El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-03-25
by GARRETT =. SERvIss.


" RE they digging on Mars, or is
there nobody there TO dig The
Il whole question Of the existence
and Of the activities Of those Marian
giants is again thrown into the melt
ing pot by q recent report or the d.
! rector Of the British Astronomical as
/ ISOLATION. who expresses the belief that
] the canals ir the northern hemi-
/ siuns.
| And this report comes exactly AT the
| moment when Percival Lowell, at the
! Flagstaff observatory, announces that
1 the canals" i'm the northern hemis
! sphere of the planet are developing pre-
| cisely in accordance with expectations
| based on the theory that it is water
supplied by the melting OF the polar
/ SHOWS which causes their visibility.
This is really one of the most in
| teresting debates of our time. It is
IAN intellectual duty for every intell
gent human being to pay attention 10
it, There is that other world hanging
above us in the sky. Circling with us
around the sun. with day and night
| fitting over its surface. as it spins
on its axis, just as they do over the
surface of our globe, and in almost eN-
actly the same period Of time C24
hours). It's alternating seasons are
like ours. though each nearly twice as
I long. its surface is divided into per
manontly marked regions which make
10 resemble. except in the detail of out
lines. q school globe OF the earth. Its
snowy caps alternately expand and con-
tract about each OF its poles. the same
phenome non that occurs about the poles
Of the earth. though here the melting
rs never so extensive, because appar-
entity. the quantity of snow is vastly
greater with us than ON Mars. All
these are facts about which there is
virtually no dispute.
The great question then is. "Is that
carthlike planet inhabited or not9' Not
to take an interest i'm that question
would he simply stupid. Granted that
We cannot 90 to Mars-at present.
granted that we cannot. even COM
uuuicate with Nars-at present. are
those good reasons for feeling no in
terest IN the question whether il is an
inhabited world like ours
And as TO communication, we have
made progress i'm the last 20 years
winch should make us very chary about
denying the possibility Of extending
communication anywhere We know
tndt the waves OF light easily traverse
the great gulf Of space. and that cleo
'rlc waves go everywhere. and light
and electricity have proved themselves
marvellous Aricls for US, one or the
other Of them going at our bidding
Wherever we have tried to send them.
BUT thls branch Of the question is Tor
lle future Whether We ever communi-
cate with intelligent beings on another
shore of the ethereal ocean or not. we.
FOR the satisfaction Of our intellectual
curiosity, which is one Of the indiccs
of our semi-divinity, want to know
Whet her such beings are there or are
not there.
Life is what interests us, and wher-
ever we see the slightest indications
OF its existence "a thrill of curiosity
must run through MS, together with a
desire TO find out all we can about it. |
Suppose that Columns after thor
oughly exploring America. had returned !
with proof that il was entirely lifcless |
Europe would have turned its back on !
the New World and. not being able to |
see II, as we sec the lifeless moon. |
its existence
But suppose. on the other hand. that (
Columbus had come back reporting /
that he had discovered simply indica /
tons Of life in America, then Europe