Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-11-25
AMERICA THE LOST LAND OF
OPHiR.
Scientist Believes Mexico Was King
SoIomon's Treasure Box.

| bia. Their destination was the land
of Ophir.
The great vessels We're gone three
years. They went back laden with
gold and silver for the building of
Solomon's Temple; then they sailed
away for. another three years. This
| happened again and again.
No one, with the exception of Il
few oath-bound navigators. knew
where the Land of Ophir lay. To the
F., world at large it was somewhere in
the region Of dreams, three years be-
yond the borders of the Red Sea.
! Thus, when the ships, through some
cause, ceased to ply their way back
and forth over the long seaway the
Land of Ophir sank quietly back into
the mystery from which it had
emerged Within a few years it be-
came an enigma of the past; puz-
zle To which, save in the dead brains
of wise men and kings, there existed
NJ answer.
out of this age-Old enigma q Cali
fornia scientist named Thomas Craw-
ftfd Johnston has extracted. to the
satisfaction at least of himself and
many other scientists, the solution of
another historic puzZle-Who diseov-
cred America
IT was the latter problem that
Johnston started out to solve The
Importance Of the lost Land of Ophir
arose incidentally. As the scientists
investigation progressed he became
more and more certain that the two
mysteries We're closely related. At
In ct 40 Ina
conclusions. They were:
/. That the lost Land of Ophir and
the American continent were identi-
cal.
?, That the adventurers who 1000
years ago set out from the shores of
the Red Sea can be accepted as the
original discoverers of America.
In support of his theories Johnston
has written ree-hundred-pag
book. He calls it: Did the Phoeni-
clans Discover America The title
would be more descriptive if it We're.
Did the Phoenieians, aided ky the
Hebrews, the Scythians and the
Thracians, Discover America? This
is what the author believes. and, in
careful detail, undertakes to prove.
Johnston has searched among the
Aztecs and Toltecs, the Phoenieians,
the Hebrews and several other races.
AS result, he has found striking
similarties of traditions, customs and
general character. These furnish the
groundwork of his book.
The author begins by bridging the
greatest gap-the distance between
Asia and America. He searched about
until faunA napale N IA bIa of
navigating this distance. The prize
navigators of ancient days were the
Phoenicians. Their ships weren't
quite up to the Imperator, but they
were far from being catboats. The
liners of Bible times We're much larg
er than the average person may i'm
agine. St Paul was wrecked in a
ship which carried 276 persons be-
sides the crew. and the boat which
dropped Josephus into the sea had a
passenger list of 500.
These ships, Mr. Johnston points
out, were certainly capable of nayi-
eating the Pacific. In fact. history
proves that they piled constantly be-
tween the east coast of the Mediter
ranean and the faraway shores of
England The Phoenicians were the
traders of the age A chief necessity
, of the period was tin. and the only
available tin lay in Britain. The
Phoenicians made a business of min
ing tin and selling IL in Egypt. To
do this they had to be able to navi-
safe the Mediterranean. Any ship
which could navigate the Mediterra-
mean would undoubtedly be able 70
navigate the Pacific.
Having established the seaworthi-
ness of Phoenician ships, Johnston
turns to the navigating abilities of
their Captains. He complies evidence
t. prove that they were able to steer
by compass and sun. The question
OF sailing from Phoenicia to America
, becomes, therefore, a matter of miles.
The Phoenicans could have covered
them. Mr.. Johnstons problem is to
prove they did.
i He turns to the Bible. In /. Kings.
tx, he finds that Solomon made a
navy of Tharshist. at Eziengeber,
which is beside Elotk. ON the shores
of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom
And Hiram sent in the navy his ship
men that had knowledge of the sea,
with the servants of Solomon. And
they ceme to Ophir, and fetched them
gold four hundred and twenty talents,
and brought it to King Solomon"
/ solomon was in the height of his
glory about this time. Hiram was
King of the Phoenicians The Bible
states that he and Solomon were fast
friends. The Red Sea was the ideal
starting point for Il trans-Pacific eX-
pedition.
Another quotation. this time from
II Chron. iX., reads:
Far the ships went to Tharshisl
with tie ships Of Hiram, every thre'
/ years once came the ships OF Thars
hish. bringing gold, silver and ivory
and apes and peacocks
| This is remarkable. Three years wa
a long time for the ships of Tharshisl
to be- gone. There was so little silye
in existence in the Orient that it Wa
worth ten times as much as gold Their
was plenty Of gold, and ivory, AM
apes, and peacocks. but no silver
There was silver in Spain. but the ship
of Tharshish did not sail toward Spain
They sailed east. And, so far as i
known. the first country which prove,
to contain silver in large quantftie