The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-12-31
Terms $500 pen. anmuns, s,a adrance.

wire has been laid, and the summit is now in
teleSrapaic communication with the world.
AUD tbe Chief signal officer also detailed Tor
special service upon the mountain an expert
eneed telesrapher and meteorologst SeigeaI
Theodore Smith, OF the u. S. Amy.
The photographers of the expedite,
A. f. Clough ct Warren, OF Moosilauka lame.
and Howard A. KImball of CONGO d, N. H.,
both eminent in their profession. Tie latter
centlemau spent much time In providing pho
to2rapblc material for the mountain and IN
soliciting subscriptions Their views Of the
peculiar phenomena of the mountain will
soon be on exhibition.
zIhus the party Consists of six persons: Pro-
lessor Hitchcock, whose Office In Hanover,
Nils connected by telegraph with the
summit; Prot. Huntington and Mr. Neison'
observers; Messrs. ClOugh and Kipball pho
tographers; and Sergeant Smith. teeerapbar
and observer. All of them are not upon the
mountaln ar the same time. They relieve
each other to considerable extent in the
work, and the public will bs~kept informed of
their whereabouts.
THE ASCENT IN WINTER.
From the depot of the Mt. Washington
Railway, in summer, the ascent, on foot, If
person Is accustomed to walking Is compara-
tiyely easy. Although the ties are three feet
apart and there is rise of loot in three
strong from exercise can walk to the very
summit of the mountain without sitting down
to rest. But suppose 1t is winter.
The snow has accumulated to considera-
BILE depth, even in lhe ties, but then 1t Is 10
great hindrance; should it, however, be at
tempted second time, you will find that the
snow that was compressed beneath the feet
has changed to ice, and the oval forms give
still less secure footing; il 1t is tbawing, and
the ice is almost ready to slip OF as you tread
upon II, everyone will see that upon trestle
thirty feet high walking is somewhat danger
ohs, and 10 walk down is a feat from which
even most expert acTobate would Shrink
II at the depot we take snow shoes, we can
walk with comparative ease bali way up, and
then tue snow is 50 compact that they are TO
longer needed, and as there are few ir' egulari-
ties in the surface the walking Is better than
in summer.
Above the limit of the trees the rail way Is
covered With ice of every fantastic shape, and
the framework oil the Gull tank Is now so or.
namented that one can hardy believe that 1t
y the rude structure We see In summer. The
lizzie Bourne Monument, which we have
been accustomed to see only rough pile of
stones, is now an object OF architectural beau.
| ty such as no sculptor can carve from marble.
| Immediately above the monument the timber
trestes are completely co 5ered with deposits
| OF frozen mist extending two or three feet
| horizontally from the timber on which the
| track is laid, and every piece of timber which
| forms the trestle is ornameEted with beautiful
| forms OF "irost work." deposited In graceful
| curves as the wind sweeps through the trestls.
| On the summit the Dildiugs, the piles of
rock and stones, so rough in summer, are now
| completely covered with frost, " bile the snow
NILS the spaces between the jagged rocks. On
the sides of the buildings towards the Derth-
| west the frost has accumulated so that row 1t
| Is more than foot in thickness. The "frost
| work" Oh the depot, while it has everywhere
the same general appearance, the points show
| exactly the direction OF the winG as it came
| into every nook and corner OF the building
| Ihe frost on the braces and timbers that ex-
| tend outward seems like one triangular mass,
and on the chains it is often two lee. in diam
| eter.
THE STAY ON THE MOUNTAIN.
| Although l was on the mountain for ten
days in October. vet did not 60 10 stay per-
manently until Nov. 18th. 1t was expected
that some of the party would be ready to 90
with me, but as they were not went alone,
aud 1t was not until the last day OF November
| that any one came, so had the house and
the mountain all to nvself for nearly three
weeks. During the most of November the
weather was remarkably pleasant. On the
18th, all day long, and far into the night the
clouds were below the summit OF the noun
|
entire country. At times only the very high
est point OF Mount Washington was above
the clouds, 1t reminded me fcreibly of the
time, during the Champlain period, when the
whole of New England, except Mount Wash
ington, was beneath the waves of the ocean.
As the masses of clouds came over Adams and
Jefferson, looked until 1 almost persuaded
myself that they were immense icebergs COM
ing from the uplifted frozen north but the iu-
sion vanished as the SUBMITS appeared above
the clouds. But what was remarkable Is that
the next day was pleasant. sf
During the last two weeks in November,
the average OF the thermometer was ~. The
wind was northwest nearly the whole time.
The weather was generally very mild, and tbs
number ut clear days was much greater than
the average. .--