The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-06
PREDrcrINo rHE END.

ptC0oaht D8otAAno TUT bohAC pSOftSs ShoS - some boys delight in frightening umid companions with ghost stories man who prophecies that time will cease on certain day is sure to find some believers and he is safe in his predictions rntl the day arrives because it is impossible for any ono to prove that the prediction is false When the times arrives that it should come true all can see that he was false prophet but .ione knew 1t before hand.
 The excitement created by William Mill Ter has not yet passed from the mem ories of some now living. He began his prophecies about 1888, and if we renaem- Der correctly he fixed tho time for the, millennium and the final windup as the year 1S42. During that decade of prophecy he continually preached the coming of Christ and the end of the world, and there were many who believed in him. His followers at one time were estimat- ed at 5000. Many timid people actually became crazed with fear and excitement. Many others sold out their possessions and wound up their earthly affairs in readiness. His figures and reasonings were implicitly believed by his dupes, and as the great day drew near his most en- thusiastic followers prepared their ascen- sion robes and awaited the end with con- fidence in the word of their leader. But the year is4s passed and there was no milienium and no cstaclysm. It was found that Millsr's prophecies had slipped cog and his followers were disappoint- ed and disgusted The most of them lost faith and forsook hima though he tried to keep up the interest in himself by cor recting his figures and dates, but he never fully reinstated himself and died few years later a disappointed and discredit- ed prophet who was probably honestly crazy on the one subject.
 Miller has not been the only one to | thus foreteli what no human being can possibly know. The prophet Isaiah speaks | of a time when ''the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" and St. John in his Revelations saw the end of all l time when "the heaven departed as a | scroll' and all things earthly were de- stroyed. But the Savior himself declared in positive terms: "of that day and that ho0r knoweth no man, no, nor the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but ! the Father" That ought to satisfy any
 man but it doesn't prevent prophets from rising who are positive that they can tell just when the end will be.
 But there is another class of predicters who argue from scientific bases and fore | see the destruction of the earth by nat | ural causes. The late Ignatius Donnelly. in his interesting book, 'Ragnarok; or | The Age of Fire and Gravel" tells of a time when this continent was swept by a mighty burning comet and all things in | its path were buried in fire and gravel. l and his reasonings were as ingenious as | they were interesting. however fanciful we may regard them. Something of the same or worse character Is predicted by Professor Wilhelm Meyer. a German sci- enlist who has just written 8 book on | the subject. He does not base his cal culations on Bible texts or on mystic lore | and dreams and visionss but deals entire | ly with natural causes, and tells of the many, ways in which the end may come
 'at such an hour as ye know not"
 For example, Dr. Meyer refers 10 the
 great volcanic eruptions of Krakatoa, some twenty years ago which destroyed 5O,OoO people. and then he proceeds to tell us what g. terrible event 1t would be if the great Mawna Loa. in Hawaii, should | give rise to a disaster a thousand times more terrible than Krakatoa." Well, we can easily imagine that such an event would cause a rather interesting time for a good many people, but 1t would be noth-
 ing different from what has occurred al various times in all ages, except in ex- l tent. Such a catastrophe as he imagines
 would be terrible. and may occur, but nc one can predict the time or prevent its
 occurrence, so we see no occasion to lose
 sleep over it.
 Dr. Meyer also predicts that an earth.
 quake or & volcano may cause 8 flood
 more disastrous than that of the Noahir
 dsluge and submerge great portion oi
 the world. Failing in this he works back
 to the Donnelly theory and tells us what
 would be likely to happen from ''the col lision with cur atmosphere of a colossal
 fiery mass of rock darting from som,
 corner of space"
 Well, if we are to indulge in any fan
 cies on the subject, we imagine that sucl
 an event would be very unpleasant fol
 those who happened to be just at tn,
 point where the bucking monster buttet
 into the earth. And, if the visitor should
 be large enough and had on a good heaC
 of steam 1t might take our earth alon,
 with 1t, like mad bull with a baske
 over his head, and where would we bt
 then7 Those of us who happen to sur
 vive would present a very sorry specta
 cle careering through space without tai
 or way-bill and with no fixed destination
 liable to land on Mars or some othel
 strange place without notice or previou.
 acquaintance. It isn't an inviting pros
 pect, and we decline to contemplate it.
 After all is said, we repeat that wha
 Dr. Meyer predicts. or what he considers
 possible. would be but a repetition o,
 what has already occurred on a smaller
 scale at many times and in many lands
 Earthquakes have destroyed cities ant
 countries. Tidal waves have submerged
 their thousands and millions of victims
 Volcanoes have belched forth death ant