n a
f3 f to&
The Famous French Priest-Astronomer, Abbe
Moreux, Says That the Earth, Which Once Blazed
Like the Sun, Is Slowly Contracting and Losing
Its Shape, That It Is Doomed to Go Through
"Terrific Convulsions and. That Much of the
Present Land Surface Will Sink Into the Sea
Before the Sea Itself Dries Up.
HEN violent shocks
llko those that lmvo
been felt In the last
few weeks conio to
menace some point
on our planet, ruin
ing cities and spreading desolation
ovor oxtonslvo districts, our unensy
mlndB interrogate science and demand
of It the solution or a problem that has
been mooted for many centuries. Let
a violent earthquake be felt and Im
mediately powers and states In a burst
of spontaneous, Instinctive brotherhood
fool, aB It were, the necessity for com
ing closer to each other; dissensions
will give placo to anxiety over the
common porll, and we, all worry about
this life of ours that Is periodically
threatened by the Instability ,of that
element which wo dignify with the
protontlous namo of terra flrma!
SInco December 28 geologists and
astronomers have submitted to many
an lntervlow. Tho explanations given
by tho former have often seemed In
sufficient, whllo tho latter have gen
erally avoided tho subject. It may
seem presumption on the part of an
astronomor to go to work In territory
reserved for geologists, but to what
science should wo have recourse for
tho story of tho earth's paut. Has not
the astronomer always before his eyes
thousands of suns at nil periods of
their llfo? Does ho not know that
after having shone for a second on tho
clock of time our sun Itself will bo
como oxtlnct and will roll on through
spaco llko the dead suns of tho Milky
Way? Hotter than geology, then, as
tronomy is tho sclcnco which projects
the light of present times upon tho
mysterlos of tho past.
Millions of years ago our humblo
little earth shono,with Its own light,
a blazing star; It also warmed its
satellite, just as tho sun to-day dis
penses to us Its light nud fts heat;
but in Its dizzy courso around tho sun,
In Its Intersidereal voyago among the
constellations of heaven, llko the sun,
It never repasses tho same placo, and
Jts original heat has quickly been dis
sipated by contact with tho cold of
space, which modern sclcnco estimates
nt 273 degrees Centrlgrado below zero.
Birth of Life on Earth.
Little by little it became enveloped
In a thick mantle of clouds, just like
Juplt?r at tho present time. Then came
tho final moment: Upon Its surfaco
f?lF MAP OF
there formed a crust, which lmprls
anon within It a core, gaseous, liquid,
and at a high temperature. The geo
logical periods began, llfo appeared
in tho warm waters, whllo the cold,
ovor at work, wns lucossnntly causing
tho Internal mass to contract, soon the
shell became too largo for tho liquid
mass Inside, and It wns tllon thnt tho
wrinkles appeared In tho bark those
rldgos which later were to give birth
to our ranges of mountains.
Put nothing In nature Is made with
out law. It had ulways boon believed
that the ups and dowiiB of tho sur.
faco wore formed nil her by chance
until Lowthlan Green, about 40 years
ago, suggested tho general process by
which tho continents were formed,
wrltos tho Abbo Moreux, curator of
the obsorvatory at Hruges, llelglum, In
tho New York World. At first treated
with derision, Green's theory at last
camo undor the high patronngo of M.
Ua Lapparent In Frnnce. From tho
point of view of the astronomer, many
points remained to bo cleared up. This
is tho work which 1, in collaboration
hir waiiy
tare
Earth ?
with my friend Col. du Llgondos, have
succeeded In accomplishing In these
last few years, in 1902 1 indicated
Just whnt might bo drawn from tho
Bketch mado by Green to explain tho
theory of volcanoes and enrthquakos.
A few linos will sulllco to make tho
reader understand the hypothesis.
Tho earth Is round, of thnt there Is
no doubt; Its rotary movement has
swollen it at the equator and llatleucd
It nt the poles. Such Is the general
formula which has now become clas
sic. Hut Its volume diminishing from
tho effects of cooling, the earth lias
reached the condition of a balloon
from which tho gas Is escaping little
by little. It Is tending toward tho
shape of a pyramid with four fncea
and four apexes.
The Terrestrial Globe.
Examine a terrestrial globe. Three
of tho faces are represented by de
pressions tho hollow of the Pacific,
tho Atlantic ocean and the Indian
ocean. To theso depths correspond
ovor tho sixtieth parallel north three
of the apexes of our pyramid, which
becamo prominent very early, as the
vast layers of primeval rocks bear wit
ness. Theso nre the Canadian height,
that or the Hnltlc and that of Siberia,
tho center of which is found not far
from Irkutsk. From these thrco apexes
radiate, like continental backbones.
branchoB which, with moro or less In
terruption, oontlnuo to the South Pole.
Since tho voyage of Nnnsen we hnve
known that tho fourth fnco of tho
pyramid can bo placed In tho great
Arctic basin, whllo tho Antarctic con
tinent forms tho fourth apex of our
pyramid.
It Is around theso ridges and theso
npexes, which have remained stablo
throughout tho great geological peri
ods and hnve formed, so to Bpeak, the
Bkelcton of tho dry land, that what
may bo called the slow revolutions of
the globe will continue to take placo.
All tho genernl phenomena of tho sur
faco of tho earth can bo explained by
thrco Bpoclos of movemonts:
1. Each face of tho pyramid In Its
center follows tho core In Jts con
traction. Thus, It Is a sinking move
ment which lias formed tho great de
pressions of tho oceans.
2. At tho edges of tho faceB, that
Is to say, round about the ridges, we
llnd lateral compressions of tho crust,
which tend to cause movemonts from
(OPJ: AS YS
below upward. There It Is that tho
fractures tuke place.
Regions of Earthquakes.
.1. As the earth's crust grows thicker
the Inclined plnneB between the faces
and tho rldgcB havo a marked ten
dency to dislocation. Theso regions
nro gradually rejoining the depths of
a sort of slow but constant downward
movement. There also wo expect to
find the regions of earthquakes, and
wo shall seo that oxporlonco confirms
this vlow. In the courso or gcologlcul
times othor very Important wrinkles
havo boon produced hero and thoro.
Theso genornlly tend to a direction
porpendlculnr to the prlmltlvo frac
tures. As for tho parts or the crust which
lie In the Inclined planes In the neigh
borhood of volcnnlc roglons, thoy will
always, becauso of their tendency to
slip down among tho parts that havo
alroady fallon, be subjoot to a falling
movement, and will bo specially fa
vored In tho way of earthquakes.
It 1h thus that my theory has tho
advantage of explaining tho doublo
phenomenon of volcano nnd nmli
quako bj the process of tho contrnr
tlon of the earth. And we shall but
how experience absolutely confirms
thin theory.
Let us take up the terrestrial glob
on which we marked the ridge and
tho npexos of our pyramfd. Around
theso resisting points the continents
lmvo been formed and the lilies of dis
location will be easy to recognise. Vol
canoes, old or new, are all grouped
around just those points that mark
tho limits of the broken parts. Ah this
Is on Mercator's projection, thaaphore
sprend out Into a plan, the three
rldgos of tho pyramid have become,
llko the 'meridians, parallel lines.
Alougsldo the greRt American ridge
an uninterrupted votcaulo lino Is seen.
Around tho second are grouped tho
volcnnlc district of Iceland and Jan
Mayon, the extinct volcanoes of An
vorgno (In France), the volcnnlc ro
glons of Sicily nnd eastern Africa. A
third lino, which Joins the first by
way of tho Aleutian Islands, surrounds
tho third ridgo, and mis is made up of
tho volcanic regions of the Kuril
Islands, Japan, the Hast Indies und
Now Zealand.
Unite at South Pole.
All these files of lire unite at tho
south polo around tho fourth apex,
which Is tho Antarctic continent, the
borders of which show us also signs of
the same kind, with the volcanoes Ere
bus and Torror.
Hut this Is not all. You may have
noticed that the three groat ridges or
the pyramid tend toward the east.
This Is due to a well-known law or me
chanics, which provides that every
planet which diminishes In volume In
creases Its speed or rotation. Tho
three great apexes or summits of tho
northern hemisphere arose very onrly,
and us they were further away from
the center of the earth than regions
further to the south they, Tor this
reason, dragged behind; and so all the
southern part of the globe accelerated
Us rotary movement in respect to the
northern part; hence, a dislocation J
which caused what geographers call
the "mediterranean depression," that
immense deprosston which, from tho
Antilles to tho Pnellle, passing by
way of tho Mediterranean sea, tho
Pcrslnn gulf and tho East Indies,
forms oho of tho zones of least resls
tunco on tho crust of tho earth. There
Is also found along this one of the
most sharply nccontuated of volcanic
lines.
Aa for tho earthquakes, the area
that they cover Is, 'as tho theory
would lead us to oxpect, much vaster
In extent. In fact, thoy occupy thoso
roglons that may bo compared to In
clined pianos. Thoy arc, to a certain
extent, Independent of the volcnnoos,
and Intimately related to tho steep Hi
cllnos of tho earth's surface. This
explains tho fact that tho centers of
shaking are In general lucallzed In
tho mnrlno abysses along tho lines of
high relief.
To Bo Answered by Time.
When the orust of tho earth shall
have become too thick to bend before
theso periodical oscillations what will
become of our globe? When the pres
sure upon tho internal core shall be
felt perpetually, how will those gasns
behave which are compressed in that
Iniinenso rosorvoir from which wo aro
separated by such an Insignificant
crilst? Terrific convulsions will then
menace our miserable planet.
Ask an astronomor to show you the
tormented nnd Bhattored face of our
satellite; the surface of the moon
shows uh, very probably, the desolate
aspect of a world In which volcanic
action, In the spasms or frightful
agony, has put an end to all planetary
life.
Cataclysms will transform our earth,
und at that time the volcnnoes of the
central plateau will warn mankind that,
tho Htablllty of tho earth is a vain
word. Everything passes, everything
changes, nothing Is stablo, except lie
who created tho world and who gives
to men when It pleases him such
grand and terrible lessons.
The Abbo Moreux in his attlele goes
Into details of what theso changes that
ho describes are likely to do to Eu
rope. Amficnii readers will find it
moro Interesting lo consider what will
bo tholr effect upon North America.
Applying the abbe's reasoning, it is
possible to make a forooust. Physicul
geographers tell us that too great
chains of mountains which stretch
from Canada to South Cuiollnu were
thrown up nt very onrly periods,
though separated by relatively wide
Intervals. Tho oldest rooks on the
continent are those of the LaurejiUau
mountains, In Quebec. The Ad Iron
lnol:n woro an Island before tlui Cut
I skill;) or tho Alleghunlos had risen
fuiT tt: v. r.icr. lint tho lino which
Fittti'M Moreux calls tho American
rldgo. beginning In Hudson bay nnd
extending through the West Indies and
South America to tho t-outh pole, is,
roughly spoaklug, tho buckbono of the
continent and follows the general lino
Of the Appalachian, chain. TIiIb part
of the country Is destined to rlee even
higher, while the central plateau, from
tho great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,
forming as it does one of the nreas ot
least resistance, will be submerged.
New York's Probable Fate.
And what ot New York? Tho geol
ogists toll us that the city lies on tho
edge of an enormous fault, tho Pall
sadesof the Hudoonhnvlnr. been thrown
up by some glnnt organism of nature
whllo the land to the east of them
dropped, tho actual lino of breakage
being the bod of tho Hudson. Any
furthor shock at this point would In
teuslfy this life of the Palisades and
this drop of tho land to tho oast ot
them, so the prospect 1h that some day
tho harbor and the II tut sun river will
rise and ongulf the city.
Tho ltocky niountnlUB, while com
paratlvely distinct fioin tho principal
ridge of tho continent, nre, In a sense,
a duplication of It. They were thrown
up by a fearful cataclysm, which left
the depths of tho Pacitlc in the hollow
beyond them. Many ot thorn uro evi
dently volcanoes, quiet now, ho far as
those In tho United States aro con
corned, hut still active In Moxlco, Con
tral America and Alaska. A shock ol
vast extent would lift thorn evon high
or, and all tho prairies would sink Into
the gulf between them and tho Alio
gunnies.
Thus will the union bo disrupted
by an ocoan separating tho Pnclllc
states from what Is loft of tho At
lantic states!
Shall wellvotosoolt? Who can tell?
These cataclysms como without warn
I bis?, but it Is rea-surlng to remembei
that they come at intervals of tens ol
thousands of years, and that tho earth
has not yet cooled to n point nt which
living persons need Ho awako worry
lng In dread of tho giant spasm that
will moan tho death agony of this old
oarth of ours.
THE ROMANCE OF THE CHEST
Article of Furniture Often Mentioned
In Old Books and Manuscripts.
The term "colTor" Is rightly applied
only to the very earliest specimens ot
those boxes, when thoy had but a sin
glo panel and woro bound with Iron
or made of great strength. Such ar
ticle us those aro called In old books
und mnnuscrlptH "trussing chests" or
"standards." "Hutch" was another
term applied to those standing clients
and thoy were so importnnt thnt you
cannot road any of those valuable old
records llko "Tho Paston Letters" ot
Ilowoll's letters nor tho records of ouj
own early settlors without finding
ninny references to the chost, begin
nlng with thnt small kind known, as a
"Ulblo box" and running through nil
tho varieties which could ho brought
or nindo here. Although the chest
grow Into tho chost of drawers, the
slmplo box-llko form remained In use
till about 1810, for 1 still find them re
corded In inventories nnd wills till
about thnt date.
Italian chosts or "cnssonl" were al
ways goniH or art. On them not only
the artist artisan, hko the carver and
Inlnyer, displayed his best handiwork,
but the artist himself painted on them
loves and cupldoueu, masks and must
cal Instruments, llowerH and festoons
lot ling his fancy have full play when
It was applied lo a innrrlugo chost or
one of thoso elegant little coffers in
which some noble lady kept her store
of "grwnte penrlos." her girdles and
rings, her chulns tilled with Jewels of
brilliant color and groat worth. , Such
chests had ponderous locks ooucenled
to somo extent aiu'.d Iho ornament or
within the chest ItHelf.
Venomous Flah.
It Is ouriouH that whllo so much
has boon written In our Innguago on
snake bltos there ljas been rompura
tivoiy nttio placed on record concern
lug the stings or llshes.
Snake bites are rare in this couu
try, hut (lsh slings aro very common
especially among fishermen and fish
mongers. The fishes Unit most often
sting are tho great and llltlo wcov
ers. A prick on the hand or foot from
a weevor causes much Bwolllng and In
llnnimatlou.
H the ami Is alfectcd tho Inflamnm'
tlon may spread to the shoulder, tho
swollliiK of tho whole limb being enor-
moils. Tho pain Is agonizing, tho pa
Uent often falling Into a slate of col
lupse or Ijocomlng delirious. Usually
the fnlUutiinatloit subsldos la about
tint days, followed by desquamation
The Odd Happening
of My. David Cobb
(Copyright, by Dally Story Tub. Co,)
The city had had an attack of
morality and nil gaming houses and
hookmnklng offices were closed up ob
cIosob tho clam. Cities linvo these
spasms as n man has the colic, Tho
ono stops gambling and tho other
eschowB cucumbers for a while.
A certnln firm of bookmakers did
not resign themselvos to tho flat of
tho law. Thoy procured a copy of tho
edict and scrutinized It ob they were
wont to exnmlno tho progrnm for tho
day's races. They discovered In tho
statute an aperture through which
they could drive the metuphorlcnl
horso and wagon. The law forbado
hookmnklng save on race courses
whoro racofl woro bolng run. Strnlght-
way thoy leased for a song n disused
half-mile track near tho city, ran two
plugB over It every day for a purso of
llvo dollars nnd mado bookB on every
raco from ShcopBhcad Pay to tho Pa
cific coast, if tho law frowned Hint's
all It could do.
The peaceful little vlllngo whoroln
was tho race courso became traiiB
rormed. Farmers studied dopo shoota
is they guided the plow and talked
knowingly of mud-larks and cinches.
Everybody became n sporting man
nnd nmoijg them David Cobb, the vil
lage carponier.
Cobb wub Bore Binllteu with tho bet
ting dlscnsc. It would hnve puzzled
him to try to mime the boundaries of
his, Btate, but ho knew tho pedlgreo of
nrc'tty much all tho horses running
and once afid a while ho won a bet.
A felicitous run of luck which Mr.
Cobb had been enjoying suddenly
changed and fortune ever, a caprl-
Ioub Jndo, turned her bnck on him. Ho
couldn't win a bet and one August day
found himself penniless. Ho sat
gloomily on n trcstlo In front of the
blacksmith's shop listlessly rending
tho entries for the day, Mr. Qulnn, n
dlsqualllled Jockey from ono of tho big
He Was Dressed or Rather Undressed.
tracks and now u betting room tout,
vnmo languidly across tho road and
accosted him.
"Dave," said ho, "1 havo It,"
So great was Mr. Cobb's depression
that ho made no Inquiry aa to what
Mr. Qulnn possessed.
"Horo'n a lotter from a man who
givoB mo only two or three tips a year
and they never fall down. Here It Ib:
Lucky Dog will win tho socond handi
cap raco at tho Pay Wednesday. Got
on It.' Now, Dnvo, horo'B our chance
to mako a good stnko ror tho Bcason."
"What's tho uso or talkln'?" asked
Mr. Cobb, dligustcdly. "What's u tip
to a man who's got nary a cent to hot
on It?"
"Can't you raise ten dollars?" In
quired Mr, Qulnn, Interestedly.
"I enn't beg, borrow nor steal a dol
lar let alono ton, And there's no Job
o' work I can get."
"Dusted, eh?" and Mr, Qulnn walked
off Booking another capitalist.
For Bomo reason the namo "Lucky
Dog" kept dinning Itself Into Mr.
Cobb's ears all day and all tho next
day. Ho felt a presclonco that tho
horse would win albeit that IiIb ro
searches disclosed that ho had only
run onco in tho fur west.
Two o'clock on tho eventful Wednes
day on which tho tip wbb expected
to muterlallzo found Mr. Cobb abed.
Ho had not. arisen for ho reasoned
with logic that a man who could not
raise tho insignificant sum of u dollar
may an well lie In bed as stand on his
feel. Anothor point was that Mrs.
Cobb had proclaimed with acerbity in
tho morning that, aa the breakfast
and dinner would result from her In
dividual earnings he would not bo ox
pected to participate In tho repasts.
Mr. Cobb lay pi ono nnd gnashed his
teeth when ho thought of tho busy
Bcono In tho betting room nearly op
posite to his house. Already the odds
woro up against Lucky Dog, ir ho
should win Mr. Cobb folt suro he
would roam at tho mouth like a mad
man, No one could stand such a
buffet f loin fortune as that.
A man with a truculent faco came
down tho dusty highway nad Mrs,
Cobb glimpsing him ran upstairs. Sho
opened tho Hlblo lying on tho bureau
and taking something from between
its loaves turned to her husband.
"The collector Is coming for tho
rent," sho sold. "If I had not taken
ten dollars from your winnings one
night und made ton moro myself by
H
sewing wo would nil be turned out In
tho road for we owe two months," and
she hold up two ton-dollar notes.
This was nn unwlso move. An old
saw Btiycth, "let Bleeping dogs Ho" and
It might bo applied to recumbent hus
bands. Tho sight of thoso two ten
dollar notes acted on tho raw norvoufl
system of Mr. Cobb as might a gal
vanic battery. Ho sprang from tho
bed nnd snatching the notes closed
thorn up In his hand.
Then Mrs. Cobb executed a diplo
matic movement worthy of Talleyrand.
She caught her husband's clothes
that woro on a chair and clasped them
against her body. Tho two glared at
each other.
In tho menutlmo tho truculent man
was knocking nt tho front door.
"Open tho door nnd como upstairs,'1
called Mra. Cobb to tho truculent man
from tho window.
Mr, Cobb'B oyes roved around the
room. Ho hoard tho front door open
and then ho stooped nnd passed
through the window onto tho porch
roof. He let himself down from the
spouting and dropped to tho ground.
Ho speeded for tho betting room chid
In his night shirt.
"Stop him," screamed Mrs Cobb to
tho truculent man, "he's got your
money."
Tho truculent man dnshed after tho
fleeing Cobb with Mrs. Cobb close at
his heels. Urchins along; tho road de
lighted at the sight of a man hi a
night shirt sprinting in front ot a
stout man and a bony woman ac
claimed the trio vociferously.
However, Mr. Cobb hud too good a
lead, besldeB ho was dressed or rather
undressed for running and ho entered
tho betting room door fully three
lengths ahead of tho truculent man.
Hcnchlng the desk Mr. Cobb saw that
the raco In which Lucky Dog wub al
ready marked "at tho post" and ho had
but little time.
"Lucky Dog to win," ho said, hand
ing the two notes to tho bookmaker.
"They're off,' called tho man nt tho
telegraph Instrument.
"Ono hundred and sixty to twenty,"
Lucky Dog," drawled the hookmnkor,
handing Mr. Cobb tho ticket.
Tho truculent man loaned bver tho
desk und said, gaspingly:
"That money'n mine."
"That moncy'H now on Lucky Dog,
He's running nt tho rate of a mile in
ono mlnuto nnd forty BOcondB," re
marked tho bookmaker, "If you can
catch him nnd tnko it oft you're wel
como to It."
Oppressed by thin problem tho" truc
ulent man wiped his brow and tho
man nt tho wire cnllcd, "Lucky Dog
at tho quortcr."
"Lucky Dog at tho half by two
lengths," called tho operator.
Mr. Cobb was standing on ono bare
foot.
"Lucky Dog in tho' stretch, nil whip
ping," called the man at tho wire.
Thon Mr. Cobb, tho Bweat dripping
from his race, lifted up his voice.
"Como on Lucky Dog. Como on old
horse. , You're ' running for Davo
Cobb."
"Lucky Dog wins, easy by a length,"
cnllod tho oporntor.
Thon Mr. Cobb chnngod Into a danc
ing dervish and spun around uttering
odd ejaculations.
"Pay off Lucky Dog tickets," called
tho bookmuker.
Mr. Cobb received $180. Ho handed
$20 to the truculent man with tho
mien or a Roman conqueror dividing
up a captured kingdom. Ho tossed $50
into his wlto's apron and Bought to
put tho balance la his own pockot but
round no bucIi convenience. Ho looked
down and saw how ho waB nttlrod.
Thon ho bluBhcd nnd darted home
wards. Americano Spending Less In Paris.
Amorlcun travelers abroad, upon re
turning homo, nro roportfng with
greuter rroqnoncy that they havo been
ndvlsed by American consular rcpro
Hontnllvoft to savo their money and
buy at homo. A Tow years ngo a con
sul who took any Interest In American
nlfalrs except polltlcH mid his salary
was a rarity. In Paris alono American
Importations during tho past year
wore $21,000,000 less than In 1907. At
Hint they amounted to more than $12,
000,000. There woro two othor con
trlbutlng causes to tho rail In Paris
snlcB to' Americans, tho financial di
presstou and tho fact that London Is
rapidly taking the placo of Paris in
tho great European market for Amoii
cans.
The Trunk of the Elephant.
Tho long trunk of the elophnnt is
very, very wonderful. Tho nock of
four-footed animals Is usually long, to
ennblo them to reach their food with
out difllenlty; but the olophaut luui
a short neck to ennblo him more easi
ly to support the weight of his huge
head and heavy tusks. Tho long trunk
helps him to get his food, and the
trunk Is to an elephant what a long
neck Is to othor animals.
American Burial Caskets In Demand.
Amerlcnn burial caskets in consid
erable numbors are now oxportod to
various foreign countries, Including
the West Indies and South America,
and England, South Africa, and Alts-trnllu.