The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-09-13
UNIQUE PLACES.
FANTASTIC WORK IN VARIOUS
PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
Il Marvellous Mirage in ALASKA =
Some Queer Tales From
Alaska-A Floating ISL
and i'll Ida.lo.

| II I'D you ever stop to think OF
the lavish and fantastic way in
which nature has glorided 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 uncolnted fringes of fiction?
When RichardD D. Willouo known
on the coast as Professor" reached
| San Francisco from Alaska five years
ago next fall, he told story that
seemed almost incredible, IN l backed
it up with photographs "tahen on the
| spot" He asserted that at 9 O'Clock
one evening in the previous June,
while at Glacier Bay, Alaska, he had
secured the negative Of q mirage. The
pictures displayed, although rather, in
distinct, were plain enough to show
the details of 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. 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 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 say that the region
thus defended from intrusion is the
home of 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 out 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:
'sWest of Puget Sound is the great
Olympic Peninsula, until lately al
most uninhabited, and even now but
little known. It has not been sur
veyed. Out Of the heart Of it rise the
eternally 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, depression of the Rockies
on the dome of the continent, and its
chief attraction is floating island,
oval in shape and having diameter OF
about 800 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 queer sem
sation when he awakes' to find clear
water where there was 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 Indl-
ans, who have never been conquered
by the Mexicans. These people sell
gold dust in Merida and are reputed
to live in q 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 for
tiourishing 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 $4,000
feet above the sea and has crater
three miles in circumferance.-Geo-
graphical Magazine.