Evening star., 1926-06-13

~ Spring that accounts OF trans
II polar airplane flights, photo
4 4 graphic radio communications
and rotor ships We're filling
the first pages of the country news
papers, and making people ask one
another in wonder and bewlldefmen1,
What Is the world coming to?'
Washington scientist was unearthlnG
evidence out in the Grand Canyon of
the Colorado River which is slowly
leading to the answer of the equally
puZzling Interrogation, What has the
world come from?
DR.. Charles w. Gilmore of the Ma
tional Museum is now studying loot
prints of several hitherto unknown
species OF animals which he recently
discovered on the sands of a distant
time, and which constitute the
worlds oldest records of organic lite
1t is confidently expected That these
FOOTPRINTS will, when taken in con
junction with other antiquarian dls-
coveries, lead to a better understand
ing of what really happened in the
days when the earth was young.
While it is delightful pastime to
picture the years to come when we
will have airplane excursions to the
North Pole. and be able to get the
movies in our own homes as easily
as we now listen to speeches over
the radio, it is equally fascinating to
imagine the era when there was not
a single man upon the globe, ana
the only animate creatures in exist
ence were outlandish animals of amaz-
ing physique.
The picture becomes even more i'm
pressive if these strange creatures
are imagined to be travelling labori-
Al rla, nf rt-ho q
now the Grand Canyon to n distant
watering place. All sorts of nameless
things go up the trail-small animals
of only a few inches in length; larger
quadrupeds measuring several feet
and weighing many pounds: repulsive-
looking, Shiny things that make us
shudder; cute and clever appearing
mites that possibly would make good
pets; animals with large, fantastic
tails. and animals with practically
no tail at all; creatures with long rows
of teeth displayed in a perpetual grin,
and creatures which have no dental
worries-one and all, they climb the
hill intent upon their quest for water.
They come, they make their impress
sions in the sands as they pass along,
and they are lost in the mists of the
primitive wilderness.
Then we ourselves are lost. We go
into a state of sleep and lose track
of what is happening. Time passes,
and in its passing changes are
wrought, slowly, incessantly. The
tracks were covered with the dry sand
of the desert, which absorbed the
moisture and hardened while fresh.
Layer upon layer of rock-making ma
terial was piled upo. Inem until they
were over a thousand feet below the
surface of the earth. The animals
that made the original imprints be-
came extinct. leaving no trace OF
their existence save those foOt-trackS
so we'll preserved in the rocks.
Then along came a river. cutting
it's way slowly through the rocks,
boring deeper and deeper until 1t
had dug a canyon 5000 feet deep.
Later still came men, marveling at
the phenomena of nature, yet mi
nutely examining everything, ques-
tioning everything. They also cut
into the rocks, studying them layer
by layer. and trying to learn how the
crust of the earth was formed.
Finally they reached a layer covered
with animals footprints which the
| men, being scientists and having
some understanding of what had
| happened since those strange marks
| were made, regarded as so old they
refused to estimate in terms of years
| their age, realizing that such an an.
praisal, like the statements which
are made from time to time concern
| ing the age of the earth, would be
| largely conjecture.
| A few of the explorers believed
| they had seen similar footprints
| before, but most of the marks were
unfamiliar. so the men were happy
They had discovered a new puzzle,
not knowing what the solution would
| be nor to what use it might be put,
but spurred on by the realization that
each bit of knowledge added to the
worlds store is likely to be called
upon at any time to serve practical
purpose.
Such, in brief, is the story that is
told by DR.. Gilmore of the fossil foot
prints from the Grand Canyon.
Prof. Charles Schuchert OF Yale