Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-11-09

4 Some bright, though eccentric. minds
among us have detected what they sus-
\ pect to be signals transmitted through
the ether from Mars or Venus, and ether
specially addressed to the earth or else
flung out into space on the chance OF
! their being picked up somewhere, but
| such persons are generally regarded as
! impractical dreamers.
| Yet nothing can be surer than that a
| race of intelligent beings, capable of
doing what Prof. Lowell and others aver
that the inhabitants of Mars have done.
would not only wish TO communicate
with other planets, but might possess the
means OF realizing that wish.
Light signals have been suggested as a
method OF interplanetary communication.
but as far as our present knowledge
| serves as a guide It would seem that cleo
trio waves, like those employed in wire
less telegraphy, offer the greater prom
ise OF success.
An electric signal would come from
Mars to the earth when they are nearest
to one ANOTHER (about 36,00o,OOO miles) in
something over three minutes. The same
signal would take less than the sixtieth
Of second to CROSS the Atlantic We
can drive the electric waves across the
ocean, but to drive them 1000 times far
ther would demand millions of times
more energy, and that, at present, is
beyond our reach.
1t does not follow that such energy Is
necessarily beyond the reach Of the sup
posed inhabitants OF Mars. In fact II we
accept the conclusions of Lowell con-
corning the achievements OF the Marians
n 4 sa aT1lx
they could construct O wireless telegraph
plant capable OF sending messages to us
It certainly would be no more wonderful
than the gigantic system Of irrigatins
canals, supplied with snow water pumped
from the polar Gaps. which has been con-
fidently credited TO their engineering
genius by the same optimistic observer
II there are highly intelligent beings on
Mars we can hardly doubt that they
have long been specializing about our
planet. which must be a very brilliant OBJ
ject in their sky. II. further, as inhabi-
tants Of an older world than ours. they
possess vastly greater command over the
forces or nature than we have yet
achieved. Il seems certain that they
would make an attempt to communicate
with us, or at least to find out whether
In that case what would they naturally
do? They would send out some form OF
signal which their intelligence told them
must be recognized by any correspond
ing intelligence as being of artificial, or
Intellectual, origin. Such a signal might
be very simple, like a series Of dots and
dashes. varied in a suggestive way. II
is now a considerable number OF years
a.
ing some electric experiments on Pixies
Peak, certain mysterious disturbances az
fecting his instruments, which he sus-
pected might be just such signals from
another. planet. But, as far as I am
| aware, nothing ever came from his OBJ
\ Servation. and no systematic investiga-
ton was undertaken.
Contrary to the sentiment OF the old
Franciscan motto, one world is enough
for most Of us, for we are yet deeply
buried In the ancient ignorance which
regarded the suns and worlds around us
as mere lights in the sky. II the Mar
, tians could transmit though space .elec-
trio energy enough to curl the luminous
banners OF the Aurora Borealis into
. cryptic sentences hanging across the mid
night heavens, then we might wake up
and rub our eyes and say to ourselves:
Truly, we are not alone. Creation con-
tains other intelligences and they are
trying TO talk to u.s."