Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-10-19
Zion Schools of
Voliva Stamp Teach
Earth Is Flat

Zion, ILL.,. Oct. 1S-Zion schools. of
which Wilbur Glenn voiiva, the
overseer Of the colony, is president.
have adopted his new theories Of a
fiat world and the absence Of grav-
station. and the 1000 grade and high
school pupils believe them implicitly,
according to their teachers.
The public school maintained by
the state board Of education and at
tended by the children Of non-mem-
hers OF Folivas Christian Catholic
Apostolic church still teaches. how
ever, that the world is a globe NOV
ing through Nmitless space and that
it was the attraction of gravity which
caused the apple to fall on Isaac
Newton's head.
At the Zion schools the new course
Of study teaches that:
The earth Is fiat circular world,
with a north pole in the exact cen
ter, no south pole. and surrounded by
a wall OF Ice which keeps venture
some mariners from falling off the
rim.
That the earth has no motion, but
remains stationary in space.
That the sun is not millions of
miles in diameter and $1,000. 900 miles
away. but is really a little orb 80
miles across and only 5000 miles
from the earth.
That the law Of gravitation Is a
fallacy and when objects are thrown
into the air they continue to rise un-
til the force which propelled them is
expended, and then fall back to earth
because they are heavier than air.
A standard map Of the world, on
Christopher's projection, is used in
the schools to demonstrate the fiat
world theory. This map, which is
used by nayigators and scientists in
making time and longitude calcula-
tons, differs from the usual Merca-
tors projection familiar in other
schools. in that it shows the earth as
il would look to an observer directly
above the north pole. with the con-
tinents and seas projected on fiat
plane. As result the north pole is
in the center, and instead Of a south
pole the Antarctic regions are in
dicated by white ring about the
outer circumference OF the circle.
This ring, according to Eoliva, is the
ice barrier which keeps mariners
from falling off the edge of his fat
world.
The Christopher projection was
made 30 years ago. prior to the dis
oovery Of the south pole and before
much was known about the Antarctic
| regions. so only bare outline of
| portions Of the southern ice land is
] shown.
Miss Mary Thompson, principal of
: the Zion school system. and an ar
, dent believer in the Toliva theories
has propounded a question which she
believes will trip scientists and nav
icators. Showing on her fat map
r that the tropic of Cancer, 4s degrees
, from the north pole, was a much
: smaller circle than the tropic of Cap
g ricorn, Al degrees farther away, Miss
. Thompson says:
! "Navigators on globular earth
= would find if they were 70 sail COM
, pletely around either Of these tropics
{ that they would be identcally the
: fsame length On A fiat earth, how
6 ever, the tropic of Capricorn would
! be much larger than the tropic OF
Cancer, and would take much longer
. to sail around, because on fiat earth
Cancer would he nearer the center. OF
!. north pole. Why don't some of the
globular earth believers try sailing
around the two tropics and find out
, whether they or we are correct? Tho
I, slobular people certainly can't prove
curvature of the earth"
Miss Eva Baker. teacher of eeog
: raphy. demonstrates to her classes
!, that the sun is only tiny orb a few
: thousand miles away. instead of ar
( CRIB millions of miles in diameter and
100000 miles from the earth II
j the sun was so large, she says, il
J would light up all the world, instead
of combining it's hottest rays to q
! 1000 mile wide belt between the two
tropics. Noliva himself, in a recent
7 sermon at Shiloh Tabernacle, sale
9 God certainly would not have made
l q sun to light the world and Their
Y placed it so far away.
+. "A man would he fool" the over
t seer added. ito build house in Zior
t and place his parlor light in Ken
e csha. Wis"
\ Miss Thompson. principal Of the
8 schools, says the children prefer theil
new fiat world to the old fashioned
round one in which Columbus be
lieved
THE students in Zion schools" she
says, grasp the theory of the fla
earth readily because their minds arr
not full of globular earth teaching
such as older folks have had drilled
into them. Therefore, they accep
the fiat earth teaching without qucs.
tioning, not because they have to. bu
because 1t appeals TO them as ra-