Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-10-20
AMID SEAS OF ICE.
SCENES AMONG THE GLACIERS OF
THE UPPER ENeAL NE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF n tGlncier--A
Ntorpinc--IIow "Giscicr Corn Ia Formed.
"Gincicr Tabics"--Mouiins.
As far as my vision extended there was
nothing in sight but leo and snow, and
the snow was exceedingly white, assure
you. The driven snow you have In towns
and plains Is decided brown compared
with tho dazzling snow we saw mp there
at the tops of Swiss mountains. Forever
and forever this virgin gown lies on all
the peaks, as 1t also covers the lower val.
leys In winter. II has the soft look of q
doves breast, II rests on rocks q thing Of
beauty, and often II is very dangerous.
1t falls in soft, pure flakes, clings to all
the projections, covers rocks with charm.
ing traceries, and spreads itself like
sheet of white satin over the upper wales.
But the touch of a passing eaglos wing,
the light weight of chamois, or tho
careful step Of an expert climber will de-
tach II from its crest and send II down.
Then II goes sliding, rumbling along.
breaking and reforming as 1t falls, ever
increasing in volume and velocity, and,
pursuing its way, becomes o devastating.
terrible avalanche that bends and breaks
trees, gathers up earth and stones. and
rolls into the Engadine with an awful
spulIs utSIIVCltou anu uiSlllhN
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
Far more powerful than raging hurrl-
cane. But the avalanchcs usually seen
lying In high Alpine valleys, covered with
dust, earth and stones and great trunks
of trees, are known as grundlawinen or
compact avalauchcs.
II was grand sight on which we gazed.
Glaciers filled every valley aud ravine.
and the ice stood up in tall ramparts
wherever the space was too narrow TO
hold its rigid waves, Glacier Ice Is snow
that has for considerable timo been sub.
jected to enormous pressure. II you
squeeze SNOWFALL In your hand until II
is very hard 1t becomes icy. So In the
Alps, the continual fall of snow ia the
pressure and the suns heat the warmth
which produces those seas of Ice that are
called glaciers, There are over 600 Of
them In Switzerland. and some arc coeyal
with the glacial period of this continent,
while others are now in process of forma.
ton. Winter is their season of rest, but
with the spring they resume their onward
motion, due to the combined action of
heat and gravitation. For In spite of their
apparent immobility all Alpine glaciers do
move constantly, although with different
degrees of speed, and, like liquid streams,
they carry with them debris of all sorts.
but principally the stones that fall on
their surface from the mountains sides.
The glacier starting in It's 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 shatter rocks with Il force that the
most solid cliffs cannot possibly resist
Thus broken fragments drop on TO tho
once unspottcd bosom NJ the leo sea and
swell its burden with advancing years.
| The debris thus brought down form what
are called moraines. Each glacier has n
moraine on either side of IL, its end is n
terminal moraine, and when two glaciers
unite their lateral morainCs join and form
n medal moraino. One of tho largest
medal moraines hercnbout ! saw as we
came down from this excursion. Ii is In
the center OF the Mortcratsch 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.
ness of everything, and | have since
| learned that 1t is owing to the presence of
| glacier corn. There Is on glacier clad
| mountains II ncvc, or finely crystallized
snow, which is never fully melted. and
| this is the pressure that forms the glacier
| ice. Now, glacier ice Is quite different
to that which results from freezing
water. and is found to consist of crystals
varying In size from that of II hens ogg
TO pins head; these particles are known
| as granules or glacier corn, and In minute
holes air is imprisoned. Where tho nir
| bubbles are absent the glacier has blue.
ish tint, and Is no longer that pure white
| which puzzles 80 many persons. With
tho oldest guide carefully leading the
way we walked over the ice sea of Dia
volezza. Before we. had gone far Oh it,
level surface | saw powders supported at
some height on ice pcdcstals and stopped
TO examine them. Glacier tables" sait
the guide at the tail end Of our process
sion, but his remark conveyed no usefu
information. | soon saw that they re
suited from the presence of 4 block o
stone. It had fallen ON the sea, and had
so to speak, protected the ice directly be
meath It from the heat of the sun. II
consequence while the glacier all rount
has been dissolying and sinking, tho iC'
under these powders has but slightly
melted, aud gradually pillow is forming
under each rock
But the bowlder Is not balanced evenly
on the top" observed the Boston lady
IT was explained 10 her that because tn,
sun Is able to reach these ice PEDESTAL
more freely on the south side than on tn,
north the thing naturally inclines TOWARD
the south, As we walked along ",
noticed II line Of sand covered mound
about four or five feet high and culminat
| ing IN a sharp ridge. We scraped off
little Of the sand and earth and fount
that a mound was composed Of ice whicl
| fttlit n ttyl ,pag