The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-09-12

He seemed bnt to length his call.
When all unewares
The window upstairs
Was struck and seemed ready to fall.
Said the maiden, "Gocd-by!"
Quoth the youth, Il will fly, =.
Said the maiden, ''Ah. yes;
It was Papa, guess; :,
he is striking for shorter hours"
Columbus Dispatch.
HE SUMMIT OF OUR CONTINENT.
A visitor to the last Paris ex position re-
bids misgivinR that the impression of
be Eiffel tower would for years to come
boil the effect of the Hottest turrets and
eeples, says Felix L. Oswald in the New
|ork Ledger.
With similar regret, travellers in the
ghlands of the South American Andes
*ust often return to the so-called mount
ms of East America. Even glimpse Of
Q Mexican Cordilleras dwarf the Catskills
Ito hillocks, and few weeks soiourn In
| uplands of Chile must incline tourist
adopt the nomenclature of the Swiss
hides, that distinguish between Alps,
fountains and foothills. Mariners visiting
west coast of South America, after
bubling the cape, get the first view of the
lcanic Sierres near the island of Madre
Dios, in latitude 81, where the rugged
ast-range of Patagonia begins to bristle
th peaks, some of them as sharp as in
rted icicles. Near the border of Chile,
b main chain of the Andes gradually re-
les inland, but 800 miles further north it
proaches the coast once more, and in lat
de thirty-five, some sixty miles south
st of Valparaiso, the outline of the east
horizon reveals tho first glimpse of the
andest mountain of the American conti-
at, the majestic snowpeak of Aconcagua.
ar Cape Miguel, gap in the foothills
.closes the network of dark ravines on
west flank of the peak, which at that
int conveys an impression of absolute
itude not equsled elsewhere on this
met and family rivaled on the Lake of
gano alone, where the sublime summit
Monte Rosa, the Mons Silvius of the
clients, can be seen towering like cloud
stle above it's pedestal of pine-clad
lights.
Captain Beechey's trigonometrical sur
estimates the height of Aconcagua at
500 feet; Professor Pissis's at 22,4OO, or
arly 6,OOO feet less than the summit of the
malayas; but while Mount Everest is
lden from view till the traveller reaches
lofty plateau of Dharjeeling lat least
90 feet above sea level), the pinnacle of
oncagua is visible from the sea itself,
| d on clear evening often gitters like a
,teor in the rays of the setting sun, after
outlines of the coast hills have faded in
gloom of the twilight.
That pinnacle has never yet been ascend
still it seems strange that the investiga-
ms of numerous explorers have not yet
initely settled the question whether the
nmit Of the western hemisphere is the
., of Santiago, has collected numerous
.ditions recording the former volcanic
iivity of the mountain, and mentions sew
IL living witnesses who attest the fact of
oke having been seen to ascend from the
:ges near the headwaters of the Rio
roo, about two thousand five hundred
II below the highest top. In 1885 (dur-
irwin was informed that the peak was in
,ual eruption and had emitted the smoke
uds that seem to have yelled the Andes
Central Chile for nearly week. On the
Ter hand, it has been proved that no cin-
showers have ever descended from that
It of the highlands since the arrival of
first Spanish colonists, and careful
V0y VI vA0 oCCcSoAOAo 6AOpco VI bu0 p6hA
failed to reveal any trace of the lava
oosits. The pyramid of the peak con-
ts of porphyry and obsidian-both rocks
ingeous origin-and it Is possible that
oncagua is, after all, semi-extinct vol
no, confininR its activity to the occasional
ission of light smoke clouds.
North of the summit, and about three
Dusand feet below the highest point, the
pc of the peak becomes gradually less
l., - AZ -
go of the Sierra de Pasco and narrow
pie land affordinR magnificent prospects
ward the Pacific ocean on the west, and
almost equally level expanse of the
yentine pampRs in the far northeast.
o snow line of that latitude descends to
put fifteen thousand feet, and the land
spe of the highlands bears an almost
lar aspect-gorRes, choked with ice and
scolored snow, pure white snow IN peren.
Al abundance higher up, and spurs of
.cier-like ice fields reaching down many
ousand feet below the level of the highest
aks. Snow-slides on the sleeper slopes
> very frequent, and in October-the
by of the northern hemisphere boom
descending avalanches is almost contin-
lily heard from some point OF the wild
,hlands, which now and then echo less
blamed sound-a, sharp, ringing peal,
sembling the stroke of colossal steam
INNER, and possibly due to the sudden
rsting of ice fields strained by the pres
.e of heavy snow-slides.
from distance, these detonations might
zen be mistaken for the report of fire.
ms, and il is curious how readily they are
tognlzed by the wild tenants of the rocks,
b ltamas aud vicunas, that continue to
aze placidly amidst the incessant crack
the widening ice-clefts, but hubble to-
cher at once at the first distant echo Of a
10 shot. If they fail to ascertain the
ereabouts of the hidden hunter, they
WY advance in the suspected direction
they reach good lookout point that
assures them that the coast is clear; but
the first sign of approaching danger they
Ike for the highlands and soon reach
oks of refuge in the icy summit-regions,
ere they can defy the pursuit of hounds
ID hunters.
The best starting point for an exploring
10 to the neighborhood of the peak is the
Inland town of San Felipe, some forty
les northeast of Valparaiso. In day
mes lead to the ridge of the Sierra de
SEQ, and with the aid of guides, tourists
ve more than once reached a point within
live hundred feet of the highest summit.
en- from the table-lands of the Sierra,
q Alturas ("The Heights" rs the natives
i them, in distinction to the lower pla-
ux), the view is almost unbouHded, ex-
BIT by the limits of the spectators eye
hit ard the curvature of the globe. In
I, north the Sierra de Villenar with its
stored peaks can be plainly discovered
a cloudless day; the smoke trail OF
rth- bound steamers can be traced with
ordinary field glass as far as Port Co
lmbo, and good telescope might dis
- Az, ev,ok xyboro tho cliffs of GrnSOasa