Daily globe., 1883-08-17

Dolton, winch was read by A. A. Julien,
secretary, on "the Singing Beach of Man
chester, Mass.," of which the following is
an epltomized report: The beach forms
small crescent, terminating at either end
IN locky formations; the feldspathic rocks
being 1ntersected by numerous dikes of
lgneous rocks, among which porphyritic
dlorlte is noticeable. The phenomena which
gives the name to the beach is confined to
that portion of the sand which lies between
The water line and the loose sand above the
reach OF the ordinary high tides. The dry
SAND only produces the peculiar
sound, and some areas yield more
striking results than others; some portions
OF the beach emit the grating
noise distinctly, and closely contiguous
areas 1all to do so. The regular property
seems to be confined to the sand on or
near the surface; at the depth of one or
Two 1eet the sound is not produced, pos
s1bly owing to the presence of moisture.
Inc sound produced by pressure or fr1c-
ton on the sand may be likened to sub
dued crushing sound of low intensity and
OF low pitch, free from all metallic quail
ties and from cracking. While never
very loud, yet the sound is very sensitive
as 1t were, and emits distinct sound
when simply stirred by the hand; even
plunglng one finger into the sand and sud
denly removing it causes the sand to
sing" The loudest sounds obtained by
me was by dragging wooden pole or
board over the beach, or by pushing the
same into the sand, the sonorous quality of
the wood intensifying the noise. I was
reminded of the peculiar grating made by
pressure on snow at very low tempera-
ature; the two sounds are however very
different, that produced by snow being
sharper. The phenomenon attracts visi-
tors from afar, one of whom is reported
to have inquired, just before reaching the
locality: "At what o'clock does the beach
sing" The continuation of the paper is
by A. A. Julien. Dr.. James Blake who
wrote on the same subject in 1868 says:
The structure of the grains fully explains
the reason why sound is emitted.
1.-The Earth's Geographic Framework; {;
its Seismology and Geology" was the title
of the next paper, by Richard Owen.
The Continental Type" or "Normal
Geography and Geology of Continents"
was the next presented by the last author.
The last paper read was quite interest
ing, the subject being 'The Minnesota
Valley in the Ice Age," by Warren Upham,
of Minneapolis. The essay was based
upon his observations as assistant on the
geological and natural history survey of
Minnesota for the last three years under
the direction of Prof. WinchelI, of the
state university. Some portions of the
paper have already appeared in print
In reply to the query, During what ages
was the glacial rockwalled channel of the
0f fhn o&1
author said this was in part answered by
deposits of cretaceous clay found in water
worn hollows of the Shakopee limestone
forming the walls of this channel at nu-
merous places in Blue Earth, LIE Sueur and
Nlcollet counties, and by the occurrence in
this valley in Courtland and New
Ulm and near Fort Ridgely and
Redwood falls of cretaceous sandstone.
clay and shale, occasionally containing
Ignite. 1t is thus known that before the
Cretaceous age, when western Minnesota
and the region of the upper Missouri were
depressed and covered by the sea, deep
channel had been cut by some river in the
lower magnesia strata of the Minnesota
valley. The slopes from each side toward
this channel appear, therefore, to have
been partly like those of the present day
The direction of drainage may even have
been the same as now, for the Mississippi
river and valley have probably existed
since the middle of the Paleozoic time.
This channel, excavated in the Lower
Magnetism and Potsdam formation.
appears to have been eroded by river
during the later Paleozoic and earlier
Mesozoic ages, before the Cretaceous SUBJ
sldence which carried much of this state,
with large area farther west,
beneath the sea. In the first principal
epoch of glaciation, when the ice covered
its greatest area, a thick drift sheet, mostly
unmodiied, was spread over all this
region. During the ensuing interglacial
epoch, the drainage of this great area cut
channel, which because of the natural
slopes of the basin determined by pre-gla-
cial erosion, comedies along much of its
lower part, where it crosses the nearly
horizontal paleozoio formation, with the
old valley eroded in these strata long be-
fore the ice age.
The paper closed by proposing that the
ancient river which flowed during the ice
age, where the lakes Traverse and Big
Stone and the Minnesota river now are.
should receive this name: The River War
rem, in honor of Gen. G. K. Warren, to
whom we owe our first adequate descrip-
tlon OF this remarkable valley.