The Saint Paul globe., 1902-11-15
WHEN THE WORLD ENDS
OCEAN WILL DISAPPEAR AND
EARTH BECOME DEAD

Two Prominent Scientists, M. Louis
Rabourdin and Hudson Maxim, Ex-
press Their Ideas as to How the
Catastrophe Will Occur-Agree That
the Time Is Long Way Off.
NEW YORK, Nov. 14.-According
to science, the world must one day
come to an end. To put it more SCI
entifically all earthly matter must
undergo complete transformation in
time. Two prominent scientists have
recently expressed their ideas as to
how this catastrophe will occur
One is Mr.. Hudson Maxim, the
brother of Sir Hiram Maxim, and
an inventor of note on his own ac-
count, and the other is M. Louis
Rabourdin, a French scientist. MI.
Maxim's conclusions appear in
womans paper, while M. Rabourdin's
subject is printed in the Paris Cos
mos. Mr.. Maxim rejects the sug-
gestion that the earth may be de-
stroyed from within, but this is the
main contention of M. Rabourdin.
LET US suppose" the latter says,
that in consequence of an eXtraor-
binary movement produced by con-
tom of the sea should cave in and
thus precipitate the mass of water in
the ocean on the burning matter of
the interior. The water thus brought
in contact with such a great heat
would decompose, the hydrogen would
burn, and burn all the better because
of the presence of oxygen. The fire
gaining step by step, electric phe-
nomena assisting, the greater part of
the terrestrial crust would be dislo-
Gated, and the earth would return
to it's state at the period of it's for
nation, and be nothing more than
globe of fire.
'In this case there would be pre-
sented to the worlds which gravitate
in sidereal space a new star, sudden
ly Illuminated, the brightness of
which would gradually increase, but
slowly disappear forever in the pro-
found shadows of illimitable space.
The earth'S crust will not, however,
be thrown into the air, it's divided
parts will be coagulated in the mass
on which they lay, and the gas which
is born on this burning mass, COM
pressed under the chaos of the crust,
will spread to the exterior under
enormous pressure. This is what is
revealed in the spectrum Of all of the
new stars which have appeared in
the past few years.
Al prGSSuL lHGTG Is UUSGINGu d rel
ative frequency in the appearance of
new stars, the Novae, as they are
called by the astronomers. Is the
appearance of these new stars ex-
planned by the theory which we have
just stated, and are the Novae the
presages of the fate which awaits us
some day in the future? According
to prophecies the earth will be de-
stroyed by fire, and perhaps out Suf-
fering and corrupted humanity will
be called upon to perish in furnace
which is as gigantic as it is awesome."
Mr.. Maxim's suppositions followal
other lines: "The Warping of the
earth's crust will continue to pro-
duce volcanoes with occasional dis |
pear by absorption in the earth, and |
our planet continue to revolve-a dead |
world, like the moon. By that time, /
too, our sun may have so much cool |
ed down as to be darkened by the I
formation of crust upon it's surface, |
and the whole solar system become a |
tomb of the dead, rolling on through |
infinite night. But that time is yet |
long way off, and neither ourselves
nor our children need to worry.
although it is exceedingly i'm
probable that the earth will be de-
stroyed with collision With a comet or
some huge meteor, still the fact that
ficient ground for discussion on the
subject, and for imagining what the
result might be. Although it is not
probable, still it is possible, that the
earth may 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 poisonous gases
thereby generated, might destroy all
terrestrial life. Expression was given
to this theory in a series of articles
published some time ago by Camille
Flan1marion, the eminent astronomer.
Again it is known that not many
years ago huge bolide, something
like eight miles in diameter, fairly /
grazed our earth. What would hap
pen should a bolide or meteor, 100
miles, or even 1000 miles, in diameter
strike the earth fairly and squarely?
Were we to suspend an egg by
small cord, and fire at it with rifle, |
so that the bullet would strike it in
the. center, the effect would be some
what on a small scale to what might |
be expected to happen to the earth If |
struck by huge bolide 1000 miles
in diameter, moving at a velocity of |
fifty miles second. Lord Kelvin
has estimated that if the present
consumption of coal in human indus
tries continues with anything like its
present rdtlO OF increase, the great
coal measures will be exhausted, and
the oxygen Of our atmosphere praeti-
cally consumed by its combustion
within the next four or five centuries.
This is the most likely, perhaps, of
effect the human race. and it more
directly concerns us at the present
time, from our realization that we
are extrava gantly wasting the breath
of life of those who are soon to fol-
low. Let us hope however that be-
fore long our fuel shall be consumed
and our oxygen exhausted man will
have discovered some way of previd-
ing fresh supplies from new sources"