Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-10-19
SCHOOLS ADOPT
VOL|VA THEORY
Of FLAT WORLD
New Course of Study Teach
eS That the Earth Is Flat
and Circular; Has No
Motion; Is Stationary.

Zion ILL.,, Oct. 18.--Zion schools,
of which Wilbur Glenn Voliva, the
overseer of the colony, is presi-
dent, have adopted his new theo-
ries of a flat world and the alb
sence OF gravitation, and the 1000
grade and high school pupils be-
lieve them implicitly, according to
their teachers.
The public school maintained by
the state board of education ami
attended by the children of nom
members of Voliva's Christian
Apostolic church still teaches,
however, that the world is globe
moving through limitless space
and that it was the attraction of
gravity which caused the apple to
fall on Issac Newton's head
At the Zion schools the new
course Of study teaehed that:
The earth Is a flat circular
world. with a north pole in the
exact center, no south pole, and
keeps venturesome mariners from
falling off the rim.
That the earth has no motion,
but remains stationary in space.
Sun Little Orb.
That the sun is not millions of
miles in diameter and 81 100000
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 until the force which pro-
PEELED 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 flat world theory. This map,
which is used by navigators and
scientists in making time and
longitude calculations, differs from
the usual Mercators projection IA
miliar in other schools, in that 1t
shows the earth as it would look
to an observer directly above the
north pole, with the continents
and seas projected on flat plane.
AS a result the north pole is in
the center, and instead of a south
pole the Antarctic regions are in
Dictated by a white ring about the
outer circumference of the circle.
This ring, according to Voliva, is
the ice barrier which keeps ma
riners from falling off the edge
of his flat world.
The Christopher projection was
made 30 years ago, prior to the dis
co cry of the south pole and be-
fore much was known about the
Antarctic regions, so only 4 bare
outline of portions of the southern
ice land Is shown.
Miss Thompson's View.
Miss Mary Thompson, principal |
Of the Zion school system, and IN
ardent believer in the Voliva the
cries, has propounded question
which she believes will trio sci
entists and navigators Sl'owins
on her flat map that the tropic /
of cancer, 43 degrees from the
north pole, was a much smaller
circle than the tropic of capricorn
Al degrees farther away, Miss
Thompson says:
''Navigators on a globular earth
would find If they were to sail
completely around either of these
tropics that they would be identc-
ally the same length. On a flat
earth, however, the tropic of cap
ricorn would be much larger than
the tropic of cancer, and would
take much longer to sail around,
because on a flat earth cancer
would be nearer the center, or
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? The globular people
certainly can't prove curvature of
the earth;'
Miss Eva Baker, teacher If
geography, demonstrates to her
classes that the sun is only a tiny
orb few thousand miles away,
instead of an orb millions of
miles in diameter and 100000
miles from the earth. If the sun
was so large. she says, it would
light up all the world, instead Of
combining It's hottest rays to u,
5000 mile wide belt between the
two tropics. Volvia himself, IN
recent sermon at Shiloh taber-
nacle, said God certainly would
not have made a sun to light the
world and then placed it so faf
away.
"A man would be fool" the
overseer added, Ito build u house
in Zion and place his parl0r light
in Kenosha, Wis"
Miss Thompson, principal of
the schools, says the children pre-
fer their new flat world TO rha
old fashioned round one in when
Columbus believed.
Students Grasp Theory.
1.-THE students in Zion schools.
she says, grasp the theory OF the
flat earth readily because thei'
minds are not full of globnlar
earth teaching such as older folks
have had drilled into them. There
fore, they accept the flat earth
teaching without questioning, not