Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-11-07
DOOMSDAY SPECULATIONS.
Discussions rs to the Fate Of Humanit
the Last Great lay.

Discussions ns to the Fate of Humanity
the Last Great lay.
The probable fate of the last MIN
has often been discussed, and dozens
of theories have been advanced by
persons who honestly believe that
they have solved the problem. That
there will be time when this littlo
world of ours will no longer exist
there is not tho least shadow of a
doubt, but exactly how the human
race will rish and disappear from
tho face of the glCbo is the question
that has interested tho philosophers
of al ages.
Some profess to believe that the
oceans arc gradually oncroaching on
the land surface, and that eventual
" the last man will DO drowned
Opposite to this is tho much talk
ed of theory that the water on tho
earth's surface is slowly drying up,
the amount being aprreclahly less
now than it was at the opening OF
the century. The apostles of this
unique theory say that if the drying
up process continues for Il few thou
sand years longer the earth will be.
come as arid as tho moon, and the
last man will perish for want OF wa.
ter.
Some believe that the earth will
fall to pieces; others that monster
planet will plunge into the sun,
causing that great luminary to blaze
up and burn to cinders tho earth
and the other planets in its train.
There havo been dozens of other
theories, son.e of them equally cxri-
Gus, advanced by ncn who have
been making the subjeCtn study. But
the most remarkable solution of the
question is the opinion lately ex-
pressed ly leading German lnete-
orologist and astronomer. He says
that the internal fires Of the earth
arc rapidly dying out, and that the
sun is suro to burn out and become
cold and dark.
This, he says, is proved by tho fact
that leo is rapidly accommodating at
the poles of the earth and slowly
creeping down toward the temperate
zones. Places visited by Kotzebue,
Franklin, Ross, Parry, Lyon and
others during the first quarter of
tho present century and pronounced
by them as being free from ice dur
ing June, July and August arc now
covered with several feet of the
crystal deposit, which is capped with
snow throughout the year. This
certainly proves that the earth s
glacial zones are rapidly and perma-
nently enlarging and that the old
German apostle of the freeze out
theory has II basis for his calcula-
tions. to say the least.
That Europe is on The borderlLnd
of another glacial epoch has bean
shown by Flammarion, the great
French speculative astronomer. Dur
ing tho last so years every kingdom,
empire republic and principally in
that country as well as those of
Asia has lost from to IA degrees in
it's mean annual temperature. In
France, Germany and Italy tho
northern limit of the growth of tho
vine is being steadily forced south.
ward. In South America and South
Africa similar conditions are noted.
At Rio de Janeiro the annual tenn.
perature has been steadily going
down since the date when meteoro-
logical records were first kept in
tAet t9itX u, Tth9 6 Ge ,la5 4gtbaTisty
steadily OH, with the effect of mar
rowing down tho habitable area Of
the globe. AT last shivering human
ity will all collect along the equator,
Finally that, too, will become u
region of leo and snow. Then tho
time will como when tho overcrowd.
ell human beings will all be starved
or be frozen in a hcap.-St. Louis
Republic.