The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1899-08-30
LAST MAN ON EARTH.
WHAT IS THE DREAD FATE THAT
AWAITS THIS MORTAL

Many Theories as tn the Manner of
Life and Death That Will De the
Portion of the Last Relic of Ilu-
mnnity az 1t Now EXISTS.
Astronomers tell rs that the day
must come when the earth will, like
the moon, wheel through the heavens
a dead aud barren ball of matter-air-
less, waterless, llfeless. But long, long
before that time man will he extinct,
will have disappeared so utterly that
not SO much rs the bleached skeleton
of II human being will he visible on all
the millions of square miles of the
surface of this planet.
Unless by some huge and universal
cataclysm the whole race is swept ut
once into eternity 1t is but reasonable
to suppose that man, like any other
race of animals. will disappear slowly
and that eventually there will be but
n single human being left-some old,
old man. gray headed and bearded, and
left to wander alone in solitude that
may be imagined, but not described
How will he die, this last relic of
the tecming millions that once trans
formed the face of the globe and ruled
undsputed masters of every other liv-
Ing thing? There are many fates that
may befall him. He may go mad with
the horror of loneliness and himself
end his own miserable existence. He
may be eaten by the vast reptiles or
giant insects which will then probably
infcst the solitudes.
But his fate may be far weirder and
more dreadful. Scientists say that, as
we burn the coal and timber we are
still so richly supplied with, we let
loose into the atmosphere an ever In
creasing volume of carbonic acid gas
Much of this is taken up by plants,
but not all 1t must increase and
eventually poison the breathable air,
filling the valleys and mounting slowly
to the hill tops, where the last remains
of animal life are striving for exist
cnce. The last man will climb higher
and higher, but eventually the suffocat-
ing invisible flood will reach and
drown him.
Again, it is said that the earth as 1t
gets older is cracking like dry mud.
These cracks will increase until at last
they will let the waters of the oceans
and rivers sink into the fiery center of
the globe. Then will occur an eXplo-
sion so terrible rs may startle the In
habitants of neighborng worlds The
last man in this case will probably be
some arctic explorer or Eskimo whom
the vast plains of ice around will save
from instant death and leave to grill 4
few moments till the ice continents are
swallowed by redhot gases and steam.
Suppose these earth cracks develop
more slowly, they may suck away the
water without devastating explosions.
Then the last mans fate will be the
worst descrihable. He will die of
thirst. The scene of his death will
| probably be the great valley in the bed
of the Atlantic ocean, off the Brazilian
coast. half way between Rio JaneirC
and the cape, where now six miles OF
| green water lie between the steamers
keel and the abysmal slime beneath
There. hopelessly digging in the ever
drying mud, he must perish and leave
his bones to parch on waterless
| planet.
The antarctic polar ice cap has beer
growing thicker and heavier for un
counted ages. The distance from tn,
south pole to the edge of this lee cap Il
/ 400 miles. The ice rises steadily from
the edge to the center. At that center
it cannot be less than u miles in thick
/ ness-twice as thick as Mount Eyeres
is high.
Suppose it splits. Imagine the 81
gantic mass of water and lee that will
come sweeping up north over the oceans
and continents of the earthi Where
then, will the last man breathe hi
final gasp? High up in the SHOWS o
some great range he will perish miser
ably OF cold and starvation. looking
down on n huge shallow sea, beneatl
whose tossing waters will lie the Who'll
of the races of the world
Or last, and perhaps dreariest fate o
ALL the human race may outlive othe
mammals and last until the sun, n
! some day 1t must, grows dull and col
and vegetation dies from the chile
earth. The miserable remnant 0
carth's people must then slowly die on
after ages of an existence TO whic
that of the Eskimo of today is para
disc