, 1881-09-17
THE AGE OF ICE.
Refreshing Reading for the summe
S0lstlcc.


There wns time wlclt the world wasn't as
hot as 1t IL now. Ages ago all North Amer
len md MI Northern Europe lay sleeping
within n covering Of Ice. This cool covering
wns III many plnces over half n mills thick.
Rivers Of Ice 5000 feet decp levelctt np tho
valleys even with the hilltops tl1d flowed on
and OIL slowly over the ground towards tho
oceans. All tho s'lnl!ow seas md ocean III
lets were frozen solid to tho bottom. Where
groups OF Islands are strung along the coasts
nov, oil sYas then 0ne solid mainland. The
intervening waters were frozen Into an iron.
hard HISS. The world was icc-1ockcd. All
this 4cologists haye found out by their
learning.
Snow falitng year after year upon tho
mountain tops fay without melting. Constant
accumulatlons front above pressed 1t
together TIL 1t became Ice. The same
pressure forced 1t OH down through
tho valleys. Along tho shores OF the
continents gigantic leo walls wera formed,
since III no pnrt of tho sen WINS the Water
deep enough to float the n,asscs awuy. Froul
tElno to time hugo pieces Of those walls
crumblod away and fell into tie wnter. Then
mountains Of Ice stood al,out the wnfIs. III
our day Or. Hayes sawoR the coast Of Green
land All Iceberg aground III water. nearly halt
q mile deep. Ills esttmnte was tllati It weighed
two billion pounds. What all lce-house It
would lIaye madot
Just such solid, frozen wall US reared It's
awful front around The coasts of Europe
and North America Is scen today Oil tho
northern limit Of the Antarctic Continent.
Sir ]. G. Ross sailed along It's edge for dis
tanco OF AGO niles, and fouiid IL unbrokeu by
single inlet. Europe md America were
surrounded, well-n!gh overwhelmed, by an
Arctic oceau filled with ice-rafts and icebcrgs
a milo high. The sano processes now In op-
orntlon among the great glaciers of tho Alps
wcro going on then Oh n gigantic scale.
Above the snow-Ifne iii tho Alps tic constant
accun1ulatlons Ut frozen vapors are still
sQueozlnE tho snow beneath into Ice. 1t Is
pressed together into the valleys, and tho
Ercat ice rivers still crnwl slowly, almost i'm
perceptlblY, !onwnrd to tho sea, melting 1T
stones alM debris.
Ths whole interior Of Greenland presents
!itzed world lid during the glaefat, period.
1t ~ wholly buried underneath a greHt weight
of tee and snow, which levela tlp valleys and
sweeps over hills IN lts creeping, mysterious
rcachcs tbs margin Of tho sea ercat, awful
wall Of !ee st1.lds, 800 feet above the sea
level. How fur down lnto the water 1t goes
nQ1udy KNOWS
1 as sow S0 f. s ss sas Sss1fsy y.5 ss ttfsr Ffsf r. r.
si9 gie9n; Even q lle%spaper reporter iteysr %
arenry sxpanse Of wllte," says 0elke. In
wos f1fse 6 Gf 6ssy Eynpo sx Tine mf a aFsn Y ae
mnn, beast, or bird. Is to bo seen. The cold
Is too intense. Not d sound Is ever heard,
save only when tho storM whistles through
ths tis snow a,ui Ice craEs; 'rhs Interior of
central si!euce. M1st Of tho p.opls now
ton ought TO DO sent there.
Daring explorers IN slips !Iaye from TING
They speak Ut, tho scene as splcndlti aiMt
terrible beyond description. Sometimes the
lastlno fetters ot frost. Or little wind
dust down from tho Ice ellis. Anon the
crush. 4 lllll ct ico breaks OF from the
s!seier M ana m a3 tumlea into t1e ocean, causing
th!s part Of tho world .was once walked up III
the morning by sallor, who gaye him the
appalllnT Information Tint the 'ilss bad, III
gone ott a1.l that IT, "tle ,nercury was clear
p1t was frosen lnlsss as hard as'a sttne.
lots. It ,wns thrilling tnolnent. After
much trlbulatto1 they managed to start n
thnwed out, they Iooketl ut their tharmou!s-
tar and found It ha1 gone away up till It
WIS only ~ degrees be!oW zero. It was
Tha reports Of tic voyages OF N01tiensk-
1oll are among tho nlost interesting accounts
ever giYeM Of the region OF staEl1a! SNOW. lla
started on Fly lust ,rip along TIC nso'rtaer!l
the Vega, was proyislnncd for two years.
They Ind III O plentiful supply 0t lemDn-