The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-07-19

ihuCh tnat is provincial I'm the man
agement of the state and otbar 40
partments, methods that a good busi
ness mouse would not tolerate ~,
Intercourse with foreign governn,a,,ts
aas usually lacked the smoothness and
hhesse that can be lent them bv sne.
claliy trained diplomats. II 10 ~
,reshlhg to see indications that tbt,
iack VIII be supplied PLAIN Dealer
This is IA happy time for uo
"g,ro,graphers. Scoffed at and sco,n-
ed by doubling Thomases fc,, tbir
, ~ Years they are now bringino tbo
Photographic camera TO t6eir aiJ
ana are proving that they are moi
mere dupes of optical illusion on.
atmospheric freak. In other words
the canals on Mars do not evist
At least there are things on tbe
surface of the planet that rio.ht
well be'taken for canals, and which
somewhat arbitrarily, are given
TINS appellation for want of a bet-
ter. Photographs, much more GER
tanly than figures do not lie and
the photographs have shown tbe
/ canals. Moreover, they have shown
Them exactly as mapped bv tbe
aerographers from visual observa-
ton q"
The great red planet which at-
tracts attention just now from the
most unastonical night wanderer
is coming close to earth. II is only
about 3s,OOO,OOO miles away, which
as celestial computations of dis
tance go, is mere nothing AT
tins distance it answers readily TO
the efforts Of the photographers
and displays on the plate the won
derful markings which usually can
be detected only by the keenest
eye.
While much credit is due to Sch
laaparelli, Pickering and others. the
man who has done most TO advance
the study Of the Marian markings
5 Percival Lowell of Flagstaff, A.
I. He, together with the Others
was laughed at because of his sup
posed fanciful ideas, but he has
been faithful to his work and has
devoted a great part of his life TO
the study of this most interesting of
the heavenly bodies. Scouting at
first the idea of the canals being
the work of sentiment being he
finally arrived at conclusion that
no other explanation is possible In
a book published hast year Prof.
Lowell positively afflms and ad-
vanees strong argument to back
hls affirmation that Mars is in
habited by beings far more ad-
vanced mentally than the human
race, and that canals are the work
Of their hands and brains. He as
serts that there are no oceans on
mars 40 rivers, no lakes, and that
the water supply must be derived
wholly from the melting of the
snow at the polar caps. The canals,
then were built to distribute the
water from the thaws to all parts |
of the planet, so that animal and
vegetable life may be sustained.
Moreover, the titanic engineering
works must hGve been undertaken
a nd carried through by the peo-
pie Of the entire planet working
IN harmony, a thing almost impossi-
bic for the most optomistic Of ter
restial philosophers TO imagine.
This theory is as good as any 9th
er, especially when we know pos
itively that the Marian markings
do exist, and when we consider that
Prof. Lowell has attained a posi-
tion from which he may speak
more authOritatively than any 9th
er observer. But at best it is mere
speculation. All we know is that
the "nauals" are not mere fam
ries OF the eye and brain. And,
probably, this is all we will ever
know.
Meanwhile it is good to look at
Mars of nights The mystery of his
'uddy comntenance is perhaps the
Plain Dealer.
most entieing in the universe. -