Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-01-07
GARDEN OF EDEN LOCATED.
Bishop Keener Intimates that II Was In
South Carolina.

Iii tnP latest issue OF the SOUTHERN
christian .itUocate. published in Cob
umbia, ). c., the Rt.-Rev. j. G. Keen
er, ID. d., of New Orleans, one of tho
Bishops Of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, discusses the question
Of the site of the Garden of Eden. and
advances some novel and ingenious
theories in favor of southern ATTITUDES.
The Bishop says:
Now. sapposc We bring Eden down
South, say rs far rs Charleston, en-
bHacing the coast between tho Sautee
and the Savannah, with its several
and inlets, between the 30th
and I0th parallels Of latitude. We
have for it this much To say:
/. In and near the Cooper and tho
Ashley Rivers there il a vast collec-
ton Of the remains of the largest
mammals. specially, of their mofars
and %yertebr;e. Tncse arc remar&a-
bic for their variety; very huge. very
many, and evidently of many distinct
species. We put this against all soli-
tary individuals as yet discovered in
or near the Arctic regions.
2. Besides those remains, which.
from he mount of silica in them,
have resisted thu action OF time and
acids, there are phosphate masses in
which these molars are i~mbedded.
Probably tue large bones returned 10.
their original source. Then there aro
scattered about small and large bowl
ders of the phosphate of lime, indica-
jng ut a greater depth a mine OF min
eral.
3. This shows that these animals
were not foated into this place by tho
action of the currents, but were hero
from the first. and found I'm the al
lnvial plains around, and meadows
filled with Dubious plants, and an *.
ubcrant ilora, their original habitat.
Only II region supplying plants fed by
% heavy phosphate pabulum could sup
port creatures of such enormous bone.
4. As these several species multiplied
from "a single pair, masses of their re-
mains would most probably indicate
the place of their origin. Whether
Behemoth was made in Eden, we know
that he was reviewed there, and thero
named by Adam. And the Almighty
says, speaking of Job: "Bchold.now
Behemoth, which made with thee;
he eatcth grass like an on"
These views, if correct, are still fur
Their strengthened by the bu~ilding'of
the ark. As the race had not been
separated by dispersion or language.
it is TO be supposed that Noah lived
not far from the originaIhomc Of man.
The construction of a vessel ut that
time required the same conditions Of
material and shape now essential
in naval architecture. Indeed, tho
dimensions of the ark are now those
of a iirst-class sea steamer for freight,
and are standard proportions in tho
English Admiralty Office. IL was
long, narrow vessel. evidently de-
signed for speed and a long VOYAGE.
Had il only to start from a given point
and float about for 100 days and then
ground at no great distance from the
point Of departure, it would havo
been shaped heavy and square.
The tiWbers for such n vessel OF
length of over o feet reauireN Gr,-
bers Of continuous length and great
strength. The cypress was entirely
too brittle for the purpose. Its keel
and ribs would require such wood ~
the live oak, grown near the sea, used
10 storms, and of a grain running
every way, bearing equally well n
strain from every direction. Largo
quantities of pitch and tar would DO
required for pitching il heavily within
and without. The word ~''gohcr,'
means pitch" pine" and il is prob
able that the gopher wood was tho
wood of the long-lcaf pine. | need
not say that either of the Carolinas
could have furnished the materials in
abundance.
That the ark was built somewhere
inland for convenience of timber -
probable. Yet not very far, as tho
principal weight of its cargo was to to
graminivorous stock, and large quanti-
titles of dried heritage, both Of which
were to come from meadow lands.
the breaking up of the deep, etc, at
the time Of the delugc, would not INF
ply necessarily any very great change
in the conformation of the continents,
nor in the sea currents. 1t would
presently strike the Gulf Stream.
Floating on that sea current it would
take II n%ortherly direction until IT.
reached the 10th parallel, and then
would 90 due east, and as many q help
ItsN Nlaib SIitt, NoNbu III
sigl.t of Spain and Africa. But those
coasts being submerged, there would
be nothing TO detect the current, but
ii would pass over the platcaus Of
Spain, into the Mediterranean, across
the lower part OF Greece, then over
the plains of Asia Minor, and, SLIP
holding the same parallel, strike Mount
Ararat. The distance from Charleston
to Mount Ararat is l3l degrees Of lati-
tulc, say 1913 miles. The time tho
ark was on the water was $50 days or
5000 hours. Off Cape Hattcras tho
Gulf Stream has n velocity OF two
miles an hour; this would leave hcr
very little to be overcome, if anything
when we allow for the uninterrupted
Iow which the current then had.
IL is not likely that animals wouIth
be landed in any other than the lati~
-tudc 10 which they were accustomed.
They would determine the directions
of the ark. The pathway Of the ark
under this supposition bad IA blessing.
in IT,. Between the 30th and 10th par
allels have sprung the great philoso-
pliers, warriors, statesmen, AMI dis
covers of the race. including tho
Savior, st. Paul, st. John, an! the
churches of Asia Minor.