The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1913-07-10
FATE OF A WORLD
us Course From Chaos to Its
Hopeless Death Struggle.
THREE ACTS IN THE TRAGEDY


Empty Stage After the Play 10 Done.
No stage was ever set for such a
tragedy as the planet Mars presents
1t Is the last act In the drama of a
worlds history!
Ihe first act In 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 a furnace.
|. The second act is represented by tn,
earth. with its fertile crust, its cool, In
Vigorating atmosphere and its life sus
tanning seas that give birth to tn,
clouds which. condensing on tn,
mountains. furnish the rains and Sc
the rivers flowing.
The closing act 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 oil the
observers whom Mfr. Lowell has gath
cred about him at hts Flagstaff OBJ
servatory. where the extraordinary phe-
nomena of that wonderful planet are
studied as nowhere else in the world.
More than that they tell us with
ever increasing emphasis that the peo-
pie of Mars, compelled by necessity.
have developed a command over natu-
raj forces which would seem miracu-
lous If exhibited upon the earth.
With them 1t has become simply u
question Of brain power against the
inanimate 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 are each
twice as long. But their oceans are
dried up. no rains fall Though there
may be dews), and nearly dill the at
mospheric moisture Is alternately lock-
ed up in one or the other Of the polar
snowcaps.
In such situation no vegetation can
flourish unless artifcially stimulated
by gigantic system of irrigation. And
without vegetation animal existence is
impossible.
But whence can the inhabitants Of
Mars derive the water needed for irri-
cation? The answer given is that they
get it 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 moral or sentimental consid-
erations, but by the necessity Of unit
ing all the engineering skill. all the in
ventive powers and all the physical
forces Of the entire population Of the
planet in a common battle for life.
The only thought Of their inventors
ia of improved means for controlling
the slowly lessening supplies OF mois-
ture that once IN about two OF our
years may be drawn away from one
of the poles while the summer sun
shine Is dissolving its thin SHOWS.
This universal concentration Of men,
tal energy upon a single aim Is con-
ceiyed 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 now TO
,So electricity in the mechanic arts,
hut they may have unlocked the secret
porces Enclosed In the atoms OF matter
which our science has recently assured
IFS exist without showing us now 10
utilize them.
Only by such suggestions can the
canals" hundreds Of miles wide and
thousands of miles long, be accounted
for if as the Flagstaff observers In
,tst those objects are really OF artl-
icioI origin. 1t should be said. how
,yor that in Mr.. Lowell's opinion the
Do nds called canals are, in fact. irri- {
gated belts :.
The real canals within them are IN
5c,hle while the progressive darken-
no Of these belts. as the polar melting
Increases. is due to the growth OF veg :,
,tation stimulated by the water.
After the world life drama closes
borp Is left an empty stage, and this c
a represented by the moon. me lunar
World has lost all its water. Its trag- 5
Az ia finished. The actors are all dead =.
I;I,,ons of years ago there may nave
,oon a battle for life there like that 3
~b,cb now appears to be raging on u
rars And millions Of years In the
,,.rre the stage Of the earth VIII PROD
h,v be set for similar tragedy For
= tho ewes of the overlooking gods TO .
go a little shakespeares ngure,:
NJ 'l NJ ' tbs worlds and suns are merely
actors. :,
- e.-,,tsc In New York Jour- II