Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-07-30

Curves In sequoias Show Famine In
Time OF Prophet Elijah.
washington Cor. Chicago News.)


ernment to assist in advertising a
new pamphlet it has just issued on
the giant trees of California. The
tree scientists have discovered in the
grains of the California trees what
they claim to be unmistakable proof
that the great drought and famine in
Palestine, in the days Of the prophet
Elijah, $40 years before Christ, was
equally felt on the Pacific coast of
the United States. However, the
press agent of the bureau of forestry
tells his own story in the following
language:
"In the days of the Prophet Elijah
sore famine afflicted the land Of Pal
estine. No rain fell, the brooks ran
dry and dire disaster prevailed. Go
to the prophet Obadiah, unto all the
fountains of water and unto all the
brooks; peradventure we may find
grass and save the horses and mules
alive, that we lose not all the
beasts
when Obadiah went forth in
search of forage he fell in with his
chief, Elijah, and brought him to
Ahab, who greeted him as the troub-
Ter of Israel. Then Elijah prayed
for rain, according to the Bible story,
and the famine was stayed. From
this famine in Palestine, some $40
years before Christ, to the forests Of
the Sierra Nevadas, i" the twentieth
century, is far cry, but the connect
ing link between the past and the
present between the ancient East and
the modern West, is found in the big
trees of California, the huge species
known as Sequoia 'Washingtonia.
"In pamphlet entitled The Sc
cret of the Big Trees, by Ellsworth
Huntington, just placed on sale by
the superintendent OF Documents,
Washington, D. c., it is shown that
the growth rings in the big trees of
California indicate that in general
the same sequence .of climatic
changes took place in California and
Asia Minor. Curves indicating cli-
matte conditions in California and
Asia Minor show remarkable re-
semblance between the two regions.
"The Curves begin with the epoch
of the Trojan war, about 1900 B. C.
There both curry IS dip very low, in
dicating an epoch Of sudden and Sc
y we're dessication. That particular
period, historians tell us, was one Of
Z the most chaotic in all history.
The curves begin with the epoch
appears in both curves. Apparently
at that time the climate did not be-
come extremely dry, nothing like so
bad as it had been few hundred
years earlier, during the twelfth CEN
fury, but there was rather a distinct
falling off in the amount of rainfall
as compared with the uncommonly
good conditions OF the preceding GEN.
tury. About 700 years before Christ
both curves stand high in the day
when the Greeks were laying the
foundation of their future greatness
and the empires Of Mesopotamia were
a. IhSii HelSHt. L ueIl CoIlSS Il pro-
nounced falling of, with a recovery
ofS3G0 or 400 years before Christ
another decline 'minating about
200 B. c., and Ncovery reaching
high point about 500 B. c.
"The time Of Christ, the great area
of universal peace under the sway OF
Rome, was apparently an epoch Of
favorable climate, a time Of abundant
rain and consequently good crops In
all the countries around the Mediter-
ranean Sea and eastward to Asia, as
well as California. Next comes a
long period Of decline, eliminating
six or seven centuries after the time
of Christ. No period in all history,
save that which centers about 1900
B. c., was more chaotic, and that
early period also appears to have
been a time Of greatly diminished
rainfall"
This publication, which may be
purchased from the superintendent
of documents, government printing
Office, for 5 cents, gives detailed
account of the reasons and work that
led to the conclusions given above
1t also contains thirteen illustrations,
showing the big trees in the Yosem-
lite, Sequoia and General Grant ma
tional parks.
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