Special Correspondence to The Press
WASHINGTON, July 2.—Now as never before astronomers at the government observatory can see the wonders of Mars. Starting the first of July, the flood period on the planet begins, and the men at the telescope actually can see the
water as It rushes down one whole side of Mars through the planet’s wonderful canals.
Mars Is getting as close to the earth as it will be in many years. In the pictures the dark area shows the watered parts of the planet. In December the snow cap is large and most of the crop space is waste land. In July, when the sun’s heat melts masses of ice and snow, the water irrigates the whole land through the monster canals the Martians built.
By September the water has largely disappeared from the surface.
Note the great curve the dark or watered section takes in June and July. The melted snow forms small oceans, probably the size of several American states.
Just now, the astronomers assert, the green reflection from the growing crops of the Martians plainly is to be seen through the telescope, though 35,000,000 miles away. They are filled with wonder at the sight, and regret that they cannot talk to Mars.
The Spokane Press. Spokane, WA. July 02, 1909
