The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-05-27
OLD LADY is UNSTEADY, BUT NO
DANGER OF ANYTHING SERI-
Gus HAPPENING.

WASHINGTON.-Prof George A
Hin of the United States naval OBJ
servatory has just presented proof oil
an almost unbelievable theory-that
the earth is webbing on its axis, ac-
cording to the Star After twenty
wears of careful research and inyesti-
cation Prof. Hill. working in con-
junction with a number of other sci
entists all over the world, has deduc-
ed proof of the fact that the staid old
earth has three motions instead of
two.
The poles of the earth, says Prof.
Hill. ARE webbing about, apparently
at random, but combining their trav-
els within a circle of sixty feet diam
eter. Should Peary again take the
trip to the North Pole he would find
the flag which he planted there on
his last trip of discovery nearly fifty
feet from the spot which he would
now point out as the true North Pole
of the earth. 1t means simply this
if the true North Pole were little
black ball on the smooth, CLASSY sur
face of the Arctic ocean it would
be perpetually rolling around in an
aimless sort of fashion within a cir
Gle of thirty miles radius.
"A point which is the North Pole
today is not the North Pole tomor-
row. No one can predict where this
nomadic pole will be the next min |
ute, the next hour or the next year. |
The Arctic explorer may pitch his |
tent somewhere within the circle of /
sixty feet and place his finger on what |
he supposes to be the pole. Like
some living thing the little thing
which has for more than a century
attracted all sorts of men from vari-
Gus corners of the earth will he
crawling away all the while.
Speed Is SnaiI-Like.
Its speed is worse than snail-hke.
Il las never been observed to travel
further than four feet in one we9<.
Sometimes it has required more than
a month to travel yard. In six
months, however, it describes an ir-
regular semi-circle, but so far we
have been able to determine no or
bit or path of oscillation, and the on
ly thing that we really know about it
is that it's position is never twice the
same"
Prof. Hill delights his friends with
little illustrations of how the North
Pole wanders about. Recently he
said:
IF a man should buy a piece of
polar property and it should be stip-
ulated in the deed that the exact ]
point of the pole should serve as a :
corner stone he would have to keep s
his fences on the move to avoid pros I
ecution for trespass. If Uncle Sam {
marks the North Pole with a monu-
ment to some of the brave heroes
who have given their lives in an at !
tempt to discover it he must mount s
it on runners and keep it on the l
move. A permanent stone covering l
of the race track of the pole would {
have to be much larger than circus '
ring"
With Prof. Hill there have been /
six or eight other astronomers work t
ing at observatories stationed as {
nearly as possible on the same par !
allel of latitude as Washington, 38 .
degrees 54 minutes and 20.4 sec i
onds. The most important stations
are Gaithersburg, Md, Cincinnati,
Ohio, the Lick Observatory in Cali
fornia, Mizuswa, Japan; Schardjui,
Central Asia, Berlin, Germany, and
Carlforte, Italy.
North Pole Changeable.
The real North Pole is not the ]
same pole as pointed out by men on
mariners charts. A few weeks ago, ]
according to Prof. Hill, the wander i
ing pole passed within one foot of its ,
charted position. 1t wanders home
just once in about every IA years.
contents itself with drifting around
in a sort of aimless spiral curve,
sweeping farther and farther from
the charted pole, sweeping back
again, then out again, travelling in
circles all the while.
THE time required for the pole to
make its irregular semi-circle," said
Prof Hill, 'is about fourteen months.
If it is twenty feet on one side OF