The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-03-19

rays Of light. which could much more easily be
controlled.
Are there inhabitants on Mars? That's ques
tion on which scientists differ.
Among scientists who have the right to
speak with authority the foremost the late
PROFESSOR Lowell. director of the observatory at
FlngstaH. Ariz. Not only was Professor Lowell
convinced that Mars inhabited but he be-
leved the people hac much higher degree of
intelligence than those earth. He dwelt par
ticularly on their inventive genius.
In 1914 he found opportunity for strength
ening his pet belief by announcing that instead of
losing any of their canals the Martians had built
two new ones, which could be plainly through
the telescope.
I'VE have actually seen them formed under our
eyes" Professor Lowell said at the time, "and the
Importance of 1t can hardly be overestimated The
phenomenon transcends any natural law and is
only explicable so far as can be seen by the pres
ence out yonder of animate will"
Professor Lowell had little to say about the
appearance of the beings on Mars. Edmond Per-
rier, director of the museum of the Jardin des
Plantes, In Paris. constructed the first picture of
the Martians he conceived them. He said in
bart
"The men Mars tall because the force
Of gravity Is slight They are blond because the
daylight Is less intense They have less powerful
limbs. Their large blue eyes. their strong noses
their large ears constitute type of beauty which
we doubtless would not appreciate except sug-
gestlng superhuman intelligence"
On the other hand, DR.. c. G. Abbott holds that
If wireless messages being received, 1t is not
Mars sending the signals, but most probably
Venus. Abbott is director of the Smithsonian
astrophysica observatory and assistant secretary
of the Smithsonian institution. He says Mars
is eliminated a possibility because known con.
ditions that planet would not permit the ex.
istence Of any form of living creature. 1t is TOO
cold there and there is practically water vapor
in its atmosphere.
Assuming that Mars some other planet is
signaling us, what do in the circum-
stances? Apparently do much.
DR.. James Harris Rogers Of Hyattsvlle, Nd,
who has devoted his life to the study of electric
waves and invented the underground and under
seas wireless used during the war, declares he is
going to undertake to teach the inhabitants of
Mars the rudiments of intelligence of this planet.
Within year wireless communication will be es-
tabshed with Mars DIR. Rogers believes.
L. J. Lesh, New York radio engineer, suggests
that of the methods of constructing Il gigantic
station would be to erect huge antennae suspend
ed by balloons like the British dirigble R-34 He
asserts, however, that still better way would
be to use huge and brilliant shafts of light as
antennae for the system. He thinks that pro-
jectors could be grouped around one spot where
a great amount of electricity could be generated.
He suggests Niagara Falls other spot
with an enormous amount of water power
Elmer A. Sperry has searchlight capable of
producing a beam having the Illuminating in
tensity of 1,2SOOOO0OO candle power. He would
form group Of $50 to 200 Of his searchlights and
direct their combined beams In the direction of
Mars. An aggregation of that sort would possess
the luminous equivalent of star of the seventh
magnitude such our telescopes able to pick
up readily. Therefore. assuming that the Martians
had glasses of equal power, they should have no
trouble In catching thaa dot Of light from dis
tance of 35,0OOyOOO to 40OO0,O00 miles
1t would be possible, doubt. to operate these
lights so that they could give slow signals which
would fill all the requirements of a system of
communication. However, array of lights of
this character and the needful energizing plant
would cost pretty sum-
The outlay might be warranted some day. but
certainly not until it is certain that we are beng
called by of our neishbors out in space