Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-12-04

or clothing be found. Up to one o'clock in the
afternoon the only remains found would scarce
ly fill cigar box. Bits of clothing were found
on trees and bushes surrounding the cave on
the river bank used for the magazine. SO COM
plete was the work oil the destroyer it is sup
posed that the bodies were blown into atoms
which fell in the river At the time our report
er left the spot the search was being carried on,
but with no hopes Of SUCCESSFUL city Derrick.
Living Glaciers in California.
On one of the yellow days of October, 1871,
when was among the mountains OF the "Mer-
ced group" following the footprints of the an
cient glaciers that once flowed grandly from
their ample fountains, reading what | could of
their history as written in moraneS, canOnS,
tanks and carved rocks, | came upon a small
stream that was carrying mud of kind | had
never seen. In calm place. where the stream
widened, | collected some of this mud, and
observed that it was entirely mineral in com
position, and fine as -four, like the mud from
fne-grit grindStone. Before | had timeatO rea-
son, | said, "Glacier mud-mountain meal"
Then observed that this muddy stream issued
from bank of fresh quarried stones and dirt
that was sixty or seventy feet in height. This
| at once took to be moraine. In climbing to
the top it, was struck with the steepness
of its slope, and with its raw, unsettled, plant
less, new born appearance. The slightest touch
started blocks of red and black slate, followed
by rafting train of smaller stones and sand,
and crowd of dry dust of mud, the whole
moraine being as free from lichens and weather
stains as if dug from the mountain that very
day.
When had scrambled to the top of the mo-
raine | saw what seemed to be a huge snow
bank, four or five hundred yards in length by
half a mile in width. Embedded in its stained
and lurrowed surface were stones and dirt like
that of which the moraine was built. Dit
stained lines curved across the snow bank from
side 70 side. and when | observed that these
curved lines conceded with the curved moraine
and that the stones and dirt were most abund-
ant near the bottom Of the bank, shouted "a
tiUing glacier"
These bent dirt lines show that the ice is fol-
lowing in its different parts with unequal We
locity, and these imbedded stones are Journey
ing down, to he bnilt into the mOraine and
they gradually become more abundant as they
approach the moraine, because there the mo-
ton is slower
On trayersing my new found glacier, l came
to creyasse, down wide and Jagged portion
of which succeeded in making my way and
discovered that my so called snow bank was
clear, green ice, and, comparing the form of the
basin which it occupied with similar adjacent
basins that were empty, was led to the opinion
that this glacier was several hundred feet in
depth.
Then went to the "snow banks" of Mounts
Lyell and Mcclure, and, on examination, was
convinced that they also were true glaciers, and
that dozen other snow banks seen from the
summit of Mt Lyell croUchng in shadow were
glaciers, living as any i'll the world, and busily
engaged i'll completing that vast work of noun
taln-making accomplished by their giant rela-
tons now dead, which united and continuous
covered all the range from summit TO sea.
But, although was myself thus fully salts
fed concerning the real nature of these ice
masses, found that my friends regarded my
deductions and statements with distrust; there
fore, determined to collect proofs of the COM
mon, measured, arithmetical kind.
On the 2lst of August last, PLANTED ive
stakes in the glacier Of Mt. Mcclure, which is
situated cast OF Yosemite valley, near the sum.
mt OF the range. Four of these stakes were
extended across the glacier, in straight line.
from the east side to point near the middle of
the glacier The first stake was planted about
70 yards from the east bank Of the glacier; the
second, "a yards the third, 1872, and the fourth,
ga yards The positions of these stakes were
determined by sighting across from bank to
bank, past plumb line, made of a stone and o
black horse hair.
9h Observing my stake on the sixth Of 0cto-
per, OF IN ioEtY-siN days after being planted,
found mat stake No l , had been carried down
stream eleven inches; No. 2, eighteen inches,
NO. q, thirty-iour and No 1, fory-seyen inches.
AS stake NO was near the middle of the glacier
perhaps it was not far from the point of maxi
mum velocity -torty-seyen inches in iorty-siX
days, or one inch per day. Stake No. s was
glacier and stake No 4. Its motion | found TO
be, in forty-siX days. forty inches. Thus these
ice masses are seen 10 possess the tue glacial
motion, Their surfaces are striped with bent
art bands, and are bulged and undulated by in
equalltles III the bottom OF their basins, causing
an upward and downward swedging, correspond.
ING to the horizontalS weighing as indicated bv
the rived dirt bands.
The Mt. Mcclure glacier is about cue half of
mile in length, and the same in width at the
nroadest HlaoS. 1t is creYassed on the southeast
corner. Inc creYaSSe runs about southwest and
northeast, and is several hundred yards in
length. 1t is nowhere more than one foos in
width, NV -
The Mount Iyell glacier, separated from that
OF mcclure by narrow crest, is about mile
I'D length. have planted stakes in the glaciers
Oh hed Mountain" also, but have not YET OBJ
served them,
The Serras adjacent to the Yosemite valley
are composed of Slate and granite set on EDGE
at right angles to the direction of the range. or
about north 30 deg east, and south 20 deg.west.
Lanes Of cleavage cross these, running nearly
parallel with the main range; and The granite
OF TINS region has horizontal cleavage or STRAIT.
incatlon. The first mentioned of these lines
nave the fullest development, and give direction
ana character to many valleys and canons and
determine the principal features CT many rock
FORMS No matter how hard how doomed and
homogeneous the granite may be, it Still pos
sesseS these lines of cleavage which reouire
only simple conditions of moisture time, etc.
for their development. But am not ready to
discuss the origin of these planes of cleavage.
Whicn make TINS granite so easily denudabe nor
their full significance with regard to mountain
structure in general. | will only say here that
Ottentmes the granite contained between two of
these north 40 deg eaSt planes is softer than the
rock outside, and has been denuded. leayinr
vertical walls, as determined by the direction Of
the cleavage, thus giving rise to those narrow
slotted oanons, called "deyiPs Slides" "deyiPs
lanes devils gateways," etc
p, In many places, in the higher portion of the
Slerras, these slotted canons are filled with
snow, which thought might prove to be ice;
might prove to be living glaciers, still engaged
IN cutting into the mountains, like endless saws.
10 decide this question, on the 23d of August
last, set two stakes in the narrow slot glacier
Of Mt. Holman, marking their position by
sghtlng across from wall TO wall, as | did on
the Mcclure glacier; but on visiting them, a
month afterward, they had been melted out,
ana was unable to decide anything with any
great degree of accuracy.
On the 4th of October last, ! stretched a small
trout line across the glacier, fastening both ends
IN the SOLD banks, which at this place were only
sixteen ieet apart | set q short, nfexible stake
IN the ice, so as Just to touch the tightly-drawn
line, by which means | was enabled TO measure
the now of the glacier with great eXactness.
Examining inc stake III twenty four hours after
setting it, ! found that it had been carried down
about three.siXteenths Of an inch At the end
OF iour Gays again examined, and found that
the whole downward motion was thirteen.six-
teenths OF an inch, showing that the flow Of This
glacier was perfectly regular,
IN accounting Tor those narrow lane canons,
so common here, always referred them to ice
action in connection with special conditions Of
cleavage, and was gratifed 10 nnd that their
formation was stlll going on This Hoffman
glacier is about 1000 feet long by Is to 80 feet
places. FVS'
go back to the mountains to complete these
observations. These are the first fruits, and the
rest Of the crop will bring in when come to
study IN the coast range.-John Muir, IN S,er.
land Moathlg for Decemlor