The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-10-02
THE DnvIL,s5OA {


Pno ySAAo"S uAo tuat OI OrOl09fY Wnlte
sulphur springs :; there it il ID biaek
wink. The 'ninxjinis' Of these differ.
csnt ssrrssts, sRish tie sid of frequent
st,sp is3sstio6ii, iiattanidf ID Ii. cham il
cd .ssido, ,bsss ,ipasssf hid faniu l.,
chat tats 1soessa.nsly:is o.: TEese
rhsnonena"i "iie mot tta6nAaed 70 Ire q n.r:
'to* btd?ot shae' sssoatEss;; 'bat extend fo1 4,
bundled ot Two 0tsst' Id place.. ap itssf
Isiaes; which slope :.t'a pretty sstesep, esep,s .n a.
gle. These slopes are soft masses of
rock deoompos ed Or slsctened by chem.
ical action, and colored brilliantly With
crystal'ised sulphur, and sulphates of.
iron, alum, lime and magnesia, depos-
tied from tho springs and jets Of steam
which are highly charged With them.
Az the rocks deoompose and leach u,ni- ! :
der tho chemical action to which they
are subjected, the, soft silioious mass 1e.
'nnainine, Of /. putty:like consistent 30,
nixes With these salts. Some of the
heaps thus formed assume oonioal
shapes. They have an apparently firm
crust, but are really treaoherous stop
ping places, One Of the most remark
able steam.vents in the canon is in the
TOP Of such . pile, fifty feet up th,e,
steep slope: Il blows, like the escape.
pipe of large engine, Tho beautiful
masses Of otyst.liized sulphur which
form about i, = ,bout Tho inpumett.,., :.
bic small fameroles th.t occur .lohg
both banks, tempt one to dare to climb,
and face the hot steam. The mass
shakes beneath the tread, and is prob
ably soft to . great depth. Wherever
in these soft heaps stick is thrust in,
the escaping warm air soon deposits v4ri-
Gus salts. OF course walk over such
material is ruiuous to boot and shoe
leather, while the splash Of acid waters
often Injuries the clothing. Everybody
stops to gather specimens of the vari-
ous salts and rocks. The guide pre-
,sspts TO be tasted pure epaom-s.lts (.ul-
phate Of magoesia) and salts Of iron
and alum, Of soda and ammonia. Few
care to taste the waters however, which
rival in their chemical and sanitary
qualities Al the springs Of al the Cor.
man, spas together. Perhaps the most
remarkable r Of the Geyser spring. is
that called, happily enough, tha Witch.
Is Caldron. This is black cavernous
opening in the solid rock, about
even teet aetoss, and Of unknown depth,
filled with thick siaky liquid, boilog
hot. that tumbles and roars under the
pressure Of escaping steam, emitt,ng g q
smell like 4 that Of ib,lgs.water, acd
seems to proceed from some PIutonio
reservoir, One ,rresistibly thinks Of
the heIlbroth 10 Macbeth, 20 .thiok
and ;shp,"c and repeats tho words Of the
weird sistsrs.: ~. 2~o
2:'ss': e: 81 ss:s 'sss: ss:;s sa:s': 's::'
IA clever photographer; Mr.. .Muy-
bridge; esdcefved Tho idea Of grouping
three lady visitor, about this c.ldf ION,
With hands.l,uksd, ind elpenstocks b hsld
like magic wands, in which position he
photographed them amid tho vaporous
scene with telling effect. Another no.
table spot is the Devils !Gristmill,
where a large column Of steam escapes
from a"hole in the rock With 80 much
force that stones aud sticks laid at the
'sperature are blown away like. bits Of
paper. The internal noises at this
vent truly resemble the working Of .
grist mill M,lton's hero is sponsor for
another spring called tho DEVILS Ink.
stand, notable for lts black waters,
specimens Of which are taken off in
'vials, and used at the hotels to inscribe
the names Of guests on the register :
/ ,Scr3ibner for Oetober. - ss'.-' n