The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-03-28
Interesting Lecture
on Astronomy

sc4 oiAAb aAo ihSI uItAfc Acctuft ou I'D
tronomy at the Y. N. C. A. at 3
o'clock Sunday afternoon. Mr., McNatt
has made special study OF astron-
rim and his discussion or this marvel
ousiy entertaining, but abtrise and
difficult science enlisted the utmost
attention on the part of the audience
from the beginning to The close of his
address.
As premise for the discussion of
his subject. Mr. McNatt quoted from
the Mosaic account of the creation
as recorded In the first chapter of
Genesis. In the beginning, God Gre
aied the heaven and the earth. And
the earth was without form and void:
and darkness was upon the face of the
great deep" Upon this text he pred
icated his lecture and showed that
the biblical record of the creation was
In harmony with the. earth's geology
and scientific investigation
Mr.. McSatt devoted himself largely
to a discussion Of the. wonders OF the
solar system. altho he referred at
some length 10 the marvels OF slider
lai astronomy; TO the fixed stars and
their movements and TO their almost
inoonceivable distance from the
earth. He illustrated the solar sys-
tenn by means of balls of varying dia-
mters and showed the relative sizes
OF the sun and the planetary bodies
That reyolve about H. He told of
their composition as revealed by the
spectroscope and OF the conditions
upon their surfaces as they relate 10
land and water. heat and cold and the
atmosphere which surrounds them
OF special interest to his auditors
was Mr.. NcEatt's explanations Of me
teorites and OF the canals upon the
surface OF the planet Mars. The
earth In its course around the sun.
,raver~es SPACE In which there are
millions Of rotating fnetorites OF all
sizes from fev pounds to many tons.
vast numbers OF which annually fall
within the earth.s attractive Influence
and add to it's bulk These meteorites
travel faster than tho earth and the
rreat majority of them burn them
selves vp In their passage thru the
ezrth'e atmosphere
The canals upon the surface OF Mars
were dealt. with At considerable
length by Mr.. McNatt and his explain
ations Of them was probably the bes,
and most illuminating ever heard IN
Canon City. He said that OWNS to
the great age OF the planet Mars and
the drying up prOeess- that is soing
On there. water Is becoming Rcarce
sod that canals were built by the Mar
tians TO conserve il for irrigation and
other purposes essential to NE lie
of the Inhabitants. The sutface Of
Mar. asserted Mr.. McNatf. Is every
where u level cxpanse without seas,
lakes or coastiine 10 interfere with
the construction Of canals for irriga-
ton. OF for such other uses as may
be required
Many of the Martism canals. ac-
cordinE to Mr.. McNatt. are thousands
of miles long and the. larger OF them
very broad. The water for these
canals Is supplied from the ice-cap
at the pcles Of the planet and is d.
rected into the canals thru the inee-
nuity and eneineeiSng skill OF the in
habitants. At certain timce OF the
year the land between the canals is
observed by astronomers to take on
Ereenish hue. and at others. to pre-
sent a brown appearance. The green
Is always seen during the season o;
growth and the brown after the yer,
nal season Is over 1t IS almost Ger
tain that the Martian canals are for
irrigation purposes and that they arc
the handieork of It's Inhabitants The
planet Mars was fitted for life. man,
thousands OF years before the earth
and its inhabitants may have evolved
mechanical appliances for canal build
ing OF vastly greater efficiency thar
any thing known to the people on tbs
earth.
Mr.. McNatts address proved to b.
so popular with those who heard II
than an effort wiii,be made by the Y
NJ. C. A. TO induce him to give an
ether Sunday afternoon lecture her,
ON nstrouomicaf subfccfs within TN,