The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1884-07-04
COLD TEA ON POPOCATA
PETL.
How Two American Girls Made the
Ascent Of the Great Mountain
Few Weeks Ago.

Minerva and l with our guides left
Amecamcca on the 10Th of June. The
first night we passed far up the slope
at tie house of Don Damingo Ella. By
five o'clock the next morning we were
$4,000 feet above the sea. At an eleva-
ton of $4,000 feet the scenes were
grand-impressive even to the Yankee
girl who had learned to climb at Pixies
Peak. The clouds gathered and has
tened us on and upward. And now
the struggle began. Our alpenstocks
were no fancy affairs-chamois tip and
other continental nonsense-but stout
sticks piked with iron, which we drove
down desperate depths and to which
we chung with despairing grip. Our
guide-book advises travellers to ''pro-
vide themselves with overcoats, wells,
and alpenstock, which they drive into
the ashes and volcanic sand" We had
INDUCED in wild jokes about taking
wells and overcoats "to drive into the
volcanic sand" but we found danger
of literally following this advice, dan
ger of sinking ourselves, wells, over
coats, and oil, beyond exhumation. We
floundered
THkOUGH THE BLACh SAND
and gained the first futed ruffle of the
white skirt of snow that drops down
from the cone. Then clinging to our
guides, scuffling, slipping over the
rough blocks of ice and snow; falling
back to rest but moment then stag
gering on again: dragged and pushed;
hands torn and bleeding from clutch
ing the sharp edge of the ice barriers;
tumbling on, half crazed with pains
that dart through eyes and forehead,
for four long hours we travelled until at
last we nearly tottered over the edge
of bleak and yawning gulf, and hear
through the roaring in our ears the
triumphant voice Of the guide as he
cries: "Mira! aqui esta Ia crater"
Look! here is the crater. Woman's
pluck has won, and we have the salts
faction of seeing poor bruin, who re-
sembles Hamlet only in being STAT and
scant of BREATH" the last to reach the
goal of our united ambition.
Rolled in my warm Scots plaid and
the darting pains through the forehead
relieved by slight hemorrhage from
both nose and ears, was soon as snug
as though in my own rug" below, and
a glass of cold tea brought me to re-
alizing sense of making the most of
the hour we were to spend on the sum-
NIT. The day was clear and fine, but
/ must be truthful and say that the
view above $4,000 feet Is not satisfac-
tory. An area of 1905 square miles
is very we'll enough to talk of, but too
vast for human limitations and human
eyes.
INDIsTINCT AND sHADowY,
here the earth and the sky ''seem clos
ing down like book that is read"
The clouds lay below and in one direc-
ton the fierce storm was spending its
fury. We could see the lightning flash,
making strange riffs among the dark
shadows.
The crater is very similar to Vesuvi-
us, only being about three times as
large, and is silent, except occasional
reverberations of sound from the sui
phur works below. A dense cloud of
birthstone blue ascends forever and
ever from the horrible depths. To-day
moro than 100 Indians are working in
the crater. They ascend and descend
continually, not on q heavenly ladder,
but by means of rude within and O
turbine which is being put in for hoist
ing. Fancy It! a turbine wheel $4,000
feet in the air. They have huts 1900.
feet down in the crater. And down in
that inferno they actually live, often
not coming Hp in the sunlight for q:
month ut a time. Their teeth soon
wear away and their clothes decay and
drop of. but was told thew are con-