The Canal system on Mars is comparatively new. The idea of constructing a planetary Canal system had its incipiency at the time of Christ's visit to our planet. The Master warned the people that they must make provision for their future water supply. At that time (10,000 years ago) the water supply was becoming noticeably scarcer as time went on. It was nearly 3,000 years after the Master's mission to Mars had been concluded that actual construction of the Planetary Canal system was undertaken; and during the intervening 7,000 years and up to the present time, construction on the public waterways has continued.
At the present day the system is most complete, but constant work is required to keep the canals in working order. In addition to the gigantic Canal system, provision had to be made for suitable reservoirs to impound the water after the seasonal thaws at the poles. To this end immense reservoirs were constructed at most canal intersections. In some instances the reservoirs are established between parallel canals; but in every case smaller canals, or laterals, always intersect at these points.
Many of the canals on Mars are double, as they appear to your astronomers. These double waterways parallel each other at a distance of about 75 miles. The reason for this is that as the Martian population is absolutely dependent upon the Polar waters to irrigate their crops, any accident to a canal, such as a landslide stopping the regular flow of water or the breaking of a lock or gate, would mean a very serious calamity to a great number of people. And for that reason, soon after the main canals were constructed, second and parallel waterways were made for the purpose of guaranteeing an uninterrupted flow of water from the Poles to the Equatorial regions. The result of this was that on many occasions the foresight of the Martian engineers who had the water supply of the planet in charge, saved immense areas from drought.
The rainfall on Mars is almost nil and the immense population (eight times larger than that of your Earth) is entirely dependent on the water supply from the melting Polar caps. Water on Mars is a most precious fluid and there is none to waste. Our oceans evaporated ages ago, and outside of the precipitation of moisture at the poles in the form of snow, none is to be had anywhere else on the planet except in very meager quantities.
The astronomer Lowell of your Earth, who made a life study of our planet, called these reservoirs "Oases," but he was mistaken in his theory. He concluded that these points, which appear as round disks in the telescope, were centers of population. This conclusion is erroneous. The centers of population on Mars are scattered over the entire planet regardless of the position of the so-called "Oases." It is quite true that owing to the rapid evaporation of water in the comparatively thin atmosphere of Mars, the dewfall for quite a radius from the center of the reservoirs is considerable, with the result that vegetation springs up, giving the "Oases" the appearance of a diameter of about 75 miles. The reservoirs are about 60 miles across and hold millions of gallons of water.
The same explanation may be given of the Canals. The dewfall on each side is extensive, and the vegetal growth which extends the full length of the water-ways and for thousands of miles in some cases, is most prolific.
The water in the canals, in most instances, is distributed by gravity; but recourse is had to a lock system and to immense pumps for raising the water to proper levels.
The gates of the lock system and the pumps are operated by electricity, the control of which energy is well understood by us. In fact, we are centuries ahead of your Earth people in the knowledge of the use of Electro-magnetic energy. (More will be given on the subject of Electricity in a later chapter.)
Another source of mystery to your astronomers has been the appearance of triangular dark spots at the origin of some of the Martian canals. These have been referred to by your astronomer Lowell as "Carets," named so by reason of their peculiar shape. These so-called "Carets" are the thoughtful provision for the impounding of a season's supply of water. In other words they are in part a lock system for raising water to the level of some of the main canals, and embrace also a prodigious pumping system.
These so-called "Carets," as the telescope will show, are located at the edge of some of what appear to you as very dark areas on our planet. These dark areas are Mars' old sea bottoms, and in many instances have been utilized by our engineers as natural reservoirs for water. Their convenient location near the Poles has provided ideal facilities for the preservation of an adequate supply of water.
The construction of Mars' gigantic Canal system, planetary in its extent, might seem to your Earth people an impossible task. And it might prove so to your Earth dwellers should you undertake a similar project in the ages to come when your seas dry up, though it must be remembered that gravity on Mars, compared with your Earth, is as 38 to 100. Excavations of large waterways then becomes a comparatively easy task. We have no high mountains on Mars; in fact, none exceeding 3,000 feet in altitude.
Owing to the difference in gravity the angle of repose on Mars is nearly acute as against 45 degrees on your Earth, which permits of almost perpendicular walls to the canals and lessens the danger of landslides and cave-ins. But above all, the biggest advantage enjoyed by us in the construction of large public enterprises, such as are embraced by our Canal system, is the solidarity and unity of purpose on the part of the Martian people. As Love rules our planet no internal dissension or public misunderstanding exists among its people to retard any undertaking that is necessary for the good of all.
It is lamentable that the dwellers on your Earth are divided against one another. Not only are your false ideals of racial, sociological and religious distinctions a bar to your Spiritual and material progress, but your political and economic falsities are as millstones around your necks, which will ultimately lead you to destruction unless you, as a people, retrace your steps and go back to the pathway pointed out by Christ the Master 2,000 years ago, when He came to your Earth with a message from the Most High. The pathway is LOVE which leads to a true understanding of God and the Kingdom referred to by Christ.
The Martian canals, as telescopic observation will prove in almost all cases, follow straight lines. When necessary, mountains have been cut through down to a proper level. Where the canals cross depressions or old sea-bottoms, immense aqueducts have been constructed of solid stone and concrete in such a manner that the water, in most cases, flows to its destination by gravity.
That this has been a stupendous task may be more readily imagined when it is known that the width of the main canals averages from one to twenty miles. This announcement might seem to many unreasonable, but it must be remembered that the volume of water distributed over 212,000,000 square miles of territory is immense. You might ask where this large volume of water comes from.
The POLAR CAPS! During the Martian winter these extend down nearly to the equator, and cover about five-sevenths of the planet's surface when at maximum; and as the snowfall averages from six inches at the edge of the caps to 50 feet at and near the actual Poles, some idea may be gained of the amount of moisture taken care of by these artificial waterways. Ten feet of snow will make 12 inches of water, so there exists on Mars an ample supply for all purposes.
(NOTE—The question as to why many of the canals germinate has been a perplexing one to our astronomers. Lowell observed that many of the main canals germinated a short time after the commencement of the Martian summer, and for a time it was thought that the phenomena might be an optical illusion, and the latter theory was considered seriously by some observers until the double canals were actually photographed at the Flagstaff observatory, but the cause of the doubling was never solved until the receipt of these revelations.)
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