The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-12-23

through some volumes in the scien-
INC department OF the Seattle pub
IL library. the writer noticed a
book entitled Aspects of the
~ By Prof. N. 8. Shalers of Harvard
WIN. Incidentally 1t may be mem
~ that this Harvard professor Is con-
80 With the United States geological
,vsy. and in his chosen domain is gen.
m accepted as an authority.
~ professors speciality Is geology. An
5;S15lnation of the volume disclosed, how
~ that the author also dealt with the
4<lated field OF terrestrial meterology
n compilation Of data bearing on
S1,fbnuakes, volcanic erupticns, torna-
1lsa. Etc the work mentioned possesses
u1i6er1ble value.
I'M when the distinguished author UNI
Ef(afes TO explain some seismic phe-
1920. and also commits himself to tho
,1vfbcficai North American Ice age, with
/ - 6ne respect to this Harvard professor,
IN the writer's judgment that he Is In
EHh trusting confidence and an I'M
uSrlioning faith that science can never
TX. Prof Shaler, in common with the
"a school of glacial biologists, has Ge-
S1fed As fact, and teaches 1t as auch,
wholly unsustained glacial hypothesis
HI late Prof Louis AgaHsiz as explain
Z - 0f tho drift over Northern North
Xrica and Northern Europe. To the
ovgh physicist this alone would he
1flent evidence that a conclusion has
~ accepted, based on entirely made
4 Snle premises To-day the advocates OF
~ jacial hypothesis are entirely ut sea
u what caused the alleged great ice
extending from the North pole over
~ North American continent 1000 miles
4 4 - lf..1 - 49, ~
~ ifs terminal moraine 900 feet higher
IN rs Initial point of procedure. and
tsfinr the area from Eastern Greenland
K = ihe shore of the Pacific ocean. At the
- time there is a marked absence Ct
a. selaciation'' on corresponding lati-
Sdss b Northern Asia.
6 A late as 1868 Prof, Agassiz himself adj
md In a conversation with United
E tfse treasurer l.. r.. Chittenden that
nahlnw In modern science could explain
~ causes that evolved this hypothetical
e sheet Of the huge dimensions mem
|8ined, but why scientific mind should
\ tStle into q conclusion after the man
~ IL ii, acrobat the renowned professor
r1yer explained to his disciples.
~ II Is that the great fee age OF
E6rth America has never yet been ex-
/ mined. and It Is entirely safe to say that
\ 4 xeyer wilt be.
Il does not discomfort these glacial
3 rfo6oohers IN the least that ice, to move
& 4oelaI1y, must have n fall of at least
1(y.fve feet per mile, and the chances
{ ~ mat such a simple little fact in ply
~ has never been In close relationship
+ mn their attention,
n continental glacier. on stampede,
4 49, maurading down from the polar re-
III t.OOD miles to the latitude of extreme
a - tna
NJ higher than tide on the Arctic ocean.
~, II the face OF the stubborn fact that
/ itese must be forty-ive feet OF desceftx to
~ mila to allow glacier to move--tf
IN slaciai action be insisted OMIT must
( n1lsV Inevitably that the surface OF this
H(9ed great ice slab must have had the
&<iIvi&y mentioned.
IAen what3
4 nlnply this: This would call. at the
~ II forty-five feet fall per mile for 1000
1les, for thirty-four miles OF Ice Thick
ElM d the northern base OF the glacier.
EEth mean thickness OF seventeen miles,
- Multiplying length. breadth and mean
1tchnexs together. 1900 x 1000 X IL = 2i2.-
&luD OF cubic mile blocks. enough for
M columns OF such blocks to reach to
8 - aun and ss,000.000 OF blocks left over
~ house use, and the Northern Euro
E1o1h contingent still to hear from--this Is
III This Ia the lice age" arithmetic.
4Here II nothing under the sun so ire
\ 1oo9ablv and irretrievabiy. SO hopelessly
! ~ ID heiplessly unscientiiic. yet mas
(n@adng under the mantle or science,
/ r this great glacial misconception as
plled 10 North America.
pftf shaler also ailudes to valleys
1popsd out and fashioned by the action
= glaciers
he writer has not been able to find any
Il <yidence on the earth that any valley mas
Nef been thus formed This letter VII be
utlished in a city that has In fun view
he Cascade aud Olympic ranges OF noun
AIMS. city that has a larger percentage
Ntnhab.tants that have seer glaciers IMAM
has any other city OF our country, Win
Mowy Mt Baker and glaciated Mt. RAIN
NJ a. witnesses snow where Is there sueh
~ aparitlon as a glacinlIy scooped-out
Nilty7 ny this ~ not meant a mountain
mfinr. but valley IN the usual definition
Z n that term.
Lake chaiang where IL the equivalent
uaterialr Whore Is the debrisf u II not
| 81 how all the alleged glacial valleys
mscesd IN hiding their terminal moraines?
Npfway has Illustrations OF forests that
Mj been entirely covered over with gia-
rers fsthoms deep above the treetops,
tin thu ultimate glacial recession the
7<aa iosest rcappeared the small twigs
asact, the ground covering OF cones un-
@iureed--why was not the entire timber
nast. together with It's rocky substructure
Hneyed and carried along In one colossal
nntalne and deposited like a mountain 70
n<fk It's terminal7 The great Muir. the
M'des the Malespina, the Patterson and
VAR Alaskan glaciers are not construct
- valleys as they advance.
tHdeubtedly undor the operation OF the
" Thar imneis force 10 seek the lines 81
e~t resistance, glaciers may be found 70
wfapy the beds % valleys, as a hermit
~ nay seek shell fashioned by some
VICE creature but IN science II Is espe-
&'if incumbent on the observer. not TO
~ eapses tTansp0scd with consequences,
&AskA Is furnishing innumerahle object
xssas ~ physical geology. and even there
- actl0n has not been OF glacial"
~ The object OF this letter was not 10
~ks Issue on the Ice age with this emit
=. Professor OF geology IN Harvard. but
ne exceptions TO hts explanation OF
&c o. the phvpomena that attended the
~staar earthquake In the valley Of the
'.ssssrpi N isii-is. and whose center of
sl'a@nge was the New Madrid region
W. Was rare siesmlc manifestation
sals. that & WAS 80 long kept up The
sA.ps, trembling, cracking and sinking
~ Earth continued, with only short
49, MISSIONS, for about ninety days, the
+f%sil igSfAnpR ON rNeprH ~ augh ura.