The Washington times., 1902-07-13

! 1t used to be supposed that the center Of
| the earth was one vast ocean of fiery
! liquid. The most accepted theory today
/ is that the center of the earth Is a SOL
/ i'd mass of great density and exceeding
| high temperature the kernel of the nut.
as 1t were. This kernel is surrounded
| by a fatty layer of incandescent semi
molten masses or columns that connect
the kernel to the outer crust, or the
comparatively thin she'll OF the earth S
surface These masses are SO corsid-
I erable in fact that the fatty layers al
luded to form huge lakes, and are ahso-
! lutely separate one from the other. This
| non-interccmmunicati of those lakes,
by the way, accounts for volcanoes of the
same region not being in eruption at CO.
incident times and not vomiting forth
scoriae of the same component parts
| and materials.
Now then. the outer she'll being so
thin. biologists tell US, and We are
| flying around at such rate OF speed
that this softer layer. or almost liquid
mass. below that thin yielding crust.
has permitted the flattenirg out of the
sphere at the poles. pancake like. A
rapid revolving motion of any spherical
body not absolutely a solid will pro-
duce such an effect. you know These
masses of subterranean semi-liquids are
subject to certain changes and infiu-
epces; there probably are tides, cur
rents and other disturbances as there
are upon the surface bodies of water,
and these disturbances produce changes,
upheavals. and depressions in the cut
or crust. assures, some say earthquakes,
too and the displacement of entire bod
les of water, and, in turn, are also
affected by outside disturbances. avail
anches. great storms. etc.
Our fathers thought that these inner
disturbances produced great swellings
or blisters upon the crust, mountains
that finally exploded and allowed TINS
fiery matter to find vents in their crests'
volcanoes Scientists of our time nave
proven that few. IL any, new volcanic
eruptlons have occurred from pre-eX-
istent mountains, that, on the contrary
they have originated where. supposed
". the earths crust was thinnest. IN
the water. and plains and at the edge
of or in bodies OF water. and that the
great volcanic mountains we see now
are but the lava that has bubbled out
of those craters and built up nils aboul
them, virtually constructing great hues,
their own chimneys. thousands OF feet
high. The building capacity OF vol
canic eruption may be imagined whcn
we are told that kilauea's crater tat
Honolulu) was brimful OF lava in 1910.
There was no eruption. but simply
leak" in the side OF the mountain and
n mass of lava. perhaps 100000 cubic
yards. flowed down the mountain side
and spread out into sheet thirty-seven
miles long and sixteen miles widei That
one leak changed the entire surface OF
the adjacent country. filling up water
ways. forming promontories and bays
where they existed not before. Another
example: Coseguina. a hillock OF not
over 500 feet high ton a promontory in
the Bay of Fouseca. Central America)
in a volcanic eruption. threw up mass
of lava, ashes. and debris that, settling
down, covered an area twenty miles
in diameter with layer sixteen feet
thick. mass equal to at least 65,00O.-