The San Francisco call., 1896-09-13
Palaces
Of Solid Ice in
a Land Of
Heat

I
are the hot spots hot all the time. Ari-
zona is country of extremes and contra.
dictions. For instance, the southwest
corner, near Yuma, approaches to within
100 feet of sea-level, while the San Fran
cisco peaks tower 1900 feet above. In
the south are treeless deserts, but the up
| lands of the central and northern sections
are covered with magnificent pine forests.
Five hours ride on the S. F. P. and P.
R. r. takes one from the tropical to the
temperate zone, and apparently iuto diff
| ferent world.
1t was my privilege to make thorough
exploration of them ON August II, 1896.
These curiosities are situated about ten
miles south of the town of Flagstaff and
not more than sixty miles north of the
! geographical center of the Territory, and
may be reached by a delightful drive
through the pine forests, over smooth and
evel roads, or by rail over the Mineral
| Belt line, which passes within 400 feet OF
! the entrance.
! Our party included w. W. Messenger,
cashier Valley Bank, Phoenix; T. W.
| Otis, merchant, Prescott; Rev. l. I. Whit
temore, pastor Presbyterian church, Flor
ence; Professor E. Grant Randall of the
Phoenix High School; w. FL. Gill, Ameri'
can steams ship Evangelist; Ralph Murphy,
Phoenix, and your correspondent.
We chose the railroad route, and through
the courtesy of the Arizona Lumber Com
pany OF Flagstaff were taken out and re.
turned on one of their logging trains.
1t is the last place in the world where
one would look for caves, for there is not
a mountain within dozen miles, and the
rolling country is densely wooded.
The entrance is from the level plain, aud
is down through an opening apparently
made by the caving-in of the crust which
formerly covered the subterranean cav
erns. This sink or basin is probably
seventy five feet in diameter and twenty
five deep, and the bottom is filed with
large, irregular bowlders of black mala-
pals or volcanic rock.
Admittance to the caves is gained by
crawling through and under these bowl
ders, the opening being low, narrow,
rough and precipitous. None but small
men and new women may enter, for one
must crawl backward through a passage
Just large enough to squeeze ones body
through, and then drop some six teet in
darkness and faith to the floor of the first
chamber.
Here the air is decidedly cooler, and
little ice is seen in the cracks of the irregu-
lar walls. We continue our descent down
a steep declivity and over huge masses of
rock to room num- ber 2, where a resident
of the vicinity is discovered filling his pail
with pure ice for use at home. Here
is considerable ice on the floor and in the
crevces, bur not IN solid masses. The air
is cold and damp. and we are reminded OF
a regular professional icehouse.
The passage to the third and lowest
chamber is even more perilous and diff
cult than any yet encountered. The exit
from the room above is through a narrow
crevice in the wall, which inclines out
ward, and Immediately over a perpen-
dicular drop of five or six feet, and con-
siderable ingenuity andagility is required
both in descending and ascending to avoid
getting stuck in the jagged opening. But
one is well repaid for his efforts and risk,
for the room below is yeritable ice
palace, although not more than by II
feet.
The floor is of solid ice and the walls are
wainscoted with sheets of pure ice that
! sparkle IN the candle light like diamonds
l and crystals 1t was the first opportunity
1 had ever enjoyed OF sitting down on a
3 real live iceberg TO cool off and having
spent fifteen summers in Southern Ari'
zcna, where icebergs are rare, gladly
embraced this opportunity.
There are passages leading on and down
from this chamber lined with solid ice, but
, no one knows how far they go or what
they lead to, for they are not large enough
even to crawl through.
| M 0F n
sayed to explore the hidden depths below,
+. but had to be pulled back by the heels, as
} he could neither advance nor retreat.
i The cause of this strange phenomenon
o I am unable to give. Some have supposed
l that snow drifts in during the winter,
and, freezing into ice, remains all sum-
mer. But the contiguration of the pass
Y ages and chambers is such that it would
s be impossible for snow to penetrate more
!. than few feet, unless it should be melted.
t If melted at the surface, why should the
, water freeze again in the lower levels2
r Unlike other well-regulated openings in
n the earth's crust, the cold increases as
gre ater depth is reached, and ice is ap-
a parently forming continually in the lower
: chambers.
d Above the warm summer sun smiles
s down through the balmiest of atmospheres
J and the mercury marks S5 degrees in the
y shade. This is tropical Arizona. One hun
t dred feet below is the perpetual ice of the
# Arctic regions. That is the other ex-
treme.
s- Undoubtedly this subterranean fssure
n was made by the seismic disturbance that
n cracked the earth's crust in that region
g and formed the grand canyons Of the tive
Colorados eighty miles distant, Canyon
e Diablo and Cosnino Canyon, which all
e show the same general characteristics.
e The ice caves are but few miles dis
IS tant, and 1 am inclined TO the opinion
! that they are but continuation OF Cos,
o nino CANYON, and that their subterranear
.r passages find an outlet In its depths.
:, Taken all in all these ice caves of Ari.
n zona are the most wonderful natural phe
e nomenon that have ever seen.