The Washington times., 1921-11-27
Had Wbrd!WIdeDrouBhtan dScl
Years of Cold Winters, Hot, Dry Sunn,e
Gardens, Failing Food Supplies and
Famine IN Mann Parts of the Earth
fCestisseS from Presiding Pdss)

fCostisSeS from Presiding Pass)
The region described, save tor Gases here
and there, has become uninhabitable by
man. 1t seems a pity; but what may rea-
sonably make ~ anxious is the fact that
the drying-up process Is still going ON.
The next few centuries are bound to show
an appreciabls spread Of our deserts. and
a like phenomenon b sure to be obsery-
able on other continents. Our planet Is
losing Its surface water.
Why, and how! 1t IL question easily
answered. The earth is swallowing up IT.
surface fluid. The water IL bsiAg al
sorbsd by the rocks OF the sarths crust.
They are thirsty. and they are drinking up
what is to us the fundamental means Of
life. Without water tAsss Gamble - crops:
without crops no people.
The biologists, unfortunately. odd their
testimony to the assertions Of the 0eteog0%
ogists that the earth Is dryiax ~. 4
study of the surface Of the earth nses o.
less all over the world gives unmistakable
evidence that fresh water streams are
gradually finding their way into unAer
ground courses where man caAaot got At
them
This is seen In the great caves. like
Mammoth Cave. where surface rivers have
eaten their way down through the crust Of
the earth into the cave. and after sewing
for hundreds of years along the Asors q
the cave have eatea their way st1ll Deeper
and disappeared forever to still lower
levels. leaving such dry river courses as
is shown in the photograph on this page
of the "bottomless pit" into which one of
the rivers finally disappeared forever.
In book published recently In Paris by
Prof.. E. A. Martei, the distinguished
French geologist. a disturbing chapter is
devoted to the subject Of the disappearance
of our surface water into the bowels, Of the
earth This process seems to have been
going on since remote geological epochs.
In America the magnificent Grand Canyon
was once filled with . swelling euTrest,
which has now dwtndled IN volume. Fur
thermore. the level IN Great Bait Lake Is
lower and our own Great Lakes ne smaller
than they used to be. while the volume u
water passing over Niagara grows less
every century.
A review Of Prof Martel's book. ~ tfxns
lated for the Scientific American Monthly,
says:
But most of all 1t rs the recent re-
searches in the interior of the ground r.
self which have transformed from a by
pothesis to q certainty the idea that the
waters are gradually making their escape
into the sub-soil and that there Is . sab
stitution Of modern subterTlnean circu-
lation for an ancient surface circuiation.'
Martel enumeratss and Describes . great
many very curious examples of the disap-
pearance of springs. the Deepening Of sub
terranean rivers, the s0fng dry Of webs.
ETC., which make the future desiccatioa OF
our globe seem inevitable. He nys I'm
manity must prepare for . aght With
thirst .......-, .'
"One of the most convincing OF the argu-
ments offered to this effect Is the perfors-
ton of the bottom of the upper galleries
in caverns where subterranean rivers have
dried up in the course of ages through an
actual drawing off of their waters into pro-
founder depths. This has been noted par.
ticularly in many of the caves among the
Pyrenees. In the Mammoth Cave of Ken
lucky the largest cavern In the world. the
upper galleries are perforated repeatedly
in this manner by great orifces through
which their ancient waters have escaped.
even under our very eyes we may see
the capture of waters by the depths below.
The valley of the Mosque now loses on the
top of Monieux its stream OF water, which
is taken captive by the famous fountain Of
Vaucluse, and 1t requires very violent
storms to cause even q temporary nood to
run in the bed Of this superb dry ravine.
There is lively dispute as to whether
this process has been actually manifested
during historic times. While q
number of authorities agree that there Is
evidence Of the tangible visibility and
rapidity of the phenomenon in modern
times, others hold that there has been no
perceptible elimination of the waters upon
the earths surface during the period of