The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-13
ICE CAVES IN CALIFORNIA.

Natural Ice Houses Which Supply Sew
eral settlements in Summer Time.
Letter in San Francisco Examiner.
Up in some Of the northern parts Of the
state they have an arrangement by which
mint juleps, ice cream and other cooling
things are possible even in midsummer. and
there is not such a thing as an artificial ice
plant within 500 miles Of them.
There are holes in the ground-crevices
and cracks In the lava beds-where ice
forms the year round. No one knows how
or why the ice forms there. There is no
water to be seen, and IL there is anything
| hotter than a lava bed in July 1t must be
the same place in June.
There are a good many of these natural
ice factories in the remote corners in Shasta,
Modoc and Siskiyou counties.
The one that's most patronized is about
fifty miles east of Sisson, fifteen miles from
Little Hot Spring valley.
Anybody that wants to can 60 there and
study the mystery, notwithstanding the
man with the rifle who appears to be stand
ing guard in the picture, or his stern,
threatening partner who stands with
| menacing block Of ice in bis hand.
These are not the guardians OF the mys-
| terious ice caves, protecting the frozen
fairy queen, who has been imprisoned there
| by the ogre of the snow. They aressimpl
this cavern and who wanted TO have their
| picture took"
Once upon time this country was trem-
| bling, bubbling sea-not a sea of water
but Of boiling, seething, molten rock. Aud
| the waves, as they broke, became solid and
| fell back as blocks OF lava. And when the
| surface was all cool the liquid fire inside
burst through it and tore 1t apart, and now
| for twenty miles and more the country is
| covered with these torn, irregular blocks
| piled In fantastic shape on every side and
among them are gOrges and corridors out Of
which come vague, uncanny sounds. The
| blocks ring like metal when your horses
hoofs strike upon them. 1t is a country of
| unexplained noises. From the bowels of
mountains come the noise OF escaping steam.
| Out OF the seemingly bottomless pits and
| gorges rises the rumble of what may be
rivers, but peer into the depths until your
head swims and you cannot see the water.
The ringing ground sounds hollow to your
steps. 1t is but walking over the lava beds.
for, of COURSE, you cannot traverse much Of
| IL on horseback.
| 1t ID rather weird to toll over them under
the blazing sun until you are almost ready
| TO drop from heat and exhaustion, and then
step down into a break and find yourself
| standing on ice, no man knows how thick
| 1t is COOL In the oaverns-cool, though the
sun that has caused you 80 much trouble
and fatigue outside shines right In upon the
CLASSY floor.
There is lava diff thirty feet high and
at the base of IL is an opening right into the
rock. It is erched and generally bears a
| resemblance to prospectors tunnel. The
floor OF the tunnel inside the cliff is hardly
| four feet below the level OF the entrance
| You have to be careful how you step down.
| Your correspondent was not and his feet
few from under him. The floor was of per-
fectlY smooth ice and the sun beating In at
the open arch seemed to make absolutely no
| impression on 1t.
From this cave the citizens Of Fall River
valley. SwazeY and Fall River mills have
| for years taken their supply Of ice. Two
| days before over ton Of ice had been taken
out, yet not trace Of the excavation could
be found, so rapidly does the ice form In
these caverns.
The cave is probably 60 feet long and
oDe-third as wide. The roof is ten feet
above the floor, which is all Of clear ice.
The mystery Of its formation is what
first strikes visitor to the ice cave. There
is no water there. The Ice Is dry and
clear. You can strike a match anywhere
on the walls. There 10 a cool draft that
comes from you can't say where. 1t is re-
freshiug after the heat outside, but by no
means chilling. Maybe the moisture-for.
of course, that deposit must be water be-
fore 1t Is becomes out Of the atmosphere.
The science sharps tell us that rain is pre-
oipitated by the sudden contact of q warm
and cold current of air. SO possibly the
meeting of that draft forms somewhere in
the cellars of this earth with the sun-heated
air that comes in through the mouth Of the
cave, wrings the moisture from the atmos-
phere and 1t freezes on the floor. But there
is another problem, even if this Is an ex'
PLANTATION of part OF the phenomenon.
Why does 1t freezel
The temperature in the cave was lite
| COOlor than it In the Ehai0 anVwtcEo
about
We remained in the cave over 81 nour
and we're not chilled.
At last we left the cave. The man with
the gun and the man with the ttoch or ice
took up their positions and a'Cnea p;o't ete
> vioiritv and ali have the ss-ie festures-the
. floor of ice aud the appaJ @o'ence VI any
, Of conrse' Indians I've story by way of
explanation of thu. my not .nougn 'ne
! skeptic white man lay hot aCoept IL.
i'd tha jco 5ere is a chiefs daughter,
~ HS 49, We ,ha a pines were little shoots
l W, - 800 Ssautful, fleetess and finest
mao snH u se world. she had lovers-O,
aorol ".y 81 Of them; but she was cold as
thS s No. Shastas summit, and she would
i;aeon ~ .one of them.
hs zen TIER another they killed themselves
I l., ~ 7ous Indian fashions, but the deaths of
- Est ones made her no kinder to their
, vs. essors. Indeed, she grew colder and
der, and oVe night when she went to
leep in q cavern, her breath froze around
: her and she could not rise. Her breath
went on freezing until the Zoe was thick
about her. She has not died because she is
not of that kind, but she is there yet, and
her breath goes on freezing, and that is how
the holes cut by the ice hunters fill up
again.
This is a good explanation. for IL It should
be that the Indian princess snores, the mys-
FERROUS noises might also be accounted for.