Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-13

I thing else, swings hlgh ABOVE our
heads, from what appears to be an
altogether unnecessarily fragile sup.
port. Furthermore, how in the world
are we going to reach the thing I'M
less we climb a rather dizzy step
ladder? But we are soon to learn the
answer to that question.
+ The door is closed and securely
locked, like the one to the side en-
trance. In the dim half-light of a
single electric bulb on small desk,
we see Prof. Hall walk quickly toward
a rope and begin Juggling on it vigor-
ouslX. In response to it's movement,
the. telescope swings around to a diff
ferent position. In another second
our skipper has thrown big electric
switch into contact and Immediately
things begin to happen.
The floor on which we are standing
begins to vibrate like the decks of a
ship when the engines are running, a
peculiar whirring reaches us from
below and then, to our amazement.
the walls begin to sink from view.
The door through which we entered
few minutes before has dropped out
of sight, and the big telescope is
dipping quickly down to us, it seems.
In reality. we are rising to it, how.
ever The floor is being raised, like
an elevator, to the dome-shaped roof
above. We are off on our journey.
Up, up we go, until we can reach
out and touch the arched steel girders
that support the roof. Prof. Hall re
leases the switch controlling the floor
and deity throws in a second one A
whirring noise follows, and slowly the
ceiling above us parts and from the
dark room we look out into the uni
verse. Thousands of stars, many
more than the eye can detect from
the semi-lighted streets, gaze down
upon us.
The moon is at half full and 1t
CLEANS brighter than ever, it seems,
through the narrow slit in the roof.
Mars, brilliant against it's dark back
ground. Is easily recognized. and one
by one we single out the few stars we
know o. ourselves. Our guide on this
intriguing journey through the heav-
ems names dozens of others for us as
he puts things in readiness to con-
tinue the flight through the medium
of the big telescope.
* X X X
A S our eyes drop from the heavens
back to the armament once more,
| the lights of Washington gleam like a
lake Of gold below us. From our perch
high up in the observatory. lust above
the tops of the trees, the National
Capital stretches out in a grand pan
| Drama of winking lights, row after
| row tracing out the courses of famil-
lar boulevards and avenues. Off In
the distance the dome of the Capitol
rises above all in it's white bath of
flood lights. =.
Prof. Hall is now busy with charts
at his desk. laying out our course to
the moon. for the astronomer guides
his telescope with the same mathe.
NAUTICAL precision that the master mar
liner charts the course for his ship.
1t is not merely matter of swinging
his telescope back and forth in the
heavens until its eye picks up the
object 1t seeks, as the amateur might
do with a small hand instrument.
BY consulting carefully worked.out
| tables, Prof. Hall can determine in
| just exactly what celestial longitude
| and latitude the moon will be at a
given hour. 1t is simple matter for
| him to press a lever that turns the
telescope until dial On it's side tells
| him it is pointing to that particular
spot. just as the ships compass tells
| the mariner whether it is pushing
northWard or southwark.
While Prof. Hall is working out
these problems, our attention Is at.