Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-04-05
EXPLORING ALASKA.
THRILLING EXPERIENCES or 4 PARTY
OF SCIENTISTS.

~. Mary rnfersssing y~atares Lax
sriant Vegetation where There IL No
| fest. ELIAS Not yaieane.
Mr. iurael G. Russell has returned to
Washington from that region 81 eternal
ice and SNOW in Alaska. where the high
ct peak In NDrfh America rises to an
altitude 81 1900 feet from glacier
900 square miles in area and as big a.
all those Of the Alps put together.
Along the edge Df the glacier. ali the
/ way from ley bay to Yakutat bay. there
extends strip Of green coast which is
covered with Iuxurianf vegetation.
Strawberry vines cover the ground for
miles, and the verflant fields are red
deEed AZ far an the eye can reach witt,
luscious fruit. which compares favor
ably in point 81 size ard flavor with the
finest grown In temperate Iatitudes
There are hucRleperries. too. aud .ssal-
mon berries,r which are something be-
tween blsckbersies and raspb4rries, bat
OF giant size, measuring nearly two
| inches in diameter. All the iowlsr.ess
are carpetsd with vioIets, bHffercups
yellow monkey flowers and other wild
blossoms. Here and there. in the midst
Of the VAST ice fields. are the. Ioyeliest
1 gardens watered by the melting snow.
There are plenty Of grizzlY bears III
/ the vicinity Of Monnt St Elias, but Mr..
Russell did not find them very Danger
ous- He says that his encounters with
them reminded him Of killing rsigs- OF
brown and black bears he saw and shot
a great many. The expedition met with
enough perils. however. to satisfy the
most adventurous geographical exptor-
ers. Nearly all Of the climbing had n
be dine up steep walls Of ice and snow
! by cutting steps. At almost any time a
/ slip would haze precipitated the party
down the frozen precipices thousands Of
I feet On one occasion they were de-
seeming when they found that an ava
I ianche had carried away the steps which
they had made in going up. The inn
prurnptu staircase was destroyed for 800
I feet. and they tad to lower a man bv a
rope to chop ont smother. there being no
/ other way of getting down Snch acct
4 tlEl-A1 dc A4t1 UT ilJt ufHEDIflElfJfl.
HATRBREADTH ESCAPES.
/ Ayslanches were continually falling.
/ rushing down the slopes with the speed
| OF rasIY-ay trains and with roar Ike
/ thunder that culid be heard twenty
miles away.
| One night abort IL O'Clock the party
was passing ovtr bad place in the
Agassiz glacier Two men were in the
lead. drawing a sled Suddenly they
disappeared from sight. haying fallen
into assure in the ice Luckily they
we're caught upon projecting ledge al
the depth OF about twenty feet else they
would never have been seen again.
! They were haHied ont with ropes The
next day in the same neighborhood Mr..
Russell CHANGED 10 look behind him and
saw that the Ice field over which he had
just passed was gone. leaving an enor-
nous hole Of unknown depth Another
time one of his men tuInbl,-i into a c1ev-
ie-, and was only saved by the hack
fastened to his shoulder. which inter,
rupted his progress through a twist in
the frozen tunnel that had yawneI fol
him.
+ The Agassiz glacier Is one Of the f0ul
great glaciers which, together with about
a thousand small ones. flow out from the
mountains at the north 10 the mighty
Malaspina glacier, pouring their streams
" icF Son tiiAti'Alis mtg TINS saSk tfsS2fst
"a ~ s'at''eF ~ -hslsteI'ii''a' Iron
i''S' :" 800 ieet 'il.'sA' = Interesting
-. -, o->a''s u ~ 7iipi iiiS'l7 7s--r'
80 49, y ie'As'''i u si1e l'lSs s''ae = :
'u7 0'Ais oe Io~ III eAlstTuce OF Aas
ZANE = r. a. we Siaelzf "iieA leriii=Flt
al VI siif' e','4si'i'-,s' d tAI 7'5titl
- l'''1'' an. o. Al'.-s' ls'-s Z
'A' .''fe y" eHls uas II
''e''s' o'i 'il.' '0tAS
! - IL ~ 1-l'
nee 'li@ i-''i III ''i1' r'zslon : oar
81 Ne 1nr seeet.'t'ou attAiiAs an ''iLa-s'
efuliea lux u lance. .''iiHS'. atiA ing Are.ie
!HnSiEs axe Ne1i uisu ~ L's7,'i,'e 20 sii'
" sag e-iIst VU9.''''s7 vA1
Io''i- g u .sia l. A'1.-
AAi'~ q a. ,"1 NF' Il o.s'o' N'iie1 s1'N'
~ a neg Il. % 81. 'f Atk'''- l's7', ''s 3 sli''
running @igh2 .i7 sFoiAi'1 i'' some 'lAs
'"ice a.-lt 1'i=l- .iliills ug"4Id- Lsvf1
t''r' ot lss s'iF.tce, even 70 ne Il-ss o
-Le . = Il-'eA's ~ viii SPINS
NllcI .i'lllc' t.'''-4 'i "oiill'tS, a4'l o -''A
M z" "a 't'e ll'sii cause 'ss-SIl'iS 9'EeS
Ii tl'e Lucia s.'-lsF o',-'''s i l1i'l7' .isSy'E
I t>ftl- feature IN the shape 81 a -taCtA
river which comes ont from q mountain
through au archwAy OF Ice. flows Tor
d