The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-10-05

How will the world endF VIII it explode.
melt. freeze. collide with another planet or
dry up and blow away2
Ever since the FIRST man trOd the earth's
surface this problem has been OF Interest
The prophets OF Old Israel INDUCED III
specuiations concerning g.. just as 10 the
rraphets Today. Two OF the latter have
been venti;ating their views recently one
j. Hudson Maxim. the brother OF Hiram
Maxim. and an inventor Of note on hls own
account. and the other Is NJ Louis RabOur-
din. a French scientist.
Mr.. MaXim's c0ntluSo ns appear in the
oman Home COMPANION. while VI. Ra-
bourGtn'S contribution 20 the literature OF
the subject II printed In the Paris Cosmos
NJ. Maxim rejects the suggestion that the
earth may be destroyed from within. but
this Is the main contention Of ~. Rabou.-
DIN.
IL Us suppos,." the latter says. 'thaS
IN consequence OF an extraordinary move
ment produced by a contraction Of the cell
trail mass the bottom Of the sea should
cave In and thus preCipitlte the mass OF
water in the ocean ON the burning matter
Of the interior The water thus brought
IN contact Vith such a great heat would de-
C0mpo 2. the hydrogen. the fife gaining step
6y step. electric phenomena assisting. the
Ers ate part Of the terrestrial crust would
return Ia It's state az the period OF It's for
nation and be nothing more than a globe OF
nre. In this case there would be presented
to the worlds which gravitate In sdereal
Space a new star. suddenly Illuminated. the
brightness OF which would gradually In
crease. Tut slowly disappear forever in the
profound shadows OF Wim!table space The
earth's crust will uOt.-h0Wever. be thrown
intO the air. its divided parts will not be
pTpJ,cted into space they win be cOaEulatei
In the mass TN which they Law and the gas
which Is born on this burning mass. com
pressed Under- the chaos OF the crust VII
sure. This i what is revealed in the spec
trum OF all q the new stars which have
appeared IN the past few years.
At present there Is observed a relative
Frequency In the appearance ~ new stars.
the N0vae. as they are called BY the as
tronomers. Is TIE appearance " these new
stars explained by the theory vhich We
have tust stated and are the Novae the pre-
sages Of the fate which awaits Us some day
In tie future? According 20 prophecies, the
earth shall be destroyed by IRE, and per-
hapS our suffering and corrupted humanity
will be called upon - perish ia a furnace
which Is as gigantic ~ u = swssome.'
Mr.. Maxim's suggestions follow ether
lines: The warparg % ;he sarth's crust
will continue to produce volcanoes with &C.
caSonal disasters until the ocean shall els
appear by absorption In the earth. and our
planet continue % revolve-a dead world.
ike the moon. BY that time. too. our sun
may have 50 much cooled down as to be
darkPnpd hy the formation or n crust upon
i,, surface. and the whole solar system te-
come a tomb Of the dead. rolling on through
infinite night. But that time Is yet a long
vav on. and neither ourselves nor our chill
S-en need TO worry.
rAithouEh f. Is exceedingly improbable
hat the earth may be destroyed by col
lision with a comet or some huge meteor.
s1ilI the fact that such a contingency Is
POSSIBLE is sufficient ground for discussion
on the subject. ard for imagining what the
result might be. Although II is not probable.
stWl IL Is possible. that the earth NAV
some time. encounter such a shower OF
small meteors. perhaps In the form OF a
comet. that the heat Of combustion from
friction with our atmosphere, and the pofs-
onOus gases thereby generated. might de-
ssroy all terrestrial life. Expression was
given to this theory in a series Of articles
published some time ago by Camille Fam
marton. the eminent astronomsr-aujhor.
Again, { Is known that not many years
ago a hugs bolide. something ike eight
miles In diameter. fairly grazed our earth
What would happen should a bolide. or me-
teor. 100 miles. or even 100 miles. In jt
ameter. strike the earth fairly and square
"? Were we to suspend an esq by a small
cord. and IRE at Il with a rife. 50 that the
bullet would strike II IN the center. the
effect would be somewhat similar on a
small scale 70 what might be expected 20
happen 20 the earth X struck by a huge
Solide 100 miles In diameter. moving a. a
velocity OF nifty miles q second
Lord Kelvin has estimated that u TIE
present consumption OF coal In human m