The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-10-05
An Old Project Revived.

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plain to the human senses 10 not look
ed on as worth considering. The
things that are apparently hidden are
those which inoite men to greatest
effort and bring into play all their hid
den energies.
1t always has aud perhaps always
will be go. Our FIRST parents we're not
content with what had been made
plain to them and mpst needs try to
peer into hidden taiugs. They made
bad Job Of it. Centuries ego, in
their comparatively rude vessels, and
with their limited knowledge Of navi-
CATION, the old Argonauts and ex-
piorers aailed all the waters Of the
then known world TO satisfy their curl
osity, their avarice or their desire for
conquest.
1t vas the same rrincir's Of expior-
ativesess, to coin word, which sent
Columbus in his small and ill-pro-
vided oarsvels across unknown seas to,
the discovery Of an unknown world.
1t is the same spirit which for genera
tions has sent men to suffering and
death in search of the poles, those
mystical centres of earth where there
is no motion, snd where foot Of man
has neve- LETT footprint, as scientists
hold. And it is this principle of un-
rest, this desire to find out things,
that has led men from time immemo-
rial to try to initiate .he birds Of the
air and to soar beyend earth's limited
boundaries.
just nev there is revival of the
idea Of exploring towards the centre
of the earth. It is not pew project.
I. Sc g scheme which has been fre-
quently discussed, but never carried
out. just now new interest has been
aroused by the proposition made by
Mr.. Charles Algernon Pearsons be-
fore the British Association for the
advancement Of Science, that sum
of s25, 100000 shall be appropriated
and set apart for the purpose of bor-
ing hole IL miles deep towards the
centre of the earth, and great things
are anticipated if the work is done.
The geologists and scientists of all
kinds hold diverse opinions about the
inside of this terrestrial ball of ours.
Some think that the earth, as we
know it, is merely crust enveioping
mass Of liquid FIRE, hotter than any
thing Of which ws have any concep-
zion. Others think Of it as being
solid, but all generally agree that
there is vast heat contained in the
interior. It is known that tbe tenn
perature increases as We go down, and
from this it is argued that ata certain
depth there is temperature which no
substance of which we have any knowl-
edge can Withstand.
All this is arguing from the known
to the unknown, but at least partial
solution Of the mystery is hoped for
il .he proposed hole is made. or
course hole IL miles deep would be.
but q pin.hole, comparatively, for
little calculation will chow that it
would require about 333 times that
depth TO reach the centre Of the
earth. Nevertheless, one does not
have to reach che centre Of melon to
tell what it is like, and hole IL
miles deep might reveal many. things
and solve many problems. It might |
even penetrate that liquid FIRE and
canse an insonvesient eruption, but
science would take chances on that
and risk the boiling ever.
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 in.
terror. The geologists, the mineral
ogists and other scholars and scien-
lists would learn much that is now
OILY suspected, and would possibly
iieaTa many Things shat NO. one has
even dreamed Of. It might reveal
materials, mineral and otherwise, Of
which people have not even dreamed J,
and bring to light mysteries tran
scendipg anything the inhabitants Of
earth have yet seen. There is one
draw baok, !, however, SO far as most Of
us are concerned, and that is the cal.
cnlation Of an expert that it would re-
quire at least 80 years to dig the hole.
That ia a;scoH-=s;iSs TO those now
living, but future generations would
be benefited.
But there is still another point to
be considered in connection with this
contemplated project. There has
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