THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, NO VE3IBER 21, 1920
4
Inventor Humphrey
Is Planning for a
Three-Dot "Flash
With "Skyscraper"
Shells to Be Fired
Toward the Planet
From a Giant Gun.
Wireless experts the world over are
watching with extreme Interest the prep
arations now being made by Alexander
Foster Humphrey, the Pittsburg: inventor,
to communicate with the planet Mars.
Ever since Marconi, Lodge. Schlaparelll,
Lowell and other distinguished scientists
expressed the conviction that Mars has
been projecting; signals and messages
which we, on this earth, bave been at
a loss to interpret or even acknowledge,
various costly and gigantic engineering
schemes have been advanced to transmit
an answering signal across the 35,000,000
miles of space which separates that planet
from this earth.
Compared with some of these proposals.
Inventor Humphrey's plan is simplicity
Itself. It Involves the construction of a
cannon 37T feet In length and firing five
projectiles all contained In one shell.
The first shell explodes at an altitude
of 100 miles with sufficient force to send
the remaining four shells forward with
renewed velocity. The last three shells,
Mr. Humphrey estimates, will explode at
an altitude of 3000 miles with three dis
tinct vibratory flashes which. If observ
able, by the Martians, as Intended, may
be Interpreted by them as the earth's
answer to the mysterious three-dot sig
nal received here last 'January, presum
ably from Mars Itself.
BY HARRY STANLEY.
IN THE early part of last January
commercial wireless stations at
New York, London, San Francisco,
Hongkong; and elsewhere reported the
receipt of certain strange, undeci
pherable signals. The only character
at all recognizable was a three-dot
unit resembling the Morse letter S.
Comparison of the records at the two
stations, thousands of miles apart,
revealed that the signals were heard
simultaneously and with equal power,
and that the messages, if such they
were, had a regularity of form which
dismissed the natural explanation
that the signals were of a etatic or
meteoric origin. The queer Impulses
were characterized by a wave-length
of 100,000 meters, which is extraord
inary, and the stations received them
only because they happened to be
tuned to that length at the time.
Ordinarily for commercial work the
length of wave docs not exceed 21,000
meters.
As everyone recalls, the receipt of
the signals set the scientific world
agog. Guglielmo Marcqni, the wire,
less wizard, gave it as his opinion
that the signals originated at some
point outside the earth and might
signify efforts on the part of the
inhabitants of Mars or Venus to com
municate with us. Others held that
wireless- messages could not pass over
the vast space of 35,000,000 miles be
tween earth and Mars, and that there
could be no life on any other planet
but this. Many, however, held that
there might be life on Venus if not
on Mars. Dr. Charles G. Abbot, di
rector of the astrophysical observa
tory of the Smithsonian institution,
id a supporter of the latter theory,
lie lias stated that Mars' temperature
is as much as 100 degrees lower than
that of the earth, Snaking it difficult
to believe that creatures of the car-bon-and-water
constituency could
exist there. On the other- hand, he
says, the temperature of Venus is
about 180 degrees, because of its
proximity to the sun. And since this
temperature is tempered by a per
petual cloak of clouds which over
hangs Venus, he believes human hab
itation possible on that planet.
Meanwhile, scientific workers want
to answer at once the strange signals
or at least to send some test signals
of their own. For this purpose a'
number of . interesting suggestions
have been put forth. Among them
are plans to install immense wireless
apparatus with which to flash return
signals. Others would make use of
the light-ray theory by concentrat
ia a large number of powerful
searchlights, blending them in one
huge glare. Sir Oliver Lodge, the
British scientist, proposes a neu
metrical figure of gigantic size to
be laid upon the surface of the Sa
hara desert, made of a dead black
or li&ht-absorbent material. Geom
etry, he argues, is a science of the
universe and such a figure would
be both visible and Intelligible to
the Martians, and would perhaps in
cuce them, to attempt an answering
signal.
"My plan," says Mr. Humphrey . of
Pittsburg, "would be to pass a signal
shell beyond the earth-screening at
mosphere and far up Into the pure
ether, where the shell .would emit
three separate balls or masses of a
highly Illuminating and combustible
matter which would burn to a pre
determined time or a period of, say.
10 to 13 minutes . duration. These
widely separate balls or rays would
correspond tc the three-dot unit re
ceived by the Marconi wireless sta
tior.s.
-The plan would be to fire these
' P,4MW' S & 4? Alexnd.r Foster Humphrey. nh. Mole- plan, .rs
MtMmlir S&S&v I ISMl -aid to have enabled Germany -to build .uper-
Sectional -view -of projectile "hon-lni how It
compares la size with an automobile, and also
the arrangement of Inner sheila.
shells once every 24 hours and at
a certain time each day for a period
of three days; then omit for three
days and so on for a month or so.
The strict legularity of these sig
nals would no doubt attract attention
upon Mars and they would attribute
it to human agency. Also the three
dot unit would correspond to one of
their own or Venus' wireless signals.
To accomplish this purpose I have
planned a monster gun or cannon of
special design, and a shell or pro
jectile of special design to meet re
quirements. The shell may be called
a vacuum bottle, multiple shelL
"The gun would be 377 feet long
&nd would weigh perhaps 45,000 tons.
without mountings. In the drawing
I have made it has a bore of 5 feet 10
inches and throws a shell 27 feet a
inches in length. The main charge
of smokeless powder is 10 tons, with
four auxiliary charges of one ton each.
or, in all, 14 tons for one discharge.
"Ordnance makers know that the
length of a gun is automatically set
by the strength of the tube of steel.
If the cannon is too long its own
weight would depress its muzzle 'and
tend to make it curve. Therefore, it
is,obvious that to have its muzzle held
up, adequate supports of some kind
must be provided. This I have done
by means of huere girders.
"Another peculiarity of the cannon
I have designed is that there is no
perceptible atmospheric pressure upon
the nose of the shell as it passes
through the cannon's bore. This at
mospheric pressure is always reck
oned wi;h in other ordnance. Artil
lerists know that when a shell passes
tnrougn tne core or. a gun it com
presses the air before it and therefore
creates a great amount of resistance
to its passage.
"In my cannon a state of vacuum
exists in the bore. After the explosive
charges and shell are placed in posi
tion a cap Is inserted in the muzzle
of the gun which closes the bore. The
air is then exhausted by means of
tubing and the power house plant
The gun is now ready to be dis
charged. If the cap were placed in
the muzzle and the air were not ex
hausted, the gun would burst. The
cap contains a safety plug also. As
the shell passes through the muzzle
it easily ruptures the vacuum cap and
passes on.
"To' keep up a tremendous pressure
on the shell's base as it passes
through tne bore, there are five dis
tinct explosions in its rear. When the
primary charge of 10 tons is ignited
Tke riuct Mars, from drmwlus. marfe Ity Pntenor V"" " """""""'s.
Schlapnrclll, showing tke polar cap and Maxttan s ' V
i V i " ETHER. " EXPLODES-' ' " A
The flight
' Earth
it causes the shell to move forward
and as the shell does this each of the
four auxiliary one-ton charges is ig
nited in succession by the flame .or
burning" gas n the rear of the shell.
"The shell acts as a cork. in front
of the burning gases and as it passes
beyond the, auxiliary charges the
burning gases explode all 'four
charges. The projectile therefore re
ceives five distinct impulses, the
vacuum in the bore could be termed
another, making in all six impulses
Instead of one. as is usual in the ordi
nary .piece of ordnance.
"Now, in reference to the shell it
self. Its velocity would have become
so great that as it passed through the
atmosphere it would perhaps become
overheated and the secondary and sig
nal shells would prematurely explode.
To overcome this, condition the shell
as a whole is covered by an outer cas
ing, with a vacuum between it and the
shell's actual body. . By the time the
shell has passed- above the' at
mospheric belt, 100 miles or so away,
the first shell explodes and projects
upward the secondary and signal
shells. The outer casjng then is no
longer necessary. Later on, at a pre
determined time, the secondary shell
explodes and again the signal shell is
projected farther upward. At its ex
treme height the signal shell ejects
the three balls of combustible mate
rial, spreading them out so they may
be distinctly seen in the light-ray in
terpretation of the wirelessed three
dot unit. -
Launching the Projectile. '
"A projectile discharged from a
gun, if given enough impetus, would
pass up through the earth's atmo
spheric -girdle and far into the ether;
but no human being would be able to
travel' in it for the simple reason that
a certain condition exists which would
make this impossible. When the gun
is fired what artillerists call the 'set
back' occurs in the projectile or shell,
and this applies to any loose body in
the interior, whjch would be hurled
with terrific force to the base and re
main there until the shell or projec
tile had come to rest. At that instant
the body would be. hurled forward
with the same terrfle force toward
the nose of the shell. If it were real
ly to happen that a man-carrying pro
jectile or shell should land upon Mars
and the Martians were to open the
shell, the condition of the human
body within would be so gruesome
that the Martians would conceive us
to be of such an odd shape and con
etruction as to belong to the jelly fish
of the rive-shell projectile from the
toward Mara la Indicated above.
order. This is not a pleasant thought,
but it is based on facts."
Science is so deeply interested and
takes the subject so seriously that
the French Academy of Science has
offered a prize of $20,000 for the most
suitable means of making a sign to a
heavenly body and receiving an an
swer. What the exact cost of aTgun such
as he describes would be the inventor
does, not know. It probably would
IRISH, BOLSHEVIC, HIGH COST AND OTHER
TOPICS CROWD WOMEN QUESTION INTO OBLIVION
War Gave Fair Sex Magnificent Opportunity and They Used It Feminist Advocate of Sex Equality Was
v Out to Fight Against Judgment, Not Opinion Position Believed Established.
BY GEORGE A. BIRMINGHAM.
THE woman question seems to
have disappeared. Of all the
rroblmH w Vi i f-i annoved us and
made life interesting before the war
it is the only one that seems to have
got itself settled. The others, after
a brief rest like trees in winter, have
blossomed out again into fresh and
vigorous life. Ireland is with us still.
There was, indeed, one brief period
when the Irish question ceased to
trouble, when Ireland was, according
to some statesmen, "the one bright
spot." But that did not last ' long.
The Irish problem had become acute
again long before the armistice was
signed. It is just as insoluble' and
just as pressing now as ever it was.
The labor question did not trouble
us much during the war. We knew
it was there and we knew it was not
settled. The moment the war was
over it came up again, like a giant,
not soothed but charged with fresh
vigor by its brief, uneasy sleep.
But .the woman' question has not
come up again. It was . pressing
enough, heaven knows, before the
war, quite as pressing as any other
problem. We all remember the activ
ities of the m'litant suffragettes; the
burnings, breakings and hunger
strikings which used 'to form a regu
lar part of . our daily news. Many
of us recollect still more vividly the
way in which ladies, otherwise
charming, used to tease' us in pri
vate life, insisting on dragging in
their feminist theories on all sorts of
unsuitable occasions. The woman
question was in some ways worse
than any other. Ireland threatened
civil war. Labor muttered about
class war. But the sex war which
cost J500.000 to build the first one. So
delicate would its mechanism be that
only the finest machininlng could be
permitted on it. And the projectiles
alone, weighing an unbelievable num
ber of tons, would have to be placed
In the gun by means of hoisting ma
chinery. Mr. Humphrey has made al
lowances, for use of "a huge electric
crane to do this work.
Mr. Humphrey's idea is that there
are plenty of men of wealth in the
United States who would freely aid
a valid attempt to promote the re
searches of science in its investiga-
some women seemed to have in mind
was far more vexatious to the ordi- I
nary man- It was always possible to j
keep clear of enthusiastic ' Irishmen
and earnest social reformers. No one
could make certain of escaping the
ardently feminist woman. She caught
us everywhere, at the dinner tble,
in railway carriages, in church. And
there was no way of knowing before
hand whether any particular woman
was devoted to the cause or not. The
most unexpected, women developed
the enthusiasm, and not even a pro
fession of conversion saved us from
being bored. I have known men who
were whole-hearted feminists who
would have cheerfully given women
two or, three votes each, .who even
mada public speeches in support .of
the cause. But they did not escape.
Friends or enemies of the sex, we all
suffered; though the friends, I think,
suffered most.
' Now these sufferings are remem
bered only as a bad dream. We are
harassed no longer. It is interesting
to try to find out why. What balm
was there in the war which soothed
and healed this irritating sore?
Of course women, or some of them.
have got votes. But that can scarce
ly be the reason why they have
ceased fussing. No other people ever
Btopped agitating merely because
they got the thing they were agitat
ing for. Agitating is like walking
along a strange road. There is al
ways a corner a little further on. and
we feel that we cannot possibly stop
until we have .seen what lies beyond
it. Besides, the cleverest and most
far-seeing of suffragists always knew
and said that the mere vote was f
; small matter, little more' than a sym
Tbe 377-foot sun designed by Inventor Humphrey -would overtop the dome
ot the capltol at Washington, D. C.
tion of the planets. He is certain
that the gun he has designed is feasi
ble and that there is no chance for a
slipup in its action; elaborate as it
seems. Mechanics alone, he points
out, assure him that after the first
explosion the burning gas will ignite
the other four charges and that the
shell will pass through the bore at
bol; that they wanted much more.
It is not at all likely that these ladies
have settled down quietly because
they have got something so unimpor
tant as the vote. And they have only '
half got the vote. . Kor they are by no
means on an equality with men in
this respect.
Cynical people used sometimes to
say that women only agitated for
votes because they had not got hus
bands and children. But this was
never in the least true. Marriage was
plainly no cure for feminism, and
even that old-fashioned Shakespeare
an remedy, "a Draco of lusty twins,"
did not mitigate the disease of suf
fragism, if indeed it was' a disease.
Also, if want of husbands were the
cause of sex-agitation, it would be
more violent now. There are certain
ly fewer possible husbands Bince the
war and more women must go with
out them. "What ever else the war
did it did not increase the number
of marriageable ' men. ' Are we not
perpetually reminded in our daily pa
pers that there are in these islands a
million or more "superfluous" wom
en? There ought, therefore, accord
ing to the theory of the cynics, to be
a million or more ardent or danger
ous agitators working up a sex war.
But the fact is that women have
stopped agitating altogether.
Nor can we suppose that the chorus
of praise which greeted women's war
activities melted the hearts and, like
the soft answer in the book of Prov
erbs, turned away the wrath of the
militant suffragette.
The fact seems to be that at the
back of the old suffragette agitation
for the vote lay a feeling that women
, were' regarded by men as inferior
just the proper pace to receive the
full impulse of each at the right sec
ond. By means of the vacuum tube
h-e makes a 377-foot tube equal that
of the ordinary 900 or 1000-foot one.
And his plan to return the three-dot
signal with its counterpart in the
light-rays is being favorably received
by other scientists of the country.
creatures, useful, under proper con
trol, for certain inferior kinds of
work, but valuable chieZly as play
things or ministers of comfort. It .
ciniot bj pleasant to any one, it cer
tainly was not pleasant to self-respecting
women, to feel that they
must be either dolls or tea cosies, or
both. The thing was the more acute
ly galling because there was a great
deal of truth in it. That is very much
what women were. The feminist ad
vocate of sex equality was out not
only to fight against an opinion, but
a judgment of women. . She wanted to
alter the fact on which the judgment
was based.
The war gave them a magnificent
opportunity and they used it. Wheth
er men now respect women more than
they did is an arguable question. I
think they do. But it is quite pos
sible, in spite of all the praise of
women's war work, that men think of
them very much as they did before.
But women certainly respect them
selves more. And -that is the essen
tial thing. They have proved beyond
all shadow of doubt that they can do
serious work of the kind previously
done by men and can do it well. They
have established their position as fellow-workers
with men.
Chinese Labor Employed.
PEKIN. As a practical relief meas
ure for the famine district, the Chi
nese government has elaborated a
plan to construct highways from Pe
kin to Honan, to Shantung and to
various parts of ChihH province for
the purpose of giving employment to
the sufferers in those districts. It is
estimated that part of the work to
be "started as soon as possible will
give employment to 600,000 to 1,000,
000 men. The necessary funds are to
be raised by supplementary collec
tions of salt tax and increases in post
and telegraph rates. -
Joker Is Startled.
Life.
Contributor "I have here an orig
inal joke which I ." Editor "My
dear man. you don't look that old."