New Britain herald., 1924-08-21
MARS UNDER EYES
 OF U. s. SCIENTISTS
Fascinating Problem Ol POsslbll' fly of Lille on Planet Expresses

Flassisn. Ariz. Aug, sl--ATsas that may be continents, vast sections Of mssh land or prairie, the re- mains of what are believed 10 have been the oceans that once divided the surface of the land are continually and regularly shifting on the planet Mars before the gaze of scientists al Lowell observatory here. lt was Eer vsaled today
 When the air Is steady according to Professor Earl slipher. photograT phic expert and astronomer. he caps turss the planets appearance on very sensitive photographic plates.
 While the question Of the haellaT hillty 10 Mars are not one with prae' teal astronomers here, the experts are not concerned whether men or beings like men are on Mars going about daily rounds or duties and pleasures like these on earth,
 Humans on Marss
 These men are attempting to deter mine the temperatures and the eendi' lions Of atomsphere on the planet m an effort 10 ascertain the possibility of human habltstion there. they pointed out.
 The work Ia progressing with The aid of the coglentI radlometer, whose measurements Of electrical currents gre requested 10 be the most sensitive achieved by man, lss than bllllonth of an ohm.
 Professor silpher believes sensa- tionai results may be obtained rom the observations during the recession of Mars in October. rather than at the height of the planets proximity 10 earth next Saturday. Intensive etudy since March at the institution here. regarded by astronomers as mead quarters" for observation Of Mars be- cause of It's locality. has enabled the scientists to establish the time of sea- sonal changes on the planet corres- bonding to those of the earth.
 Melting of Ice Caps.
 The astronomers have long learned the yearly waxing and waning Of Po- lar caps as the supposed water vapor is deposited as snow or ice at the North and South poles, and when Martian spring comes melt beneath the more direct rays of the sun.
 The melting of the ice caps Is &C., eompanied by progressive change in appearance of the territory sur rounding the caps. Streaks develops like lines on a photographic print im- mersed in the developing solution. These streaks and areas darken. The ground color of Mars as seen in a telescope is a bright rudy rue.
 Los Angeles, Aug :1.--Astronomers at the Mount Wilson observatory near here are not even going to look Tor evidences of life on Mars tomorrow, when that planet makes it's periodic parade past the earth, but they are willing to have anyone who believes Mars inhabited drop in for S4,ooo'- 900 mile birdseye view.
 Realizing that Mars fs of special interest to the lay mind, the astrono- ners said they would lend one of their big telescopes-the largest has loo- inch lens--to anyone who will climb the five thousand foot mountain in the hope of seeing Martian or two.
 The staff of the observatory IS not at all excited over the near approach of the planet, which usually fingers somewhere around 4S,o00,o0O miles from the earth. Photographs will be taken of it as a matter of observa- tory routine, but the astronomers ln- sist they do not expect their plates to show anything startling.