Weekly journal-miner., 1910-05-18
HALLEY's COMET.

what Woulu utIP'u N' ift0'oNt IT Haliey's comet hit the ear,hi
 Have you any conception of tnc stupendous catastrophe which such a collision would causei
 Just imagine, if you can, even the approach of ,he comet with its fear fui binding light, it's scalding, blast ing heat, its terrific roar, and finally tho awful shock. of contact.
 What would it all mean for Globe How would its coming be heralded and what would be the progressiv ve steps of the calamity which must end almost before begun in death and de struetion, in the annihilation of land and sea and the reduction of all the earth to a formless mass. indeed, 10 the original chaos.
 No living thing could see much of the disaster. Life in all its forms would be snuffed out in the earliest soments of the destruction. But in sp'te of the fact that no human eye vould catch a glimpse of even the beginning of the disintegration, the speculation as 10 what would hap pen is tempting field for the imag. nation, and furnishe. unlimited pos. abilities for eonjuneture.
 What if on one of these mornings the watchers observed a peculiar de. neetion of ,he comet from it's calcul. atcd course, and after much compu. fation had come to the incontrovert. able conclusion that the comet was destined to collide with our plane, about May IS, and that on that day the Biblical prophecy would certainly Dc fulfilled in that the heavens would be rolled up like scroll and the earth would melt with fervent heatf
 What would be the effect on the nations of the worldly
 The waters of the earth womb wash over the land and tidal waves would overwhelm what the fire left. rendering the works of man and those of the clements inseparable in thcir total annihiliation.
 But before the auctual beginning of physical destruction there would bo period of terrible mental suf. fering for all of the human race to whom the fact of inevitable doom had become known. These would be days of deepening gloom and des. Pondency, of dread and woe of fail. ing hope and weakening fortitude un. tii death would be hailed as a most peaceful visitor, much to be preferred to the awful suspense of waiting. and welcomed as the terminator of msddening and utterly hopeless out. look.
 All improvements would cease and be followed by the abandonment of all business and industry. The farm. CT could find no excuse for continuing the cultivation of his crops and why should anyone proceed with the manu. facture of automobiles or playing cards.
 Death.dealing gases and unbearable heat would in a twinkling snuf out all water into steam. Men and ami. nals would die where they stood. Birds would fall, and every green thing would shrink and shink into ashes. All our inflammable structures would burst into spontane. ous flame, and the great iron and steel girders of our bridges would be. gin to twist and writhe under the scorching intensity of the glare from he destroyer. Then would our tall burst apart and crumble to the sizzling earth, adding their quota io the flaming, smoking ruins.
 The final crash and shock of colli. ion would be beyond the power of human beings Co imagine, for no mat CT whether tho impsste came in the 'astern or western hemisphere the fs.