The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-02-01
THE END OF THE WORLD

~ >>>~~~r~~S~~~~N@~~~
dead stars wandering through far
on space. They are reminders of the
fate that will overtake our own solar
system. They, too, were once SIMS
tnat held in place and gave light and
neat 10 host of wheeling satellites
Just as our sun is followed by the
sister planets of the earth. Eons and
cons may have passed before thew
became mere cinders of stars. cold.
dead and without heat or radiance
Science can see no difference between
our own and other suns that have
served their time in the scheme of
the universe and become dead things
cold, inert and dark"
Beginning of the End.
Recent photographs of the suns
disk show process of cooling al
ready in progress. The outer part
of the surface is called the pho
tosphere,' and it is this portion that
has been pictured by means of the
astronomers camera. The pictures
OF the sun show a peculiar nothing
over it's disk These spots, tiny
enough when considered as a part
OF its surface, are many times larger
than our home planet They are
hundreds of miles in extent, and are
Of unknown depth. They seem to
float upon the disk like cooling iron
crusts on the top of a Iadle of
molten metal. They are undoubted-
ly part of the great cooling pro-
cess that the astronomers have fore
told.
The great mass of the suns inte-
rfor seems yet to be a tremendous
heat. All substances known to us
would boil away like water and be
transformed into a vapor. It is
thought that the most powerful cleo
trio furnaces possibly produce a heat
equal to that of the outer coat of
the sun. If the earth should fall
into the sun at it's present state of
radiation everything on the surface
of the world would be melted in an
instant. 1t would be like throwing
small ball of wax into an electric
furnace at the greatest possible heat.
1t is in the possibility that the
sun is nearing the limit Of contrac-
ton that the immediate danger
of as the astronomers reckon time.
few thousands of years, maybe
few hundreds, and the opening part
OF the last act of the great drama
of the solar system will be staged.
Men will watch the face of their
ancient friend, the sun, with misgiv-
ing and fear when the first Indication
of the great change is given. AS the
disk darkens fear will take the place
of uneasiness. Instinctively the whole
population of the world will start
blindly south toward the warm eli
mates All races will move as in
stinctively as the wild birds fly south
in autumn. A namelesS fear at their
backs will push them on. 1t will be
the greatest of all the great migra-
lions of mankind
But the march will not last many
days. The cold will seize the first
rear guard and then the other di-
visions of this panic-stricken flight.
The worn fugitives driven by fear of
horrible death in the twilight of
the world will welcome rest from
the icy winds and the fast-following
glaciers as they would welcome
sleep. The last pale CLEANS from
the dying sun will stain the heavens
in a wonderful display of prismatic
color. The painting beams will
flicker and simmer luridly along
the crests of the ice packs treading
close upon the heels of the faltering,
will stalk across the shimmering,
gasping fugitives. Titanic shadows
will stalk across the shimmering,
newly-formed ice fields that will
swing steadily down across the old
tracks of the deep sea vessels. Opal
escent lights, the final rays of the
exhausted luminary, will tint the
caps of the ice foes and glow upon
the gray sky of the southwark
marching Arctic.