The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-05
GUESSING AT THE EARTH's AGE.
A Chicago Professor Who ts Working
With a New Method


Oliver G. Harrington, curator of Field
Columbian museum and professor of
mineralogy at the University Of Chica-
go, has just returned from an explora-
ton Of the famous caves of Indiana
where he obtained specimens of carbon
ferrous formation, by means of which
he hopes to establish fairly accurate
estimate of the earth's age. Scientists
have used many methods In the at
tempt to solve this problem, with re-
suits varying from ten to ninety million
years The chance of large inaccura-
cies has been admitted by all who have
wrestled with the question, but Profess
sor harrington, while not making any
claims for his findings In advance, be-
lieves that his method Is the most like
ly to give satisfactory results,
The specimen which furnishes key
to the computation was taken from the
Wyandottei cave A statistic which
was broken off In 1850 has In the fifty
years since then enlarged three-fifths of
an inch in length and the size of goose
quill This corresponds we'll with an
Australian stalactite that enlarged
three-quarters of an inch in thirty live
years. BY having this ratio of deposit
Professor Harrington will apply it in
determining how long 1t has taken the
pillar of the Constitution" to form.
The pillar is an accumulation of St
Louis limestone, twenty-five feet high
and seventy feet in circumference,
found in the Wyandotte cave, With
this accomplished the Chicago scen-
fist believes that he win have a fairly
accurate idea of how many years 1t
took the whole limestone stratum to ac-
cumulate. Lectures on the exploring
trip will be delivered at the university
this fall.
The work was attended with constant
difficulties and much danger The Wy
andotte being the oldest and most in
teresting of the Indiana caves, more
time was spent there and more thor
ough Investigations made. The Maren-
go, another Of the large caves, the Shi-
lob and the Cohn caves were also WISH
ted. 1t was necessary for the professor
to penetrate the Wyandotte cave for
two miles and then crawl sixty feet
through q passage only sixteen inches
wide. AS the explorer Is a man of good
proportions he found 1t a tight squeeze.
To turn was out Of the question.
Through this little passage he removed
his specimens.
The Wyandotte cave proved of great
interest because of the many indica-
tons that 1t was once inhabited by In
dians. There were parts Of partly
burned torches, portions of instruments
partly completed, and to Professor Far
rington it seemed that the Indians had
worked the "Pillar of the Constitution"
There were the prints Of moccasins in
the sand and followed out places in the
walls which evidently served as seats.
The cave has been known to whites
since 1912, and must have been familiar
to the Indians long before that. The
entrance first used Is yet mystery an
opening having been made by drilling.
The Chicagoan believes that there are
many underground passages yet unex-
plored.
An experience In the COIN cave was
accompanied by no little peril, The ex-
plorer was lowered forty feet by means
of rope into a cavity about the size of
q we'll. In order to get the desired
specimens some blasting was necessary,
and, as no one could be found who
WOulu u1ueTtdke the JOD, PROFESSOR
harrington did it himself. After being
lowered he lit the fuse and retreated as
rapidly as poor facilities would permit.
He crossed pool nine feet in depth by
means of q plank that he had taken
down with him, then crawled through a
hole that scarcely admitted his body
and climbed fifty foot wall before he
felt yea sonablv secure. In this cave
there is a beautiful pool the sides Of
which are lined with crystals of calcite
that CLEAN like diamonds.
The Marengo, regarded as the finest
cave in the country, was discovered
only few years ago. A crevice lead
ing to it was found by a boy and girl at
play. 1t has since been explored to a
considerable extent and is found to be
covered with stalactites and stalag-
mites
The professor says that he found evil
dences in the Shiloh caves which dis
prove the old theory that caves are
formed by earthquakes. He says it is
brought about by water running over
and dissolving the limestone
In summing up an interesting &C
count of his trip yesterday the scien-
fist remarked that, while he had been