El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-22

W 7AsHNGTON. D C.. sept 22.-
w Was the moon ever Inhabited
w II So. the fact is likely TO
be ascertained before long One way
or the other the question viii be
practically settled.
Where there have been hsbitatiOns
or artificial structures Of any kind.
such as beings human OF humsnlike
might erect, there should at least be
ruins Of some sort to represent them
Are there such ruins anywhere on the
surface Of the noon
Up 10 the present time it has been
Impossible TO say no or yes. But soon
It viii be different
There is now being set up IN cali
fornia. on the summit of Mount VIII
son. near Pasa dens. the largest as
Economical telescope In the world
It viii bring the moon, for seeing
purposes. 70 within a distance OF "a
miles Just try to grasp that idea
Really. however. YOU cannot grasp
e. You cannot know what ir means
until IL is clearly and dellnltelE eN-
n1sfued To saw that the lameutcd
Lusitsnia would have been plainly
visible and recognizable as a snip az
that distance helps only little bit
How big will the moon look when
brought within an apparent distance
Of "a miles,
The question can hardly he ans
wered. because there is nothing of a
SIZE at al comparable. II the moon
we're actually but "a miles olsle NJ
from the earth. if would practlcaliS
fiji the entire heavens
Think II out for yoursela- me
diameter Of the moon t2l65 miles, IS
more than one fourth that OF the
T~n# Errnn enormous
obstacle betw cen the eye and the SKY
sr a distance Of only "a miles, ana
how much OF the heavens would re-
main 70 be SEEM
II a person gifted with normal
vision were TO gaze upon the moon
from distance of "a miles, even
minor details Of its surface would De
plainly distlnculs hahle- re collu
not see a motor car lourneElnE across
one Of its vast plains but half resl-
rnent of troops on the march would
at once attract his Notice one good
sized building would escape his eye
hut the ruins OF a small town would
be conspicuous
great telescope is finally pointed
hesvenwsrd from the summit OF
Mount Wilson, IL will be for the tirst
time possible to determine definitely
whether there are today on the moon
&
relics indicative Of former occupancy
Of that satellite by thinking. creatures
like or even remotely resembling our
Face Always the same.
The face the moon presents TO US
ts as everybody knows. always the
same face. What the other side Of the
satellite is like nobody can say
though presumably its contiE uraJlon
is in g general way similar 10 tnat OF
zen
The area OF the visible face is little
larger than that OF the continent OF
south America. and nearly three
fourths OF IL IS occupied By vast level
plains. the rest being eXceeolngly
roueh and mountainous. with numer-
Gus forrhs lions resembling huge vol
csnic crsters-
The moon is distant 100000 miles
from the earth. But the wonderful
artificial eve on the summit OF
Mount Wilson viii cut its apparent ll
distance down to one-1o,Q0Qth OF the
actual distance.
The instrument in question IS
a-efIectinz" telescope means
that. in place OF q glass lens, Il VIII
uEe 2 ro7cave mirror to catch anu
concentrate the rays of light from lne
moon or other heavenly BODY ne
mirror viii be 101 inches IN diameter
One easily understands that the
making Of lens OF that size Woula /
be attended with difficulties vel ulsn
frsurmountable. A piece Of glass big
enough for the purpose could hardly
be produced without flaws, the slignl-
est Of which would seriously interfere
with the efficiency Of the telescope
Mirror Easier TO move
The making of a mirror is wholly
different affair. It is. TO begin with,
a glass disk; but whether IT, IS per
fectlv transparent or not IS OF no I'M
portsnce. inasmuch as light rays are
not required TO pass through IT, IT IS
merely ground on one side TO perfect
~o7csvs- and this concave face is
coated with silver by depcsltlnE the
metal upon IL from chemical solu-
The problem is 10 grind the con
cave face Of the glass so perfectly
"tr~ that. when converted into
reflector by the silverinE process. II
z-fU throw back all reflected light
rays in such wise as 20 make them
meet at one point focus AT that
noinr thev are received By plane
mirror, in the telescope tube. which
throws the light beam out SIDEWAYS
through q smaller tube. Into the eye
piece OF the smaller tube the observer
looks.
This is not easily understood. per
hans. from so brief a description IN
words. but glance At the accompany
iuz diazram will show just how the
observer. looking through the eye
piece at the side OF the telescope. sees
the image Of the moon or other heay-
srlv BODY that is reflected by the con-
cave mirror
Five Years in Making IT,
So difficult task was the grinding
Of this glass for the great reflector
that. when il is finished, nearly five
years will have been required 20 make
it. It is the -retina" of the huge arti-
fetal eye. which viii be able TO see
100000 times as far as the unaided
organ OF human vision
The study Of lunar detail requires
a very clear atmosphere. In Jamaica
with a 5-inch telescope. one may see
things on the moon that could not he
distinguished with an instrument ten