The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-01-09

Copyright, 1863, by T. c. Mcclure.
The comet and the end of the world.
IAke blossom and flower. they belong to
each other in the mind of man.
BY basing deduction on astronomical
figures that are strictly exact it is posi-
BILE TO deduce that in the last TWO thou
sand years alone a quarter of a million
comets have traversed our solar system.
We know. too. that our earth has passed
through what were remnants; at least Of
comet swarms even in our own day
From this we should have to conclude
that the danger of a collision between
earth ana comet does indeed hang over
us like "A sword Of DamocIes.
But let us consider the matter In the
light of another solidly founded science
We can count at least six thousand
years for the history of our human spe-
cies fn the sense OF a history of culture.
These six thousand years are only tiny
fraction of the time during which man
has existed on the earth. And again,
this greater period OF time is insignif-
cant when compared with the tremendous
lengths Of time during which animal and
plant life developed on the earth before
the creature man was even possible.
There is drastic way 10 show the Won
derful contrast between the millions OF
years of man history.
Suppose that the millions of years since
the world began were represented by one
day OF twenty-four hours from midnight
until half-past twelve noon The follow
ing epoch. during which the present coal
layers were green forests and the fish de-
uanders and lizards. takes up the sue
ceeding eight hours aud five minutes
! ell about half-past eight in the evening
Then come the ichthyosaurians Their
history occupies up to quarter past eleven
ut night.
Now we have left only three-quarters
OF an hour That time. with the exception
OF oaly two minutes. is occupied by the
development OF the tertiary world-ths
world of the monster mammals. And the
two minutes that are left-they are the
time % the whole life OF the creature
man from the glacial epoch until now.
And only the last six thousand years are
D history Of civilized man-in other words.
the last five seconds of those last two
niuutes,
Let es apply this to the question Of
Tire terrible comet.
In those five seconds comets have
passed through the path CT the earth At
least eight hundred times; in our whole
solar system there were, no doubt hun
dreds OF thousands. perhaps as many rs
ehree-cuarters OF a million. Now calcu-
late: so many in five seconds means how
many in twenty-four hours
One gets new idea of the heavens.
NO CATASTROPHE IN kUNS
And vet in all those twenty-four hours
eur hundred millions Of years-there has
not been a serious collision between the
earth and any meteor Never have there
been devastating catastrophs ON this plan
81. Never has the steady evolution ~ life
On earth been interrupted. Never could
the thread have been torn between the
oldest. primevsl bacillus and the man OF
today. Had Il been otherwise, man could
not DO here now. NOT the finest vestise
An all the geological layers OF those al
snaogi endless epochs hints at the wild fall
Of anything from the sky or at rude en-
croachments on the chemical substance OF
eur atmosphere.
This permits only two conclusions. In
the millions OF years during which comets
eEarmed through the planetary system