Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-15

llSlS as TO the e4ACl CduSCo VI
W the eruptions of Mont Peles and
soufriere, devastating the beau
tiful islands Of the West Indian group.
Mr. Cope Whitehouse says that recent
observations in Berlin support his theory
regarding these appalling phenomena
AS Mp. Whitehouse has achieved fame
by his discovering that tho depression in
the Egyptian desert could be utilized for
irrigation, and the fact that the great
enterprise is now IN the hands Of the Brit
ish government. his views may command
attention. ~
Mp. Whitehouse IL something of Philis-
tine IN science. and apparently takes pain
ful pleasure IN presenting facts contra
dieting established theories in natural
phenomena.
He disagrees with Newton, La Place.
Lord Kelvin, Sir Norman Lockyer and
other distinguished authorities.
He denies that the hnite mind OF man
can ever pierce the starry vault OF heaven,
or establish laws for comets and suns
without going into technical details, he
defines his position and leads up to the
subject Of volcanoes as follows: The
English scientists have partially reduced
our solar system to a machine and as
signed to Deity little else than the duty
OF squeezing heat from the sun or 'stok-
@A11-%(N
made for sale and not for science.
When Newton suggested that gravity
might swing the moon as well as attract
an apple 10 the ground. he knew nothing
Of electricity He might have observed,
however, that a comet never enters the
sun, and therefore could not have been
attracted by II.
g. comet OF almost uncomfortable weight
is assumed to have come from space. As
e. -
changes its direction and darts away
again. tail foremost, IN a curved path, due
to a resistance which is too feeble TO OBJ
struct the passage Of this small tail, COM
posed OF a gas lighter than anything
known.
enc allowances is made for the attraction
Of gravftation In wireless telegraphy, and
the most superficial observation in ozol-
ogy. or the science Of small, show that
there is force IN doors which ignores
gravitation.
1--WE have no reason for supposing that
erav1tation Is not purely local AFFAIR or
that heat and light do not emanate frsm
the sun. Heat comes from the earth and
the light from the atmosphere, precisely
as the him in an incandsscent lamp Is
heated BY the resistance 1t offers to the
electric current and light e produced by
the vibration Of the hotes in the air.
THE only fact established beyond doubt
regarding sun and planets is their revolu-
ton on their axes, and this Is all that Is
needed to generate light and heat. They
are arc dynamos. and each in turn trans
nnits what IL receives tc its neighbors on
the circuit We DO not see the stars nor
WORLDS MADE OF DUST.
The astronomer who claims that HIS
eve penetrates space billions. trillions
and even decflIions Of miles stultihes him
self in the next breath by declaring that
worlds and solar systems are being formed
of cosmic dust.
Was the polar star ooscureo oy the
interpositfon OF a world in formation7
Yet the film formed by the breath OF the
obscure Jupiter. Evidently. therefore, We
no more see a star than we see distant
power-house that supplies electricity to
trolley lines. We only see the end Of the
st 6lar or solar ray where IL enters the
bubble OF which the earth is the center.
''It is strange that no astronomer has
ever heretofore observed that the magnt-
tying glass Of a lens two inches in dame
ter could have no appPociable effect on an
object as remote as saturn. Yet the ring
and the satellites of this planet are thus
made visible.
''In short. there is a kind OF screen
which presents the images OF stars as a
sheet between the observer and the magic
lantern at an exhibition. The images can
be magnfhed. but their distance IL per-
haps scarcely fifty inches"
When asked what this had to do with
the eruption OF Mount Peiee, Mr.. White
house replied: within twenty miles Of
the earth there rs a cold as intense as
LIQUID air Differences OF temperature can
be converted into an electric Hash, as cleo
tFictty can be converted into heat.
The so-called eruption of Mont Pelee
was purely electrical. The sympathetic
eruption OF La SOufriere was partly due
10 an interrupted circuit and partly an
induced current The public mind has
been confused by reports Of what
undoubtedly took place, but even the
scientific observers have not Disseminated
between cause and effect. There was, Of
course, no flow Of lava, but even without
that. can any one imagine the crater dis
charging what was said to have issued
from Il?
professor Hill rightly insists that there
should be a succinct and vigorously accu-
rate statement OF the facts. When this is
done il viii be found that neither dust nor
gas came from the volcano. Who saw