Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-18
YELLOWSTONE fARK.
An Interesting Lecture, but Not a Large
Audience.


Audience.
The audience assembled in the Opera
House to hear General Gibbon lecture last
evening, was not large one. The upper
part of the house was entirely empty and
the parquette nearly SO; the dress circle,
however, was pretty well filled, although
there were few vacant seats. There might
perhaps have been $50 present when both the
subject and the object deserved ten times
the number. It is not often ST. Paul is be-
hind in supporting charitable works, but
last night was an exception, probably arising
from the fact that the lecture was but little
advertised. This was not the fault of the
papers, which were willing to give free
advertising for such cause, but the neglect
of the managers. There was observed but
very few of those who like to be con-
sidered members of uppertendum, when
no doubt charity ball with one
dollar for charity and $50 for display would
have brought them out in full force.
The lecturer narrated the experience of
General Gibbon in the Yellowstone region,
and like all variations which bear the I'M
press OF truth and genuine experience, twas
interesting in the extreme. While the lee
ture did not appear to have received The Ia
Dor of weeks in its preparation, 1t glided on
smoothly and trippingly, touching this
scene and describing that, Incidentally throw
ing IN an adventure or an occurrence here
and there, carrying along the
listener through the most intensely interest
ing region of the known world. The Ian
guage of the lecture was good, at times witty
and occasionally eloquent. The scenery was
graphically described, and the peculiar fea-
lures Of wonderful phenomena wildly por-
trayed, and to help the imagination the lee
turer had prepared a series of Photographic
views which were shown from lantern.
The management of the lantern, however,
was hardly SO good as the delivery of
the lecture, and both were SLIGHTLY
wanting in one essential-powe The light
was very weak and the lecturers voice was
not strong. The deficiency of the former,
however, was much more noticeable than
the natural defect of the latter, for while the
light was not of sufficient power to bring
out the beauties of the pictures, the strength
OF the voice was sufficient to be heard over
the whole house, and the easy, deliberate
and natural method of the reader did much
to compensate for volume of voice. It
would hardly be justice to give those
who remained at home the advantage
OF reading the lecture in these columns, nor
| would it be just to the lecturer not to allude
to some Of the striking features of the lee
ture. Glen after glen, fall after fall, peak
after reak, were described in rapid success
sion, and illustrated with numerous photo
graphs, but the most interesting portion of
the lecture, perhaps, was that which des-
cribed the region above the Yellowstone
falls over Alum creek, and in the region of
the boiling springs. Locomotive Jett, with
Its wonderfully graduated tints of sulphurets,
was described. The mud geysers
were an other feature of great interest,
uesclloeo only as one could who
nad seen tSena, and seen them, too, with
the eye OF lover of the picturesque and the
beautiful, although the reader might not
think there was much beauty IN a pool of
mud ssiike boiling mush.'' The lecturer
thought it an excellent locality fora potter
OF brick maker. These mud springs, Gen.
Globon says, are active regularly every three
hours, when they throw up by short, spas
modic explosions, masses of mud to the
neight OF twelve feet, filling the air with
dense masses of steam. Some, where the
m, mud Is more consistent, just leaves the crust
IKE blister, the steam breaking
- OuDOiSS, WQll6 Others
display most curious and
beautiful phenomenon bed of short
lived mud tulips, Of exquisite colors, which
swell out on their slender stems, burst and
sink down again; This is continued all over
the surface; the colors are blue, pink, oil, g.
straw, and variety of others. The lecturer
SAID before be went out to the national park
ne was cautioned to say nothing OF what he
saw, for no one would believe him. He
could not refrain from telling a fish story,
however. He caught trout in the lake.
and without taking the hook out of his
gllls he essayed to cook him in a
boiling spring, but the warmer element OK
ing the delicate nerves of the fish it made
such splurge that it broke from the line
he did not feast on that fish, but he could
smell the cooked trout two hours after.
Steamboat Point was described, Lake Madi-
son and the intervening wild country to the
Upper Geysers basin. A description of the
Glantess, Old Faithful and Castle geysers
was given, both dormant and
IN eruption, after which the lecturer
finished with panegyric on the
Western country. Taking the lecture all in
all 1t was one of the most interesting de-
hvered In the Opera house, and those who
were fortunate enough to hear it expressed
themselves as more than satisfied with the
wonders of the Yellowstone park.