The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1913-07-18
BIBLICAL PROOF IN TREES.
Curves in SeQuOias Show Famine in
Times of Prophet Elijah.

Biblical history has been recalled by
the forestry bureau Of the government
to assist in advertising new pamph-
let it has just issued on the giant trees
of California. The tree scientists have
discovered in the grains of the Califor-
MIA trees what they claim to be un-
mistakable 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 Pales-
tine. No rain fell, the brooks ran dry
and dire disaster prevailed. Go
through the land said King Ahab 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, Eli
jah, and brought him to Ahab, who
greeted him as the troubTer of Israel.
Then Elijah prayed for rain, accord
ing 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 Ne
vadas, in the twentieth century, is
far cry, but the connecting link be-
tween the ancient east and the modern
west, is found in the big trees Of Cali
fornia, the huge species known as Sc
quota Washingtonia
"In pamphlet entitled The Sc
cret of the Big Trees by Ellsworth
Huntington, just placed in 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 climate changes
took place in Ce''ornia and Asia
Minor. Curves indicating climatic
conditions in California and Asia
Minor show a remarkable resem-
blance between the two regions.
s'The curves begin with the epoch
Of tn Trojan War, about 1900 B. C.
There both cunves dip very low, indi-
eating an epoch of sudden and severe
dessication. That particular period,
historians tell US, was one Of the most
chaotic in all history.
"The famine in the days OF Elijah
appears in both curves. Apparently at
that time the climate did not become
extremely dry, nothing like so bad as
it had been a few hundred years ear
lier during the twelfth century, but
there was rather a distinct falling off
in the amount of rainfall as compared
with the uncommonly good conditions
of the preceding century. 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 Mesopo-
tamia were at their height. Then
comes a pronounced falling off, with
a recovery of 800 or 400 years before
Christ, another decline eliminating
about 200 B. c., and a recovery reach
ing a high point about so B. c.
'@The time of Christ, the great era
of universal peace under the sway OF
Rome, was apparently an epoch of ia
vorable climate, time Of abundant
rain and consequently good crops in
all the countries around the Mediter-
ranean sea and eastward in Asia, as
we'll as in 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 pc
rfod also appears TO have been a time