Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-04-11

Distinguished GeOIOgIst Says the
Country Was Covered With Water,
Not Ice-The Water Came After the
Age of Man and Was Practically
the Flood.
Professor George Frederick Wright
of Oberlin college arrived at New York
recently from Europe on the steamship
Pennsylvania. He is home from q
scientific tour that has taken him
around the globe. Professor Wright Is
a geOlogist of distinction, and his trip
was taken in the interests of this sci
ence. He is the author of "The Ice Of
North America" and other scientific
works connected with the glacial pc
riod. While his explorations took him
to other parts Of Asia and to Africa,
most of his time was spent in Siberia,
and the main object in undertaking the
trip was to settle if possible what has
long been a disputed question among
geologists - namely, whether Siberia
had ever been covered with ice, as
North America and parts of Europe
We're, during what it known as the gla-
cial period. The generally accepted
view has been that Siberia was COW
cred with ice, and a great many geolo-
gists, including several eminent Rus
sian ones, still hold to this view. AS a
result of this trip Professor Wright be-
lieves that at the time when North
America was covered with ice Siberia
was covered with water.
Speaking Of his travels to New
York Sun man, Professor Wright said:
81 founs no signs of glacial phenom-
ena south Of the fifty-sixth degree.
North of that l did not go, but from
other things / am convinced that the
land was never covered with ice as was
our own, where signs of it are now
found as far south as New York.
1--WE did find indications of an ex-
tensive SubSidence of all that region
which puts new light on everything
here. At Trebizond, on, the south shore
of the Black sea, there was evidence of
q depression of 700 feet. This was
shown by gravel deposits on the hills.
In the center of Turkestan the waters
reached their greatest height, for there
we found these deposits over 1000 feet
above sea level Southern Russia IS
covered with the same black earth de-
posit that we found in Yurkestan.
There were still other evidences of the
waters having covered this portion of
the globe. One of these is the pres
ence yet of seals in Lake Baikal, in ST.
IBERIA, 1000 feet above sea level The
seals which we found are Of the arctic
species and are the same species as
found in the Caspian sea.
"The only theory, therefore, is that
they were caught when the waters re-
ceded. Perhaps the most wonderful
discovery of all was at the town Of
Kiey, on the Nippur river, where stone
implements were found 53 feet below
the black earth deposit, showing that
the water came there after the age of
man. This enables us, therefore, to
determine the age Of this depression.
there has been depression of 750 feet
at TrebiZOnd, and in southern Turkes-
tan the waters were over 1000 feet
deep. The implements found were
such as those made in North America
before the glacial period, which gives
good ground for believing that the de-
preston was made there when the gla-
cial avalanche occurred here. In short,
it was practically the flood"
Professor Wright after visiting St.
Petersburg went to Damascus and rode
400 miles on camels to the Dead sea.
An interesting discovery was made by
him in the region of the Red sea. In
regard TO this he says:
"It has hitherto been supposed that
the children of Israel crossed the Red
sea at Suez, but it has been found diff
ficult to reconcile this supposition with
the fact that a million persons crossed
the sea in single night which would
necessftate a very wide division of the
waters. My explorations north OF
SueZ have convinced me and those to
whom | talked that the point of cross.
ing was 20 miles north OF SueZ, be-
cause at that point the conditions are
| all fulfilled. The waters at that time
were about four feet in depth there,
| and the mountains are in the west
| just as related, and an east wind
would have swept bare place at least
| five miles wide"
Professor Wright said that the most
satisfactory result of his trip was that
it could now be demonstrated that the
| advent of man was before the settled
! conditions of the present time and be
fore the period when the land rose al
points, as shown by the latest deposits
being on the tops of mountains.
A Substitute For Rubber.