The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-04-26
Stability of the Earth.


its orderly course Ior untold age:
| and, Juug,ng the luture from ine past
in general through vast stretches u
the future. Inc eartn cs&cles onwar,
IN its ORBIT with but little scar here
and there from earthquakes, volcan-
&c eruplIons, floods, storms, tida
waves, supsidence, avalancnes and
hre. lime and again the end of the
world has been prengured by those
who claim to have special knowledge
on the subject, and sects have been
formed to get ready tor the event,
Dut il was the credulous organiza-
tions, not the earth, that passed
away. Millions drew breath of re-
lief when the 1000th year of the
Christian era quietly added its notch
to the chronology of the past. Moth
er Shipton's forecast was wrecked by
"a definite date, rounding out the fact
that there was no such person. 1t
seemed in London when the great
fire and plague came together that
the period had arrived for mundane
things to stop, but visitors today to
the mighty city on the Thames find
that the years of piled-up catastro-
phes left no lasting mark on the
worlds greatest center of population,
nor stayed its progress.
A frequent remark is that mankind
dwell on a thin crust encircling a
molten mass, and that the journey
of life is practically on a freball en-
cased in fragile shell that has cool
ed, and that, as it cools further, con-
tracts with earthquake shocks. Much
virtue in rhetoric, if the purpose is
to elevate the hair. and induce cold
thrills and gooseAesh. The internal
FIRE of the earth is an inference ard,
in any large sense, historically harm
less if true Persons who worry over
cosmic problems might also keep
awake of nights over the palpable
truth that the earth moves through
space without any visible means of
support. On the planet are the PLAIN
marks of epochs of ice as we'll as of
intense heat Scientists agree that
glacial ages will come again, but ge-
ology teaches that they are gradual
and of limited extent geographically.
Possibly it is true that an Atlantis
was submerged. A new sea is now
forming in the southwestern desert
region of the United States. Salt
Lake, the little stranded remnant Of
the ocean left in the Rockies, is grad
ually drying up. These changes, like
others on the earth. are slow and
scarcely have a perceptible effect on
the fortunes or prospects of human
ity.
Instead of indulging in vast imag
NATIVE fancies about what may hap
pen to the planet as whole, the peo-
pie Of the United States, especially
can occupy this time to better advan-
tage by building their cities on more
rational plans, of more enduring ma
terials, and with spaces to limit con-
flagrations of sweeping nature. An
annual fire loss of nearly 5000, 900, is
now the average in this country,
which is many more times than the
ratio of destruction from the same
cause in Europe Our business
blocks are more lofty and architec-
turally elaborate than those in the
old world, and it may be that undue
risk is taken in this respect. The
most complete destruction of San
Francisco was due to FIRE, not to
earthquake The city will now have
an opportunity to study thoroughly
the leading features and opportunit
les of its site and near surroundings.
One thing not yet determined in
San Francisco is the kind of building
least damaged by earthquake and fire
It is an important point to guide fut-
ure action in city structures