Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-05
A ROUND TRIP ON THE COMET
Some Changes on Earth by the
Time 1t Returns in 1886

"a 1t will be so much out of the
ordinary that it will be interesting.
The comet has now passed the sun
and is speeding at the frightful veloc-
ity of thirty miles per second-about
hundred times the speed Of cannon
ball. In getting aboard don't forget
to leave your body on the earth for
on the comet you will find nothing to
eat-no water, no air. We must then
go in spirit only.
First on getting aboard we take a
look around. The center of the comet
is a solid body-perhaps earth and
metal 1t may be so or 100 miles in
diameter. In any case it is very small
in comparison with the earth. : 1t is
not hot, but rather warm on account
of having passed so near the sun. We
find no vegetation or any sign OF Ire
whatever. What "a dreary, lifeless
wastei All about us is a strange lum-
inous fog that almost shuts out the sun
on one side and the earth on the other.
-1'he sun looks about as large as it does
from the EARTH while the earth looks
like a large moon, going through all
the phases of the moon.
HAILING JUPITER
On we speed; within a few months
the earth disappears altogether and
the sun grows smaller and smaller.
We pass the orbit of Mars, but are too
far away from that interesting planet
to determine whether there are people
living there or not. Still on, and when
we have Travelled nearly 5o0,000000
miles we cross the orbit of Jupiter,
that giant planet 100 times the size
of the earth. But we must not go too
near or our little sky chariot will be
thrown out of it's course by his power
full attraction of gravitation. We are
near enough, however, to see that this
great planet is not inhabited. 1t is not
fully cold. Probably millions of years
ago it was molten, white hot mass.
Saturn, another vast globe, with it's
wonderful rings, second only to Jupi-
ter in size, we see far in the distance.
Years pass; we are now past the orbit
of Uranus and are approaching the
utmost bounds of the solar system
the orbit of Neptune-nearly three bill
lions of miles from our little earth.
COLD AND DARK
Two or three things we must now
take account of-drst, it has become
intensely cold. The little comet-globe
on which we are floating has no heat
of it's own; the sun Is verv far away
and so great is the cold that had we
brought our bodies with US we could
not live an hour. Second, it is dark as
midnight. The sun is like a bright
star in the sky. Myriads of other stars
are visible. but their light is but little
greater than it was when we were on
earth. Third, our speed has been
growing less and less all these years.
on account of the suns gravitation
drawing us back. At length our out
ward motion ceases altogether We
Io,, 1aa
orbit of Neptune in the boundless
depths of space. Our flight has con-
tinued a little more than 371A years.
Now we turn slowly about and begin
our return journey and, drawn by the
suns power, our speed accelerates eV-
cry hour for nearly SIS years, when we
pass again around the sun at the stu
pendous velocity of 80 miles per Sec
ond.
But note this We never seemed
to be moving at all except that the sun
and other bodies seemed to change
their size and position. When you ride
in an automobile or on an airship the
air whiZzes past you; but it is not so
on the comet All is absolute silence
and you are not sensible of any mo-
ton. The earth is moving at the rate
of 19 miles a second, but who would
know it if the astronomers did not tell
us?
THE RETURN JOURNEY
Since we turned about far away in
the space beyond Neptune, we have
been rushing ever faster toward the
sun. Here we are again at last in the
heart of the solar system. We rush
round that glowing orb with tremen-
deus velocity. But we cannot fall into
it owing to our greatly increased CEN
trifugal force. We pass round the sun
and start again on another long jour-
ney through interplanetary space.
But we have had a long enough sky
journey. Let us alight on the earth
when we come nearest to it and greet
our friends once more Our friends!
Behold, they are dead-95 per cent of
them-all except some of those who
were children when we left. The tod
ding boy of a years who waved us
good by is now tottering under the