How Will It End?

Speculations of Scientists as to the World’s Last Hour.

How the world will end is a grave problem, which, in the opinion of many, is a matter for scientific investigation. The terrible catastrophe in Italy is only a foretaste on a small scale of what many eminent scientists believe will be the end of the world. That the earth will open up and fly to pieces in a most gigantic earthquake that will wipe all life from the globe before the actual destruction of the earth is complete in the opinion of many, says Cassell’s Saturday Journal.

The late Baron Allen firmly believed that the world would end by the crust of the earth eventually giving way beneath the colossal weight above it, and Abbe Dupin, one of the greatest scientists of France believes that doomsday will begin with a war that will envelop the greatest nations in Europe, this being followed by a plague the like of which has never been known, culminating with an earthquake that will practically shake the world to pieces.

H. G. Wells, whose scientific prophecies are well known, is, however, of a different opinion. The world will end, he declares, by its becoming entirely frozen over. It is a well-known fact that every year more ice accumulates around the poles; in short, many millions of tons of ice in excess of that of the year previous settle about the earth’s extremities each year, and in Mr. Wells’ opinion this will gradually extend until the whole world is frozen over and every living thing is thus destroyed.

Several scientists are of opinion that we shall perish by fire, and this old world of ours with us. Nikola Tesla is convinced that the atmosphere of the world being so fully charged with electricity, the result will be a gigantic explosion by spontaneous combustion, when the world will be entirely encircled with flame which in the space of a few seconds will destroy all life.

Two of the world’s greatest scientists firmly aver that the end of the world will be brought about by astronomical conditions. Take Prof. Marienberg, the noted Austrian student. In his opinion the earth will fly from its orbit and come in contact with one of the other planets that may chance to be in a direct line. The earth, being comparatively small, will, of course, get the worst of it, and split into fragments at the collision. But, of course, directly the world swerved from its orbit all living things would die, and such an earthquake take place as would completely put the Italian catastrophe in the shade.

Just as interesting is the prognostication of M. Camille Flammarion, one of the greatest living scientists. After many years of study he has arrived at the conclusion that the world will in the 20th century come across the path of the comet Biela, which crossed our line a few years ago. In this event, however, a collision will take place, and Biela being infinitely greater than the earth, a shock may be expected which he calculates, will be ten times greater than the shock caused by the collision between two trains, traveling at 60 miles an hour.