Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-31
AMID SEAS OF ICE.
SCENES AMONG THE GLACIERS or
THE UPPER ENGApINE.
Climbing Snow Clad Alpine HeiEhts-Dust
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Of q GlAcier-A
roraine-How Glacier Corn L. Formed
"GIacier Tabies"-Noulinx

/ =
Moraine-How Glacier Corn" Is Formed.
aGIacier Tabies'-MouIins.
/ as far as my vision extended there was
| nothing in sight but ice and snow, and
/ the snow was exceedingly white / assure
/ you The driven snow you have in towns
and plains is q decided brown compared
+ with the dazzling snow we saw up there
az the tops Of Swiss mountains. Forever
and forever this virgin gown lies on all
the peaks, as it also covers the lower val
leys in winter. IL has the soft look of q
doves breast, It rests on rocks a thing of
beauty, and often it is very dangerous.
1t falls in soft, pure fakes. clings to all
the projections, covers rocks with charm
ing traceries, and spreads itself like q
sheet of white satin over the upper wales
But the touch of passing eagles wing,
the light weight of channels, or the
careful step of an expert climber will de-
tach it from its crest and send it down.
Then it goes sliding, rambling along,
breaking and reforming as it falls, ever
increasing in volume and velocity, and,
pursuing its way, becomes devastating,
terrible avalanche that bends and breaks
trees, gathers up earth and stones, and
rolls into the Engadine with an awful
sound, spreading destruction and dismay
in its path. They call these sort of things
staublawinen, or dust avalanches, because
they consist at the start Of cold, dry,
powdery snow only, and they are often
d far more powerful than a raging hurri-
cane. But the avalanches usually seen
lying in high Alpine valleys, covered with
dust, earth aud stones and great trunks
Of trees, are known as grundiawinel or
compact avalanches.
1t was grand sight on which we gazed
Glaciers flied every valley and ravine,
and the ice stood up IN tall RAM parts
wherever the space was too narrow to
hold its rigid waves. Glacier ice is snow
that has for q considerable time been sub
Iected to enormous pressure. II you
squeeze & snow Dau IN your hand until it
is very hard it becomes icy. So in the
Alps, the continual fail of snow is the
pressure and the suns heat the warmth
which produces those saas of ice that are
called glaciers. There are over COO of
them in Switzerland, and some are coeval
with the glacial period Of this continent,
while others are now III process Of forrna-
ton Winter is their season of rest, bu.
with the spring they resume their onward
motion, due to the combined action Of
heat and gravitation. For in spite of their
apparent irmobiity all Alpine glaciers do
move constantly, although with different
degrees of speed, and, hike liquid streams,
they carry with them debris Of all sorts,
but principally the stones that fall On
their SUI face from the mountains sides.
The glacier starting in Its purity from
some white unsullied peak, loses before
many years its spotless character. The
wintry frosts gathering into iron bonds
the streams that trickle down the noun
tain sides expand the water in freezing
and slacter rocks with q force that the
most solid cliffs cannot possibly resist.
Thus broken fragments drop on to the
once unSpotted bosom of the ice sea and
swell its burden with advancing years
The debris thus brought down form what
are called moraines. Each glacier has
mGraine on either side Of it; its end is q
terminal mOraine, and when ITO glaciers
unite their lateral moraines join and form
a medal mOraine. One of the largest
riedial moraines hereabout / saw as we
came down from this excursion. It is in
the center Of the Morteratsch Glacier and
is about fifty feet or more broad and per-
haps twenty feet high in its center.
We were struck by the infinite white
learned that it is owing to the presence of
glacier corn. There Is on glacier clad
mountains neve, or finely crystaIlized
snow, which is never fully melted. and
this is the pressure that forms the glacier
ice Now, glacier ice is quite different
10 that which results from freezing
water, and is found to consist of crystals
varying IL size from that Of hens egg
to d pins head; these PARTICLES are known
rs granuleS or glacier corn, and III minute
holes air is imprisoned. Where the air
bubbles are absent the glacier has blue
ISL tint, and Is 40 longer that pure white
which puzzles SO many persons. With
the Oldest guide carefully leading the
way we walked over the ice sea of Dia-
vo!eZZa- Before we had gone far on its
level surface | saw bowlders supported at
some height on ice pedestals and stopped
10 examine them Glacier tables, said
the guide at the tail end Of our process
sion. but his remark conveyed no usefU.
Information | soon saw that they r.
suited from the presence Of q block VI
stone 1t had fallen on the sea, and had,
so 20 speak, protected the ice directly be-
meath it from the heat of the sun In
consequence, while the glacier all round
has been dISSolving and sinking, the ice
under these powders has but slightly
melted, and gradually pillow Is forming
under each rock.
But the bowlder is not balanced evenly
on the top" observed the Boston lady
Il was explained to her that because the
sun is able to reach these ice pedestals
more freely on the south side than on the
north she thing naturally inclines toward
the south As we walked along we
noticed line of sand covered mounds
about four or five feet high and culminat-
ing IN & sharp ridge. We scraped of q
little Of the sand and earth and found
that mound was composed OF ice which
looked quite black when it was uncovered
Inc reason for the existence Of these
cones was obvious The ice protected by
the sand had remained unneited. and the
wind had thinIled the drifted heap into
pointed shape. Suddenly we heard q
cracking sound which was accom- panied
by noise ike that Of distant explosion,
and the guido said this announced the
formation Of another crevasse- Presently
the sound of falling water. which grew
louder and louder as We approached. was
heard, and soon we reached point where
= stream dropped down shaft in the ice
and was lost 70 sight. The guide called
this deep hole moulin, and ne gently re-
marked that 8 false step in its direction
would take follow down beyond all
human AID Agassiz Gnd Tyndal both
tried 10 ascertain the thickness of glaciers
by taking soUndilss down these mouths
The former found no bottom a. So feet
on one sea and On another be estimatod
the thickness g 500 feet--Cor. New
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