The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-03-18
BRIDCED AN OCEAN
The Lost Atlantis That Was
Swallowed by the Sea.
A NATION OF MANY LEGENDS.

Plato Got His story Of the Continent
and lite Ruin From Scion, the Old
Lawsiver-The Theories That Wsrs
Built by Isnatius Donnslly.
Far out beyond the Pillars Of Her.
cules, where the Atlantic ocean
stretches broad and deep today, men of
Imagination like to believe there Hes a
buried kingdom. The sea washes over
Its once fertile plains, and creatures. of
the deep float In and out among its top
less towers Seaweed and silt have
buried its temples for 10000 years.
Here, scientists of a romantic turn Will
tell you, lies the lost island Of Allan
ds, where once there ruled the richest
and most powerful of the earth, a
world power while wolves still howled
upon the seven hills Of Rome and the
glory that was Greece lay yet I'M
dreamed.
But today all that remains Of the lost
kingdom Is little group Of islands,
the Azores; mountain tops these that
were not wholly overwhelmed when
the proud island sank into the sea.
Many years ago an Irishman, Ignatius
Donnelly, who possessed an active Inn
agination and mind which worked
along interesting and unusual lines.
wrote book about Atlantis, In which
he proved, to his own satisfaction at
least, that the lost kingdom really ex-
listed and was not fable.
The earliest authentic information
about this mystery land we dnd in
Plato, who averred he had 1t from his
grandfather. Scion, the famous law
giver. who had spent some years
among the Egyptians. Plato told of
great continent which had existed 5000
years before lying to the west of the
Pillars of Hercules and making war
upon the nations to the east Only
Athens and Egypt were able to with
stand the onslaughts of the Atlantans.
and then suddenly, in a day and a
night" the island was overwhelmed
and sank into the sea. This was the
story Scion had from the Egyptians
and which his grandson wrote down.
and the legend has persisted ever since.
Diodorus Siculus, a Roman writer,
tells how the Phoenieians discovered
"a large island in the Atlantic ocean
between the Pillars Of Hercules. sew
eral days sail from the coast of Africa
This island abounded in all manner of
riches. The soil was exceedingly fer
tile. The scenery was diversified by
rivers, mountains and forests. It was
the custom of the inhabitants to retire
during the summer to magnificent
country houses, which stood in the
midst of beautiful gardens. Fish and
game were found In great abundance;
the climate was delicious and the trees
bore great crops Of fruit at all seasons
Of the year.
Soundings made by British and
American vessels have shown conclu-
sively that surrounding the Azores
there is a submerged plateau. which 1t
does not require much imagination to
identify with the erich plain" mention
ed by Plato From this lost continent
Donnelly believed that ridges Of land
ran to the present coasts Of South
America and Africa, originally, so that
before the time of which Plato wrote
the eastern and western hemispheres
were connected by land Thus he ae-
counted for many similarities In the
plants and animals Of the two hemis-
pheres which otherwise are very diff
f1cult to explain.
The continent as described by Plato
was mountainous but was surrounded
by vast fertile plains 1t was rich In
precious metals and had numerous TEN
pies and statues of gold and silver and
ivory.
In the sudden and violent destruction
Of Atlantis, Sin one dreadful day and
night" Donnelly believed he saw the
origin of the legend of the deluge, SO
UNIVERSAL among the followers Of all
religions The Biblical deluge, the
food in which the Greeks believed,
from which only Deukalion and Pyrrha
escaped, the overflow which Chaldean
legends tell of all these, Donnelly be
neved, had their foundation in the de
struction of Atlantis.
Plato tells us that the race Of the
Atlantans had fallen from their high
estate and committed sins, and the
Zeus determined to overwhelm them.
An earthquake preceded the sinking
Of the land, and there came great
storm which brought the sea rushing
In over the once fruitful land.
Before this deluge Atlantis was the
greatest power in the world, Donnelly
said. Not only had 1t made war against
the infant nations of Europe, conquer
ing France and Spain and Africa al
far as the Nile. but colonies were es
tablished In Mexico, in Central Amer
lea and along the valley Of the Missis
sippi. The mound builders were colo
nists from Atlantis. After the destruc
ton of the parent continent the east
ern and the westezc hemispheres LOST
all remembrance Of each other, as both
of them at last forgot the great Allan
It's, or If they remembered at all re
membered it only as a legend. faint
and shadowy tradition.
Only few of the thousands Of In.
habitants Of Atlantis escaped. but these
few carried to Europe the seeds Of the
white mans civilization They settled
In Egypt and in eastern Europe and
were the forbears of the Aryan race
Kansas City Star.