The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-03-02
t@Bdess,tation Of the land,
'foHySl over the world 1t has been de-
MoGatrated that destruction OF fnrasti

10Y Ent over the H0rld IL has been de-
Mo6strated that destruction Of forest
briuga5ahont arid conditions. oven
IL the fortunate presence of mountain
ranges taa55 To kesp Up the supply of
wat r for certain districts by co:,dens
Ing tho moisture drifting In from the
oceo and storing 1t up In glaciers and
apripgs. and especially In the porous,
spongs-llkn soil OF or. foresta; vet
the destruc ;iCn or the forests, and hhe
derudati0n OF tine hill slopes 6efoats
thiS kindly purpose Of nature, causing
the water In rainy seasons aud during
the melting If tho mountain SHOWS AZ
ru b down In destructive fl OILS, which
swiftly or IS tfe over lands withou.
staying to mOistan their soil, and hur.
ry 20 be lost In tho sea.
Man cannot lift the ocean waters to
freshen the condiments; only the pow
or OF the Jul oan do that, and II, by
making smooth and clear Its road back
TO the ocean he enables the water thas
has descended On the hills in the form
Of raia to hurry down again TO aea-
level, he loses all the advantages that
the sun has offered him, and finds hie
farms drying up and himself and his
cattle threatened with q thirst tina.
cannot be quef ched.
Let this process go on long enough
snd tho earth will posHess 10 more
freah water, except aGca as poure use
lessly and destrGctivtlj down in the
form Of cloud. bursts and delugiUg
rains. Then it will not be possible
for the great populations Of the globe
TO find sustenance by hugging the
s%eashOres, And In the end seaB them.
selves will shrink ard ultimately dis
appear.
But what, 1t may be asked, becomes
of the water thai has disa ppaared
when lakes and rivers dry urp Much
Of 1T sinks into the oarth' d crest. The
globe Is hot within aud Ia graduall3
cooling. AS tho interior cools ore
vices and cavities are formed, and the
surface wator, seeking the logest level
under the force OF gravitstion, pene-
trates to great depths.
Underneath South Dakota and aome
of the other States bordering the
Rocky Mountain region, 1t has boon
demonstrated chat there Ia an i'm
mense sheet Of underground wator
gradually making lbs way through she
sandstones towards the Mississippi
and the Gulf. At present como OF
this water can DO reached and brought
to the surface by moan of artesian
wells. but as the globe continues to
cool the water will Biok lower and
lower, until 1t gets TOO deep TO be
brought to the surface by human COZ
triYance.
And not only does the water Of the
earth tend to disappear by sinking
into the crust aud forming deep RISER.
voirs and vast sheets bherG, but mucn
of 1t probably enters into chemical
combination with the cooling rocks.
In h case Of the moon, where the
cooling process, owing TO the oompar-
atively small dimensions Of the luuar
globe, has gone on much more rapidly
than In the earth, 1t IL believed by
many that the water formerly exisp.
Ing on the surface as lakes, seas and
rivers, has been completely absorbed
by oxidation, the oxygen Of the water
combining With the metalliferous In
terror rocks. And the ultimate fate
of the waters OF the earth may be
similar.
In faot, the whole history Of our
planet, as geology has disclosed IL. Ia
Buch as to lead to the conclusion that
,ts surface must eventually become q
dry and barren waste. At first a mol
ten globe. the earth cooled down un.
TIL 1t had q crust of solid rock. On
this crust, as 1t In turn cooled Off, the
vapors OF the atmosphere de. c nded
and condensed into oceans. Some
nave thought that in the beginning
the en5ir eifth wa covered with wa
ter. But az the cooling Of tie globe
continued much OF the water cousGi-
tuting the primcval ocean was ab
sJrbed into the deepening crust. Then
continents mads their appearance and
Then gradually became moro extep
sive. But In the earliest period at
which geology has ventured to draw o
chart of the earth, we see that th.
proportion Of land to water was very
much less than it Is today.
Gradually the dessioation has pro
ceeded, aud apparently It Ia destined
to go until even the Atlantic and the
Pao'h' have disappeared, and all the
"ou' 10 VI ouC ohTGu are WlGlQrA WI
into It's interior or destroyed by chem.
ical dissertation Of the l!qu d aud the
reconciliation or It's clements witt
solid matter. Long before that stare
IL attained, however, all animal anC
vegetable life will have disappeared
from the lands, for they cannot sur.
vive the Withdrawal of the fresh wa.
!er upon which their existence de.
Ponds. The salt oceans, becoming
ever moro salt as their volum shrinks,
may at lest reach q point of ooncen.
traticn where aver marine life will be
destroyed.
Thus the last picture Of the earth
shat geology can form by glanoinp
into the future shows 1t stripped of It.
inhabitants and of all forms of lif,.
md deprived Of water and perhaps.
also Of atmoSphere-a bare wreck of &
planet, drifting In the ethereal ocean
Of immensity.
GGrr3bs P. Serviss.
The above article 10 C copyrighted by
Harper 81 Brothers and is published
by permission OF Harper's Weekly.
MURDER Ar CIR EaTOM