Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-06-05
. TRIP TO THE MOON.
Making a Landing on Luna In
Scientific imagination.
SUNRISE IN PLATO VALLEY.

Wniio the Surrounding Towering
Luna Alps Are Abisxs With light
Wondsrfui Changes Of Color.
Expert opinion about the moon has
undergone n remarkable change within
recent years. For long time all as
Economical books taught their readers
that the earth's satellite was totally
dead
A wreck. Stag. cinder. drifting In
space.
Without Its 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 II. In view OF this change OF
opinion. let us summon Tyndalrs "sci-
entific Imagination and visit the moon.
looking at IL close ut hand I'm the light
which the latest investigations throw
upon II from distance II an astron-
omer were offered trip 10 the moon
and asked where be would choose 10
land first. II isprobable that he would
reply, "In Plato. II you please.' Now.
Plato Is huge circular mountain
hinged valley which can he seen from
the earth with good opera glass.
Ing In lunar north iati.tde 30 degrees.
and Il excites the astronomers curios-
ity because Of what he hiss dimly seen
going on within It.
Let rs. then. approach Plato as II
dropping down upon the moon with
balloon. As we draw ne~- ". find
that the time OF our arriv lilat OF
81 s,, l.
But the rising or the sun on the moon
Is very slow process II takes the
solar orb seven days to pass upward
from the horizon to the noon line. The
consequence Is that. hanging over Pla-
to In our aerial conveyance. we find
the whole of the great valley under us,
about sixty miles broad and n mile
deep. buried I'm the blacklist night.
But the peaks on its western border
are already cleaning in the sunlight.
and the surface OF the moon 20 the
west OF those mountains is all illu-
mined with the morning beams. The
lunar Alps are ablaze with light, while
the shadows filling their mighty gulch-
es and chasms are as black "a jet. Far
of along the southwestern horizon we
see the towering giants OF the lunar
Caucasus and the lunar Apennines.
serrated ridge OF flaming pinnacles set
against black sky. The sharpness OF
the division between day and night Is
amazing. II arises from the virtual
absence OF air. There IS no twilight
band between.
Presently brilliant point flashes out
toward the east. 1t looks like n fire
suddenly lighted In the midst OF the
ocean OF night still covering most Of
the moons eastern hemisphere II is
conspicuous peak on the eastern side
or Plato's mountain ring, which has
Just been reached by the rays OF the
rising sun. The magnifcence OF the
spectacle now gradually unfoldcd be-
meath us Is beyond description. As the
line or sunlight slowly crecps down
the precipices on the eastern border OF
the valley we begin 10 perceive the
broad. fat floor emerging into visibill-
ty- Its central part has been dimly
visible for some time. Slowly the dark
ness In the valley retires westward as
the sun rises higher. and the great
plain ut length lies fully displayed in
the morning light.
And now strange things occur. Won
derful 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 floor Ii checkered in a 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 floor OF Plato. we
ind ourselves standing in the midst of
rolling prairie. covered~with fantas-
tic plants. slender. crowded. shaped
more capriciously than n mass OF or
chids, and with flowers Of strange.
unearthlike beauty already opening
where the sunbeams have rested Ion
gest. There is no wind. not the slight
est breeze. no motion except the stir
of the o. ening leaves and petals. 1t is
like the magic awakening OF the petrl-
fed city OF the oriental legend
4 touch. q kiss. the charm is snapped!
Yet. with all Its singular beauty, this
iuAuf NeSetdtlOn mas Tor our eyes an
edolated appearance, for Ii exists
where there is almost no atmosphere.
land that little OF n mephitic nature,
and 1t has sprung into brief life of
scarcely two weeks duration, sudden
ly stimulated by the intense RAYS OF
sunlight which fall from the airless
heavens with telling effect During the |
might, which lasts more than q fort
night over the greater part of the val
ley, the vegetation withers, shrinks.
turns black, subjected To fearful cold
that would destroy every spark of life
jim terrestrial plant. But these things
on the moon have grown amid an en-
lvironment OF their own-ap eternal
protest against the extinction OF life
where the slightest means OF maintain
ling 1t remain.
But, cheered by the attractiveness OF
ithe scene about us, we are tempted to
Hook for animal life We wonder If we
shall not find strange insects inhabit-
ling these pants or odd little rodents
'burrowinS among their roots Then wa
remember that this Is unlikely because
or the nature OF the extremely thin at
mosphere.. ana. upon thinking Of this.
we begin to notice more curiously the
many craterlets that are sprinkled over
the valley. Approaching one OF them.
we perceive crawling from IL almost