The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1901-07-19

pines. told of the masts of the
ships which appear. before the hull;
of the round shadow which the earth
casts on the moon; of the fact that
certain men, some of whom I had
seen, had actually sailed around the
earth, and SO on.
But my opponent secuted the mast
and-hull argument, and declared that
it might be true and yet prove moth
ing. Moreover, it was evident that
to people living among the hills an
argument based on unobstructed
vision was ineffective; they had no
experience which helped to inter-
pref it.
AS to the eclipse, the preacher de-
clared the eclipses varied. He had
seen one of the sun, and the shadow
came off on the same side it went on;
how could that be if my revolution
theory was correct? Eclipses were
freaky things, and nobody knew how
they would act. As to the story of
mems sailing around the world, who
did not know that men who travelled
were notorious liars? They came
back knowing it was impossible to
disprove their large stories, and peo-
pie expected them to lie, and they did
lie. Or, if the man who told this story
did not lie, he might have been mis-
taken. Like as not he sailed round
pretty nigh the ridge of it, and so
came back all right, but he kept on
the top side all the time," said the
minister. He added with gestures
that ''the world may be round this
away" ii. e., round on top), cor even
round this-a-way" ii. e., cylindricaD,
''but hit Amt round this-a-way'' ii. e..
sphericaD.
Then came the positive part of his
argument. He appealed to reason and
observation; he had sat up one night
to see whether the mill pond ceased
at any time to run over the dam, as
with the slightest inclination of the
earth this one level stretch of water
should have done. He had been some
thing of a traveller himself and had
been twice to Virginia and once well
down in Tennessee, nor had he found
any place where the earth appeared
to curve. He ridiculed the theory
which would compel us to hold on to
the trees at night to keep from fall
ing off, and squarely denied that
there could be any people on the I'M
der side of the earth walking. with
heads down, and foolish enough to
think their heads were up.
minded them of the fly on the apple,
and illustrated by shadows on the
wall the theory of eclipse and the
procession of the seasons.
Then came the other minister. He
had come far-"cl'ar over the aidge
of the yirth in LAUREL" as he iron
ically told us in his introduction. He
was not bound by any false notion of
courtesy; he did not live here, he said,
and he proposed to hew to the line
and let the chips fly where they
would. This was an age of new ideas,
and most of them false ones; it was
a time when people were likely to be-
lieve a lie and be damned; it was n
time for the friends of the truth to
stand by the truth, and not let any
false ideas of friendship or hospital
ity keep them from exposing error
and branding it as such.
Having so spoken, he moved around
to where he could confront me and
began his argument. He was a stall
wart man, a giant in stature, and
looked taller in his jeans coat, which
he wore without vest over his hick-
Dry shirt, and his gray jeans trou-
sers. His name was the same as that
Of Tennessee general in the civil
war, and he was related to him. Ger
tainly he showed no fear that night |
IS he faced this new and dangerous
error.
He began with the declaration that |
he Bible declares that God laid the |
corner stone of earth and stretched |
he line upon it. He asked how a |
straight line could conform to |
curved surface, or a round earth have
corner stone. He went on to af-
irm that the course of the sun is
rom one end of the heavens to the
'ther, and that if the sun is station
Try the Bible statement must be false.
lie showed that the Bible says there
s nothing hid from the heat thereof,
whereas had told of the poles long
n darkness and in winter. He went
trough the Bible and sought out
ong array of quotations. He got as
ar as Joshua, and spent the rest of