The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-09-11
UNIQUE PLACES.
FANTASTIC WORK IN VARIOUS
PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
a Marvellous Mirage In Alaska -
Some Queer Tales From
Alaska-A Floating ISL =
and In Idaho.

I'D you ever stop to think OF
the lavish and fantastic way in
which nature has glorifed the
o. continent Or d%eepened 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 fringesof fiction?
When RichardD. Willoughby, known
on the coast as professor" reached
San Francisco from Alaska five yenrs
ago next fall, he told q story that
seemed almost incredible, and backed
it up with photographs "taken on the
spot" He asserted that at 8 o'clock
one evening in the previous June,
while at Glacier Bay, Alaska, he had
secured the negative of a mirage. The
pictures Displayed, althoughrather in
distinct, W. g plain enough to show
the details of d birds eye view OF a city
roofs of houses, church towers, tall
smoke stacks, fences, walks, etc. All
who saw the photographs agreed thai
tho 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. It 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
by the basin Of Ouinaalt's Lake. Re-
ceding in these four directions from
the waters edge are strips of a-able
and inhabited land. Then uprise the
frowning and unscaled Olympic Mount
tains.
The coast Indians saythat tkesegion
thus defended from intrusion is the
home of q powerful a 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 battered, worn out and de-
feated of their purpose. All that can
be truthfully said Of that section is
embodied in the following paragraph
from q recent magazine article writ
ten by Julian Ralph:
"West OF Puget Sound is the great
Olympic Peninsula, until lately al
most u%ninhabited, and even now but
little known. It has not been sur
veyed. Out Of the heart of it rise the
e~ternally snow-clad Olympic Mount
aims. On their sides roam 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. It is situated in Tar
gees pass, a depression of the Rockies
on the dome of the continent, and its
chief attraction is q floating island,
oval in shape and having q diameter OF
about 800 feet. It 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 unacqualnted with the isl
and's vagaries experiences a queer sen
sation when he awakes to find clear
water where there was q strip Of near
by 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 and are reputet
= to live in a city defended by the
swamp. No one has seen the city,
however, for the way thither is I'M
known and the Chan Santa Cruz In
{. dams shoot poison-tipped arrows.
= Romance, rumor and legend about
queer places have small cause fol
, hourishing in this country, despite
l the exuherance Of. their growth
. The truth is vast enough to satisfy
/ We have the biggest trees, the highes
= and most s%tupendous waterfalls an
. the greatest cave in the world. Tn
l largest body of fresh water on tn
globe is Lake Superior and the canyon
, of the Colorado has no rival of it
l class. AS neal to us as is desirabl
. for safety is Popecateptl, which loom
= ; over Pueblo, Mexico, stands 1900
u feet above the sea and has o crate
: three miles in circumferance.-Geo
= graphical Magazine.
Heat Produces Cold.