Milford chronicle., 1889-11-29
A VISION Of FAlaYLAND.
An Intrepid Travellers Marvellous ExPi
.......... L. L. -. a-...al.

A VISION or FARMLAND.
An Intrepid Travellers Marvellous ExPe-
rieuce in tie rrozen North.
L. B. French, who tas recently returned
from ALASKA, where, in company with NJ. "
Pruce, he made a trip to Glacier bay, and was
rewarded by Witnessing the wonderful mirage
OF the silent city" gave an interesting nc.
count Of his trip to a reporter for The Inter.
Ocean.
81 started for Alaska" be said, ''iast April
for the purpose Of visiting the mines, While
on the steamer / made the acquaintance Of
Mr. Bruce, whose accounts of tie mirage
have recently been published in nearly every
paper In the country, He was then on his
way to Alaska for the purpose of writing up
the country for a newspaper syndicate
when we arrived at Juneau we heard
good deal about the wonderful mirage Upon
inquiry we were directed 10 Professor r. J
Willoughby. We found him to be an odd old
character He came originally from Mis-
souri,, and has been in Juneau for twenty
years He keeps a sort Of museum Of Alaskan
curiosities which tourists never fail to visit
He gave us an interesting account Of the
phenomenon, and said that his attsntion was
first called to it by hearing the Indians tell Of
the city which was built in the sky The
Indian legend concerning it is that the city is
inhabited by the spirits Of their foes, the
Russians, They stand in great awe Of it,
and cannot be induced to go near the place.
"The professor determined to investigate
and six years ago he made his first trip tn
Glacier bay. He was successful in seeing
the mirage and has been there each year
since during the latter part of June and the
first of July. 1t is only at that time of year,
when the days are longest, that it appears
"ln the meantime he had sent for his cam
era, and on his foul tn trip succeeded in get
ting good photograph Of the wonder. We
tried to induce him to accompany US but he
stubbornly refused at first. He was anxious
to get his negative copyrighted, and under
the impression that it required a personal
visit, and that if any one else saw the phe-
nomenon it would lessen his chance of max
ing money from the sale Of the pictures.
But finally he agreed to go with US if we
would pay him enough to get his copyright,
which we did.
.'Glacier bay is about l5O miles north of
Juneau, and the trip has to be made in canoes.
We obtained four Indian guides, loaded
canoe with wood and provisions, and started
about the lst Of June Glacier bay is itself
wonderful sight Completely surrounded by
huge glaciers, the effect on clear days is sin
gularly beautiful The bright rays of the
sun are reflected in parti-colored hues from
a field Of blue ice extending far beyond the
range Of vision. We passed MUD glacier,
the objective point Of tourists and went to
the head Of the bay, about forty miles be-
yond
''Willoughby returned home, and we pitched
our tent opposite the Pacific glacier, above
which, he informed us, the mirage appeared. |
Each day we used to go over to the glacier
and watch for the appearance Of the phantom
clty June passed and without any signs of
the mirage and we were on the point of Civ 4
ing it up and return to Juneau. About
O'Clock on an afternoon Of an early July day
we suddenly perceived, rising above the
glacier over in the direction of Mt Fair /
weather, what at first appeared to be a thin /
misty cloud. 1t soon became clearer, and we |
distinctly saw a specter city moving toward .
us We could plainly see houses well defined .
streets and trees. Here and there rose tall .
spires over huge buildings which appeared
to be ancient mosques or cathedrGls. 1t was
a large city, one that would at least contain
100000 inhabitants. ! have seen Milwaukee
miraged over Lake Michigan, and this city
appeared considerably larger than that. II
AAtA liDb lluk ike u lnbuttu tllD-ulDIB ike an
ancient European city. Noticed particularly
the immense height of the spires OF course
we were much excited. The Indians who
were with us were overcome by their super
stitious fear and ran away. We both had
cameras and separated in order to take it
from different points Of view By the time
we reached points of vantage it had grown
fainter and socn disappeared l should say
the spectacle lasted about twenty-five minutes.
81 returned to camp, but to my horror
could not find Bruce. We at once instituted
search for him, but failed to find him for two
days. On the third day he was found He
had lost his way, and was nearly dead with
cold and hunger On our way back we were
delayed at Bartlett bay by a severe storm.
While there we were talking about the
mirage in the presence of several men when
one of them spoke up and said that he and
his partner had seen the same thing. We
asked them to make affidavit Of the fact.
which they did"
The document, which was signed by Robert
Christie and Robert Patterson, in the pres
ence of Lamar B. French, Charles r. Lord,
R. Willoughby and Minor W. Bruce, reads
as follows; "On July 2, 1889, while sailing
from the main or Glacier bay into what is
known as Jones' bay, just south of Willough-
by Island, about o'clock in the afternoon
we suddenly saw rising out against the side
Of the mountains what appeared to be houses,
churches and other huge structures. It ap-
peared to be a city Of extensive proportions
We watched the apparition for long time,
and think it was visible for an hour or more.
At that time we had never heard of what Is
called the silent city, We are satisfied that
it was mirage from its position and appear
ance. Chicago lnter-Ocean.