Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-11-21

""s ue swallowed Up nt Any Mo-
ment as oshers Have Been Beror.
In Our planet. Pitiies. Traps.
When one reads or hears of .o,oo
sudden and violent alteration In the
crust of this planet OF ours one in
shncINeiy puts II down TO something
in 'he way q a Volcanic outburst. In
most cases IL Is 80. Eut not always
Mother Earth has many fashions OF
building up what she likes aud getting
rio or what she is tired OF.
One hardly wonders that Indian
trlOes who frequented the shores OF the
columbia river used to Worship as tho
All Devouring one" a great elf near
the Cascades. which for mnny yeors
past LAS been steadily advancing anon
the river. with the evident intention
OF hlotting out it's led and forming n
huSe lake above. This will Inevitably
happen. The mountain. which Is .. 600
rect nigh and eight miles long has
Oeen proved TO he moving forward ana
downward at rate OF one ,o tbroo
rect year. The railway tracN which
runs along It's base has 10 be constantly
ai''r"u. lh" reason of this pondcrous
iandsiid" Is that tie mountain rests on
layr' Of soft sandstone. which Is
steadily giving way
lhe village Il S..ntc Foy ,lc Taren.
taise. In eastern France. seems doomnd
to be ingulfed The base OF tbe hin
on which II stands Is hein. cafr,, = -, =
by the rapid waters of the Iypre Tho
houses. some OF them. show CRACKS
rival'nG those OF uGr Cheshire North.
wien. Some day there viii bc '.short
sharp shock" and Tarcntaise Will no
longer exist.
Islands 20 and come SO conston,lv
that none but the admiralty teeps count
OF them. Submarine volcanoes aro go
sponsible for most OF these dIsappeer-
Au0"S, nut others are harder 10 account
Tor Metis Island. for instance. in the
south Pacific. bore no sign OF volcanic
action about IL. 1; was charted in
1850. It's highest point being I5O foot
In 1870 II had gon,.-vanished utterly
without leaving n trace. On the site of
another small guano island of the
coast or southern California recept
soundings showed 20 fathoms OF water
Tangier island In Chesapeake bay was
fortified 10y the English feet In the vvar
or 1872. IL has sunk steadily. till now
those fortlhcations are under water.
The shifting sands OF the great dos
err are as hungry as the pitiless sea
Itself. Many OF the smaller oases in
the Sahara have disappeared from
sight In an hour or two. buried deep
by the deadly sImoom.
Some 400 miles southeast OF the old
city OF Kashgar. far out In the yellow
desolation OF the desert OF Cobb the
great Swedish explorer Sven HedIn
saw something projecting from the
smooth side OF one OF the long dunes.
II was the wooden roof OF a house
Further Investigation showed that II
was but one or thousands. 4 teemIng
city OF highly civilized Aryans had
long existed on this spot until the
earth had tired OF II and wiped II ont
Until Dec is. 1911. the eastern part
or Craighead county. Ark. was one
or the most beautiful and fertile
stretches OF prairie imaginable. Inter
spersed with tracts OF lovely wood
land. Pretty rivers ran between high
clay banks. and the country was rapid-
ly settling On the morning OF Dec.
10. in place OF rivers and rolling prairie.
a great lake rippled In the sunlight. In
the night the whole region. I2O miles
long and 80 wide. had sunk % 10 30
feet. Today the weird lakes OF the
Arkansas sunk lands offer the most
beautiful scenery and some OF the
best sport in all the southern states
Nothing is too big or too small to es-
cape the nav OF our hungry globe.
Quicksands are the traps she spreads
for smaller fry. Probably the worst
and most dangerous I'm the world are
the "shottS" of the Sahara These
are perhaps the dregs OF some prehIs-
toric sea. Now they are covered over
with a thick crust OF salt and sand.
Whole caravans have walked uncon-
sciously into these deathtraps and
been quickly swallowed up. Reclus.
the great French authority. declares
you can sound these Quicksands to a
depth OF 800 feet without finding bot
tom.-LondOn Mail.