The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1895-05-24

DuViunOn lb IVucneut tueu ~ Illus W
the plateuu upon which Pillar noun
tain is located. The plateau projects
from the mountain midway between
the base and summit Of the latter. Its
surface is irregular, and the big bunch
of basalt shoots It's ashen columns fifty
feet into the air from an nearthcn mound
onits highest spot. The hasultic dc
positis in the shape Of an ellipse, and
is very regular in its construction. 1t
has the appearance of having been
thrust up through the earth by an in
ternal convulsion, and its gray pillars
contrast oddly with the surrounding
hills which urc sandy, overgrown with
sagcbrush and dotted with an OCCASION
al scrubby pine The blackcned, gray
stones are radically different in aspect
and forination from the lodges Of quartz
and granite which come to the surface
in broken seams here and there.
In the main the basaltic columns
stand side by side SO closely that at
distance the mound, from some points,
looks like mass Of solid stone marked
from base to apex with regular paral-
lei lines AL the upright pillars, even
where occupying regular perpendicular
postures, are separated into segments
by cracks which traverse them hori-
zontally. The segments are from six
to fifteen feet in length, and the whole
segmented column approximates six
ty feet. As the compact points
Of the mound are approached the ex-
terror columns are observed to incline
inward at the top, which gives them
the semblance of strips Of stone over
lying each other
The mound has something Of the APP
pearance Of a great oblong amphi-
theater, with crumbling walls where
the columns have broken away and
fallen outward to Its base. AT tho
places where the columns are broken
they lie in confused masses or rear
their colossal heads singly at various
angles. 1t is at these places that the
ponderous nature and the symmetrical
proportions Of the columns arc dis
played to the greatest advantage. They
are principally hexngonal in shape, al
though many thrce-sided, four-sided
and five-sided examples are nevidence.
Some Of the broken and displaced col
umns standing upright, alone or in
groups, have the appearance OF huge
monuments, and man standing be-
side them is dwarfed into insigniil-
canoe. Most OF them weigh many tons.
The observer is chiefly impressed by
their massiveness and cIean-cut SYM
metry. They look asif they had been
carved by giants out Of the solid rock,
and It lis difficult to conceive how M
ture could have nodded them with such
regularity and precision.
1t is now generally accepted theory
Of biologists that basalt is Of volcanic
origin. 1t is composed Of three dis
tinct clements; iron oxide, pyroSine
and fcldspar or some kindred compost.
ton. When feldspar is 4 component it
is called feldspathic hasalt; when that
element is replaced BY an affinity it
takes the name Of the affinity. Miner
ais occur in basalt, as shown by analy-
sis, but their presence is dueto the per-
collation. Of water through the basalt
| after It's formation. The doubt con-
nected with the origin of basalt springs
from the water which analyses have
| proven it to contain.
Some biologists have claimed that il
1t were Of volcanic origin the water
would have been expelled while it was
in molten state in the course Of the
eruption which brought it to the sur
face. This view has been ovcrrtilcd,
however, by other students Of geologic
conditions, who point out that steam
and hot water are often east up by
volcanoes, and that basalt is sufficient
ly compact to have resisted the cx-
pansive force Of the steam imprisoned
| within 1t.
On the top Of Pillar mountain there
is a cavity or depression witha an earthly
bottom, which several local wiseacres
Of q geologic and scientific turn d
mind have pronounced the crater Of O
volcano The shape OF the depression
and the character attributed to the
rocks lend color to the theory.
. | eskt..., 't,,4 = !.
dixie or inn horizontal sheet. The po
sitions Of the columns vary according tc
the character of the deposit. When il
Is in the form Of O bed the columns are
erect. In the dixie formation they are
horizontal.
Tho regularity Of form displayed bJ
the columns is accounted for by {
theory resting upon impeded contrac
Ion. When mud dries out a network
Of cracks appears on its surface. In
yestigation reveals that the shapes il
the mud are generally hexagonal, ant
show the operation of governing
|. force which determines their form. II
theorythis principle controls the for
nation of basaltic columns. The theory
may be correct and simple enough, bu
! the uniform shapes Of the columns
never fail to strangely impress the LAY
mind, notwithstanding. San Francisct
Chronicle
The Critic Confounded.
! A practice to which large numbel
Of men conform is not lightly to b.