The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1913-07-18
FATE OF A WORLD
Its Course From Chaos to Its
Hopeless Death Struggle.
THREE ACTS IN THE TRAGEDY
The First 10 Shown by Jupiter, the
Second by the Earth and the Third
by Mars, While the Moon Shows the
Empty Stage After the Play 10 Done.


tragedy as the planet Mars presents
1t is the last act in the drama Of 9
worlds history!
The first act I'm such drama consists
OF scenes from chaos. The huge plan
ct Jupiter offers us a spectacle OF that
kind In its streaming belts OF thick
clouds and Its whirling vapors. glow
ing like steam above furnace.
The second act Is represented by the
earth. with It's fertile crust. its cool, In
vigorating atmosphere and It's life sus-
tanning seas that give birth to the
mountains, furnish the rains and set
the rivers flowing.
| The closing net Is the role OF Mars.
! where the seas have vanished. the at
mosphere has thinned out the rivers
have disappeared. the continents have
turned into deserts, and life. driven into
a corner. is battling against final ex-
| tinction.
That there is yet intelligent life on
Mars is the universal belief Of all the
observers whom Mr.. Lowell has gath
cred about him Mt his Flagstaff OBJ
servatory. where the extraordinary phe-
nomepa Of that wonderful planet are
studied as nowhere else I'm the world.
More than that they tell Us with
ever increasing emphasis that the peo-
| pie of Mars. compelled by necessity.
have developed n command over natu-
raj forces which would seem miracu
lous II exhibited upon the earth.
Will them II has become simply
question Of brain power against the
inanin ate powers OF nature.
They have nights and days OF the
same length as ours. They have sea
sons almost precisely corresponding
with ours. except that they nre each
twice as long. But their oceans are
! dried up. no rains fall Though there
may be dews). and nearly all the at
mospheric moisture IL alternately lock
ed mp In one or the other Of the polar
snowcaps.
In such n situation no vegetation can
flourish unless arti6cially stimulated
by gigantic system OF irrigation. And
without vegetation animal existence IL
impossible.
But whence can the inhabitants Of
Mars derive tho water needed for irri.
gatonf The answer given is that they
get IL periodically from the melting of
the polar SHOWS Being without seas
and rivers they have no other source
Of supply.
On Mars the reign Of universal peace
must have begun ages ago. introduced
not by neral or sentimental consid-
erations. but by the necessity OF unit
Ing all the engineering skill, all the In
ventive poweKs and all the physical
forces Of the entire population Of the
planet In a common battle for life.
The only thought OF their inventors
is Of improved means for controlling
the slowly lessening supplies OF mols-
ture that once I'm about two OF our
years may be drawn away from one
Of the poles while the summer sun
shine is dissolving It's thin SHOWS,
This universal concentration OF men
tal energy upon single aim Is con-
ceived as having developed upon Mars
a knowledge OF the hidden forces OF
nature such as has up to the present
merely been dreamed Of on the earth.
| We have just begun to learn how TO
use electricity I'm the mechanic arts.
but they may have unlocked the secret
forces inclosed In the atoms OF matter
which our science has recently assured
| us exist without showing us how TO
utilize them.
Only by such suppositions can the
Canals" hundreds OF miles wide and
thousands OF miles long. be accounted
for, II, as tho Flagstaff observers In
sist. those objects are really OF arti-
fetal origin. II should be said. how
ever, that In Mr.. Lowells opinion the
bands called canals are. In fact. irri-
gated belts.
The real canals within them are In.
visible, while the progressive darken.
ing of these belts, as the polar melting
increases, IL due To the growth OF veg
citation, stimulated by the water.
After the world life drama closes
there IL left All empty stage. and this
is represented by the moon The lunar
world has lost all its water Its trag.
edy is finished. The actors are all dead
Millions OF years ago there may have
been a battle for life there like that
which now appears to be raging on
Mars. And millions OF years In the
future The stage OF the earth will prob
ably h, set for similar tragedy For.
10 the eyes OF the overlooking gods Ito
change little Shakespeare's dgure,:
All the sky's n stage
And all the worlds and suns are merely
actors
Garrett p. Serviss In New York Jour
nal.