Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1907)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 10, 1907. '. ::v' I This Is the Theory of .- I- , i 'l V ' v vv. j Dr. T. J. J. See, Government Astronomer, J SSSrt";spSiSKSj I -''WW- " Who Has Just Made it Public : ' ' WV 1 jt.;- . V v Volcanoes and Earthquakes v j; jrV $jf ' :vV:vjj . Caused by Ocean Leaks, the Water Fail- " j rf T v, v V'l - Ing on Molten Material V y:': 1 ! ret'&.' - fN U-j-mj Jy y-M ' m&3Y, -''-'. lr. . .r- u' M e-fwfffl r . Wmmm v.' '"-J I k -I i i -? f .ajn I Wa w bhm Br-" - . .1 Z3?e.-S" BY JOHN ELFRKTH WATKIXS. EARTH 1b probably swelling rather than Bhrfnking, and is not more than 10.0d0.0tW years old. The shaping of her mountains, islands and plateaus, and the generation of her earth quakes, volcanoes and seismic sea waves have resulted not from contractions due to earth's cooling, but by explosions of steam generated by ocean water leaking through her crust. These theories, at tacking established notions as to the past and future of earth, have just been an nounced to his fcl'.ow-scientlsta by the well-known astronomer. Dr. T. J. J. See, professor of mathematics. United States Navy. How Our Oceans Leak. Our ocean bottoms are leaking through earth's crust, and this crust is composed of from 10 to 20 miles of solid rock, like granite, according to Professor See. Thts leakage is going on from ace to age and Js not periodic. The enormous pressurs of our oceans enables their water to fil ter through a rocky shell of such a thick- Ttess as 20 miles. Just beneath this solid ' crusi lies mouen roc-K. or what we- com monly call lava. The water leaking from the sea on encountering this 1Ot lava generates steam, which at times causes explosions. These "convulsions are the only cause of earthquakes and volcanoes. Jf other vapor besides steam is at work rieneath the crust, why does It not escape through the vents o. volcanoes, nsks Dr. See. And, Mf this steam comes from the central materials of the globe, why "Ilo not volcanoes and earthquakes occur In the interior of continents, as well as along the coasts, on islands and In the depths of the sea? How Mountains Are Formeil. When the tension of the imprisoned team under the oceans becomes very great. It finally causes the earth's crust to yield along the ocean's margins, ' and mountains are pushed up where the crust breaks parallel to the coast. When na avenue of escape Is thus once opened for the lava. It continues active and the mountains grow higher and higher, un less meanwhile the sea recedes to too great a distance. The maps of the ocean depths compiled by our coast and goedetlc survey show how the earthquake belts of the world, as laid down by tho great au thority. Professor Milne, follow the deep trenches of the sea. These trenches are very long, narrow and deep, and are ex actly paralleled by chains of islands rising out of the sea mountain ranges under water. The expulsion of lava from under these trenches has raised all adjacent mountain ridges, and when thus undermined the t sea bottom has sunk, according to Dr. See. Thus moun tain ranges are formed in tho, sea and are eventually raised above the wnter, and hence they run so exactly parallel to the shore. j The Himalayas were formed by the ex- f WW . . TELESCOPE pulsion of lava from beneath the Indian Ocean. The effect of the ocean there has not ceased and is still gradually raising the Himalayas. The elevation of the Andes, too, has been caued by lavas being expelled from beneath the sea and pushed up under the land. The established theory, accounting for mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes hitherto, is that as the earth has cooled the interior molten mass has contracted or shrunk away from the crust just as the water of a frozen river falls below the ice on top. The crust has then co!- lapsed from time to time, forming enor mous rents and fissures through which molten rock exuded and formed moun tains. V But there has been no sensible contrac tion in the earth's crust since our globe attained its present dimensions, according to Dr. See. How Ear tli Was Made. It seems likely that In the formation of earth meteorites and finer planetary dust came together at such a rate that the whole new planet thus constituted was made to glow. Its greatest heat being at the center. Then as our planet grew in mass by the addition of other materials derived from meteorites Its pressure In creased also and eventually became so great as to prevent circulation oj those heat currents caused by warmer mate rials rising to the top. At length th surface, gradually cooled by radiation, grew dense and solid, and thus arose the Incrusted earth. Only one half of the original heat caused by the condensation of the sphere has probably been radiated away, and an equal amount therefore probably remains stored up inside earth's crtwt.. Observations seem to prove that In transmitting earthquake waves our globe behaves as if it were a solid throughout, which indicates that the mol ten matter under the crust is under sucb pressure that It acts as an elastic solid. Oreat increase of pressure toward tin center gives it an enormous rigidity, prob ably between that of Bessemer steel and nickel steel. This Indicates that no cur rents can circulate at great depths, and It Is obviously untrue, as some geologists Imagine, that liquid lava is expelled from deep down In our globe. Hoots of Volcanoes Down 20 Miles' The roots of our volcanoes are seldom deeper than 30 miles, said Dr. See. Lavas have not come up from great depths since earth's crust began to form. ' Xo cur rents were stirring at any considerable depth even when the surface of earth was wrapped In flaming fluid. Not even have our world-shaking earthquakes been known to originate at a greater depth than 30 or 40 miles. Earthquakes arise either in the crust of earth or in the layer just beneath. Deeper movements would be tar more territie than our world-shak lug earthquakes of today, but would be of more nearly equal intensity throughout the world. The preservation of the ruins of some of our oldest classic tem ples proves that no really deep-seated convulsion of earth has occurred within the last 2OC0 or 3000 years. Such sup posed convulsions as have always been popular In geology have not really taken place, for the great continents have not greatly changed their places. " All im portant changes in the earth's -crust have been due to external agencies, princi pally earthquakes caused by the leakage of the seas and seldom extending below 15 or 20 miles. 4 . Earth Expanding. The earth is not now shrinking, nor has It been at any time since the consolida Personal Recollections of John L. Sullivan His Visits to the White House Always Marked by Decorum Every Square Fighter a Gentleman. Br JOHN L. SULLIVAX. w HILE I was down in New Or leans a while ago, some of the oldtimcrs who called to see me stirred up something that had escaped me. and one of the tales had to do with the sad story of how Arthur Chambers, and Billy Edwards were robbed of their diamonds and wads, once upon atime. Chambers, who is now in Philadel phia, and Edwards hit New Orleans af ter they'd been chased around the coun try by the cops while trying to pull off some fights in the good old way, and when they reached New Orleans theV were entertained in great shape, in the old way fighters were enter tained, made to fall off the water wagon as often as possible. Chambers got talking to a sport who was considerable of a joker, and Ar thur told him what t fine place New Orleans was. and how much he en joyed the welcome to our city busi ness that had been served up to him and Billy. "Yes, New Orleans would he a nice place, if it wasn't for the ear bugs," savs the joker. "Hear bugs," says Arthur, "wot's them?" "Whyj do you mean to say you sleep without cotton in your ers to keep out the ear bugs?" asks the sport. "So 'dp me. Hi never 'eard of them," responded Arthur. "Well, you're a goner some night if you don't pack'cotton in your ears, for these bugs crawl In, dig their way into your brains and eat them up. leaving you dead as a mackerel in the morn ing," says the sport, as solemn as an owl. That night Edwards and Chambers slept in the same room and Arthur In duced Billy to use the cotton, same as tion of Its crust commenced, said the as tronomer. Far from contracting. It may be in reality very slightly expanding. This expansion is due to the formation, nearly everywhere heneath earth's crust, of pumice which is elevated by the steam forming under the oceans. Time the level of the continents is raised, in spite of the erosion of the surface rocks. The ocean level Is perhaps rising slight r, al though there Is a continuous lowering of the strand line. Earth Once Tetrahedron? The theory that the earth was origi nally a tetrahedron was dismissed by Dr. See as not even a plausible delusion. Even were our planet as stiff as steel and given a tetrahedral form, the corners, he said, would be crushed down and the figure rapidly rounded up under its own attrac tion. A column of the stlffest granite or steel would not stand over five miles high without crushing or vaporizing at the he did." They packed it in so tight that they didn't hear the thieves getting Into the room during the night; and in the morning everything they had that was worth while was gone. Xever Talked Loud In White House. I've shaken hands in tjir White House with every President since Garfield waa on the job. All of them treated me fine. Every visit I made to the White House was written up in the newspapers, and there was a lot of punk in some of the newspapers. One reporter said I squeezed President Arthur's hand so hard that it nearly broke the bone Britt didn't break when he fought Gans: another said I offered to put on the gloves with Mr. Arthur to show him how we brought home the money.' Nothing to it. I didn't turn any hand springs In the White House. No President I ever saw had anything on me, and I didn't let any of them throw any harpoons into me. We met as American citizens, and they couldn't show me that they ever did any more for this country than I did. When you size it up, there are places where I had -the call as champion among people who think the United States is a place inhabited by injuns and cowboys, and they don't know whether we have a king or an emperor to boss us. I got along with Roosevelt easier than any of the other Presidents. We felt like college chums, anyway, as he comes from Harvard, and I came from nearby. He treated me well when I called to see him, and he never had any occasion to ask me to lowermy voice. They say Sharkey tried to show President McKin ley the tattoo work on his chest, and that Charley Mitchell wanted o bend the knee like they do in England when he called at the White House, but none of this foolishness can be tin-canned to nie. 1 went to the White House like a base, and a solid pyramid, such as would form the corners of a tetrahedron, could attain no vast height before It would begin to spread at the base and flow from Its own weight, even if formed of the hardest material. There is thus a limit to the height at which even mountains coud stand, although thLs seems never to have been attained by mountains on earth. Moon. Left - J Earth, Causing Ocean N Basins. The separation of the moon from the 'earth caused our principal ocean basins to form. It cannot be said at what stage the moon parted company with Ub parent earth, nor how much larger in volume the earth then was than it is now; but the separation probably took - place before the crust of the earth commenced to form and it probably originated under the dis turbing action of the solar tides. The detached mass seems to have come -niain- gentleman and made my getaway as one. Paddy Ryan was very much of a gentle man and good fellow, and although I took th championship from him, he was al ways decent - towards me. We were able to meet as friends after I'd put him out of business, and Paddy never tried to be little my victories over him. When we met in Mississippi I sat in the ring 15 minutes waiting for Paddy to appear, and during the wait the crowd passed me the cold shoulder so plenty that Joe Goss was I ready to cry, thinking It would give me stage fright. Every Squar Fighter a Gentleman. I got hardly a cheer when I shied my cantor into the ring, and the kind of re marks fired over the ropes at yours truly was enough to get me sorry I came if my hide hadn't been thick as boiler plate. Paddy got hip. hip, hurrahs, and three tigers, and then some, when he came through the ropes. He heard of what I'd been getting from the crowd during the wait, and to some of his friend? he said it wasn't fair. I knocked Paddy down with a punch on the jaw when the fight was only 30 seconds going, and he said afterward that he knew when that punch landed it was all up .with him. ' What I started to Say was that any fighter whd fights on the level has the instincts, of a gentleman, even if he doesn't know how to talk like a spelling book. I'm proud to remember some of the men I've licked as gentlemen of the first water, although some of them said things In private conversation that wouldn't be fit to print. His Advice on Training Real Thing. That talk I passed out a while ago ad vising athletes not to wear themselves out training, but to take it fairly easy and keep on the water cart, holds good. It'a killing work, the kind of training some fighters go through, and it has a good proturberanees the soft earth drawn out by the sun's attrac tion and lying toward and from the sun. The Pacific. Indian and Atlantic oceans probably represent the holes left by the disruption, the first two named being evi dently the area from which the matter of the moon was mainly derived. The Inequalities remaining after certain masses had again united with the earth from prooaoiy gave tne foundations on wmcn i ages was -m deprees Fahrenheit, simi the continents have since been built. larlv calculated the age of the earth to There was some modification and remod- ue ioi.673.00O years, but Dr. See assumes eling also by the sun's draw upon the molten or thinly encrusted earth i. e., by the solar tides. But all Bmaller inequali ties occurring since the earth's crust hardened all mountains, high plateaus and deep ocean troughs have been pro duced mainly by earthquakes due to steam from the leaking oceans and not to any continuous shrinking of the earth. Earth Only 10,000,000 Years Old. The earth is about 10.000.000 years old deal to do with so many of them crink ling up like a dishrag when they get a thump in the wind. Young Donahue, of Boston. Is following my advice about milder training and the sprinkling vehicle, and look what he's do ing. On October 23 he put it all over Rouze O'Brien, In Chelsea, Mass., and two days later, on October 25. in "Phillle," he made Fred Landers look like a bad coin. Donahue may be the next lightweight champion, and if he "climbs there on my plan of training. It ought to be good enough for all Inquiring sports. Young Donahue doesn't hit the can, he goes to bed with the birds and he saves his strength for when he needs it in the ring. Some wise citizens smile when I give advice to fighter? to cut out the booze, and they think it's funny, all along the line. Say, it's the best kind of advice I can give, and if you can find any guy who ever paid a higher price than I did to be able to give this stuff straight, trot him out 'and I'll give him the booze fighter's championship. Double-Crosser Will Get His. , Tommy Burns, the double-cross frame up, plugged some sarcastic talk1 at me through the newspapers and then hopped aboard a steamer for Europe. He said It would have been Black Friday for Boston if me and Jeffries could have met when we were both at our best. He thinks fhat Jeff., who he now says is down and out, "could have put the traditions going with the sturdy record of the great John L.," to quote the double-cross artist's exact words, on the blink. He released these remarks' from his sys tem in a hotel on Broadway, New York, a couple of weeks ago, when I was in New Orleans, and to play It entirely safe, he got under sail righ off for Europe where he's going to pick up some easy money fighting come-ons that haven't got a look in. This helps some to keep good men over here from getting a crack at Burns. Burns Is a sure-thing fighter. Give him something with a rehearsal in it, or a mut who will agree to have heart failure at the right moment and he'll make a match. But he says he wouldn't take on even Owen Moran on a winner-take-all basis. When a pie-faced mut like t by no means so old as many geologists have been- Inclined to believe, according to Dr. See. This he calculates by use of a formula, the exact figures being 8.302.000 years since the crust of the earth consoli dated, which is supposed to have occurred very soon after the first beginnings of the sphere's formation. Lord Kelvin, after assuming that the greatest tempera- i ture on the surface of the earth in past that this temperature on the surface never could have been above 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Dr. See further estimates that the Andes might have been formed In something like 3,000.000 years, and the plateaus west of the Rockies In not more than 6.000.000 years. The cooling of thg" earth has nowhere extended below 40 miles, or 1-100 of the earth's radius, and has been confined almost entirely to the crust, according to the astronomer. Washington, D. C.. Oct. 11. Burns oan get the public to stand for and listen to him I don't know as there's any use of me wasting breath. He's a picture no artist could paint when he forgets to remember that I defied the world for a dozen years or so. and the winner-take-all was level enough for me. Burns will be back toy Christmas and perhaps I may get near enough to re ply to some of his hot air. I can't do him Justice with a pen, for the printers might balk at it. In Kentucky. Indlanapolla News. The light dnrendi the aofteat In Kentucky. The Summer days come oftst In Kentucky; There friendship Is the atronirest. There love light Blows the longest. Yet wrong Is Always wrongest In Kentucky. I-ife's burdens bear the lightest In Kentucky; The home (ire burns the brightest In Kentucky; While players are the keenest And eardn come out the meanest. The pocket empties cleanest In Kentucky. The orators are grandest In Kentucky: Officials are the blandest In Kentucky; The boys are all the fliest. Great dangers ever nlghst, And taxes are the highest In Kentucky. The blue grass waves the bluest In Kentucky; Yet blue bloods are the fewest In Kentucky; ' The moonshine Is the clearest By no means it's the dearest And yet it acts the queerest In Kentucky. The dove notes are the saddest In Kentucky; The frolics are the maddest In Kentucky; Hip pockets are the thickest And pistol hands are quickest The cylinder turns slickest In Kentucky. It Is estimated that a chameleon which It blind loses Its power of making itself or th same hue as Us surroundings.