Evening star., 1908-01-10

pear with the changing seasons and with
the alternate hemispheres. The photo
graphs which were taken in Chile laSt
summer not only confirm these facts oe-
yond peradventure. but have addeo
many new and important details TO our
knowledge. The theories are no longer
a subject of discussion. 1t is just as GER
tain that snow appears and melts III
Mars in the United States
Revolution of Mars.
Mars revolves on its axis like the earth.
We know the time of the revolution with
absolute accuracy. just as we know the
revolutions of the earth. \ day in Mars
consists of twenty-four hours. thirty seven
minutes. twenty-five seconds and either SIX
six-tenths or seven-tenths of a second As
tronomers are now diSputing over tnas
fraction. Some Of them claim that the DAY
in Mars is one-tenth of second longer
than others. You realize that tileS
know a good deal about a planet 5o."u"N
miles away. when their calculations nave
been narrowed down 10 so minute a ue
tail.
The year in Mars is different from
that on the earth because the orolt OF
that planet is so much larger and IL taxes
a longer time TO so around. Ihere ar
Il
as with us. That has been determined 10
the same degree of accuracy. lheFe are
four seasons in Mars. just the same az on
the earth but they are much longer. ne
summer is nearly twice as long as ou.s' ,;s
and the winter is of corresponding ienS'H.
This fact naturally involves some inter
esting prescriptions. For eNampie, W. W.
may assume that a prolonged season VII
produce different kinds of vegetation. pie-
cisey as may be the case with Alaska
10 fronipS The pptanN OF the DOldt
regions is limited by the lack OF sunshine
and the shorter the season the less lhefe
is to grow. Applying that axiom 10 ,he
planets. we offer an unusuaii! lnteIes''ls
and fruitful field for the investlSatoh VI
biologists 1t il entirely new. aiso anu
involves problems that have never before
been proposed.
Animate Life on Mars.
..Haye Won any actual evidence OF an
innate life of the existence of men and
women in Mars?
.onlx nv Inference Mr. Lowell believes
that the canals of Mars are artificial, ana
the natural deduction is that whoever
dug them must have left some progeny
to ouerate them Mr. Lowell regards tnem
as part of stupendous irrigation system
which has become necessary 1or the cuI.t- M
walton of the soil in the absence OF suii-
cient moisture from natural sources. ne
oceans and the lakes and rivers that iur-
nish our crops with moisture do not ap-
pear in Mars. At least. We have never
discovered them. The inhabitants OF tha'
planet are compelled to rely Tor water
upon the melting of the SHOWS. WHICH
they use for irrigation very much as we
do because like conditions produce nhe
eXpedients: similar environments deNeiop
similar customs and habits. and II II IS
necessary to cultivate the son 10 prouu.e
food To sustain life in two different planets
it is very likely that the same methods
will be used. Hence. we believe thaI the
inhabitants of Mars have constructed irrl-
CATION systems not unlike our own, with
reservoirs 10 store the water from the
melting SHOWS as it comes down from the
mountains and conduits TO convey IL 10
the places where it is needed.
THE fact that the inhabitants of Mars
are compelled to rely entirely upon rrisa-
tion from the snowfall involves system
of economy far beyond anything ever de-
veloped upon this globe, But we are ap-
preaching similar conditions of the e4rth.
The city of Boston is going 100 miles tor
its water supply. Life must nave water,
and il is presuma BILE that our nelghbors
in Mars solved that problem thousands OF
years ago.
Irrigating bitches.
What evidence have you that those
canals are irrigating ditches?
Something must finnish water to sup
all we can find We know that the vege
tation exists. We know that the canals
exist We have found no other means of
supplying the necessary moisture.
Prof. Lowell has pushed his theories
farther than any other astronomer" con-
tinued Prof. Todd. and / went to South
America to demonstrate by means of pho
tographs the truth of those theories. That
has been done beyond controversy. We
took hundreds of photographs of the ca
nails and thus show parallel canals as reg
ular and as straight as the tracks OF a
railway. They follow a geometric sys-
tenn. if they We're laid out by design.
and are not accidental Everything about
the canals has an artificial look. and that
is the strongest argument in support Of
the theory that Mars is peopled by a race
OF intelligent beings.
We propose to follow up these observa-
tions. In 1909 Mars comes within st. 600
GG9 miles OF the earth. when the opportu-
mites for investigation will be even more
favorable than chose of the past summer.
We are getting ready for that opportu-
nifty. Our work this summer has been
mere rehearsal Of the performance that
we expect to take place in 1899. and We
propose to establish an observatory at
the most favorable place in the Andes
and devote the entire year to it
What do You expect to prove?
Il don't believe III say much about that
1t would be better TO wait until we do
something. | have a lot of new ideas sug-
gested by my experience last summer and
lam going to try to develop them, but
ii is safer TO report results than To pre-
dict possibilities.
Is Mars Inhabited?
DO YOU really believe that Mars is in
habited?' | asked
II feel reasonably sure Of it,
With what kind of people,
That is d matter for the biologists TO
determine. and | am trying To get them
into il. | believe there is a high order
of intelligence and activity in Mars. and
that the life history of that planet is
thousands of years older than ours But
that question must be determined by bio
logists. and not by astronomers"
DO YOU think there will ever he COM
munication between the two planets?"
That is a possibility. | would not be
surprised if some apparatus was discov-
cred for exchanging information with our
neighbors. 1t would not be more wonder
ful than some things that have already
been achieved. Wireless telegraphy,
wireless telephones. the utilization of the
invisible messengers that exist all around
us may some time reach a development
that will make il possible 10 exchange
communications across d distance of 20
Cc0G0 miles. We are working in that
direction, and many people believe il pos
Sibe. Several years ago Frenchman