Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-09-05
ONE OF o,H NElGHBoRs.

1 editor OF nature recently dhhHh mn
to indicate what he considered thu
most important results Of this year
observations. Mr.. Lowell confine
himself TO his own work, conducted a
Flagstaff, and II Is no more thar
proper that he should do 50. because
his telescope IL probably the onil
larga one In the United states which
has been trained on Mars with any.
thing like regularity during the las.
few months. The Lick telescope seemi
10 have been otherwise engaged. and
the Washington and Yerkes obserya'
| tories were too far north for adVan'
tageous use at the recent opposition
on the latest occasion for fruitful
scrutiny the planet did not rice as fai
above the southern horizon as II some
times does
II seems that practically everything
which MIR. lowell reports seeing this
year has been seen before. The APP
~pearance ana disappearance OF the
polar patches. phenomena which are
closely associated with the alienation
Of Marian winters and summers, and
which may be due Ia the formation
and melting Of snow. were mentioned
IN text books on astronomy a gener-
alton ago. The s%traightness Of the
canals" the changes Ia their yisii
biiity from time To time and their ar
rangement In an elaborate network
- -. ...nar..a and alafIuqf
we're reported by schiaparelii Of MI
ian. before Mr.. lowell turned his at
tentlon 20 them. The Italian had even
suspected that there was some rela-
ton between the coming and going Of
these fine lines and the succession OF
the seasons. Hence MIR. Ioweii's dis
covery that the return of the canals
Is a sequel Of the shrinking of a polar
cop merely confirms a supposiiinh
previously entertained. though In
strengthening the theory he has per-
formed useful service
An even more valuable feature of
this years work at Flagstaff IL the Sc
curing Of photographs of the canals
Little or no testimony such a. these
pictures furnish a been obtained
before. Mr.. Lowell believes that he
can Identify on his plates NJ less than
nny-six lines witch had previously
been charted from eye observations
alone. lie seems 10 have demonstrate
ed convincingly that the most puzzling
Of the markings On the Marian sur
face are not products of the imagina-
ton OF optical illusions Except for "a
bulletin or two sent by cable. nothing
IN Vet known Of photographs taken In
the Andes by the expedition sent out
by Mr.. Lowell. These may not put
the doubling Of the canals. first an
nounced by schisparelii, beyond
doubt sun. should they fail TO DO So.
lt may be assumed that they viii at
least tell the same story az the plates
exposed IN Arizona. Whatever inter
probation may be put on the facts.
therefore, the genuineness ~ the net
work OF lines ON Mars l. not Likely
hereafter 20 be questioned
What these lines mean, Of course.
II a matter Of opinion In applying
the name canals 90 them. S%chiapar-
elli was careful 10 say that hc found @
the most convenient "a which he
could use. but did not wish to com
mi, himself bS ms use to any theory
as To- the nature OF The markings
themselves Mr LoWel has long held
that they represented marrow belts %
vegetation. made possible by irriga-
ton systems. he rcitcrates lea Ma
.ture this belief though apparently
without having obtained any new evi-
dence that Mars b. the abode uf 'in-
t%eiIigent. constructive life. Hence
the question whether Mars T. inhah-
tied or q Is left about where u has
been for several years The notion
o. plausible and captivating. and there
can be no great harm in accepting a..
but such q chain 81 proof AZ would
usually be required In a. court OF law
O. support an important plea yet re-
mains go be forged
Referring % that awful bridge dis
astcr on the 81 Lawrence, the New
York World says The collapse u
the great cantilever bridge on b ST
Lawrence was an accident without
parallel A cauulever bridge Ia curse
% construction IL BY its nature a para
tex of mechanics n appears 90 Vio-
late me very laws % gravity WOW
one has fallen and occasioned he
most remarkable bridge disaster In
history The bulk 81 a hundred fairly
bls bridges. thrust far out over the
safer. resting az u. seemed on moth
iuE set bearing the weight % railroad
trains and hundreds u ions % mate
rial sheared OF bolt after bolt ~ its
E%tralninE anchorage. snapped beam
ahi Eirier. and 81 last Wenf down ise
feet inio the river. with men elineinE
D. h. Hn. WHM E..aHa. 49, a.aHam -