The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-08-05
HAVE THEY FOUND ITp

| up from the primevai coil and rocks of
cur continent remains which were sup
posed to belong exclusively to the wrong
ly named Old World, we rave been lis
tening for somebody to find the ark in
which Noah made his memorable voyage.
Biologists are pretty well settled in their
opinion that the American continent was
vastness of the original creation. When
| that emergence took place is only specu-
iation. The Bible account tells US that
''the earth was without form and void
| at the beginning. but how long that con-
| dition existed, or when the dry land rails
eli itself from the waters of the great
deep no man can tell. That America was
in advance of Europe, however, seems
to be an incontrovertible fact, though we
doubt II even that can be proven by
dates or figures.
| But about the ark. though there is
something that comes before that. AS is
well known, the location of the Garden
Of Eden has long been a matter of dispute
and will probably always be 30 unless
better proof can be found than anything
we have ever read. Now, one of the
most interesting books that we have read
in many years was published something
like score of years ago. bearing the
title: Paradise Found; Cradle of the
Human Race at the North Pole"
The author of this-J was DR.. Will
liam F. Warren, a distinguished profess
sor in the Boston University. and It is
wonderful to read the arguments he uses
ana the facts and data he brings forward
in support of his contention. 1t Is not
proposed to review his book. or set out
the reasoning by which he advances to
his conclusions, but merely to allude to
them as preface. 1t Is sufficient to say
| that he locates the Edenic abode of our
first parents at the North Pole, and rea-
sons that from that point they descended.
as it were.' populating the Oldest land,
which was America, and thus gradually
working their. way southwardly into the
country or regions best fitted for the hui
man race.
And that brings us back to the ark, or
nearly to it. Newspaper readers are well
aware of the recent report that the gen.
uine and original Noachin ark has been
found In petrified and well-preserved
condition on top of a mountain In Alaska
True, the source of this information Is
not of character to cause 1t to be ac-
cepted without further and better tes-
timony, but IL that or any other large
vessel has been found in those far-off
II ship built in Europe or America
were to be lost and should be discovered
after the lapse of some thousands Of
years. intact and sound. students would
have no difficulty about identifying it
They could tell when and where it was
built and by whom, and might, If they
Investigated closely, tell just what kind
of a pull the builders had and how much
profit they made on the job.
But, supposing a vessel. petrified or
otherwise well-preserved. shall really be
found in Alaska. how will it be identi-
fed? The statement of the savages who
claim to have discovered it is that it was
1900 feet long. This may be a guess Of
the savages. even supposing they really
found something, but II the vessel is
there, and 1t is as long as represented, do
we know that this would discredit the
account? The Biblical account is that
the ark was three hundred cubits long,
but how are we to verify that so as to
make It accord with our present meas
ures? No one knows what cubit of that
day represented. The sacred writer's
speak Of a cubit estimated TO be half a
yard, and of a sacred cubit of a full
yard. and Mr.. Cruden mentions the fact
that Some are of opinion that the cubit
which Noah made use Of when he built
the ark was equal to six common cubits."
So that vessel may have been anywhere
from $50 to 200 feet long for anything We
can prove to the contrary.
Nor are we any better off when we
come to the material of which the ark
was constructed. for no one knows what
| gopher wood is. Whether it is one Of
the many woods with which men are now
familiar, or was a wood peculiar to the
of which no representative is left on
earth, no one knows. and no one can
know, unless the vessel is found and
Identified.
There's only one hope, as we view 1t.
II the people of Noahs day had any
form of written language, or used any
signs or characters to express thought.
there Is apt to be some evidence of 1t
when the ark is found. Such vast and
wonderful vessel would hardly be suf-
fered to go from the hands of its builder
without an inscription in or on some
part of 1t. Besides, if those who were
with him were at all like people now are,
they would have been sure to leave some
evidence of their enforced idleness. Time
would hang heavily on their hands and
nothing could be more natural than that,
IL there was scholar among them, he
should have carved or engraved letters
or characters which can be deciphered
or translated.
This is all speculation, however, for
there may be no petrified vessel. and If
there is one, 1t may have been built and
stranded long after Noah's day. But it
would be a good joke on the Old World,
as they call it, If we should produce the
only genuine ark.
1ha Danaaonia journal "a authority fnr