El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-03

the fens were awkward amphlplansf
crabs and scorpions. and flying neaVlly
in the dense atmosphere were nuSe
insects, some Of them with a tWo-foot
spread Of wings.
But the wonder OF that age consist
ed of the strange plants and trees
The artist has not exaggerated Ihelr
extraordinary forms, or their album
dance. Science has had TO invent
curious names for them. LEPIDO-
DENDRA, SIGILLIARA. and so on
We may say that these plants, which
grew to the stature of mighty trees,
with their feet buried in the stagnant
water. bore an outward resemblance
to forests of gigantic ferns, cluo
MOSES, marestaus. rushes and weeds
1t was something like the bizarre
forest that an ant sees about him
when he takes his walks abroad in a
grassy meadow. or amid the tangled
thickets of a brOOkside. Some Of the
pillar-Hke trunks OF these dreamlanu
and occasionally the miner comes upon
part Of one Of these enormous trunks
still standing amid the seams Of coal
Rich In Carbon.
All this vegetation was extraor-
dinarIy rich in carbon, derived from
the warm. vapOrOus atmosphere, IN
der the action Of the sunlight. As has
often been said. it stored up sun
beams. the heat OF which is given
forth again when we burn the coal,
into which il was turned. IN our
stoves and furnaces. For after the
close Of the carbOniferous age, a
great change came about in the con-
dition of the earth's surface. The
immense plants had helped to purify
the air, the climate was altered. the
remains Of the vegetation were buried
under deposits laid down at the bottom
OF lakes and seas, and under the com
bined effects Of pressure and chem
zeal change all was gradually changed
into coal
But it took probably millions Of
years to effect all this, AND IT WILL
NEVER BE DONE AGAIN When we
have burned mp all the coal. we shall
be forced to look elsewhere for heat
and power, as we ought long ago TO
have been doing far more effectively
than we have done. It Is immensely
TO the credit Of man that he had the
intelligence TO discover the use to
which the coal deposits could be put
but 1t is to his discredit that he has
hitherto depended almost exclusively
upon that single source. when his own
science has been telling him, loudly
and persistently. that he is fast eX-
haustinE It
Civilizations Depends Upon Coal.
1t is absolutely true that the splen-
doris OF our civilizatiOn-aIl the rail-
roads, all the factories, all the
gigantic structures OF steel, all the
machinery all the cOnveniences or
modern life-depend upon the fast dis
appearing coal beds. Wipe them sud,
denly out OF existence and mankind,
unprepared. would go back with rush
TO the dark ages.
Yet everything we touch and every
breath we draw. is full OF power. in
finitely greater in amount than even
the coal mines contained. and only
waiting for GENIUS 10 discover the
way to utilize II. The mysterious
properties OF radium have led to the
discovery that there exists matter
single grain Of which contains IN its
padlOcked atoms enough energy to
raise a million tons 500 wards high.
Some OF the brightest minds on earth
are now seeking a way TO get at this
energy; but the way is long and beset
with difficulties. and because we did
nct begin s1Ou cough. but ratnl}
lima gined that the great CARBON
ferrous BANK could not be broken,
we now behold the spectacle Of the
Industries OF the world trembling with
dread because a strike OF half-starved
miners IN -eGlens TO cut off the supply
OF compressed fuel which Nature laid
down when she sWert away the won
ders OF the age Of the coal plants