Graham guardian., 1921-11-04
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OF course it isn't at all certain, that
any one. Of the three will psovesasuc
cessful sherlock IssStYfsg or the rsires
but scientists. lured On ~. an, ags;old
curiosity concerning .Suss aeishbottpg
planets, are, pressiagx aloagl all. three
paths. -. ~, ,.'.,4.. T..
The latest. Development to, set the
scientific world 'agog' again over the
old question of whether there %as' life
on Mars was The 'ant6uneemenr from
Paris of b. McAfess.s American scient.
ist and Professor, baSid oad;;. Ameri
can astronpmer. that they .pgrRosed to
snapshot the planet by. psing an
abandoned mine;shs&t dn Chile as the
barrel for a telescope. -
Only a short time before 'Stgnor
Marconi, OF wireless' fame: had, put a
kick of interest in the 'fantastic
of scientite ipquiries, by. suggesting
that radio signal of .l5g,0eo. meters
which herhad picked I'D, might have
come from some Martian armed, with
mammoth sending. set. ..s
But II was left to Professor Robert
H. Goddard Of CLARK College in Wor'
cester, Mass, to suggest making an
investigation of the moon by means OF
a multiple charge, high. efficiency
rocket, capable of. carrying cameras
or other recording apparatla needed
to explore the ufiknown regions of the
upper afr. AS the. claim was made
that rocket could reconstructed of
unlimited cruising power, 1t has been
suggested that it might be shot up to
Mars instead Of the moon, which
many scientists afIirm is uninhabjted.
One or two daring individuals even
have volunteered to- be- shot, up, in
place OF a camera is'a,' -
The possibility that -sseHsa folk
might be wandering up and 'dowH the
valleys of Mars hasf sxeited rtfie- cur
'iosity of ASTRONOMERS y and's iayfnen
throughout all the ages for Mars is
the i,es.sst planet t; the earth and
the easiest to obses4a,
Imaginative writer's took theis read.
ers on trips to the moon and laid the
scenes Of their stories in. the surround
ings Of Mars, Saturn and other plaH-
cts but there was Titles scientific
knowledge TO furnish basis for such
fiction. - ''.3S u i-s,sa "a -gr
The perfecting of the high powered
telescope and the adoption OF photog.
raphy 10 me ases of the astronomers
quickened their interest IN the possi-
bility OF life on another werfa. Mars,
which was seen TO have large areas Of
BLUSH green and other. areas OF an
ochre red, with patches, Of white at
the poles, was hg!isyed by many as.
troHeHsrs 10 be capable of supporting
life in some fefHi' ssssg % "a
Schiaparelli, an ltaiiaa sstFopomer,
announced in 1871 that he had found
the surface of the planet SCARED by
many lines witch were perfectly
straight and seemed to hsye some
system like vast engineering wsFks.
He called the lines canals and said he
believed, they had been constructed
and were NOT simply cracks in the
surface OF the planet q q
Professor Percivai Lowell ersctsa
an observatory In Flagstaff, Arizona,
many years ago ana commenced
systematic Dissertation of Mars, More
than 10 years aso he startled the
world by expressing his belief that
Mars was inhahitedby s1nteliigent
organisms living lin as civilization
much farther advanced than%;o
The canals. he said were from the
Dig bitches bringing water from the
poles to irrigate the rest of the planet
rhe ochre red areas on the surface of
Mars. he asserted, were deserted, we're
leserts or fallow fields which became
,luish green as the water flowed along
he canals in the seasons
Letter, he said that he had watched
he blush creep srsq' gssgnoting land
bringing to life with the S9piAy Hy
he water, spread down the pori6erp |
hemisphere along the borders Of the |
'anals to beyond DE equator Of the
'lanet and then gradually tura red.
fish brown with the waning Of the I
eason. The water, he claimed. was
rom ice melting on the polar caps Of
he planet. ~
Other scientists took the opposite
'oint Of view. Some, said the canals
Sere only cracks in the surface Of the
laRet hlled with sand, impregnated
nth salts OF various kinds, which be-
ame dark or light to tbs observer
ccording TO its h6ibtare content. Tag
emperature on Mare they said, was
90, cold to support Life of any kind,
lowell retorted thai his obserya-
ions showed that tlre.average temper
t,lre of Mars is 47degrees Fahren.
cit The regularity of the canals:
leir even .sbaciraEs the accuracy with