The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-24
aorna ArrrR MAns.


 stubborn belief in the existence of in. teiiisent beings on the planet Mars is one of the things we are not com petent to explain. but 1t is a fact nevertheless. We know of no good reason why that planet above all oth- CTS should be inhabited. or why the learned men should suppose 1t to be. but they do believe it. It is not mere | ly the writers of thrilling romance that tell us about the Martians. but the astronomers and other scientists are continually harping on the sub ject and predicting that the truth of their theories will some day be made plain.
 The believers fn the theory may now take heart over the possibility that is presented by Professor Pickering, of Harvard. He announces that if the modest sum of ten million, dollars is placed at his disposal he will either connrm the theory absolutely or dis pose 1t so thoroughly that there need be no further dispute. This coming July" says The Hartford Cour- ant, Mars will be only s5,ooo,ooo miles distant in space. By means of 6 quarter-mile row of mirrors att | tached side by side to an axis parai- Tel to the earth's axis, operated by motors and making a complete rev olution every twenty-four hours. it will be possible--the professor says ito nash signals to the hypothetical Martians. So far so good. But 1t ! seems to us that in order to make the experiment really complete and convincing. the professor must get a reply from Mars to his signals. oth- I erwise, while the scoffers will scoff | on, every true believer In the Mar tians and in their intelligence will say that they have been taken by sur prise and unprepared as regards sig- naling apparatus"
 This. we say. should put heart into those who want to get acquainted with the Martians. It is better to know you are wrong than to be all I ways kept in suspense. True, if the professor can demonstrate that there Is no life or semelance of life on the planet it win not thoroughly satisfy some of the enthusiasts. They will argue that there was something faulty in the apparatus, or that it did not | work properly, or that the experiments were not conclusive. They will still refuse to give 1t up. for we know the old saying that
 | "A man convinced against his will VIII hold the same opinion still On the other hand. if Professor Pickering should succeed in demon strating with absolute certainty that animal life does exist on Mars it would be a wonderful triumph for the believer in the Martian theory. Even If no communication can be held with them, and no signals exchanged, it will be quite a feather in the cap of the, believers to prove that there are folks up there. and that they have actually seen them, and what more can any one want than thatf As is we'll known. seeing is believing" and if we see live things capering about on Mare we must admit that they are l there. must we not?
 All of us must admit that thirty I five million miles is quite long step, and that the idea of sending human I vision that far seems preposterous, but when this professor gets his quar- ter of a mile of mirrors in working order and gets down to business there's no telling how far or how plainly he may see. He might be able t& discover a jewel in the rings of saturn for anything we know.
 And what Is ten million dollars7 True, some if us would feel the loss of it. very keenly, but not so with l some of the immensely rich. Rocke- feller could give it and not feel that he was out anything, and other mill llionaires could chip in and make up
 the amount easily. We hope the stake will be made up and let the
 professor get busy. If there's people on Mars we want to set acquainted
 with them. zee their photographs and
 read of their doings. True. we don't
 believe there are any. but that doesn't prove that they do not exist. By all means let MT. Pickering be staked.