Sights Inside The
Earth
A Sphere of Gaseous Iron 6,000
Miles in Diameter Surrounded
by White-Hot Molten Roclt —
All Are Enclosed by a thin
Shell of Rocky heaves Con
taing History's First Primer.
By Garrett P. Serviss
"If the ball traveling through the
earth had eyes and a more leasurely
Journey, what would It see?" —Harry
W. Young, Chicago.
This refers to an article of mine
about the dropping of a ball through ;
a hole supposed to be bored diom
■.wically through the earth's center.
Excluding the effect of air resis
tance and of the earth's relatiori, and
other disturbing elements of the i
problem. I showed that the ball j
would drop to the center in about
twenty-two minutes, then rise in the
same time to the opposite surface,
then return to the starting point,
and thus keep on swinging to and
fro through the earth like a pendu
lum bob. •
I may here add the curious fact
that, assuming the earth to be horn- j
ogeneous. the time required would ,
be the same whether the ball started |
from the earth's surface or from j
any point within the earth, however:
close to the center.
As to the ball or a suppo- j
stitious inhabitant of the ball would
see on its journey, only more or !
less probable assertions can be made :
because our knowledge of the state
of things prevailing in the interior i
of the arth is still very imperfect!
and uncertain. There are four ori
five different theories on the sub- j
ject, no one of which may represent;
the actual facts. We know more about :
t. *. . trface of the Moon, or even of>
al' 'er. than we do about the in-1
sic* <f tl.e earth, because, we can i
if. though we cannot reach, the!
*o. me - while we can neither see I
nsr reach the latter.
Of course, we do know by inspec
tion. and by pretty certain inference, j
a good deal about the upper layers!
of the earth's crust, but after all. I
this knowledge relates only to a ]
kind of epidermis.
The deepest mine in existance j!
goes down less than a four-thou-1
sandth of the distance from the j
surface to the center of the earth j
and even the deepest boring pene
trates only 1-330 of that distance;
and is but little over two inches i
diameter at the bottom.
It used to be generally believd j
that below a depth of twenty or thir- II
ty miles the earth was comjyised of j
molten liquid rock. This was based
on the fact that, as we go down,l
the temperature increases about a ]
degree Fahrenheit for every sixty J
feet of descent (the rate varying in
different localities): but for reasons;
into which I cannot here enter, the ] |
general opinion is that the inter
ior is rigid, even, perhaps, on the > I
average as rigid as steel, owing to j j
the pressure, although the heat may
be great enough to liquify or even I
to vaporize all rocks and metal not ;
subjected to such pressure.
A picturesque idea is that of the
Swedish chemist. Arrehnius, who
thinks that the central core of the
earth about 6,000 miles in diameter!)
is probably composed of iron in a!
potentially gaseous condition, i. e.. i
so hot but for the pressure it would!
flash into gas. Above this he depicts
a shell about 600 miles thick of M
rock substance in the same poten-;|
tial gaseous state, then a stratum!
about 160 miles thick of similar)
Substance in a white-hot liquid con- '
dition, and finally theupper crust, I
not over 100 miles in average thick
ness, on whos surface we com-'
fortably dwell.
Let us assume that this scheme'
represents substantially the real con-'
dition of the earth's interior, and !
further that a hole could be driven
straight through the entire mass :
without producing any local effects i
upon the state of the various layers, i
Then, as the ball started on its
journey, it would at first be passing I
through what we might call the geo
logical realm, consisting of broken'
and pictured layers of rock that'
like torn leaves contain the frag
mentary geological history of the :
earth. If only the hole could be,
bored along a diameter where the 1
successive leqves lay in true histor- I
ica! order, (if such a thing were pos-!
ible), the eyes in the decending ball
would behold the whole story of the!
development or terrestrial iife dis
played in reverse, going back through !
the aeons of time from man and i
and his contemporaries through the t
great Neozoic. Cainozoic. Mesozoicf
and Paleozoic eras to the dark Azoic,
when no life had yet appeared
Starting from the waJl of the !
tube through which the bail dropped
would appear in succession the skele
tons of prehistoric men, of primal
men, of ape men. of man apes. of :
the mysterious common ancestor of
the primates and the anthropoids i
and after that only of simple brutes,
physical giants, manv of them
fighter, destroyers, mere living ma- i
chines, with no foregleam of Intel-1
hgence in their reptilcan eye.
aettrki> ramsii adjurals j
DARING AS IX DAYS OF OLD
london —striking feature of tho j
naval side of the is the number j
*-t retired admtjals who have return- 1
ed to the Xavy, bringing with them j
the full vigor and quick determina- j
tion characteristic of the service. j
On June 10. when an explosion j
took place on a motor launch. Com- !
modore Sir James Startin, who held
the rank of admiral, retired, imme
diately proceeded alongside and
learning that the engineer was be
low in the fiercely burning engine
room, climbed down the hutch with
out the slightest hesitation and un
aided recovered the engineer s body
bor this brave deed King George
has approved the award of the Al
bert medal to Admiral Startin.
Another gallant deed is recorded
in connection with an explosion April
12, last, on another motor launch.
The officers and crew were blown or
forced to Jump overboard. Lieuten
ant Commander Keith Robin Hoare
and Lieutenant Gerald Bagot Jump
ed Into a dinghy, rowed to the wreck, !
got aboard and removed .a depth;
charge, thereby preventing an ex- !
plosion which might have caused a
serious loss of life among Engiish
and French sailors on a nearby quay.
Both officers have been awarded the
Albert medal.
FRENCH AMD Rt.V NAMES
FCZZLE V. S. FIGHTERS
Perls.—The American soldier* In
France are having a tough time with
the French and German military
names.
/ "Hey, Jack," *houted Corporal Ben
Adams, of the U. S. Marines, glee
fully to a pal of his, "the Marines
have captured two *Mlnnle Werfers.'"
"'Sal right," answered his pal, a
sergeant of Marines, "the Werfer girls
may rest assured they will b* in good
hands."
I
FRIDAY EVENING,
SS • # •
"The Live Store" , . "Always Reliable" •
This "Live Store" will be closed all day Monday, "Labor Day"
We will all be ready for a well-earned rest, for never in the history of the store have we had such
a "busy" month as during this greatest Semi-Annual "Strictly Cash"
MARK-DOWN SALE
Where Everything In Our Entire Stock Is Reduced Except Collars
1 A great many people read the daily Our rapid progress can be accounted for
papers and often overlook very important messages that in various ways Our methods are so vastly different
have been written for their mutual benefit but we can truthfully from ordinary stores; we go the limit to please our customers and
say that very few, "if any," have neglected to read this "Live fol,c T thir a L dvice clo,el y' that '* Y hy we , sell l only standardized
c , „ . _ merchandise because we know it gives our loyal patrons the desired
btore s daily announcements for it seems as though almost every- satisfaction. Throughout this "strictly cash" clearance we have been
body for miles around has been inDoutrichs some time or other dur- selling at reduced prices all "Manhattan Shirts." "Munsing Under
ing this Semi-Annual Clearance Sale. wear," "Monito Hose," as well as
I Hart Schaffner & Marx & Kuppenheimer Clothes
In all our experience we have never witnessed such a lUi^i
pronounced success as this money saving opportunity. We can scarcely believe /
that so much merchandise could be sold in a few weeks in a store the size of this, but, if you were •
to "keep your eyes" on our salesmen from early morning until the close of each day you'd
readily agree that this "Live Store" is having a phenomenal growth Help it grow larger if . J§F
you think we deserve it
| I Shirts j | Boys' Suits 1 /Cl'
I All $l.OO SHIRTS 70c All $6.50 Boys'SUITS $4.95 /llfj WI J\
F All $1.50 SHIRTS $1.19 All $7.50 Boys'SUITS $5.95 1 Jfe'M A
I All $1.85 SHIRTS $1.59 All $8.50 Boys'SUITS $6.95 MMMjM i
All $2.50 SHIRTS ' $1.89 AH $lO.OO Boys SUITS $7.95 . If j
AIISSOOIkSHIRTS all AIISIIMBojrfSUITS J9.7S
All $6.85 SUk SHIRTS $5.89 All $lB.OO Boys SUITS $14.75 Wlff
All $7.85 Silk SHIRTS $6.89 AH Boys' Knee Pants Reduced \ N- 9 ™
Women's and Girls'"Silk Fibre" and Shetland Sweaters Half Price -
Hosiery All $20.00 Suits $15.75 Underwear Ikf
AU 20c HOSIERY, i4c All $25.00 Suits $19.75 All 95c Underwear 79c J J?/
All 25c HOSIERy' 19C All $30.00 Suits $23.75 l' m I
I All 35c HOSIERY, 29c $35.00 Suits $27*75 Alls2.soUnderwearsl.B9
"2" USUI'S' All $40.00 Suits $32.75 ■
All 75c HOSIERY, 59c ... /K.r- q .. (toe TC All Boys' Underwear .&Jv 1
All $l.OO HOSIERY, 79c OUItS JJ)OD. /D Reduced M
All Straw Hats and Panamas Half Price wB jJ|
I Wool Sweaters Trousers If | 1
All Men's and Boys' $3.98 SWEATERS $3.19* AH $3.00 TROUSERS $2.39 IH If
All Men's and Boys' $5.00 SWEATERS $3.89 All $4.00 TROUSERS $3.19 SjF Wl
AU Men's and Boys' $6.50 SWEATERS 54.95 All $4.50 TROUSERS $3.39 ' /ifl
All Men's and Boys' $8.50 SWEATERS $6.95 All $5.00 TROUSERS $3.89
AU Men's and Boys'slo.so SWEATERS $8.95 AU $6.50 TROUSERS $4.95
304 Harrisburg,
Market Street ' * * Penna.
- * *
HARRT6BURG TELEGHXPH
AUGUST 30, 191$.
11