The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-08-17
GLACIERS OF MOUNT TACOMA.
Four Times as Large as Those of Mont
Blanc-VOlcanic Fire.

-Four Times as Large Those of Mont
Blanc-NOlcanic Fire.
There are probably not dozen people
in the United States who have any idea
of the wonderful system of glaciers to
be found on the slopes of Mount Ia
coma, In Pierce county, Washington.
Thousands of people gaze upon this
grand and majestic peak from the city
of Tacoma. forty-four miles away, but
have no idea of it's real magnitude.
Fred u. Plummer, secretary of the
Washington Alpine club, recently gave
the Sun correspondent some facts and
figures about the mountain. The state
OF Washington is traversed north and
south by mountains of lava and lava
flows, forming a section of that great
system which stretches from Alaska to
Cape Horn and marks upon the sur
face OF the earth probably the greatest
geological catastrophe the world has
ever seen. To the westward of this
range stand three greatvolcanic peaks,
Mount Baker, Mount Tacoma and
Mount St Helens. All are active, but
not violently. Several eruptions of
Mount Baker are recorded, notably
that OF 1853 when streams of lava COW
cred the western slopes. st. Helens
has often clouded the skies of Wash
ington with dry volcanic ashes, but it
is otherwise quiet and peaceable.
Steam and smoke often issue from the
crater of Mount Tacoma. 1t is proba-
Bile, however, that the Puget sound
valley is as safe as any volcanic country
could be, as its wonderful growth of
large timber upon the foothills testifies.
When George Vancouver saw Mount
Tacoma in the year 1892 he named it
Mount Rainier, after a friend of his in
England British admiral and an
enemy of America. In doing this he
ignored the Spanish discoveries of sew
eral years preceding and also the old
Indian named Tahoma, which is pro-
nounced as if spelled "tachoma. The
nearest English spelling is Tacoma,
and the word is pronounced without
accent. The Tacoma Academy of Sci
ence, after an exhaustive investigation,
has decided that Tacoma is the name,
and in this it is upheld by all the lead
ing geographical societies, many of
which have passed resolutions favoring
the action of the Tacoma academy
Mount Tacoma rises from the sea level
to height of IA, $50 feet. 1t is an al
most symmetrical dome, surmounted
by three small peaks. Above the eleva-
ton of 4, 200 feet the mountain is COW
cred with perpetual snow, save where
the rocky ribs project and mark the
boundaries of the glaciers. TO those
who love large figures it may be well
to say it's mass is roughly about 200
cubic miles. Its glacial system is on
the same magnificent scale, and is
probably the largest in the world radi-
ating from one peak.
The glacial system is simply stupen-
dous, and cannot be compared with
that of Mont Blanc, Switzerland, which
is not one-quarter the size of Mount
Tacoma's. The Mer de Glaze of Mont
Blanc does not cover 'one-half the area
of the Carbon glacier, which is only
one of the medium-Sized ice rivers that
flow down the slopes of Mount Tacoma.
A curious fact is that although these
glaciers are arranged on radial lines,
yet all their vast drainage goes west
ward to Puget sound and the Columbia
river, forming four rivers-the White,
Puyallup, Nisqually and Bowltz. The
mountain is thanked on the south by
the Tatoisch range and on the north by
the Sluiskin range, both spurs of the
Cascades, forming natural park,
which has lately been reserved by proc
lamation of the president.
Paradise park, on the southern slope
of the mountain, is already a favorite
resort for the people of Tacoma who
have the strength and pluck to make
the journey to this charming spot.
Many persons who have seen the finest
scenery in the world say that nature
has exhausted her resources to make
Paradise park one of the most beauti-
full spots on earth. Words are made
quate and photographs hardly better
in describing it. The valley is car
peted with lovely flowers of all colors
and dotted with clumps of mountain
fir and ash. Through it runs Paradise
river, which comes from Sluiskin falls
600 feet) The Tatoisch range of vol
canic bluffs, peaks and pinnacles form
a rugged and grotesque outline against
the southern sky, and to the eastward
the enormous mass of the Cascades
rises in successive folds until lost in
distance. To the north, and at the
head of the valley, stands Mount Ia
coma, which seems by its very presence
to compel the absolute silence of man
and nature-N Y Sun