The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-12-13
THE MAN IN THE MOON
Is Composed of the Moons Noun
tains and Depressions.

The first of a series of six lectures
to be given by Prof. Moulton, of Chi
cago University, was given at the
Washington school auditorium Fri
day evening, on Our Nearest Neigh
bor-The Moon" and notwithstand-
ing that the evening was disagree
able and the walking bad, there was
large attendance.
Prof Moulton is an entertaining
speaker and presents astronomical
facts in way that does not tire his
audience. His lecture was interesting
and instructive from start to finish
He opened with an illustration
showing how the distance to the
moon was measured and how easy it
is to calculate these distances, the
same method being used as is used
in measuring the distance across a
stream. By illustrations he showed
the earth to be 5000 miles in diam
eter and the moon 2,160 miles in di-
ameter. The distance of the moon
from the earth is 100000 miles and
it would require the sounds of dis
turbance in the moon fourteen days
and nights, travelling at the rate of a
mile every five seconds, to reach us.
And it would be possible for sound
to reach us from the moon were the
atmospheric conditions the same all
the way, but instead the atmosphere
reaches only about 100 miles about
the earth
The saying of dry and a wet
moon, etc, terms of weather prog
nostications frequently used, especi-
ally by the older people, are, accord
ing to the lecturer, mere guesswork,
as the conditions are about the same
year in and year out, differing only
as the moon varies in its orbit, which
is very slight, and the difference IN
its shape is the result of the sun rays
and its revolutions.
The moon is uninhabited, or at
least if it is inhabited the people there
live without moisture or atmosphere.
According to the Judgment of astron-
omers, backed by the results of pho
Biography as procured through the
best instruments that human ingenu-
ity can devise, there is neither mois-
ture nor atmosphere on the moon,
and in fact it, in great part, consists
of great mountains so high that the
highest mountains on this earth are
mere hills in comparison. There are
great craters, miles in width, the ex-
act space being easily computed by
the measurements by which the di-
ameter of the moon was secured
These are named and are known to
astronomers as readily as are the
Rockies and Pixies Peak to the gen.
eral public.
The reason for the moon being so
rough is because there is no mois
ture to level it down. According to
his theory the earth was at one time
equally as rough as the moon. Its
roughness consisted of great noun
tains and craters, like the moon of
today, but there was moisture, and
the rain descending for the many,
many years melted the rocks and
washed them down into the valleys,
beating down the peaks and leveling
the country into the great plains OF
today as we see them.
Pictures were shown in which
these mountains were plainly set out
and the moon shown in its different
quarters and when full. The pictures
were good and the lecture one of the
most interesting that has been given
in Plymouth.
In addition to the astronomy pict-
ures there were shown pictures of
the great Yerkes telescope at Lake
Geneva, Wis, and also of the Lick
telescope in California. The lecturer
explained how these great instru-
ments are easily handled and can be
so focused that any particular spot
on the moon, or any of the planets
can be infinitely examined 1t was a
great lecture and the FIVE that are to
follow it will, no doubt, be well at
tended.