The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-02-13
THE DEPARTMENT WORKERS.
Interesting Gossip Cleaned Among Employees
of Government Bureaus.
PROFESSOR LANGLEY TELLS Of DELIGHTFUL TRIP
Observations Of Solar Eclipse in North CaroIina-Proes-
sor Ball Talks About Mars-Mr. Lewis Smith Tells
of the Invention of the Mower and Reaper.

One Of the most delightful trips ever
undertaken By Prof. 5. p. Langley. Of the
Smithsonian Institution. was that 10
WadesborO. y. C.. TO observe a solar
eclipse Regarding this. Prof Langley
said: Partly in Difference 10 the report
Of the United States Weather Bureau. and
after examination OF many stations in
North Carolina, Wadesboro. in that state.
was selected as the site Of the smith
sonian observations. The advantages Of
Wadesbor0 being also recognized by Prof
Young. Of Princeton: Prof. Halo. OF
erkes Observatory. and the Rev j. NJ
Bacon, Of the British Astronomical AssC-
citation, it came about that four l1rgo
observing parties. besides several smaller
ones. and numerous cxCUrsionists from the
surrounding country. were all Joined 60
produce at WadeS5Oro one OF the largest
companies Of eclipse observers ever as
sembled for scientific purposes. IL is
matter FOR generalization that The sky
81 MadeshorO upou the day of the ecIipss
has cloudless and clearer than the aver
age. so that the efforts Of the Observing
forces were not thwartcd by any circuui-
1tance- The provisions Of the MAYER AMI
authorities Of WadesbOro for preventing
intrusion before and curing the ecIiu=e
were perfect, thus securing an undis-
turbed field Of operations. Further than
this. the may acts Of courtesy and hos
piulity TO the visiting astronomers on
me part OF the townsDecpls viii long be
remembered by the recipients
The result Of the observation was
SAID Prof Langley. that the full moon
being Of the average brightness Of the
observed portion of The inner corona. the
oolometIic effect Of its usual radiation
may De supposed &C. be equal 10 that Of
the corona. The moon 8 spectrum. how
ever, is that Of a heated solid body.
From one cause or another" said Prof
Ball. Of the Interior Department. iii han
pens THAI Mars is tae most world-Hke Of
all the other globes which come within
the range Of effective observation. Il
would indeed be very rash to assert that
other bodies may not have a closer re-
semblanee TO our earth than Mars has.
but Of them we have either little knowI-
edge, as in the case OF Venus. or no kuowI-
edge AZ all No doubt both jupiter and
Saturn can vic with Mars I'm the copiOus-
ness Of detail with which they delight
the astronomers who study them. These
grand planets are deserving Of every at
tention. but then the interest they excite
Is or wholly different kind from that
which makes view OF Mars so attractive
jupiter Offers rs meteorological study OF
the most astounding cloud system in crea-
ton Saturn gives an Illustration OF a
marvellous dyRamical system the like OF
which would never have been thought pos
sible had 1t not actually presented itself
10 cur notice But the significance OF
Mars Is essentially derived from those
points Of resemblance TO the earth which
are now engrossing attention. Mars IS
clearly possible world. presenting both
remarkable analOgies and remarkable
contrasts 10 our own world aud inducing
US 10 put forth our utmost endeavors to
utilize 50 exceptional an occasion as that
presented in the close approach which il
has nov made.
Mars must be small world as COM
pared with our own The width OF the
globe is only 400 miles. so that it's vol
ume is but the seventh part Of that Of the
earth. The weight Of Mars is even less
than what might have been expected from
his bulk II would take nearly ten globes
each as heavy as Mars TO form a weight
equal 10 that OF the earth. Here We may
recall 2 fundamental fact in connection
with any celestial body. large or small
u is well known that with the most pow
erful pieces OF artillery that can be
forged a prOjectiIe tan be launched with
a speed Of about half a mile per second