Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-28

occur. The earth might lose its present
position in the solar system or it might
| be converted into a burning ball, glowing
| with fire. Either effect must result from
| the earthS or the suns collision with some
| other body in space. comet hitting us?
No, think that would have little effect.
| A comet hitting the earth would produce
about the same relative shock as a feather
| hitting a base ball. A comet Is a gaseous
| substance. We went through the tail Of
| one in 1885, when Hawairs volcano went
into eruption. The only effect was a hazi-
ness and red glare in the sky. We did not
seem to pass through this comets nucleus
its central mass. To all appearances that
apparently solid part was immense. But
| when We came to weigh 1t there was moth
| ing to 1t. 1t seemed to be of the same
| material which composed the tail. There
has never been record Of a comet suff-
| ciently large to knock the earth out OF po-
sltion. The largest would give US a red
sky, nothing more serious.
An immense meteor would be more like
of any. size. Suppose our planet were
struck by a meteor one-half it's size. There
may be meteors of such magnitude. II
there can be small ones there can probably
struck the earth within historic times
have weighed but few tons. Such bodies
falling upon our surface might kill one or
two persons. Nothing more serious would
| result. In space there have been meteors
apparently large the great planet
Jupiter. But they have been probably less
|
ten feet in diameter. But IL a large one
should knock the earth hard enough to
| change its present balance, the suns great
attraction would probably draw our planet
in Then we would all be frizzled up. A
| meteor one-half the earth's size and weight
might accomplish this 1t might take
year before We ultimately reached the sun,
but we would be destroyed before we got
half way there.
Our Cities May Fly OF I'm Space.
| eat 100000 miles, or half the distance
| from the sun, the earth's temperature
would rise possibly to 800 or 600 degrees
| No life could withstand such heat, of
course. Should the earth stay at this dis
lance a year would be but three months
long. Our velocity would be four times as
fast as 1t is now. We would buzz around
| at the rate of 10 miles a second. Our
| buildings and all loose objects would prob
ably be thrown of into space by centr,-
fugal force AS for ourselves and all other
| animate objects, they would all have been
obiterated by the heat.
| 81 said that the earth might also strike
something hot as to actually set 1t on
| fire. In such event 1t would never burn
| up entirely. 1t would go from incan-
| descent to gaseous form, and ultimately
cool down into a solid again. There is
| nothing lost in nature. Fire could not eX-
| tineuish planet
Yes. it is true that within millions Of
years We will either strike or pass the con-
| stellation of the Lyre-sometimes called the
| Harp-now overhead at about 10 p m. That
| group of stars is an Independent solar sys-
tenn from ffty-five to sixty billion miles
| away. 1t takes ray of light eighteen
| years to travel from their sun to earth
When we look at that sun now We see it
| as 1t appeared in 1882. II 1t should sud-
| denly disappear tonight will continue to
see it until 1913. Whether any of the plan
| cts in this constellation would strike the
| earth before they would hit the sun or
other planets Of our solar system would
| depend upon what side Of the sun hap
| pened to be on at the time. If Neptune
| Uranus, Saturn. Jupiter or Mars were on
| the side nearest the approaching constel-
lation they might encounter one of its plan
| cts four months before the sun would. If
| our sun should strike the great of the
| Tyre. the shock would probably throw US
| Immediately into their combined mass
| Professor w. J. McCiee considered the
| question from the standpoint Of an ethnolo-
| gist and geologist. Il can see no proba-
| bility of mans ultimate humiliation from
| any cause said he. Were # not for the
| great factor of intellect, the last human
| being on this planet would probably freeze
| to death. From age to age the quantity of
| ice on the surface of our globe increases.
Moreover. the continents growing and
the oceans shrinking. The earth is gradu-
ally drying as well as freezing.
Man Will Warm the Frozen Earth.
But intellect will not let the entire earth
freeze and thus exterminate the human
race. As soon as man becomes thoroughly
dissatisfied with the earth's temperature he
will change 1t to suit his needs. a CEN
tury hence man will live all over the world.
| In the polar regions he will warm the tenn
| perature around him: in the tropics he will
| cool 1t.
intellect will extract water from the
| rocks after they have absorbed all of the
| earth s moisture. We can extract water
| from rock now. but the process is both ex-
pensive and unnecessary. As the oxygen in
| the air becomes exhausted. intellect will
m No, NOT ,,,,f.
1t now? 1t also can be extracted from rock.
We do not thus produce it because the pro-
cess doesn't pay now"
Has it not been estimated that there will
! be standing room only on earth in the year
314S?"
Nonsense! Intellect does not let such
| catastrophes as that occur when it can pre-
| vent 1t. 1t may suffer considerable shock
but it ultimately protects itself"
Can you think of no sudden catastrophe
which might possibly end the earth%
| THE impact of sun with some other
sun or star is more apt to work havoc with
! earth than any other possible event The
mass Of the sun might be thus increased to
such degree that the earth's orbit would
have to change. If the came in con-
| tact with body Of equal size, and if its
| force of gravity or attraction for the earth
were thereby doubled. the whole solar sys-
| TEN would probably be broken up. To bal
| away to a greater distance or. is more
probable, it would tumble into the enlarged
sun. we nave lately learned that the sun
is not stationary, and that it is describing
a path toward the constellation Of the
| Tyre. Now. the other apparently fixed suns
| or stars in the sky are in motion also, but
! each is going in its own direction and at
its own rate of speed. These movements
threaten collisions from time to time: such
collisions have apparently resulted within
the historic period.
New Race to Replace Man.
| That man will entirely disappear from the
| earth and that evolution will meanwhile
have produced, from his stock a higher
race, is the original notion of Dr. Theo n
Gill, the biologist Of the Smithsonian
I'm the course of untold time said he
| man must develop into a creature as diff
ferent from what he is now as is the ape
ancestor from which he sprung. This ero-
| luton will depend upon future changes in
| the surroundings of earthly life. The sys-
| tenn of mans offspring will react to meet
| them. What these conditions can be | can
| not foresee. If the earth gradually dries? ?
| Well, then this descendant of man. what
ever creature Ne may be, will have adapted