Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-01-05
GAKDEN UF EDEN LOCATED.
Bishop Keener Intimates that 1t Was in
South Carolina.

u0Dld, .. u, the hU.-hCV. u. ". b-SbD-
er, d. D., of New Orleans, one of the
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, suppose we bring Eden down
South. say as far as Charleston, en-
bracing the coast between the Santee
and the Savannah, with its several
rivers and inlets, between the Both
and 10th parallels of latitude. We
have for it this much to say:
1. In and near the Cooper and the
Ashley Rivers there is q vast colIec-
ton Of the remains of the largest
mammals, specially, of their molars
and vertebr8. These are remarka-
BILE 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 the amount of silica in them,
have resisted the action of time and
acids, there are phosphate masses in
which these mOlarS are imbedded.
Probably the large bones returned to
their original source. Then there are
scattered about small and large bowl
ders Of the phosphate of lime, indica-
ing at greater depth q mine of min
eral.
g. This shows that these animals
were not foated into this place by the
action of the currents, but were here
4 H., Il
luyial plains around, and meadows
filled with dubious plants, and an ex-
uberant flora, their original habitat.
Only region supplying plants fed by
u 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 III Eden, we know
that Re was reviewed there, and there
named by Adam. And the Almighty
says, speaking of Job: 'Behold now
Behemoth, which | made with thee;
he eateth grass like an on"
These views, if correct, are still fur
ther strengthened by the building 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 original home of man.
The construction of a vessel at that
time required the same conditions of
material and shape now essential
in naval architecture. Indeed, the
dimensions of the ark are now those
of a tirst-class sea steamer for freight,
OF nd ha
English Admiralty Office. 1t was a
long, narrow vessel, evidently de-
signed for speed and a long voyage.
Had it only to start from given point
and float about for $50 days and then
ground at no great distance from the
point of departure, it would have
been shaped heavy and square.
The timbers for such Il vessel of
length of over 500 feet required tim
bers of continuous length and great
strength. The cypress was entirely
too brittle for the purpose. Its keel
and ribs would require such wood as
the live oak, grown near the sea, used
to storms, and of a grain running
every way, bearing equally we'll a
strain from every direction. Large
quantities of pitch and tar would be
required for pitching it heavily within
and without. The word ''goher,"
means pitch" spine" and it is prob
able that the gopher wood was the
wood of the long-leaf 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 is
probable. Yet not very far, as the
principal weight of its cargo was to be
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 deluge, would not i'm
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 northerly direction until it
reached the 40th parallel, and then
would 60 due east, and as many a help
less craft since, would come within
sight of Spain and Africa. But those
coasts being submerged, there would
be nothing to detect the current, but
it would pass over the plateaus of
Spain into the Mediterranean, across
the lower part of Greece, then over
the plains of Asia Minor, and, still
holding the same parallel, strike Mount
Ararat. The distance from Charleston
TO Mount Ararat is 131 degrees of lati-
tude, say 6,515 miles. The time the
ark was on the water was $50 days or
5000 hours. OF Cape Hatteras the
Gulf Stream has a velocity of two
miles an hour; this would leave her
very little to be overcome, if anything,
when we allow for the uninterrupted
flow which the current then had.
1t is not likely that animals would
be landed in any other than the lati-
tude to which they were accustomed.
They would determine the direction
of the ark. The pathway of the ark
under this supposition had a blessing
in it. Between the 3Oth and 10th par
allels have sprung the great philoso-
pliers, warriors, statesmen, and dis
covers of the race. including the
Savior, St. Paul, St. John, and the
churches of Asia Minor.