Evening star., 1927-08-25
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

"Why worry?" The tower of Pisa
is falling down, though London Bridge
seems safe yet. Vesuvius Is belching
fire and birthstone; Mount Bogoslof, a
volcano in the Aleutian Islands, which
Is alleged to have risen out Of the
ocean two years ago, is erupting and
soaring the fishes around it, with the
probability that it will return to the
depths, through some terrible explo.
sion, so says ship captain who sailed
within miles of it. In Switzer-
land Mount Arbino, 5000 feet high. is
fitting so badly that natives are fec
ing from its cracking base, in antici-
patton Of its toppling over, and all
the goats which had been grazing on
its sides have deserted it.
Why is the world acting so crafty?
Is that due to the proximity Of the
planet Venus, now glowing SO vividly
in the sky that thousands Of Chinese
are scared into burning joss sticks to
appease the gods?
Let's discover the worst and be pre-
pared for the end of the world. There
Is the Geophysical Laboratory, set
upon a hill where it cannot be hid:
surely the highbrows Of geophysics
will break the news learnedly. So the
writer asked DR.. Henry S. Washing.
ton, who knows the inner regions Of
the world as few natives know the
city of Washington, d. G. He replied:
"The tower of Pisa falls down every
time some newspaper correspondent
has nothing else to cable. A letter
was received yesterday from the di-
rector of Vesuvius Tor something just
as intimate) and it never mentioned
any unusual disturbance of the Old
volcano; the volcano in the Aleutian
Islands, Bogoslof, supposed to have
risen, you say, two years ago, has
been known since the beginning OF
the eighteenth century. and is usually
in eruption" But-there's limit
even to what DR.. Washington knows
he had never heard of Swiss noun.
tain turning turtle--so why worry"
Then DIR. Washington's conscience
hurt, for he had spoiled so many good
stories" with his science that he felt
bound to replace them with better
one.
Write up the report just issued by
the Carnegie Institute, by II. I. Allen
and Arthur l.. Day, concerning the
utilization of natural steam for power
in California. Go back to Italy and
tell of the marvellous development OF
natural steam, by Senator Prince Piero
Ginori Cont. He has harnessed the
geysers and is heating and lighting
the cities within radius of go or 70
miles, and running all the street cars
of Florence, Pisa and half dozen
other cities there. The problem is
| solved in Tuscany and eventually it
I>o oil tho yHnrld
that the heat of the earth's interior
will supply power for industry. The
day will come when our own Yellow
stone Park, with it's geysers, will be
| one of the greatest industrial centers
of the world"
What? Where President Coolidge
| is today gazing upon Old Faithful and
marveling at it, as a scenic Wonder?'
Yes, like Niagara, Old Faithful and
| the other geysers will be harnessed to
the wheels of industry, just as the
steam wells of Tuscany are now work
| ing. Such utilization of natures in
ner heat is no longer experimental. it is
accomplished in Tuscany and soon will
be in California, in the Yellowstone
Park and in the Valley of Ten Thou
! sand Smokes--in Alaska-and in many
places in the Rockies and the Andes
Italy, you may know, has no coal re
sources; but she has already developed
her water power to a wonderful ex
tent, her engineers are as good as we
have in America-and within the last
| few years Prince Cont has at last
succeeded in his life work Of harness
ing the geysers.'
X X
The report of Prince Conti's work
appears in the paper the prince him
self read before a World Power Con
ference in Wembly, Great Britain
Since 1904 the prince has been gen
eral director Of the Larderello borit
acid works, located in Tuscany.
Boric acid is made there 'in con
centrating by means of natural hea,
the wat2Es !ssHips fr9w the soil ol