Morris tribune., 1886-10-27

high, each with distinct openings.
Most of them having done their work
have become lifeless, while here and
there steam escapes from those grad
ually losing their life. From one
come clouds of smoke or vol
umes of steam. Another OF the
cones, from it's shape, is called the
Headless Man; third The Slender
Chimney, etc. The noise and roar
made by the most active geysers are
heard at long distances, or tor a mile,
and more from their places OF dis
charge. If you can see them at sun
rise you behold one Of thegrandest at
fractions of the Park.
The names of some of the geysers
will suggest what they are, as well, al
most, as any description of them, and
any correct description is quite i'm
possible. At the lower basin you are
at an elevation of 1852 feet, with
plateaus of from 400 to 800 feet high
er. From these upper terraces you
behold the group where the water
bubbles over the black pebbles and
the heavy-timbered slopes beyond.
You see just here thirty-six springs,
but not one geyser. Elsewhere there
are all kinds of vents, jets, caldrons,
or, in one word, geysers. The Excel
sioris. Lam told, the most 'I90'0efrdI
in the world, and in 1871 was report
ed upon and described in the United
States Geological Survey as the larg-
est known. 1t broke out close to
the river, and has walls from 20 to
80 feet high. There is vast pit $50
feet long and 200 wide, from whence
clouds of steam ascend. In 1880 it
became literally terrible in its looks
and in its eruptions, and the then
superintendent of the Park, Mr..
Noyes, who heard the roar afar off,
describes it's noise as incredible. 1t
discharges a body of water from 90
to rs feet in diameter, and at times
from so to 300 feet in height.
No part of the park was to me Of
such great interest. We walked all
around it where it was safe to walk,
and collected from it's loose stones in
its constant but narrow flow of water,
which was as clear as the blue sky
above us, some small fragments of the
rocks covered with sulphur. The tenn
perature OF this water was near $50
and the water we tried to touch was
called from its color the turquoise.
The Grand Prismatic Spring near by,
and 250 by $50 feet, is also named
from its color. Five miles further Oh
are more of the wonders of the upper
Geyser Basin, if one may distinguish
between the three basins, the lower,
the middle and the upper. The sur
roundings OF the latter are mountains
1900 teet above and covered with
timber, and the level is plain of
smoke, steam, vapor, boiling springs,
geysers and fumes of sulphur. With
the steady noise rumbling beneath
your feet, imagination again can finish
the picture and take in just what all
these basins are to all the human
senses. Ofthe 4Osprings in the upper
basin twenty-five or SIX are the real
geyaers, which make this Yellowstone
Park the real wonderland of the
world.
Here also you see the eruption Of
"the Beehive" unlike all the rest,
and very grand and beautiful, and
1.-The Giantess, ;" very irregular, but OF
great power, and throwing but once
in fourteen days We found people
here watching for the movement, but
seeing so many grand geysers, and Old
FaithfuPs in certain and steady mo-
ton, once in each hour, time is too
precious with most of us to wait fora
single spasm in the earth, however
grand or continued it may be. The
Lion, Lioness and Two Cubs" picture
another scene on the plain. Some
times these are called ''the Trinity"
with their distinct craters, ornament
ed or bearded with white, pearly and
yellow geyserite. The waters thrown
from their throats rise about seventy
five feet in the air.
What is peculiar is the almost dis
tinct character in tune, motion, etc,
OF each of these geysers, if you e1-
anime them with care and patience.
One is called "the Castle" from its close
resemblance to the castles in ruins.
The crater rises from the summit of
three or more acres forty feet above
the level of the river, with a cone
twelve feet high and a base of 100
feet. The silica or siliclous deposit
made is of a silvery gray and comes
from diameter of twenty feet at the
top. You can almost see and feel its
power in the roaring which is heard
many miles in the distance.
Then there is "the Oblong Geyser,"
'the Giant" sending its water 200
feet upward and seven feet in diameter.
Every four days, as the rule, it is
busy, and then takes res Nsrom real
work, but with an unfailing Srlmbling
as if in preparation for another burst
ing forth. To complete or rather to
continue this variety, we have the
Morning Glory" the splendid" the
"Grotto" the Fairy" the "River-
side" Those have specially named
work on from three or more times
each day to unknown periods,
with durations from three minutes TO
twelve hours, and sending their col
umns from ten to two hundred and
fifty feet.