The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-30
A nrc ponr CoNrrMpLArED.

plain to the human senses is not looked on as worth considering. The things that are apparently hidden are those which fncite men to greatest effort and bring Into play all their hidden energies. <&
 It always has and perhaps always wil b93o. Our first parents were not content With what had been made plain to them and must needs try to peer into hidden things They made a Cad job of 1t. Centuries ago, in their comparatively rude vessels. and with their limited knowledge of navi- gation. the old Argonauts and explor- CTS sailed all the waters of the then known world to satisfy their curiosi- ty, their avarice or their desire for con- quest.
 |. It was the same principle of explora- tivensss. ito coin .,a word. which sent Columbus in his small and in-provided caravels across unknown seas to the discovery of an unknown world. It is the same spirit which for generations has sent men to suffering and death In
 search of the Poles. those mystical centers of earth where there Is no mo- ton, and where foot of man has never left footprint. as scientists hold. And 1t is this principle of unrest. this de- sire to find out things, that has led meh lfroni time immemorial to try to Amltats tho birdss of the air and to Au rta Just now there Is revival of the
 idea of exploring towards the center of the earth. It Is not a new project. It is a scheme which has been fre- quently discussed. but never carried out. Just now new interest has been aroused by the proposition made by
 MT. Charles Algernon Parsons before the British Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. that a sum of $25, ,000, 900 shall be appropriated and set apart for the purpose of boring | hole twelve miles deep towards the center of the earth. and great things are anticipated if the work is done. The geologists and the scientists of all kinds hold diverse opinions about the inside of this terrestrial ball of ours Some think that the earth, as
 we know 1t, is merely a crust envelop-
 ing a mass of liquid fire. hotter than anything of which we have any con- ception. Others think of it as being
 solid, but all generally agree that there is vast heat contained in the interior.
 It is known that. the temperature in- creases as we go down, and from this
 it is argued that at certain depth
 there Is a temperature which no sub stance of which we have any knowl- | edge can withstand.
 All this is arguing from the known to the unknown, but at least a partial solution of the mystery is hoped for
 if the proposed hole is made. Of
 course a hole twelve miles deep would be but a pin-hole, comparatively, for litle calculation will show that 1t would require about 333 times that depth to reach the center of the earth. Never | theless, one does not have to reach the like. and a hole twelve miles deep might reveal many things and solve
 many problems. It might even pene- | tarte that liquid fire and cause an in- | convenient eruption, but science would | take chances on that and risk the boil | ing over.
 | Of one thing there Is little doubt, and that is the addition that would be
 made to our stock of knowledge about
 the composition of the earth's interior
 The geologists. the mineralogists and
 all other scholars and scientists would
 learn much that is now only suspected
 and would possibly learn many things l that no one has even dreamed of. It
 might reveals materials. mineral and
 otherwise. of which people have not l even dreamed, and bring to light mys-
 teries transcending anything the in-
 habitants of earth have yet seen. There
 Is one drawback, however, so far as | most of us are concerned, and that Is
 the calculation of an expert that 1t
 would require at least eighty years to
 dig the hole. That is discouraging to
 those now living, but future genera
 tions would be benefited.
 But there is still another point to | be considered in connection with this
 contemplated project. There has long
 been a belief among some astronomers that both the earth and the sun are | gradually losing their heat, the former
 as a result of the latter. In short
 they claim to be able to demonstrate
 that the heat of the sun is gradually,
 but surely and regularly diminishing,
 and that the time is certainly coming
 when our great light and heat dis
 penser will become as cold and dead as
 the moon now Is. Then, as we will
 have no outward source of light, dark
 ness will encompass the earth and with
 darkneas will come deprivation of heat
 and dskrss of cold og which we have
 little conception. S
 When that time comes what will
 humanity do for heat and light? All
 the coal and wood will have been used.
 so that we can have no fuel. We
 might produce both by electricity, but
 if there is no heat from the sun the
 streams will all freeze so that water
 power will not be available to generate
 electricity. In that case both ice and