecturer explained the distinction be-
tween fixed stars and planets, and then
exhibited by moving views the majestic
march Of the planets about their CEN
trail orb. Mercury with its year Of S.
OF our days. Venus with seven and