The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-11


"What?"
Suppose the revolution Of the earth on
its axis should suddenly be reversed
what would happen?"
Scenes worthy of the day of judg-
ment," responded the doctor, 'only it isn't
supposable. Stin.' he added, lit opens a
curious field for speculation. Rather in
teresting'
The doctor, by the way, is not an M. D.,
but Phi D.. and his name is not wholly
unknown to the public. l am not at lib
erty, however, to mention it.
"Of course, it is interesting" / assented.
Tell me all about it-from a scientific
point of view
He eyed me suspiciously. you mustn't
quote me-" he said. 1T isn't a scientific
proposition There is no known force that
could bring about such a result, and 1 can't
afford to have my name associated with
such madcap theorizing. Yet, granting the
impossible assumption, the rest-the nee
essary results-can be figured out with sci
entifc accuracy l must admit such a
speculation appeals strongly to the imagi-
nation and il you hold rigidly to the logic
of your premises, it is not wholly unprot-
table"
Give me your IDEAS" 1 cried, and
promise to respect your reputation. Tell
me just what would happen"
eve must first define the assumption,
he said-"just what is reversed. II we
mean simply the solid earth and all that is
strictly coherent with it, the direct results
would be instant and appalling.
"All objects near the equator are NOV
ing eastward at the rate Of rather more
than 16 miles a minute. If the earth
should suddenly, not merely stop, but be-
gin to rotate with equal speed in the oppo-
gi+
surface would be hurled from its position
with incredible violence. Every building
in the world would be instantly demoltsh-
ed, and its fragments scattered along a
splintery train for leagues to the east
ward man riding quietly across
broad prairie would be dashed against
the distant cliffs on its eastern border be-
fore he could utter single cry and both
horse and rider would be smashed to at
oms by the impact-as completely as If
they had fallen from the sky. For, con-
slider, it would be like the collision of two
railroad trains, each moving at about 30
times the usual speed; the mans inertia
would fling him eastward at the rate Of
fully 9S1 miles per hour, and the hillside
would clap against him, rushing westward
with equal velocity The great powders
lying loose on the mountain tops would be
projected like cannon balls to distant re-
gions, and would pillow int the ground
like meteoric stones rife ball, how
ever. if discharged toward the west at the
instant of the reversal, would seem to
hover for some moments in about the
same place, and would finally drop near
its starting point"
"And how about the trees?'
"Unless they were included in the as
sumed reversal, so that the effects of in
ertia would he obvated, their trunks
would be snapped like pipe-stems, and the
wreck of forests would sweep over the
| land like a giant broom, until gradually
| checked by friction. But even if we as
sumo them, as being rooted in the earth,
to be included in it's reversal of motion,
| they would not fare much better. For
the inertia of the atmosphere would give
rise to a wind which would strip them OF
every leaf and branch-or, rather, hur-
ricane. which would tear them up by the
roots and bear them bodily to remote dis
tricts. Meanwhile, the setting sun would
back up through the sky, giving for the
| once "a consecutive hours of daylight.
Moreover, the sea would be flung from
its bed, and would surge in an oVerWhelm-
ing tidal wave across the continents.
When the waters subsidized the wrecks of
the Japanese war fleet might be found
scattered amid the ruins of San Francisco
only there would be no one left to search
for them; and the debris of San Francisco
would in all probability be hopelessly mix
ed up with the scant remnants of Chicago
wave would all combine to sweep them
eastward
"And would the earth ever again be-
come habitable?"
Eyes; in time. But, since only the lowest
forms of life could survive such a cata-
elysm-and these would be chiefly marine
organisms of the simplest structure-evo-
luton would have to take a fresh start
almost from the primordial germs. Count
less ages must elapse before the world
could be repeopled
Furthermore, the world in which this
new and genuinely post-diluvian race
would find itself would present some
strange contrasts with the world as we
know it. For instance, the sun would rise
in the west, and set in the east. The ac-
ton of the tides would be curiously al
tered. The course of all the periodic winds
and of the great ocean currents would be
changed; the ocean beds and the very
form of the continents would have suf-
fered marked notifications Even the
procession of the equinoxes-the slow
wabble of the poles-would be reversed.
But there is still another factor to con-
sider-one which we have thus far COM
pletely ignored. If we suppose the re-
versal to be effected by any real force
electrical, for instance-such as might
conceivably reverse the motion of a re-
volving wheel, If, in short, we assume
a power not absolutely miraculous and
above all natural law, every atom of mat
ter in the earth would be subjected to
such a shock and tension that a degree of
heat would be generated sufficient to fuse
and even vaporize the entire mass. And,
obviously, if we admit this all the rest
is either forestalled or absorbed in the
greater catastrophe, For on this hypothc-
sis the earth would be brought back to its
original condition as a nebulous agglom-
| GRAFTON of super-heated vapors. like those
which flame and whirl in fiery eddies upon
the fncandescent surface of the sun, CIV
ing rise TO the phenomena Of sun spots,
"prominences," and the corona" observ-
ed during an eclipse In that case aeons
Of time, a slowly lapsing cycle vastly
exceeding that implied In all geologic his
tory, would be required to restore the
world to its present habitable state"
"rhere is more science In this thing
| than / could have believed" / exclaimed.
"Call II the scientific elaboration Of a
thoroughly unscientihc hypothesis" he
| concluded
La Nature describes the fastest combi-
nation Of typewriter and bicycle, ma
| chine invented for the necessities of war.
fa