The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-08-08
THEDYING
EARTH
|lsedlaB to This Theory The
Dsats Ire Spreading.

Xv5SvJS We w. mn
o,.ar4s already exist on the earth,
The nameless horror that at
u to the word in the thoughts Of
~ have had experience OF them
q fitted with imagination to con-
!. 4 in truth greater than We COM
~ suppose. For the cosmic cir
.,,a,ce about them which is most
L.h,e Is not that deserts are but
!. aaserts have begun to be. Not
b,a evitable evils are they only
h pictured but as the general un-
..,ahIe death grip on our world.
Il "a the beginning Of the end.
~ depauperates the forests to
lands ard thence to wastes must
rrn stack the sea bottoms when
hall have parted with their seas.
=. AZ the fertile spots upon the
- because of the salts the
-.us have for ages washed down
a the remnant Of moisture that
- still drain into them, eventually
- mist share the fortune Of their
Gecessors and the planet roll a
mad orb through space. The pic
\ forbidding: but the fact seems
4, 70 which We are cOns:ructively
aaeed and into which we are in
ny sort already adventured.
xaljug the earth with what 1t
" but little personification to liken
de life extinguishing serpent's
p run two desert belts OF country.
\ one follows. roughly speaking,
kftupic Of Cancer. extending north
u nom It; the other, the Tropic
f0pricorn. Arizona Is in the north
Ind, As are the Sahara, Arabia
: ~ deserts Of Central Asia.
II. these desert belts are grow
h the great desert of northern
tUsa the traveller. threading his
y across a sage-brush and cacti
u shut In by abrupt sided shelves
III rising here and there some
isds OF feet higher, suddenly
- npon a petrified forest.
nnks Of trees in all stages OF
AAue strew the ground over q
~ some miles in extent. So per-
i ne their forms he is almost
80 to think the usual wasteful
- chopper has been by and left
y icattered products of his art in
Hed confusion upon the scene Of
1dphit. Only their beautiful color
~ sense Of strangeness to the
md leaning down and touching
= he finds that they are-stone.
lleedony, not carbon! Form has
dved substance and kept the re-
hace, while the particles of the
= matter have all been spirit
M. Yet so perfect is the pre-
mt one can hardly believe the
nd where one fallen giant spans
we canon one almost thinks to
- sound Of water rushing down
Goek.
~ u some millions Of years and
aace this catastrophe befell,
- torrent uprootins it left it
: With limbs outstretched in fu-
unp upon the other side. A
It was, cousin only to such
rsw today. and flourished prob
\ the Cretaceous era, for the
- not been under water here
- advent Of tertiary times.
mere near it. except for the
temnwoods along the bank OF
L1le Colorado, grows anything
Inc land which once sup
0sse forests is incompetent
0n ow. Yet nothing has chang
= stnce except the decreasing
sappH. During tertiary and
aefy time the rainfall has
swing less and less. Proof
= offered by the great pine
= caps the plateau Of which
leGiaed forests form a part
lnelled by the San Francisco
ne height above sea level OF
where the chalcedony trunks
~ Is about 1900 feet; tho
eent limit Of the pine in its
elcpment is $500 feet. Two
teet upward the verdure line
eased since the former for
And this is no local alter
M upon the other side of the
petriied remains of trees
aihrly found.
- Of perpetual green has ris-
IN desert regions the mois-
found most plentiful nearest
ds. from which it falls upon
earth. Streams instead OF
volume as they go are larg-
ueir source, and grow less
with each fresh mile of
brooks descending from the
In Syria. water the gar
ascus. and, thence issu-