Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 March 1896 — THE GREAT LAKES GOING [ARTICLE]

THE GREAT LAKES GOING

They Are Surely Drying Up, Bui Not Very Rapidly. Diminution Not So Noticeable aa to Me* .AXI oaultAta Economy in the Un <rf Water—Kvldenoe in Point. The professors of natural sciences and the editors of the various technical journals, true to the axiom which says that such persons are the last to grasp an important idea er to let slip an exploded theory, are just awakening to the fact that .the amountof water on the earth’s surface 1b fast diminishing in quantity.

The great Wiggins, he of the advanced school of astronomical weather prophest, has made the very surprising discovery (?) that the region adjacent to the great lakes is becoming as arid as the plains of western Kansas and Nebraska, and that the water surface of the lakes themselves is lowering very rapidly, owing to evaporation and deficiency in supply. We sincerely congratulate Prof.* Wiggins. These congratulations are not extended on account of his revelations concerning the arid conditions of the lake regions and our planet in general,nor of his being an advanced astronomical meteorologist. We bestow our compliments solely because his drying-up-of-the-lakes announcement bears evidence of the fact that the professor has been spending the early days of the “sere .and yellow

leaf” iu looking over the back files of the secular newspapers. Our only proof of the foregoing lies in the fact that Wig-r gins has never before advanced the theory that the earth is drying up, whereas it is a well-known fact that the great daily and weekly newspapers have been sounding the alarm for the past.ten or 15 years. » Over 200 years ago the great Sir Isaac Newton first set forth the theory that the earth would eventually 'become as dry and lifeless asthe moon is now supposed to be. In 1820 Laplace read A n article before the Paris Academy of Science in which he gave many proofs iiv support of the opinion that the old age of the earth, would be spent in cycles of extreme aridity. Newton’s ideas oh that score were so far in advance of the scientific knowledge of the time in which he lived that he never attempted to give reasons for his opinoin on that subject. Laplace’s proofs and explanations are so burdened with technicalities that they are bewildering to the average intellect. Years ago, perhaps even further in the past than the date set above, the wide-awake daily press seized upon the drying-up theory as a unique and interesting subject for editorial discussion, Before Wiggins had ever bethought himself to gain notoriety by posing as a weather prophet, the great dailies of this city, Chicago and New York contained periodical editorials under such heads as “The Earth Drying i’p,” “Our Arid Planet,” “Better Rave Water,” etc. In January, 1882, more than a year before “Prof. E. Stone Wiggins” first made himself prominent by predicting a ' cyclone of sufficient breadth and power as to smooth all thewrinkles out of the topography of the North American continent. Richard A- Proctor, the brainy English astronomical lecturer, gave proof that the. waters of the earth are diminishing nt the rate of the thickness of a sheet of writing paper each year. In view of the above references to the “drying-up theory,” is it not plain thatYViggips should be congratulated and complimented because of his late discoveries in that line?

Fourteen years ago the Republic, then the Missouri Republican, used the fol lowing' language in.hn ed itonal Qi. this subject: “The geologists tell us that the water surface on the whole earth is being rapidly lowered. « * * This diminution in the water supply is fast becoming appreciable. * * « The level of the great lakes is falling year by year.” We quote the passage in order to draw the attention of tin scientists of the present decade to the fact that years ago somebody knew that the great lakes were slowly drying up. We advance no theory of our own in explan»ii«<? of this idea earth is losing its water supply. We will say, however, that Prof. Proctor, the great astronomer quoted above, was of the opinion that as the earth’s interior fires die out it becomes porous and the waters sink entirely out of reach of surface inhabitants. At the rate it is now disappearing. Proctor said that it will take J 5,000,000 years to obliterate every trace of water from our planet. If the above 'figures had the ciphers cutoff we should be a little careful about wasting water; as it Is, we shall not use a smaller glass for drinking purposes or forego the luxury of a bath for several years to come.—St. Louis Republic.