1898_02_NormalRecord.007 |
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THE NORMAL RECORD. 3 stantlated by observation and calculation, that a new comet that had been steadily growing brighter for nearly a year was directing its course straight for the earth. It is one thing to die when the race of life has been run with honor and success, but it is quite another to die in the midst of ambitious endeavor to make the most of the time allotted to human existence. How hard it seemed to the great mass of human beings to whom the dread news was flashed over the whole earth, that now in this era of human progress, when man had achieved so much to make life worth living, when all disease and human ills had been vanquished, and happiness was a reality instead of an ideal, that he should be so ruthlessly destroyed. It seemed as if Mother Nature had concluded to cease her partiality to man, and serve him as she did the rest of her composing atoms, making him directly subject to the irre- sistable lawTs of sudden mutation. When the earth swings smoothly along in its orbit, man is apt to feel secure, and only wakes from this feeling when he contemplates the possibility of some wild meteoric sun crashing its erratic way amongst the more reasonable spheres that circle and whirl throughout the known universe. With feverish excitement, great crowds gathered where the latest news could be had, and forgot employment, forgot home forgot friends, lovers, obligation, in the all-absorbing desire of life. "How cruel, how cruel," some moaned. Others, indeed most people, looked vacantly at each other, too stupid to recognize even dear ones. Indian summer began early, and was especially sultry. The long, hot days seemed never to end, and the nights brought no surcease from the oppressive heat. Fresh terror was lent to the stifling nights by the glare of the ever-nearing fiery ball that came so remorsely on. People in the tropics began to crowd to the temperate zones, and, after a few days consultation among the greatest scientists, it was decided that in order to exist as long as possible on the earth, it would be necessary to follow the edge of the ice as it melted toward the Poles. Accordingly all means of aerial and terrestrial travel were pressed into service, and the great masses of humanity began an orderly emigration for the cooler regions where life could be made bearable for a longer period than was possible by remaining as they were. The days grew hotter and more oppressive, and the gap between the receding people became wider. The great ice fields of the North and South were steadily decreasing-, and now there was but little difference between the day and night, since the light from the swiftly approaching meteor was daily growing brighter. It was a weird light, and showed the masses of terror stricken humanity that nightly stood with ghastly upturned faces looking fearfully at their approaching doom. By its light many terrible scenes of suffering and death were viewed by a party who traversed aerially the great extent of scorching territory dividing the two ice fields. Great herds of wild animals fled here and there, or cowered beneath some mocking shade, as they gasped out the last breath in awful dying convulsion. Wide plains and mighty mountains * burned fiercely by day and night, the fires being the result of spontaneous combustion. By its lurid light w-as seen stagnant pools, seething with the dying inhabitants, where once great lakes were lying. Tiny streams marked the course of mighty rivers, and from great swamps arose thick vaporous clouds that ascended high in the air. No rain reached the parched earth, although great storms raged high in the air, but the drops were evaporated long before striking the earth. The day was at last calculated when the awful crash should come, but long before that day it was averred that all animal life would have perished from the excessive heat. A panic seized the hitherto controllable people, and insanity run rampant among the poor mortals so soon to be annihilated, All reasoning by the more philosophic or stoical was to no avail. Suicides became so frequent that the methods of disposing of dead bodies could not be employed, and the old and young, the haggard and the beautiful lay festering in the sun, with none to care for them. Sometimes a wild-eyed maniac would lay to the right and left with some weapon, killing many before he was dispatched
Object Description
Title | The Normal Record. February 1898 |
Original Date | 1898-02 |
Description | The Record. Published by the Associated Students of Chico State College. |
Creator | Chico State College |
Location of Original | Archives |
Call Number | LD723 C57 |
Digital Collection | The Record: Chico State Yearbook Collection |
Digital Repository | Meriam Library, California State University, Chico. |
Description-Abstract | The Record served as both a student magazine and a commencement program for Chico Normal School. In the year 1898, it was published almost monthly. |
Date Digital | 2013 |
Language | eng |
Rights | For information on the use of the images in this collection contact the Special Collections Department at 530.898-6342 or email: specialcollections@csuchico.edu |
Format | image/tiff |
Filename | index.cpd |
Description
Title | 1898_02_NormalRecord.007 |
Original Date | 1898-02 |
OCR- Transcript | THE NORMAL RECORD. 3 stantlated by observation and calculation, that a new comet that had been steadily growing brighter for nearly a year was directing its course straight for the earth. It is one thing to die when the race of life has been run with honor and success, but it is quite another to die in the midst of ambitious endeavor to make the most of the time allotted to human existence. How hard it seemed to the great mass of human beings to whom the dread news was flashed over the whole earth, that now in this era of human progress, when man had achieved so much to make life worth living, when all disease and human ills had been vanquished, and happiness was a reality instead of an ideal, that he should be so ruthlessly destroyed. It seemed as if Mother Nature had concluded to cease her partiality to man, and serve him as she did the rest of her composing atoms, making him directly subject to the irre- sistable lawTs of sudden mutation. When the earth swings smoothly along in its orbit, man is apt to feel secure, and only wakes from this feeling when he contemplates the possibility of some wild meteoric sun crashing its erratic way amongst the more reasonable spheres that circle and whirl throughout the known universe. With feverish excitement, great crowds gathered where the latest news could be had, and forgot employment, forgot home forgot friends, lovers, obligation, in the all-absorbing desire of life. "How cruel, how cruel," some moaned. Others, indeed most people, looked vacantly at each other, too stupid to recognize even dear ones. Indian summer began early, and was especially sultry. The long, hot days seemed never to end, and the nights brought no surcease from the oppressive heat. Fresh terror was lent to the stifling nights by the glare of the ever-nearing fiery ball that came so remorsely on. People in the tropics began to crowd to the temperate zones, and, after a few days consultation among the greatest scientists, it was decided that in order to exist as long as possible on the earth, it would be necessary to follow the edge of the ice as it melted toward the Poles. Accordingly all means of aerial and terrestrial travel were pressed into service, and the great masses of humanity began an orderly emigration for the cooler regions where life could be made bearable for a longer period than was possible by remaining as they were. The days grew hotter and more oppressive, and the gap between the receding people became wider. The great ice fields of the North and South were steadily decreasing-, and now there was but little difference between the day and night, since the light from the swiftly approaching meteor was daily growing brighter. It was a weird light, and showed the masses of terror stricken humanity that nightly stood with ghastly upturned faces looking fearfully at their approaching doom. By its light many terrible scenes of suffering and death were viewed by a party who traversed aerially the great extent of scorching territory dividing the two ice fields. Great herds of wild animals fled here and there, or cowered beneath some mocking shade, as they gasped out the last breath in awful dying convulsion. Wide plains and mighty mountains * burned fiercely by day and night, the fires being the result of spontaneous combustion. By its lurid light w-as seen stagnant pools, seething with the dying inhabitants, where once great lakes were lying. Tiny streams marked the course of mighty rivers, and from great swamps arose thick vaporous clouds that ascended high in the air. No rain reached the parched earth, although great storms raged high in the air, but the drops were evaporated long before striking the earth. The day was at last calculated when the awful crash should come, but long before that day it was averred that all animal life would have perished from the excessive heat. A panic seized the hitherto controllable people, and insanity run rampant among the poor mortals so soon to be annihilated, All reasoning by the more philosophic or stoical was to no avail. Suicides became so frequent that the methods of disposing of dead bodies could not be employed, and the old and young, the haggard and the beautiful lay festering in the sun, with none to care for them. Sometimes a wild-eyed maniac would lay to the right and left with some weapon, killing many before he was dispatched |