River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-04-25
satisfactory Evidence ina. the Entir.


Geological and archaeological rea-
sons combine to prove that geograph-
Ically the deluge was not universal. At
The time assigned for the deluge tho
surface OF the earth was substantially
Is il is now. II, then, some great por-
lion Of tho dry land had been sub
merged. a proportionste rise OF land
above tho waters would have been nee
sssary in some other part of the globe.
For. rs Prof Alexander Winchell OBJ
serves, the terrestrial globe, in some
d its behavior, may be compared TO an
india-rubber ball filled with water. II
ndented by pressure in one place. there
must be protubsrance equal in vol
lme in another ps.ce.
Hence, II all Asia had been sub
merged, a proportioEate amount of dry
land would have been lifted above the
waters some where else. That Asia.
Africa, Europe. Australia and America
were all submerged at the same time
seems geologically impossible. and we
have no evidence which would justify
as 70 assume that God wrought so stu
peudous a wonder.
On the contrary. there are geological
and archaeological facts which evident
" prove that some portions OF the
earth have not been inundated by the
Noachian de,uge. For instance, in
Auvergne. France; in the Eifel country
Of the Prussian Rhine Province; in
New Zealand and elsewhere there are
extinct volcanoes, evidently older than
Noe, that arc marked ~ cones OF
pumice-stone, ashes and Oh light sub
stances as could not have 'esisted the
waters of the deluge."
Whereabout was the deluge? Indi-
cations seem to point to Western Gem
trail Asia. 1t is quite probable that the
leading descendants OF Adam, the di-
rect line OF the ancestors of GoTs
chosen people Of cid, continued to re-
side near The former happy home Of
our first parents, the Garden OF Para
disc Now, this was undoubtedly situ-
ated in Western Central Asia, as the
Book OF Genesis Enthusiastically indi-
Gates by stating that four rivers. the
Prison, the Gehon. the Tigris and the
Euphrates, had their source in the re-
gion Of the Paradise. That really the
Tigris and the Egphrate, of to-day were
meant can not be doubted. IN the first
place. of the Tigris it is expressly
stated that it is the same that passeth
along by the Assyrians. Secondly.
there is no geological reason known
why the present Tigris and Euphrates
should not have existed in the daysoi
Adam, or even long before.
Thus, for instance, our Missouri, Ohio
and Mississippi the latter about as far
south as Tennessee, seem to have been
in existence during the tertiary age.
long before the appearance of man upon
earth.
Moreover, it is not likely that the
transient inundation caused by the del
uge has permanently changed the chan
nels of these rivers, which it could not
have done without changing the entire
surface Of the surrounding territories
And. finally, the Book Cf Genesis was
written at a time when no other rivers
were known as the Tigris and the
Euphrates than the rivers which still
bear these names.
For these reasons it can not be
doubted that the Paradise was located
somewhere near or about the sources OF
the present Tigris and Euphrates, in
Armenia. This is the opinion of COM
potent authorities. john Gmeiner, in
Catholic World.