Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1892-09-13
STILL UNEMPLOYED.
THE LARGEST VOLCANO IN ALASKA
DEFIEs APPROACH.

Many Attempts Have Deen Made TO
Reach tho Giant, but It Lies SO Tar
North That the Absence OF Vegetation |
Has Rendered It inaccessible.
Tho grandest mountain Of North
america has not yet been visited by ex-
plorers.
1t is an active volcano called Wran-
CELL, located in the interior Of Alaska
and its frost wreathed dome forms pre-
sumably tho apex Of the continent.
Mount Wrangell lies about 200 miles
north Of the celebrated Mount st. Elias
and Is in the center Of a region en-
shrouded in mystery. Gigantic noun
tain ranges rise like terraces one upon
the other, guarding in their midst this
snowy monster Of the north.
About forty years ago party OF Rus
sian explorers on the Copper river, Of
Alaska, first sighted the peak away to
the northeast, and being duly impressed
with its majesty conferred upon it
the title Of their honored governor,
Baron Wrangell. They made no at
tempt, however, to reach the mountain,
it being In the country Of hostile ma
tives and presenting such apparently
insurmountable obstacles to approach.
Several other companies Of Russians
made partial ascents Of the Copper river
about the same time and met with dis
aster. One party Of seventeen, under
SeberinikofR, was massacred by the ma
tives. No new knowledge Of the Cop
per river was obtained, and no approach
was made to the volcano.
1t was not until 1884 that another at
tempt was made at exploration in the
Copper river region. Then Lieutenant
Allen, one Of the most daring men who
ever entered Alaska, forced his way with
several white companions up the Copper
nearly to its Source and circled half way
around the Mount Wrangell district,
viewing the mighty peak from distance
of forty or fifty miles, but finding no op-
portunity to reach and ascend it. In
deed he was on the verge Of starvation
at tho time and It would have been
suicide to have attempted to scale the
snowclad heights.
The terrible experiences Of Allen dis
couraged further explorations by way
of the Copper, and when, in 1890, en-
tered Alaska for the second time, at
tempted to reach Mount Wrangell by a
new avenue Of approach. VIZ, from the
northeast. This route necessitated an
overland march Of 800 miles from tho
Yukon river, and when provisions be-
came exhausted my party was still fully
forty miles from the volcano and tan
gled up IN q labyrinth Of mountain
rangca Gigantic peaks, snowclad, de
void Of vegetation and animal life,
barred our progress In front, and an at
tempt to scale them, with nothing to eat
and naught in sight, would have been
sheer madness. SO a circle was made to
the northwest, crossing Aliens trail
and we forced a way to the Yukon, zoe
miles distant, barely escaping starvation
In 1891 Lieutenant Schwatka, famou.
as an explorer Of tho Yukon, tried hn
hand at traversing tho southern border
of tho Mount Wrangell domain. Ii
proceeded overland from Fort Selkirk
on the upper Yukon. piercing an IN
known district and emerging on the
Copper river south Of Mount Wrangell
He also had a close call from starvation
These fow explorations constitute tn,
sum total Of the discoveries In the vicin
ity Of Mount Wrangell up to date Sew
eral sketches Of the volcano have beer
made as II appears from distance, bu
no accurate Information concerning /
has yet been obtained
1t appears to be fully Us high as Noun
st. Elias, and may be even higher. TIN
natives living In the vicinity are super
stitiously afraid of venturing near tn
volcano, and this fact adds to the inter
est which surrounds it. believe tina
Mount Wrangell can be reached by ez
plorers who will establish depots Of sup
plies, projecting one post beyond an
other and arranging FOR the systemaG
forwarding Of the provisions to tn
terminal. No food can be depends
upon In this region after leaving tn
river except that brought in by the ez
plorer. The scalingof Mount Wrangel
heights would require many days, bu
could probably be accomplished.
There is apparently little chance tina
Mount Wrangell viii ever be reache
from the direction of Mount st. Elias
lLitU - nun tuo oOutus ~ Is proper !
state that the region between Mount 81
Elias and Mount Wrangell Is the onl
glacier field In Alaska. A few isolate
glaciers can be found elsewhere alon
the coast, but in four-ffths Of the int
rior no snow or ice exists during th
summer. A dense wilderness Of con
fere surrounds the ice region an
blankets the country for hundreds {
miles eastward. The volcano Of Mour
Wrangell oilers today a unique field fC
the explorer and the professional moui
tain climber.-Cincinnati Post
A Cruel Test.
A good looking. well to do youn