The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-07-29

WAS THIS ANDHEEsS FATE7
This interior heat, it must be supposed.
is the result of some sort of combustion,
a Burning up of various gases and molten
solids. 1t IS, of course, ineonceivable that
this combustion can go On unless it is fed
by oxygen, and it seems equally clear
that this vast supply of oxygen must
come from outside space. The line Of
reasoning is clear enough to this point.
when the question naturally arises, How
does this supply reach the interior of the
earth?
Tho various volcanoes of the world are
as so many pin points as compared with
the entire surface of the earth and the
enormous Ere which has been burning
for thousands of centuries. 1t is incon-
ceivable that such a fire could be main
tanned with such diminutive drafts and
hues. All this points inevitably to the
conclusion that there must be somewhere
an ormou vent or opening to the CEN
ter of the world.
If there were such an opening, it would
naturally be at the poles, where there is
so much less motion than on the revolv-
ing surfaces of the globe. The earth,
moreover, in cooling from a liquid to
molten and finally a solid body, would
also be more likely to have such an OPEN
ing at these points than at any other. A
perfectly clear line of reasoning is thus
established to explain such a formation.
The theory of this earth chimney is not
entirely new to science. 1t was first adj
vanced by a scientist named Sims some
20 years ago. This theoretical opening
has ever since gone by the name of Sims
hole. A number of scientists have since
written upon the possibility Of its exist
ence. and an immense amount of evidence
has been collected. MI. Harrison has col
leeted this and arranged 1t in a very at
tractiye and convincing manner. He
meets all objections to the theory in dis
cussing it with an array of scientific facts
and quotations from world famous scien-
tiic men which goes far to silence criti-
cism.
He argues, for example, that it is en-
tirely conceivable that a hole many miles
in diameter could be in operation without
its making a disturbance Of any kind to
the rest Of the world. The moon, for ex-
ample, which is a much smaller body
than the earth, has a number of large
craters which would serve for q 1ue or
chimney for such a purpose. The arctic
floor, as far as it is known, shows many
signs of great volcanic disturbances in
the past ages of the world, and the great
ice fields probably hide much more evil
dence Of this kind from our view.
The crust Of the earth, as all the world
knows. is a mere shell as compared with
its diameter. The hard surface, in other
words. Is but so miles in depth, or about a
one hundred and sixtieth OF the diameter.
An orange has a thicker skin han the
planet upon which we live. 1t would be
an easy matter, therefore, for this great
mass of molten earth in its effort to get a
breath, as it were; of oxygen, to burst a
hole through this delicate shell Of hard
enen eartn. The earth In rotating has I
centrifugal motion which would tend to
make the crust at the poles thinner and
weaker than anywhere else. 1t nay be
seen, therefore. that the earth ia cooling
have kept this vent constantly open,
and il at any time it became closed up it
would be possible fer the great interior
force to open another vent at the same
place.
Fl will occur to every one that since the
world contains such an immense body Of
molten ulareer prv.eyseu ~ ~ s-
-k<~t = = @2rxpsr thaf 4 does NOT at
IM ZNAE-