South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1870-07-08
Some Sensible Remarks as to
the AlarmiSts.

The fear of some impending catastrophe to the
world is Kept mp by gnOrHmuSes who profess TO
eNpOund the prophcsicS, and sCiOlists who make
themselves conspicuous ny giving scraps of phys-
ica discoveries and coujectures to the llv-prepar
ed public When il was discovered that HYDRO
gen and oxygen burn together with fcrvent heat
and that these two gases cons titute water and en-
ter into the formation OF the atmosphere pcople
naturally BEGAN TO dread n general cxuIosion
and the worlds conhagratiOn When, added TO
this some cold hlooded gcologist suggested that
the earth Is Il thin shell Of cooled surface enclos-
ing an awful sen Of melted minerals, things be-
came much more serious Now that the sun seems
10 he on fire, and great pillows of blaziur nv
drogcn are said to be detected rolling i'm wild
waves over its burning disc, destruction seems to
be close upon us. After while as knowledge
goes downward, we may expect to see cooks a
lrald to light fire, or n smoker strike a match
for fear of kindling some Of the awful combusti-
pres mat surround US and firing the magazine Of
hual conflagraton. For OurselI es we care for
none of these things. IT is comfortable to know
t1atli the sea & air are made Of cOmbustibcs they
arc just what they were when Adam came to live
here and rs they had been for thousands of ages
before We do not think they will catch fire in
our time. So with regard 10 the sun if ii be
true that IL Is only IN immense gas burner, il has
always been gas-burner and rs il did not set
the earth nfire when its flames were fresh, we are
not afraid OF that now. As TO the Gre in the in
sides Of the earth, If IL he there which is very
doubtful, we are content. We do not know
what better to put there, and il is satisfactory to
know that the cool crust is thicker now than il
ever WIS before. In fact now thtt we have be-
come accustomed To living on a ball whiriing a
round aud onward iuconceyably tliro' space and
hcid up by nothing, we are not afraid of such
little bugabOOs as fire in the bowels of the earth
or gas burners ninety millions Of miles off Let
the sun burn lie who lighted il knows how To
manage H. As TO great spots and caverns, and
all that, they arc Just the natural conditions of
the great luminary-always observable but bet
ter observed with our present Instruments We
have no reason to believe that they affect us AT
all. Certainly no predictions founded upon them
as TO The weather are worth straw The earth
will last just rs long as God pleascs and as Inc las
communicated neither TO man nor angel his pur-
pose in that matter IL is not likely that he has
written his great secret on the universe 10 be
read with telescope The truth is .hnt the
spots on the sun, or what seem to be spots are
conditions Of It's light, movable, gaseous euvel-
ope, occasioned 10y the attraction Of the nearer
planets and arc therefore periodical and regular
and are just what they have been since the he
ginning. Climate docs not seem 70 be NJ All af-
iected by them. We arc sometimes surprised by
the little reelection exhibited BY men who ought
to think, who alarm the uniformed public by
nitribuGng variations Of temperature 20 solar
changes when the weather is plainly due 20 OBJ
vIOus terrestrial causes. For instance the cold
weather Of this spring on the northern lake shore
was attributed by a Chicago philosopher TO solar
spots but q southern Illinois farmer very per-
tnenOy says that Just then II WAS very warm i'm
that belt Of country. The laud absorbed heat
faster than the surface Of the lakes. As "a natu-
rnlresut Jake wind set in from the north, max
ing thc cold mir from The icy regions flow To-
wards the warm land, and thus il naturally he
came cold 90 thc lnkcs.-BH. Ctris'irn tito.
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Il