Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-04-23
THE VERY BEGINNING.


World as n "Whirled In Space"
In the burning mass that composed
our earth at first, there existed copper,
sulphur and all the other substances
that are GA and in our ear,h now, only
all were in Il gaseous state. The cold
had not yet hardened them intosolids.
They tell us that this collection of
burning material belonged originally
To the sun, aud was thrown off from IL
in consequence of "A natural law, and
SEM ''whirling in space DO you un-
derStand what that word space
meanst This globe of ours is wrap
ped up in "A huge cloak. some forty
miles thick. called the atmosphere.
Beyond this thick envelope stretches
far away that unknown region called
space" What are It's boundaries, no
one can tell us. Whether il holds
other worlds than ours We "a only
guess. But one thing about it is known
for certain. which is. that it is very
cold. Its temperature is about POO
dogs. below zero: 50 We have need of
our thick. warm atmosphere.
What effect did tins intense cold
have upon the mass of fiery gas, sem
spinning out through its depths! Just
the same effect that the cold mountain
peaks have upon the vapor of water.
II cooled the gases upon the outside,
hardened them. and in the course of
time formed a thin crust. This was
Gods first day Of creation, and some
men think il was equal TO thousands
and thousands of years maybe
millions because this forming Of the
crust must have been slow work.
First, little patches of gas became
solid. Then these iloated together and
perhaps succeeded in making one crust
Joined all overland a hot, rumpled
crust il was. Then the boiling, seeth-
ing mass inside broke through. and
the work had 20 I've done all over
again.
When the vapor Of water was con-
densed. rain began tn fall.
Then canc another struggle. As
quickly as the rain fell on the hot
crust, il was changed into vapor again,
and sent up into the air Ia repeat its
work. What boiling, steaming, hot
ball this world must have been,
During all this time there were ter.
rifle pcals of thunder and flashes of
lightning. Whenever any liquid is
changing into "A vapor, electricity is
produced; and when 81 vast "A guam
tity of water was changing into steam,
the intensity and frequency uf the
lightning must have been immeasura.
bly, beyond ANYTHING we can Imagine.
Ii only we could have been at II safe
distance above this steaming world and
looked DOWN ~ it. what "A sight We
should have seen. and what dcaicning
pealsof thunder WI should have heard.
Even though the rain was almost
Immediately changed into vapor, il
must have cooled the earth's crust a
little, coming directly from the icy
realms Of space. And at last came a
day when the cold conquered the heat.
and the crust became cool enough for
the water 10 stay down. Ii filled up
all the cracks and crannies. and there
was SD much of it that only a little bit
Of the earth's crust could peep above
its surface. OF our own continent,
only a narrow strip Of land, extend
ing from what is now Nova Scotia to
where the great lakes we're to be, and
thence westward 10 the region now
called Alaska. remaining above the
waters. In the place nov occupied
by Europe, there We're many little
patches, but no land SO extensive as
the strip in the western hemisphere.
Thick, dark vapors brooded over the
earth and shut out the light of the sun.
And these gloomy vapors, the little
pieces of dry, hot crust and the surg
ing, boiling waters, We're the begin
nings out Of which God was TO make
u beautiful world, with its pure air,
its blue sky and snowy clouds, its dense
woods and fertile fields, its hills and
valleys. lis lakes and rivers.
There could have been no life in
those days neither plant life nor ami.
nal life. Ia the first place the crust
was too hot; neither animal nor plant
could live on ii, nor in the waters that
touched il. In the second place, ami
mails and plants cannot live without
sunlight; and no sunlight could
pierce those masses Of heavy vapor.-
Teresa G. Croftn ia st Nicholas.