Evening star., 1935-07-21
VOYAGE INTO INTERIOR
OF EARTH ONCE URGED
Fantastic Scheme to Sail Over Frozen
Seas to "Habitable Space Beneath
Planets Crust" Proposedt to Congress.

the earth, could be had for the taking.
The prize was far greater than the
New World which had rewarded the
of "Symmesonia" would make every
body in the United States wealthy.
The "hole" into the interior, Symmes
held, was like great circle, 1000
miles in radius, its boundary extend
ing through Finland, the northern
edge of Siberia, Alaska and Central
Greenland. This opening was at
about a 15-degree angle to the Pole.
The verge" or border of the hole,
was the circle of extreme cold, be-
cause there the sun fell directly on
a concave surface, as on the rim of
a bowl, and was detected. Once
beyond the verge" as the sun was
reflected more and more from a con-
cave surface, it would grow warmer
and warmer. He presented definite
evidence of this-reportS of Arctic
explorers who described warm winds
blowing from the north, driftwood
floating south and apparent migra
tions of animals northward.
Descent Held Gradual.
The descent from the crest Of the
verge" according to his calculations,
would be very gradual. The voyage
would be like sailing around the world.
For weeks, after crossing the ice belt,
the mariners would sail on through
warmer and warmer seas before they
would have any evidence that they
actually were inside the earth. There
was no danger of falling over the
rim
But would not the oceans and con-
tinentS inside the earth be places of
eternal darkness, or dim twilight,
where nothing could exist?
Quite the contrary, Capt. SymmeS
argued. Due to the angle with respect
to the Pole, the suns rays, even in
Winter, would fall to a distance of Is
degrees on the inner surface. In
Summer they would fall Al degrees,
or nearly half way to the Equator.
There would be still greater effect
through the hole at the South Pole,
which was larger.
This, it is true, would leave a twi-
light zone around the Equator, but
nobody need worry about it. The
light would be reflected back and
forth by the concave sides of the hol-
low sphere. The whole would be
illuminated by soft, brilliant light
like that of the full moon. 1t would
be, Capt. Symmes calculated, $4,000
moonpower. A lovelier place to live
in hardly could be imagined. The
skies would be the walls of the inner
sphere and their crystals, glittering
like jewels in the reflected light,
would take the place of the familiar
stars. A veritable fairyland was
"Symmesonia."
The scheme first came before the
House of Representatives in 1928 in
the form of a petition presented by
Representative ]. T. johnson of Ken
lucky. 1t was signed by about 100
of his constituents. johnson read it
before the House, but the only re-
sponse was laughter. One member
moved that the petition be referred
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
since it concerned territory outside
the United States. Another wanted
it referred to the Committee on Com
merce, since the primary object of
such an expedition would be to estab-
liSh trade relations with the "In-
siders." Still another insisted that
the proposal was for a military con-
quest and first should have the con-
sideration of the Committee on Mill
tary Affairs.
Kentuckian Quite Serious.
In vain the indignant Kentuckian
insisted that this was a serious mat
ter and that his constituents were
being insulted by such ridicule. Con-
slider, he reminded his colleagues,
what Portugal had lost when she
spurned the proposals of Columbus
and with much better reason since
the idea of a round world was more
fantastic in 1892 than was Capt.
Symmes hollow world" in 1928.
He argued in vain, but a few weeks
later some Of his colleagues who had
ridiculed him began to regret 1t. Pc
titions began coming in from indig-
nant constituents-from New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
and, especially, from South Carolina,
where an influential group of Sym
mesites had been formed. So Repre-
sentative after Representative found
himself in the same position as the
unhappy Mr.. johnson and obliged to
plead for some action on the petitions
of his people. Think what fool the
King of Portugal made of himself" !"
was the keynote of many of the let
ters they received. That same year
the matter was placed before the
Senate, but it got no better reception
than in the House.
Meanwhile, Capt Symmes and his
followers were bringing pressure to
bear upon the executive branch Of the
Government, which might send naval
expedition without legislative sane
ton if no special appropriation was
required. John Quincy Adams was
President, Samuel Southard of New
Jersey was Secretary of the Navy, and
Benjamin Rush was Secretary Of the
Interior. All these were approached.
Just what happened is difficult to
say, but from scattered evidence 1t
may be conjectured that Secretary
Southard, at least. was converted and
actually had Navy ship under orders
to sail into the interior of the earth.
The most important evidence is the
unpublished manuscript of Titan
Peale. ornithologist and artist of the
United States Exploring Expedition of
1886, which is preserved at the Ma
tional Museum. The validity of
Peale's testimony may be called in
question because he had been at cross
purposes with his superiors on the ex-
pedition and his manuscript and draw
ings had been rejected. Even today
the manuscript cannot be made pub
lie because of the writer's bitterness.
On the other hand, the matter re-
garding the proposed expedition into
the interior of the earth had nothing
to do with his difficulties and he