The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-04-26
BRINGING THE MOON NEAR
Feature OF the Paris Exposition
Making the Glass a Marvel Of
Mechanical skill.

The world soon viii begin 10 near ABOUT
the immense telescope that may turn out
10 be the most sensational attraction o.
the Paris exposition OF 1900. For a long
time It's prospects were not bright. The
project was ridiculed and "the moon al
one meter became a byW0rd. The eele-
i,fatetf- s-4ass fUundeTs on Saint Gonain
threw up the construction OF the seven
foot mirrOr as an unprecedented undertake
ing 0f doubtful success. while utterly re-
oudiating the possibility of a ten foot mir
ror. The work taken up ny the Glacier
les de Jeumont has been pursued under
continued discOurageme1ts. Que ~
twelve mirror disks Weighing lO'O10
pounds each. eleven turHed out bad. Only
the hrst was perfect. says a farls iettef
20 lhe Washington star The tour-ioot
object glasses cast successfully hao 70
be worked down by machinery oi new
construction. AS their polishing Is alnlost
done. the most serious difficulties OF the
Grande Lunette appear 20 be az iasl sur
mounted.
what will il show when Il is completedf
While differing among themselves on this
point the astronomers Of PARIS agree
that new and wonderful things VIII sure
IL ~ discovered According 70 the most
enthusiastic calculations, this instrument
will permit us 20 set the moon az ois-
tanee Of a few miles. il may even ~
hoi,ed to recognize the presence OF an
animal of the size of an elephant by fol-
lowing its movements. ihis pfohiis -
perhaps. excessive.
Nothing like this telescope has ever
been ATTEMPTED heretofore, ana 50 a mere
comparison Of lenses VIII not 90 u Jusliee.
The two greatest existing telescopes A.
the present moment are the iefAe7 ~
strument that figured at the Chicago eA-
position. and the grand equatorial Of
csruenewald the pride OF the late Berlin
exDtsition. The object glass Of the iof-
rner is three feet i've inches in diameter
while that Of the latter is three ieet seven
inches. The object glasses o. the 1fanoe
Luuette-for there are two, lot dlHefeht
purposes-are four feet each. Il i true
thai each extra inch gained in the diahi-
eter Of these monster lenses II triumph
~ itself but the distinction OF the Grande
Irnatte does not end with the superior
ity Of its object glasses. for the hist
time In the history Of great lenses lui,
play IL TO be given 60 their utmost ioeai
distance. For the first time Il has peen
resolved mot 10 subordinate their powers
10 any difficulties OF mecnahleal eAeeu'
ton
To understand the significance OF TINS
determination ittis only necessary 10 iooh
at the Yerkts telescope. Sixty-iVe ieel
long and fully five feet in diameter u II
ike an immense steel cannon pointed 70
the sky It's weight Is moved IN Easl
u InnUtA -sH Nfri III AArAAA-Nt
cupola moves with Il as Il slowly draws
I a bead On this star or on that. It's weight
Is 50 great that the original flooring yleiu
/ "a and brought down the telescope ~ llS
/ ram The focal distance Of its object glass
was curtailed 10 sixty-hve feet IN the
I fear mat much longer. heavier telescope
I could not be handled IN its cuaoia
Now. the new Paris instrument VIII
I hav. an object glass four feet m diane
Ter whose fun focal distance of lo1 feet
= 10 be utilized The Grande Lunette
will he fa5 feet long. It's power VIII pc
immense. nobody knows how great
R,,t what about Its weight and the diff
I ac,lftv Of handling itf The cupola-wnich m
would have TO be $50 feet in circumter-
ence-would have 70 be constantly IN
movement n order 10 keep It's opening
before an object glass that must itseh
move fifty feet an hour IN order 70 Keep
up with the rotation Of the earth upon rs
4 axis Three times the length OF the
4 Yerkes telescope. with scarcely q 1901
more of diameter. IS weight would al
ways be IN danger 0f bending its tubes
and deforming its glasses It's iounaa
tions would have TO be something eNtfaof-
dinarv. u was not 10 be thought Of. The
Grand I.unette could not be pointed at
the sky.
So this new telescope will lie fiat on the
7 earth IL will never need 20 be moved
about to draw bead on any star. In
stead. the image Of the star on planet
will be caught by the seven-foot mirror
that is now the triumph Of the Jeumont
glass works and reelected TO the object
glass IN front Of Il.
The great objection 20 these stationary
telescopes has heretofore been the appa-
/ rent movement Of the stars which made
I impossible many precise calculations. In
3 the present construction the mtcrometer
+ with the eyeplece Is furnished rotary
/ movement which preserves the images
+ in their apparent places For the rest IL
IS the great seven-foot mirror that keeps
I un with the rotation Of the earth by
/ means Of clockWork According 20 the
/ angle given To It at the beginning Of the
Z observation. il can catch any part of the
sky and hold ID. The mass of glass alone
weighs 1000 pounds. Its holder and ma
I chinery- without the stationary frame.
which is Of course much heavier-weighs
I 5000 pounds This weight. IN order
70 he absolutely stable floats In a bath
of mercury
Every one has heard OF tile difficulty
met with in the casting Of the great
lenses. The casting and polishing of this
seven-foot mirror was some thing alb
soiutely novel
Now they have succeeded. they will
try 20 make a tcn-foot mirror The mere
words "ten feet" and seven feet do
not speak TO the imagination as they
should. Should a circular mirror seven
feet IN diameter be placed against wall
IL would. of course be higher than any
man who might stand beside t. But
stand a ten-fooi mirror up behind it. and
such IS the relation Of the circumfer.
ence 10 the diameter Of a circle-it VIII
appear TO be fully twice as large The
same is true Of lenses The object glass
OF tho Yerkes telescope Is three feet
i've Inches in diameter. The object
glasses of the Grandc Lunctte are each
four feet in diameter. Yet these ex'
ira seven inches make an immense diff.
ferense In their size and weight. and ir
the difnculty 0f casting and POLISHING
them. A tense of four inches Ia diane.
ter costs S.. a lense OF twenty inches IL
nameter does not cost five times as
much but one hundred times as much
Ssoo
on account Of the high temperature
necessary 10 bring aacut complete
puflfcation of such masses OF glass as
+ compose the modern great lenses. ths
matter can only be treated Ia extra-re
fracioly cr.ncibies They are placed IN
the furnace and heated gradually unit
{ fhev are nhite-red.. The vltreous mattel
IS then put into them gradually. in small
quantities. Then the timing must com
mence The glass is not fined until th'