The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-09
DWELL INSIDE THE GLOBE.
KORESHANS CLAIM THAT THE
EARTH's SURFACE is CONCAVE.


The Planets and Stars Centers OF
Energy, without Material Exist
ence-A Religion and a sOciolOgi-
cal system.
The earth is a hollow, concave sphere,
5000 miles in diameter, and of this hol-
low sphere the sun is the center. Com
pared with the earth in size the sun is in
finitesimai, in energy and force il is the
point from which light, life and all that is
gravitate. Upon the inside of the hollow
sphere the peoples of the earth live and
have their being. Outside of the shell the
universe ends and there is nothing"
This is something of the startling theory
propounded yesterday afternoon to a little
gathering. comprising the most advanced
thinkers and the clearest and most schol-
arly minds in Savannah, by Miss Castle,
priestess and expounder of the new cellu-
lar cosmogeny and of the Koreshan Unity.
Convinced, her hearers might not have
been. but pleased and charmed there was
not one who would not have owned him
self.
For two hours Miss Caste held her aud
fence in her grasp and though at times
they found some difficulty in following her
in the untrodden paths of science in
which she led them, they caught enough
to convince them that a new prophet lad
arisen in Israel and a new explanation of
the structure Of the universe, held earn
estly and argued out logically by honest
men, had been propounded.
1t would be vain 10 attempt to follow
Miss Castle through the mass of argu-
ment and explanation and illustration
which made up her lecture; the best that
can be done is to give some idea of what
the Koreshans believe and upon what
their belief Is founded Briefly, it is
something like this.
The nations live upon the inside of the
globe, which constitutes not only the
whole of the EARTH but the whole Of the
universe. The nfnity and universally of
matter in the sense that it is boundless
in extent and without end, is denied. The
visible universe is all and more than there
is of 1t, for the planets and the stars
are but reflections from discs of mercury
located in the envelope that surrounds
the globe and have in themselves no ma
terial existence. They are, nevertheless,
centers of energy and force.
The Koreshans prove thai the earth Is
all that there is of the universe, and that
no conception of infinity is either possible
or correct by the following syllogism:
Form is a fundamental property of ex-
istence therefore, that which has no
form has no existence. Limitation is a
property of form. The universe has ex-
istence; therefore it has form, hence it
has limitation" In this, though the Ko-
Gh cd
assumption, namely, that form is a fun
damental property of existence, whereas
IL is only property of those examples
of existence with which the people of the
globe are thrown in contact But the Ko-
reshans dispose also of an infinite uni
verse by saying that there is no need for
it, and that it complexities matters more
than a little.
The phenomena by which the convexity
OF the earth is usually attempted to be
proved are brushed aside as mere optical
illusions, that would sti!l be present were
the surface of the earth flaf, concave or
any other shape Without entering too
deeply into this branch of the subject the
same law of perspective that makes two
parallel railway tracks appear to meet in
The distance Is called into requisition and
made TO explain the phenomena of the
disappearing boat and the lighthouse ris-
ing from the sea. To prove their own
contention, that the surface of the earth
is concave. the Koreshans have conducted
a series of goedetic experiments in Flor
ida, and as a result of these announce
that they have demonstrated their position
beyond the fear of doubt or the danger of
successful contradiction
The idea was to establish a straight
line, one that could not be effected optical
illusion or atmospheric disturbances, and
to attain this end a member of the soci-
ETY. invented an instrument that is called
the rectiiineator II consists of a double
T-square, and armed with a quantity of
these and standards upon which they
might be erected, the party of surveyors
journeyed 70 the little town of Naples,
on the west coast of Florida, where the
smooth waters of the Gulf offered a
tempting fled for their experiments
One of the rectilineators was fixed Sc
curely 10 a standard and another placed
exactly eEd to end to it. This second
instrument was also fixed to a standard
and the process repeated for four
and a half miles out in the waters of
the Gulf. The point first selected was at
a distance of 12S inches from the ground,
but at the last point, four and a half
miles distant the plane of the rectilnea-
tor touched the surface of the water. The
possible nicely and the members of the
surveying party claim that there can be
no doubt that they have succeeded in es-
tabllshing an absolutely straight line and
that the result of the experiment shows
the earth TO be concave instead of con-
vex and that the Copernican theory ~
false from beginning 70 end
1t would be idle 10 attempt full ex-
PLANTATION of all that the Koreshaus claim.
Suffice il that their theory is sufficient to
account for everything that is visible in
the heavens above and the earth beneath
and the waters under the earth and that
The theories Of old philosophers and as
tronomers und new are brushed aside as
so much rubbish from table needed for
the reception of something of more value
At least, that is what they say.
Nor does the cosmogony of the Ko-
reshan Unity conclude it's teachings and
its claim to fame. Built and esta blished
upon the system of cosmogouy IRE a re-
ligion and sociological creed. The rel
gion accepts the Bible absolutely and
without question, affirming that every
word of it is literally true. Indeed. the
Koreshans say that the Copernican theory
and the doctrines of modern science are
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