Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-10-10
TIE Y1aoR OF OLD EARTH.

The moon ls dead. 1t has not lie
enough left to ooze forth the tiniest mud
volcano or squirt out the feebleet geyser.
No throb ever reaches it's surface, and not
the faintest rumble is ever echoed from its
Jagged mountain sides. No earthquake
wave can ever sweep its island shores, for
earthquakes there are things of the almost
infinite past, and the last drop of water
quilted the surface of our planet eons ago.
Its very atmosphere has deserted it, and If,
indeed, there was man in the moon,
he could never hear the sound OF his own
voice. But if by some means this myth
cal man could have witnessed the Ischia
disaster and the Java catastrophe,
how he would have lODged that any such
manifestations of life were possible on
his lifeless planet. That occurrences
like these referred to are calamities
everyone must admit, and some may
he apt to maintain that mans arrival IN
his earthly home has been premature. and
that " Providence would have acted more
wisely and humanely had he postponed
mans advent on the scene until the " In
ternal fires J" had exhausted themselves.
But when that happens, geologlsts tell
us, we may look upon it as the beginning
of the end. Not even the 600 heat OF the
sun, which beats upon every part OF the
moon for a fortnight at a time, is able to
rouse within its bosom the faintest sign OF
life. There is evidence enough to show
that at one period it's volcanic activity
must have been of the most stupendous
kind, far exceeding anything ever wit
messed on its mother earth. But that has
gone with its water and its atmosphere,
and taken with it all possibility of life.
We are told that our existing volcanoes,
and eeysers, and mud.holes are but the
diving remains of what at the time must
have been a volcanic activity almost uni
versal Instead of spasmodic eruptions at
a few isolated spots, we had a constant
outpour of volcanic matter from wide
assures extending across the earth's sur
face for many miles.
That the earth has not yet, however,
entirely lost its viger ia evident from the
Java outburst, which is the most stupen-
dous phenomenon of the kind on record.
So long as the old earth is equal to efforts
of this kind we need not mind its latter
end. When the blood leaves the cold ex-
tremlties, and the heart has not vigor
enough to send it to the surface, the end is
quake manifestations cease from off the
face of the earth, the end may be within
almost measurable distance. Much of its
ocean water will have been absorbed by the
underlying rocks, and the atmosphere may
be rarer and less life giving than it is now
by-and-by, with the last ray of internal
heat, the last drop of water and last par
ticle of air, all life will have vanished, and
dead earth will shine upon dead moon.
So long, then, as the mother of us all has
any vigor left, we must expect her to man.
fest it occasionally as she has done re-
Gently at Ischia and Java so that, lament
able and regretable as has been the loss of
life at these places, the catastrophes are
not entirely without their bright side
Only when the earth is as dead as the
moon will such catastrnphes become i'm.
possible.
Biologists and seismologists know pretty
we'll the lines along which these manifesto
tions of the earth's viger are likely to &C.
cur; lines of weakness they call them, but
in view of the above considerations we
might call them, rather, lines of vigor.
Perhaps when they know still more they
may be able to tell their fellows what
ments and building their houses. But it
is doubtful if such telling would be of
much avail After the most destructive
outbursts of Etna and Vesuvius, the deci.
mated inhabitants have crept back to their
old locations, rebuilt their huts, and planted
their vines needless of the terrible lesson.
Already has building begun even in shat
tered Ischis, and if the proper kind of
wooden house be used possibly the next
shaking the island gets may lead to fewer
calamities.
We have said that the Java outburst is
the most stupendous on record. An island
has been shattered and sunk and sixteen
others have raised their heads above the
waters. Some hundred thou
sand people have been sacrificed to their
mothers anger, buried beneath volcanic
debris, or swept off the face of the land
by the volcanic wave. The floor of the
ocean over wide area to the southeast of
Sumatra has been raised into plain above
the waters and the effects of the general
upheaval have been felt as far as the Amer.
lean coast of the Pacific.
There can be little doubt that the wave
which was felt along the coast of North
America was propagated across the Pacific
from the Java outbreak. London Times.