HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1951-01-18, Page 3They Believe The Earth flat
1Iow ruund is the world? Four
:young scientists have gone to the
wilds of the outbacks of Australia
to check up on it, using highly sen-
sitive equipment loaned by Cam-
bridge University.
Cheek stations .are being set up
at intervals of 300 to 500 -miles, and
among the equipment used are pen-
dulums accurate to one ten -mil-
lionth of a second. They are tuned
regularly to the U.S, Standards
bureau time signals broadcast from
Washington.
So sensitive is the apparatus that
a single spot of rust on a pendulum
would nullify the calculations.
The information gained will call
for study that will take two years
to complete.
But one thing is certain now;
whatever the scientists' conclusions'
may be, the "flat-earthites" will he
just as unimpressed as ever.
Persistent'. Race
it seems incredible that in the
twentieth century there are still
people who believe the earth is fiat.
The fact is there are plenty of them
writes E. R. Yarham in "Answers."
The Personal Column in "The
Tithes" of August 14th, 1945,. car-
ried .this announcement: "Earth is
Plat, believers please write (names
not. divulged).—Write—"
These people called themselves
"Zetetics," a word which means
"proceeding by inquiry," which is•
just the very thing their opponents,
the "round-earthers," say they are
not doing. But that doesn't alter
The fact that they are convinced
they are right.
William Carpenter, of Baltimore,
U.S.A., wrote a book entitled. "One
Hundred Proofs that the World is
Not a Globe." It has gone into at
least a dozen editions, and has a
neap of the world which professes
to prove that the earth, is a plane,
with the • land stretched' out above
the waters.
Many of its proofs are ingenious
and interesting, and the •whole com-
pilation is a wonderful example of
;tow the human mind can adapt it-
self to the demands of a precon-
ceived idea in spite of the findings
of science.
These flat-earthites are a curi-
ously persistent race. In the 'eighties
of last century a certain William
Bampden was their protagonist,
and he spent a fortune in the hope-
less cause.
By 1905, Lady' Blount had taken
over the leadership. "If the people
of—the Antipodes, do hang head
downwards, why don't they do it
when they come to London?" she
asked at a meeting in Exeter Hall.
"Newton was an ignoramus, the
solar sytem a romance, and gravi-
tation a delusion,", was one of her
epigrams.
The Zetetics had a "Glory Song"
called "Gravitation," which began:
The gravity•theory,
When started, was clearly
A fancy which Newton had
."rum"
Imagine the notion --
The world, mostly ocean,
Once a cinder shot out from
the sun!
Most of us, no doubt, believe the
world is round—but it's not so
easy to prove! Shaw once attended
a meeting . at which the chief
speaker was a man who had de-
voted his • life to proving that the
earth was flat.
Sputtering Fury
"Opposition," said G.B.S., "such
as no atheist could have provoked"
assailed him; and he, having heard
their arguments hundreds of times,
played skittles with them, lashing
the meeting into a sputtering fury.
as he answered easily what is con-
sidered unanswerable.
One questioner, full of wrath,
rose up and asked: "Can you deny
that if you start from Liverpool
and keep travelling due West or
East you will find yourself in
Liverpool again?"
"Of course you do," said the lec-
turer; and, according to Shaw, he
demonstrated what happens, by
tracing a circle on the flat top of
the table with his finger.
One of the round-earthers then
produced' his trump card. "In an
eclipse," he said, "the shadow of
the eclipsing body is round: How
do you account for that?"
"So is the shadow of a griddle,"
was the bland reply, "which is the'
flattest thing on earth,"
Shaw tells us that he himself
finally joined in the debate, to de-
clare that the lecturer had answer-
ed and silenced all his opponents,
"who had only picked up and par-
roted a string of statements they
had never thought out or verified."
• He added, however, that, "having
followed the lecturer's argument
closely," lie "thought it led to the
conclusion that the earth is shaped
like a cylinder."
"Oblate Spheroid"
Typically Shavian, of course, and
many angry letters reached, him as
a result of this blasphemy against
scientific orthodoxy. This widely
held scientific theory is, to use the
technical term, that the earth is an
"oblate spheroid." This means that
it is not a perfect sphere, but flat-
tened at the poles. The view of
primitive Man was that the earth
was a flat plane, or a circular .disc.,
The profound minds of the
Greeks began to penetrate the.
mystery and with Newton and the
highly accurate apparatus now
available to observers, the theory
has been proved to most people's
satisfaction.
Strange Cargoes
Animal Stowaway's
There are plenty of stowaways
in the animal 'world. This is .evident
from the large number that come.
to light at various docks; most •
of them taken from consignments
of fruit or grain newly arrived from
some tropical country.
One of the most frequent stow-
aways is the bird -eating• spider of
South A.merica, which tisually
chooses to travel among fruit sent
from that country; but there are
also records of lizards, beetles,
niice, tree -frogs, and even quite
large snakes coming in similar
fashion.
'One of the toughest was a lizard
which went over from Africa, hid-
den away among . some bales of
esparto grass (used in the making
of paper).
On arti°val in England the grass
went toa big paper mill up in the
north; where it remained untouched
for about three months. When at
length the bales were opened, out
scuttled the lizard, in as good a
condition, apparently, as he had
been when . he quitted his African
shores several months previously!
There was, also, the little Moor-
ish gecko or lizard which went,
over recently from the sante part
of the world.
In this case a cargo -boat had
arrived at the London Docks with
a freight of bones. As there were
many rats on board, professional
rat-catchers ' were called in, and
while working down in a hold they
saw the gecko. They caught it and
later sent it to the London Zoo.
The Zoo authorities were surpris-
ed at the excellent condition of this
stowaway. He was so fat and well-
fed that it was some time before
he could he persuaded to take a
meal.
But the secret of his condition
was not so very hard. to guess. The
bone cargo had attracted thousands
of flies, and the gecko had doubt-
less done himself very well on
these.
Snakes can go for long periods
on very little food, ' and, as "stow-
aways" among bananas, occasion-
ally undergo lengthy fasts.
Most of these reptiles only come
to light when the fruit is being
cut up in warehouses before being
sent out to the retailers, as was
the case not Long ago when a boa -
LAPEL
BUTTON
BOBBY PIN TRICK
TO MAKE SUREA LOOSE•rITTINe SERVICE OR LODGE LAPEL SUTTON
DOES NOT DROP OFFSEGUFR 1T IN THE BUTTON HOLE
WITH A BOBBY PIN
New Hospital Opens Doors To Children—Thanks to the generosity of thousands of Canadians
the new Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto was opened officially January 15.. Leading
officials of Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, which gave substantial grants
towards constructing and equipping the 632 -bed, ultra modern, child treatment and research
centre, participated in the official opening along with several children, symbolic of thousands
who have been returned to health through the services of the 75 -year-old hospital,
itO
constrictor turned up unexpectedly
in a Glasgow warehouse.
One "stowaway" from the West -
Indies, however, a green tree viper
• (emphatically not the type one
would wish tokeep as a pet) had a
much longer run for its money. It
was not discovered until the fruit
in which it lay was placed in a
cellar beneath a fruit dealers shop.
When found, and identified by a
local naturalist, its fate was sealed;
it was killed on the spot, despite
the .appeals of the storekeeper's
,little daughter that she might "play
with it."
Few stowaways have much mone-
tary value, but once a small insect
called an opal tortoise beetle arrived
among fruit from .Phe West"Tndies.
Shaped somewhatlike a tortoise, it
was no bigger than a halfpenny, but
it Looked like a living gem, so dazz-
ling were its colours.
It was soon sold to the Zoo,
where for a time it was displayed
in an illuminated glass cylinder
which showed off its beauty to
perfection.
Another stowaway which had
some intrinsic value turned up not
long ago at Southhampton Docks.
This was a tiny piebald mouse,
called a Sumichrast's night mouse,
because the species rarely moves
about by day.
This one did, however. As soon
as he knew he was spotted he fled.
But the unpackers were quicker
than he was, and soon had him
safely "in custody."
Hunt Organised
A tropical spider found not long
ago at London Docks was sent
to the Zoo together with a bundle
of tiny eggs which it was carrying
between its forelegs.
Because .she was plainly. about to
become a mother, this new arrival
was kept under observation at the
insect house laboratory. She hatch-
ed her brood soon afterwards.
And what a job that gave the
curator! As soon as the baby spiders
were on their legs they began run-
ning all over the place. Several got
out of the house, and a hunt had
to be organised' to round them up.
One of the largest animal stow-
aways was a Diana nionkey, and
the odd thing about this animal
Was that it had gone to England
as the pet of a human stowaway.
Its owner, a Spanish sailor, was
found, with his monkey, when the
.vessel berthed, and both were taken
in charge. Unfortunately that was
where the sailor and his pet had to
part` . company, temporarily, Police
took the man off to jail and de-
posited his monkey at the Zoo.
Back to Fronts Russell Wright
(46) has walked backwards from
Macclesfield to Buxton, 12 miles in
3 lays. 14 mins., breaking a 1902
record by 60 secs.
Darkness Descended
And Earth Trembled
About 3,500 years ago the whole
world reeled under a catastrophe
that appalled mankind. The surface
of the earth trembled, tempests
raged, darkness descended when
there should have been daylight, and
a mysterious red ash covered the
ground. The air became hot and
stifling. Disease decimated the
population.
The facts have been handed
down by ancient historians who
were living in different parts of
the world at the time of this strange
lsalipr ang.
The Old Testament particularly
goes into graphic detail, stating in
the book of Exodus that "the
titter stank," that "small dust" fell
like "ashes of the furnace."
Trees were destroyed, crops
ruined, and "the dust of the land
became lice throughout all the land
of. Egypt."
In the panic and confusion one
of. -the greatest mysteries of re-
corded history occurred.
The Israelites, persecuted beyond
endurance by the Pharaohs, fled
from Egypt and reached the shores
of .the Red Sea.
Rain of Dust
'the Bible relates how its waters
miraculously opened before them
so, -that they could cross on the
sea bed to the other side.
When they had done so the
waters closed again, engulfing a
lxost.of pursuing Egyptians.,
' Modern science has just put for-
ward an amazing theory to explain
these strange events which have
Puzzled mankind for centuries.
-.;rite catastrophe described in the
pible and elsewhere is thought to
.Have, been caused by a giant comet,
thrown off by the planet Jupiter,
coming close to the earth and en-
veloping ,our planet with its gase-
ous tail.
Scientists say that this would
Cause 'a rain of fine red dust to
falf,`,on the earth, explaining the
B'"iltical statement (Exodus 7:20)
that• "All the waters that were in
the; river were turned to blood,"
and .drat there fell "a very grievous
hail, such as hath not been in
gpt since the foundations."
Ezodus 9;18).
.. The Egyptian historian, Ipuwer,
tonfitins this with the words, he
wrote on papyrus: "The river is
blood. Plague is throughout the
land. Blood is everywhere."
The plague was caused by a
phenomenal increase in the num-
bers of disease -carrying insects due
to the sudden rise in temperature
resulting from the hot gases of
the comet enveloping the earth.
The Bible says: "And there came
a grievous swarm of flies." Dark-
ness descended over all the earth
and "locusts came, and caterpillars,
and. . . , did eat up all the herbs."
Ancient Persian manuscripts des-
cribe the trembling of the earth
caused by the warring in the hea-
vens of celestial bodies, and add
that "noxious creatures were dif-
fused over the earth, biting and
venomous, not leaving so much •as
the pin or a needle free of them."
But how does science explain the
dividing of the waters of the Red
Sea?
Oceans Lifted
By referring to the terrific gravi-
tational pull a comet the size of
the earth would have when it came
into close proximity with our world.
It must have lifted the oceans
,It
MO; tor even a .small
satellite like the moon is capable
of lifting the oceans and causing
what we know as tides.
The sudden closing of the waters
on the pursuing Egyptians could
have been caused by tremendous
electrical discharges taking place
from the comet to the earth at
their nearest point of approach.
Scientists say this would result
in a sudden weakening of gravita-
tional attraction, and the suspended
waters would rush back to their
original positions.
More Trouble: Mrs. Lotto Briggs,
of Los Angeles, has been granted
a divorce because her husband
spent his nights with an • adding -
machine working out his income
tax.
Big Conference Of
Canadian Jewry
Samuel Bronfman, national pre-
sident of the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress, has called a national con-
ference of Canadian Jewry far
January 21 and 22, at the Mount
Royal Hotel in Montreal to deal
with the emergency situation con-
fronting Israel arising out of its
vast immigration and resettlement
programme. Associated with the
Canadian Jewish Congress in spon-
soring this conference are the Zion-
ist organisations in Canada, the
Canadian Committee of Welfare
Funds and the Canadian Lodges
of the Ella! Brith. The distinguish-
ed Israeli diplomat, Aubrey Eban,
and Robert Nathan, Jewish Agency
economist, will be the guests of the
National Conference for Israel.
The conference is being convened
for the purpose of calling upon
every Jewish community in Canada
to collect quickly outstanding
pledges, to intensify support for
campaigns and to set early dates
for the 1951 campaign. The spon-
sors of the national conference point
to Israel's need for private capital
investment, government aid to
Israel and the proceeds of voluntary
campaigns on a larger scale than
heretofore. The conference will
decide on the goal for 1951- United
Israel Appeal and the setting up
of machinery to implement the re-
solutions adopted.
The urgency of this conference
was emphasized at a meeting of
the Canadian delegates to the re-
cent Washington Conference on
Israel Reconstruction. The Zionist
organizations of Canada requested
the Canadian Jewish Congress to
convene such a conference. After
the Congress executive voted to
take the leadership on this ques-
tion the Canadian Committee of
Welfare Funds was invited to act
as co-sponsors. Plans for the Janu-
ary conference were formulated
after the national meeting of the
welfare funds in Washington at the
beginning of December.
When Real Lions
Roamed Britain
Zoologists have discovered that
the British lion, symbol of the
might of the British Common-
weath and Empire, is no myth, as
is commonly supposed, but has a
foundation in fact. Lions' teeth and
bones have. been found in the Men- s,
dip Hills, and remains of lions of
every age are now reposing in some
museums.
• It is. thought that the lion once
existed there in great numbers.
Fourteen caves and sixteen river
deposits in England have yielded
lions' bones.
The lion began to multiply in
Britain after the last Ice Age and
remained plentiful down to the time
when the first hunters with their
flint weapons began to pit their
superior skill against him.
The climate was probably much
the same as it is now, and the coun-
try was covered with dense woods
in which an abundance of small
game dwelt.
The lion vanished by retreating
southwards, harried by the spears
of the hunters of ancient Britain,
and only finally disappeared from
the south-east corner of Europe
since the beginning of the present
historical era dating from the birth
of Christ.
There'll Always Be An Ad -Man --Charles Schuling is doing
his bit to persuade Des Moines citizens to build their own
private bomb shelters. Schttliilg points to an advertising slogan
painted on the bumper of his truck. P. S. He's head of a firm
that rents out excavating equipment.
JITTER -
VOA GOING OVER TO Ul TSWN stern
YRU EtforrA1t4 `ldUf$ "STAMP CLUB
By Arthur Pointer