The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-10-13

| belief that they were made by senti-
ent organisms of high intelligence.
More than 500 canals and GASES, as
Lowell claimed the spots to be, have
been mapped out and their names are
so well known that Harvard Observ-
atory announced last April that snow
had been observed falling at isidis
in the district of Syrtis Major, Mars.
1t was held by some that the canals
had been observed to signal the
earth which must appear to the Mar
tians as of immense size being nine
times bigger than Mars.
The Wireless is UseR
With the development of wireless
telegraphy several attempts have
been made to get into communication
with Mars with high powered appa-
ratus. Signor Marconi gave encour-
agement to that field of research re-
Gently when he announced that in
the course of experimenting he had
picked up a signal with wave length
Of 10000 meters, about six times
as long as any commercial apparatus
in use today. Marconi said the letter
V had been repeated several times in
international code. He suggested
that possibly the inhabitants of Mars
were trying to get into communica-
ton with the earth.
The engineers Of Omaha devoted
two weeks of their time recently to
listening for signals from Mars. They
kept their apparatus tuned to catch
such a message as Marconi described
| but they heard nothing.
Controversy has run high over the
bold proposal of Messrs. B. McAfee
and Todd. A mine shaft in the Chill
can Andes, which will point directly
at Mars in 1924, will provide the bar
rel of their telescope, they announced
and a big pan of mercury revolving
at high speed at the bottom will
| provide the mirror The two Amerl-
cans calculate that the surface of
Mars will be magnifed at least 25,-
100000 times bringing it within a
few miles of their cameras.
The mine shaft will be widened to
so feet in diameter and sheathed. The
pool of mercury at the bottom will
be revolved at such high speed that
it will assume concave shape and
become a mirror. The depth Of the
fortunately placed shaft is so great
that there will be sufficient luminos-
ity, the two scientists said, to en-
able them to take snapshots instead
of time exposures.
The Goddard proposal for aerial in
vestigation also includes use OF cam
eras. To summarize his principle, the
determining factor of the efficiency
of a rocket is the velocity of the
election of gases due to the explo-
sion of propelling material. By in
creasing this" velocity, through in
creasing the proportion of the pro-
jectile and through a greatly i'm
proved nozZle-shaped passage for the
escape OF gases, Professor Goddard
claims to have raised the efficiency OF
the rocket to nearly 64 per cent.
Many Investigators are convinced
that life exists or Mars a"i expect to
prove it with the novel telescope.
What they will find on their photo
graphic plates is the object of speca-
lation by scientific E1en the Horld ov-
er.
Lowell has said that Mars is level
and uninteresting with no mountains
and only a few dried up beds of shall
low seas to diversity its topography.
More than one-half of it is desert
( land and the rest is only green when
the canals are bringing water from
the polar ice caps. Dust storms
which blot out hundreds of square
miles of the planets surface from the
view of the scientific observers sweep
! over it's equatorial section.
The physical conditions of Mars
are entirely different from those we
know on earth. The force of gravity
exerted by Mars is only three-eights
that of the earth while the atmos-
| pheric pressure, that is about fifteen
pounds to the square inch at sea level
on our world is less than four pounds
on Mars. The air is very thin and no
known animal could live on it. These
| conditions, however, make it possible
for great weights to be lifted with
{ little effort.
Lowell computed that the Martians
could do seven times more work than
human beings could accomplish, with
the same amount Of effort: A human
| observer on Mars, he said, would be