Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 April 1911 — SHADOWS THAT ARE LASTING. [ARTICLE]

SHADOWS THAT ARE LASTING.

Peculiarity Noticed in the Crude-Oil Producing Regioht of California. “In the crude-oil producing regions ffi California there are scores of large ponds of this mineral,” writes J. Mayne Baltimore In the Scientific American. “After being pumped to the surface the petroleum is emptied into depressions In the earth, where it remains for a time. These oil ponds are known aB ‘sumpt, holes.’ There is one very peculiar thing about .these ‘sump holes’ and t.ha.t Is In the way of producing what are known as ‘freak shadows.’ These are real shadows, but, notwithstanding this fact, they are decidedly ‘freaky.’ If the sun is brightly shining and a person, stands for a few moments on the margin of the ‘sump hole,* so that his shadow falls on the surface of the petroleum and he then quickly changes his position, the dim shadow remains just where It was originally cast. In other words, the shadow does not follow the substance. The Instant a person shifts his position his shadow is again cast in a new place, yet the former shadow remains unchanged. The longer,a person stands in one particular spot the longer will the forifier shadow be. visible. .... , “Hundreds of experiments have been made and every time the same results have been produced. The simple explanation for this phenomenon is that under the hot snn gas Is being constantly generated down in the .body of the petroleum and It rises to the surface In the form of minute bubbles. So very small are these bubbles that they are scarcely visible to the naked eye. Millions of these wee bubbles are Ttßing to the top all of the time, when the bubbles break and the gas is liberated, passing Into the air. “Both the gas and bubbles are so very supersensitive to the temperature that even one’s shadow past for a moment across them Is ‘ affected. The temperature is lowered. 'Whenever the substance quickly changes position the shadow remains until the rays again warm up that spot and the shadowy outline slowly fadeß away. The ’freak shadow’ may be seen for only a very few seconds.”