The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-04-29
MYSTERIOUS MIRAGES.
sTR<A0E PHAHTisMS or THE MO-
HAVE AND COLORADO DESERTS.

Pssss.gers By Rail e. the Midwintsr Fsir
See Strange Humsa Forms sailing
Unsuhstsntisi Lthes and in the Air
TraiH Hands Regard Them with Ave.
BARsTow. Col. April 2o.-Ths strange NIL
RACES Of the desert hereabout are causing un-
usual interest and not q little superstition.
especially among thoss not familiar with the
freaks Of light, heat and optics on the burn
ing sand plains For . great distance every
way from this place the ground is baked under
torrid sun, and the strauRest phenomena
have resulted. Travel II heavy now to and
from the Midwinter Fair over the Atlantic and
Pacific Railroad, and the passenR gers are often
dazsd By what they see. II is much the same
beyond the San Bernardlno Mountains. In the
Colorado desert, which resembles the Mohave
here. and through which the Southern Pacific
road runa
In many places. even In the usually fertile
valleys. the ground IL so psrched up that there
is no grass, and Isolated ranchmen have been
forced to kill starving young colts and calves
to put them out Of their misery. The oontin-
ued hot weather. com bined with the singularly
clear blue sky Incident to 1t, has caused the
phenomena OF the mirage s:to increase.
Wonderful stories are told Of the sights seen
from the trains In addition to the lakes bor-
dered by green trees. grass. and flowers. which
under the spell OF the phenomena appear to
wv NuSoo pAaihbs Nho bhbbchGSih aio eooihe
queer figures OF men and women In boats. and
sometimes floating In the air.
Il don't know what to make OF the queer
condition OF things" said John Forsyth. a
brakeman on the Atlantic and Pacific to-day.
Il am not supsrstitious. but the sights have
beheld In the last two weeks have made me
wonder very much as to what the mirages
really are. They are too genuine to be any
longer thought mystical. have been alarmed
at what have seen, and the passengers have
been more so. Last Thursday morning our
train pulled out OF Barstow for The Needles
1t looked as though 1t would be u beautiful
day. The night had cooled the parched plains.
and we were moving along In comparative
comfort. i thought 1t would be good day.
and said so. and that We would see no more OF
the phantasmagorla Of the desert for some
time, But in q few hours when the sun had
R boz iity miles ss east Of Barstow We saw
thSs we shall al ,9 the me 6s Latest Ss
plain o few miles away from us. 1t looked Ike
. long, struggling lake in the sand plain, and
several passengers threw UP their windows
coolsr, and that Il would soon be very pleas
ant II was the old dsce ptlon Of feeling. grow
sesSS VIA. S.y S.saoa to Be %ss told
them that 1t was nothing but the mirage. They
curved toward the great lake that we would
soon be running along lie borders
70 hg tid eoS5's e ana what Jsg
and io out for sssts Ssfere they never got any
nearer. but at length strange thing hap
iuI palm trees Ski rted the lake. which here
and there pushed into the sand. forming
snSanaIy p Sa BAY on Which,
to DO men and women sailing In fantastic
seem Ph sa ss; aa
man beings: Some we're In White h ,s and others there
were ali moving hither and thit6sr on the
tranquil s1gisso , Of re 1 lake, a6a sesTed ike
% HrerSSod S ' Sas sstoaisbsd. and O lew were
able to speak. suddenly some queer patches
grew n the tieeey air above the lake They as:
bore the bodies Of men. but they looked I'M
eanny and ghostlike.. strange antiss were cut,
about as though gorne on wind that now
and anon changed its course. but no wind was
the air and more Than dozen on II. lake. Al
Like h fash the figures in the air and on
and the lake Itself was gone. IverS6Sdy CAV:
cry Of relief They had been bound 40 4
lake. but the iSures in the boats were too ' IN.
cSnny to be real and then there were those
that mad been p, in the sty That wasto0 much
Inc. Yet some had an idea that through some
strange hoeus-poeus OF nature they might have
For %ysel sltsE d. dap. believe n
it but the one time. and I have not seen It
again. But did see lake on the other side OF
the track. 1t was nothing like so big. how
ever. as the former one had been. and there
were no green trees about II.
=" IL there was actual lake OF water on the
Mohave desert It would be worth millions OF
dollars. for. like the Sahara. that IL now being
irrigated, Il would produce vast agricultural
wealth. But there Is no lake there. as the
bones Of many hundrsds OF men testify who
have died OF thirst on the desert. However.
any day almost through the freaks Of the
mirage We see lake after lake all over the more
than hundredmile stretch OF desolatlon. ANY
kind Of a lake that 10 desired Is there. little
and big. those with barren shores and those
as pretty as Bonner or Loeb Leven. though
saw none with such mountains around them.
These strange figures OF men and women
have teen seen by others than those on
our train. The railroad men have talked
about seeing them hitherto. =. Near The
little lake. on which were three OF them, l
would like to sec some OF the scientists take
hold OF the matter aud make some investiga.
lions. Prof. Pickering of Harvard. who es-
tablished the observatory at ArAquipa. and
who has some scientists looking for a location
for another one in Arizona, l have no doubt
would be greatly Interested in these phe-
nomena so much nearer the earth. II he were
TO make fewtrips over the Mohays desert; SO
would other scientists. 1t IL a new field for
research. and as Interesting any,"