Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-03-20
AN ocean
The Lost Atlantis That Was
Swallowed by the Sea.
A NATION OF MANY LEGENDS.

Plato Got His Story Of the Continent
and It's Ruin From Scion, tho Old
Lawaiver-1he Theories That WsFs
Built by isnatius Donnsl'y.
Far out beyond the Pillars Of Her
rules, where the Atlantic ocean
stretches broad and deep today. men OF
Imagination like to believe there lies a
buried kingdom. The sen washes over
It's 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 Attain
tbs, 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 un-
dreamed.
But today all that remains of the lost
kingdom is a 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 freshman, 1gnatius
|Donnelly, who possessed an active 1nl~
agination and a mind which worked
along interesting and unusual lines.
| wrote a book about Atlantis, in which
he proved, to his Owl satisfaction ut
least, that the lost kingdom really ex-
listed and was not a fable. 3js. 30
The earliest authentic information
, about this mystery land we find In
Plato, who averred he had it from his:
grandfather, Scion, the famous law
giver, who had spent some years
among the Egyptians. Plato told OF a
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 4
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.
Djodorus Siculus, a Roman writer,
tells how the Phoenicians 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. 1t was
! the custom Of the inhabitants to retire
/ during the summer to magnificent
country houses. which stood in the
midst Of beautiful gardens. Fish ana
came were found in great abundance;
the climate was delicious and the trees
bore great crops Of fruit at all seasons
of the year. ...-n
Soundings made by British and
American vessels have shown conclu-
| sivcly that surrounding the Azores
| there is a submerged plateau, which 1t
/ does not require much imagination to
identify with the "rich 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 hemisphcrcs
were connected by land. Thus he ac-
counted for many similarities in the
plants and animals of the two hemis-
pheres which otherwise are very diff
hcult to explain.
The continent as described by Plato
was mountainous. but was surrounded
by vast fertile plains. 1t was rich III
precious metals and had numerouste tenn
ples and statues Of gold and silver and
ivory. '1h'
In the sudden and violent destruction
of Atlantis, "in 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
flood in which the Greeks believed,
from which only Deukalion and Pyrrha
escaped. the overflow which Chaldean
legends tell Of all these, Donnelly be.
lieved, 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 overwllelm them.
An earthquake preceded the" sinking
Of the land, and there came a 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 it made war aga inst
the infant nations of Europe, conquer
ing France and Spain and Africa as
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 western ~hemispheres lost
all remembrance of each other, as both
of them ut last forgot the great Attain
tis. or If they remembered at all re-
membersd it only as a legend, a faint
and shadowy tradition.
Only a few Of the thousands Of in