Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-05-28
The Antarctic Regions.

+ Inc Antarctic Regions.
A hundred Etnss would not pro
duce the thousandth part of the in.
draught which Maury ascribes to Ant
rctic volcanoes. Assuredly we may
!ay with Maury, but more significant.
y, that evidences arc not meteor.
illogical necessity" awe cannot say
Mat they are," he proceeds, "yet the
lorce and regularity of the winds re.
mind US that their presence there
gould not be inconsistent with known
Aws." He believes, 10 fact, that the
Heady winds may be partly formed
an indraught feeding volcanic fires
10 as we'll 10 remember, when ideas
n wild are mooted, that, as Maury
lamself remarks. two know, ooularly,
1tAs little more Of the Typographical
features Of Antarctic regions than we
do Of those Of one Of the planets. -
"lf they be continental" as he pro-
ceeds, ave may, indeed, without any
unwarrantable stretch Of the imagi.
nation, relieve the face of nature
there with snow-clad mountains, and
diversity the landscape with flaming
Volcanoes" but we must not forget
that this is work Of Imagination
not q theory which can be insisted up
on as though it represented geo
graphical fact.
While on this subject, however, we
cannot refrain from quoting o very
striking passage from letter by Capt.
Howes, of the Southern Cross, bo.
cause, although IL relates in reality 10
the phenomena Of an aurora australis
it presents scene such as we might
conceive TO accord with the concep.
tion Of an Antarctic region covered
with volcanoes, whose combined &C
ton made the holecontinent at times
as one vast furnace. Apart from fan
cies such as these, the description is
full of interest.
"About halfpast ono," he says, "on
the second Of last Septemb Der, the rare
phenomena Of the Aurora Australis
manifested itself in most magnili-
cent manner Oui ship was off Cape
Horn, in a violent gale, plunging fu.
riously into heavy sea, flooding her
decks, and sometimes burying her
whole bows beneath the waves. The
heavens were as black as death; not
a star was to be seen when the bril-
liant spectacle first appeared. ] can.
not describe the awful grandeur of the
scene; the heavens gradually changed
from murky blackness till they became
like lisid FIRE, rejecting lurid, glow.
ing brilliancy over everything. The
ocean appeared like sea of vermil.
lion, lashed into fury by the storm !;
the waves, dasbing furiously over our
side, ever and anon rushed to leeward
in crimson torrents. Our whole ship
sails, spars and all--seemed to par
take of the same ruddy hues. They
were as If lighted up BY somo terrible
conaagration. Taking all together,
the bowling, shrieking storm, the no.
BILE ship plunging fearlessly beneath
tho crimson crested waves, the furious
squalls of hail, snow and slect driving
over the vessel aud falling to leeward
in ruddy showers, the mysterious balls
of electric fire resting on our mast
heads, yard-arms, etc, and above all
the awful sublimity OF the heavens,
through which corruscations of auro.
raj light would often shoot in spiral
strcaks with meteoric brilliancy, al
together presented scene of gran
deur and sublimity surprising tho
widest dreams of fancy"
The cnormons iccbergs which come
from out the Antarctic seas suggest
conclusions respecting re-
gions as yet unexplored. This will be
understood when it is remembered
that all tho larger and lofticr icebcrgs
have in reality had their origin in vast
glaciers. Vast masses Of ice arc
formed, indeed, in the open sea. Each
winter the seas which have been open
during the summer months (Decem-
ber, January and February,) are COW
cred over with ice Of enormous thick
ness, and when summer returns the
ice fields thus formed are broken up,
and the fragments, borne against each
other during storms, become piled in
TO gigantic masses But tho agglom-
erations thus formed, vast though they
be, are Far exceeded in magnitude by
the true icebergs.
"Among the drifting masses Of fiat
sea-ice," says Tyndall, "vaster masses
sail, which spring from q totally diff
ferent source. These are the icebergs
Of the polar seas. They rise some.
timos TO an elevation of hundreds Of
feet above the water, while the height
Of ice submerged is about seven times
that seen above. What is their ori.
gin y Ho proceeds speaking Of those
met with in the northern seas: "The
Arctic glaciers. From the mountains
in the Interior tho indurated SHOWS
slide into the valleys and fll them
With leo Tho glaciers thus formed, 4,
move, like tho Swiss ones, incessantly
downward. But the Arctic glaciers
reach tho sca, and enter IL, often plow.
ing up its bottom into submarine
Undermined by the lap
ping Of tho waves, and unable to rc.
sist the strain imposed by their own
weight, they break across, and dis.
charge vast masses into the ocean
Some of these run aground on the ad.
jacent shores, and often maintain
themselves for years. Others escape,
TO be finally dissolved 10 tho warm
waters Of the OCEAN CunhW.
<n--- -
A SENSIBLE GoosE. .--Wo heard Of