Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-05-12
A TRIP TO THE MOON.

n u - ~ -
Making a Landing On Luna In.
Scientific r1aglnation.
SUNRISE in PLATO VALLEY.
lie Mighty 0uiches az Black 10 jet,
While the Surrounding Towering
Luna Alps Are Ablaze With Light.
Wonderful Changes Of Color.
& Expert opinion bout the moon has
undergone a remarka bic change within
recent years For. d long time all as
4tronomical books taught their readers
that the earth's satellite was totally:
dead I'M
"A wreck, q STAG. cinder, drifting In
without It's crew Of fools.
But lately. the point of view being
changed, the lunar world brightens up.
and even astronomers are beginning TO-
talk OF the probability that there Is
life on 1t. In view Of this change OF
opinion, let us summon TyndalHs .sci-
entihc Ina ination ana visit the moon,
looking at It close at hand In the light
which the latest Investigations throw
upon 1t from a. distance If an astron-.
emer were offered "a trip to the moon.
and asked where he would choose ito
land irst, 1T Is proba Bile that he would
reply, I'm Plato, Il you please. " Now.
Plato Is a huge circular mountaiI
ringed vail Heb car. ~ seen from,
the earth with q, good opera glass, ly.;
Ing lii lunar north latitude so degrees,
and 1t excites the astronomers curios.
ity because o1f what ne has dinly seen
going On within It { s5s .ss3
Est us. then, approach Plato % II
dropping down upon the moon withsa
balloon. AS we draw near We ind
that the time Of our arrival is. that Of
lunar sunrise A. the longitude OF Plato.
But the rising Of the SIM on the moon
Is A very slow process. e takes the
solar orb seven days 10, pass upWard
from the horizon TO the noon line, The:
consequence Is that, hanging over pa
to "a our aerial conveyance. we find
the whole Of the great valley under us,
about sixty miles broad and mile
deep, buried IN the blacklist night.
But the peaks on It's western border
are already. cleaning In the sunlight
and the surface OF the moon to the
west of those mountains Is all iIlu-
mined with the morning beams The
lunar Alps are ablaze with; light, while
the shadows filing their. mighty gulch-
|$es and chasms are as black as Jet. Far
OF along the southwest horizon we
see the towering giants Of the lunar
Caucasus and the lunar Apennines, a
Iserrated ridge Of flaming pinnacles set
against q black sky. The sharpness Of
the division between day and night Is
amazing. 1t arises from the virtual
absence of air. There la no twilight
band between. S g.; ..
Presently brilliant point flashes out
toward the east. Is It looks like d fire
suddenly lighted lii the midst of the
ocean OF night still covering most of
the moons eastern henisph It Ii a
conspicuous peak on the eastern side
OF Plato's mountain ring, which has
just been reached by the rays Of the
rising sun. The magnifcence of the
spectacle now gradually unfolded be-
meath uslis beyond descrip lon AS the
line Of sunlight slowly creeps down
the precipices on the eastern border Of
the valley we begin to perceive the
broad, flat floor emerging into visible
IL. It's central part has been dimly
visible for some time Slowly the dark.
ness In the valley Fetires westward as
1 the sun rises higher, and the great
plain at length Hes fully displayed In
the morning light
|S And now strange things occur. Won
|sderful changes Of color take place in
the valley. These become more pro-
nounced as the slope Of the sunbeams
falling into the valley grows sleeper.
The entire door is checkereds III curl
Gus way with spots and areas Of vary
Ing tint. By the middle OF the. long
lunar forenoon the whole valley, has
lost Its original neutral tone and has
become duh. spotty brown. with sug-
gestions Of yellow. Prepared by anal
ogy, we are not much surprised when,
descending to. the door OF Plato, we
find ourselves standing In the midst of
rolling prairie, covered with fantas-
|ftic plants, slender, crowded, shaped
more capriciously than q mass Of or
chids, and with flowers of 4 strange,
sunearthllke beauty already opening
where The annbeams have rested Ion.
gest There slss no wind, not the slight.
est breeze, no motion except the stir
o. the opening leaves and petals: 1t Is
like the magic awakening 81 the petri.
fied city Of the oriental legend
A touch. & Hiss. the charm q ,snnappedi q
Yet, With ill is singular beauty, this j
lunar vegetation has for our eyes an
etiolated appearance. for 1t exists.
where there is almost no atmosphere,
and that little Of q mephitic nature.
ard sit has S,f1f1lYi1 iSafr y ssrinf Iifo ~