Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1901-08-15
SAYS 1T CAN'T =
III Lake Superior Va.
petroleum and the on
1t Would Take a
See the Light -'ss

a Good Tai,
See the Light. 'sak
Sir Robert S. Ball, III. :.
astronomer, writes to tho
press: 1t was the remark :,
Sir William Herschel ~.
semblance of Mars to this
of the most striking fea,u.as
SOAR system. The obseryatIoa.
planet which have been msss
time OF this incomparabs i
have tended to illustra,a
winch he then laid down. NJ.
SO large as our earth. Of cos.l
ike our earth, Mars is sur,oa'
an atmosphere. At the uols. y
are vast white tracts which I
greatly extended during vipt., \
planet, but which shrink sp,,, \
the ensuing summer. To ~.
these white tracts on Mars -.
Ice or snow now seems 10 n.
position so fantastic that / MI
need not seriously diccuss 4
been proved by recent
that the large dark obies
long believed to be open
no longer be so described.
cellent telescopes now ayaila,
dark tracts have been shov,
traversed by marks of a natu,s,
manent as to be wholly incon
with the supposition that II 3
at the dark regions we are looI
sheets OF liquid. For the demo,,.,
OF this point we are indebted
labors Of many astronomers i
must specially mention Mr.. p.l
Lowell, who has devoted consun,
skill and assiduity to the study N
planet. With the help Of 4 NJ
telescope at his Observatory IN
! staff, Arizona, Mr.. Lowell has
largely extended our knowledgs 4
canals discovered many years n
Schiaparelli. Mr.. Lowell has gfs
some excellent reasons for hs
| that these so-called canals a. i,
mark the courses along which val
conducted from the melting suer
the poles Of Mars to the more
parts Of the planet. When, upa
tain occasions, which do not Y
very frequently, Mars comes I'D
the earth, the distance Of the
from our globe is still about third
million miles. Now what can /
scope show at the distance Of ID
| five million miles? 1t requires
good telescope to reduce the apEi
distance of an object to a thoEzl
part. That is to say, II is a ygY
telescope which will show an u
as clearly as We could see II With
unaided eye If 1t were at a thoaa1
part of its distance, and il We
pensed with the assistance Of q |
scope. II is, therefore, impOSiSs
hope for any signalling to Man
less the signals were on a scale
GENTLY great to be visible to The
aided eye even at a distance as graI
thirty-ive thousand miles. TINS
sidrration suffices to prove the =
futility of human endeayor 70 y
any demonstrations on a su1ssl
large scale to be pereeplas
the inhabitants of Mars. Inc
largest city that this earth lS
known would be altogether 100 7
to be visible to a being dVellls
the planet Mars, even II tnat :
were endeavoring to see 1t Win .
scope as powerful as the grealeA
most perfect instrument in any y
vatory on this globe. II the Wno'
tent of Lake Superior was y.
with petroleum, and II that psus,
was set on fire, then | think w
admit that an inhabitant OF Aai'
was furnished with a telescops =
as that which Mr.. Percl'A !.
uses at Flagstaff might De ap1 y !
that something had happenea' 4
must not suppose that the ma, y,
flagration would appear TO lus :,
as a very conspicuous op)eet'
rather be a very small fea'u' !.
still I think it would not y
the reach of a practiced oO's,i
that planet. On the other NAM,
area the size of Lake Superior :.
was to be flooded with peuo ~
that petroleum was to be Alp4',
should expect to witness Il
from here not as a great anu ,,.. 4,
coniagration, but as a tiny = ~, 4
of just discernible light, "a
Mars is not a large opJeos
confagration would not e, ,s,t
the three hundredth part ~
1t is sufficient to state me- .,ss,
show that the possibility ~
70 Mars is entirely beyond tn' !