Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-09-04
UNIQUE PLACES.
FANTASTIC WORK IN VARIOUS
PARTS OF The COUNTRY.
4 Marvellous Mirage in Alaska -
Some Queer Tales From
AIaska-A Floating ISL
and in Idaho.

ana IN luulO.
IN I'D you ever stop to think OF
the lavishand fantastic way IN
which nature has gloriied the
. continent or deepened the
mystery of some of her doings? And
did You ever notice how man, not con-
tent with the gigantic fabric of fact,
has added amounted fringes of dction?
When ichardD. WilloughbY, known
on the coast as professor" reached
San Francisco from Alaska five years
ago next fall, he told a story that
seemed almost incredible, AM backed
it Mp with photographs taken on the
spot" He asserted that at 8 o'clock
n evening in the previous June,
while at Glacier Bay, Alaska, he had
secured the negative of e mirage. The
pictures displayed, although rather IN
distinct, were plain enough to show
the details OF a birds eye view OF a city
roofs of houses, church towers, tall
smoke stacks, fences, walks, etc. All
who saw the photographs agreed that
the style OF architecture was either
Canadian or English, but none could
locate this mysterious city of the sky.
Willoughby's home is in Alaska. He
has lived there for twenty years, and
those who know him best were inclined
to believe his story.
An actual but unvisited place, that
has furnished imaginative minds with
materials for queer tales, occupies
two counties in the State of Washing
ton. 1t covers $500 square miles,
and is bounded on the north by the
Straits of San Juan de Fuca, on the
west by the Pacific Ocean, on the
east by Hoad's Canal and on the south
bv the basin OF Ouinault's Lake. Re
ceding in these four directions from
the waters edge are strips OF arabic
and inhabited land. Then uprise the
frowning and unscaled Olympic Mount
tains.
The coast Indians saythat the region
thus defended from intrusion Is the
home of a powerful race who worship
the sun, live in houses of silver and
make human sacrifices. Both white
and red men have attempted explora-
ton of the country, but have either
never returned, or have got back to
their homes tattered, worn ont and de-
feated OF their purpose. All that can
be truthfully said of that section Is
embodied in the following paragraph
from a recent magazine article writ
ten by Julian Ralph:
''West of Puget Sound is the great
Olympic Peninsula, until lately al
most u~ninhabited, and ven now but
little known. 1t has not been sur
viewed. Out OF the heart of 1t rise the
eternally snov-clad Olympic Mount
aims. On their sides oam the elk,
black bear, cougar and other more or
less noble beasts. Over the earth Is a
mass of timber and at its feet a Jun
gle"
One of natures curiosities is Henry's
Lake, Idaho. 1t is situated IN Tar
gees pass, a depression of the Rockies
on the dome OF the continent, and Its
chief attraction is a floating island,
oval in shape and having a diameter OF
about 300 feet. 1t is covered with
large trees and an abundance of under
growth. These act as sails when the
wind blows and propel the novel craft
to all parts of the lake. The lake It.
self covers about forty square miles,
so there is plenty of sea room. The
camper-out unacqua1nted with the ISL
and's vagaries experiences a queer SEN
sation when he awakes to find clear
water where there was a strip OF near
bv land the previous evening.
There are many fantastic traditions
regarding the great Okeeleenoke
swamp in Georgia, and the low lying
Jungle not far from Merida, the chief
city of Yucatan. The former is prac-
tically impenetrable; the latter the
home of the Chan -Santa-Cruz Indi.
ans, who have never been conquered
by the Mexicans. These people sell
gold dust in Merida ana are rePuted
to live in q city defended by the
swamp. No one has seen the city,
however, for the way thither is IN
known and the Chan-Santa-Cru In
dams shoot poison-tipped arrows.
Romance, rumor and legend about
queer places have small cause for
fourishing in this country, despite
the exuberance of their growth.
The truth is vast enough to satisfy.
We have the biggest trees, the highest
and most stupendous waterfalls and
the greatest cave in the world. The
largest body of fresh water on the
globe is Lake Superior and the canyon
of the Colorado has no rival OF Its
class. As near to US as is desirable
for safety is Popecateptl, which looms
over Pueblo, Mexico, stands 1900
feet above the sea and has a crater
three miles in circumference Geo
graphical Magazine.
Heat Produces Cold.