The Tucson citizen., 1902-06-25
BOTTLED SUNSHINE.
kATURE'S GREAT FACTORY IN WHICH
IS PRODUCED COAL.

- Lump OF tne WIheral JeAAS AtH AHs
tcrestinE MtIlIon Year History In
"a Few Words-A Wonderful FROG
ess OF EvolutIon.
Your life TO mine is as n second 10
thousand years. will let you know
that in my time have seen such sights
as would make you gasp in astonIsh'
ment. Once, in untold ages past, Ions
before man had appeared on this OLD
world, | was alive. Yes. the dirty old
piece of coal was living thing in those
dim, distant ages. A thing OF beauty,
too-a thing to be admired. was
fern. Not such a paltry thing az you
decorate your homes with and grow 10
little earthenware affairs. My trunk
alone measured i've feet across.
Yet was nothing out of the ordinary.
In those days there were many little
plants forty feet or so in height. Ev-
cry bit Of coal you toss about IN such
needless fashion once was living
plant-a plant which grew aud -four
ished. even rs your plants OF today
grow and flourish. But IN these de-
generate days plants are poor, feeble
little things Plants were plants 10
those days. We had no petted and
pampered ferns. We had no houses OF
glass. artificialls kept warm so that
the poor little dears shouldn't get cold.
Those were the days of real ferns, OF
healthy ferns free from al newfangled
nonsense about fertilizers and soils and
aspects and such childish weaknesses.
In those early days the earth was rot
as 1t is today. IL was hotter. for II
had cooled from globe OF molten rock.
Its atmosphere was heavy with warm
vapors: close and oppressive, you would
call il. but 1t just suited us. as we grew
aud luxuriated in II. The earth's crust
was thin and beaved about. gradually
raising vast continents from the bed OF
the sea and slowly dragging others
deep into the ocean. 1t was time OF
vast changes.
grew on the muddy banks OF a great
pool OF water. which was fed by slug
cish streams and bordered by mon.
strous reeds. On the other side stretch
ed vast swamp and dark forest OF
vegetation. For hundreds OF
miles there was no break to this forest
beyond a few bogs and pools of brackish
water. The sun shone hot upon me. 50
ne wonder ] grew well In this humid
Then there were frightful
storms. when mighty trees were dung
down and swept by foods TO :he bottom
OF the pool. This had gone on ages be-
fore appeared above ground; II went
on ages after The result was that the
bottom of the pool was q mass or FALLEN
trees The newly felled trees pressed
on the bottom ones. and after thou
sa nds Of years the water. the mud. the
heat and the pressure turned the
mighty beds Of vegetable matter Int
what you call coal.
In the dense forest 1t was somewhat
the same. Trees were thrown down
by hurricanes: fresh ones grew and fell
victims to storms. So IL went on for
long centuries until the last forest grew
on the top OF a great thickness or bur.
led trees. ferns and MOSES. Amid this
exuberant vegetation were many fan.
tastlc and uncouth animals. Round
about me they made the forest resound
with their hideous belIowiDgs. They
were so strangely shaped that I could
not well describe them to you. Even
some OF the dies had wings half foot
long from Up 70 tip. 0'.A., -"'-"~AA 49,
One day | saw a commotion in the
midst Of the lake far away from me.
The bed rose up and belched forth
stea NJ and ashes and molten rock. In
the years that followed the fluid rock
rolled down the sides OF the volcano
into the water below. Mighty clouds
OF steam arose, and as the vapor con-
densed 1t fell upon us as warm rain.
This Is why ! grew SO well aud why
the vegetation around me was so rank
ly luxurlant
Many years after the land began to
sink. Slowly 1t went. down; slowly
the water closed over our heads until
all the mighty forests were deep under
the sea. Thus we stopped for count
less years. and heavy bed OF sand ac-
cumuIated above US. Then. just as
slowly. we arose until we formed a
vast elevated land. Then came other
fOrests-trees whose limbs were tan
Eled with enormous festoons and gnr-
lands OF strang climbing pants. Ter
rible thunderstorms alone broke the ST.
lence or these wooded solltudes save
when some mighty fern crashed TO the
ground or when the wind tore down
young branches aud hurled them into
the swamps.
SO all went on anew, as Of Old. and
the continent sank once more below
the waters OF the ocean. taking with 1t
the beds of buried verdure, Vet again
II rose. aud again it sank. So layer
upon layer OF plants and OF sand were
forned-vast layers. which took ages
unthinkab BILE to form-until there WAS
depth of 10000 feet OF bard baked wood
nJ con1 NJ coni and dirt nOk at