The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-07


around the rim and edges. for ages
! finally building una terrace. In addi-
| tion TO being strongly charged with
! lime, the water also carries sulphur and
| iron. which form delicate yellow and
| "A high -colored bronze. The Older the
| lime formation the harder II is. the
! water of the hot springs" is always
| of an intense blue. The inside lining is
| usually perfectly white. with occasion
| al variations from the sulphur and iron.
| This lime, sulphur and iron extends all
over the park and gives coloring to the
| "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone"
the most wonderful sight probably in
| the world. to which we shall allude in
| a later letter.
| VIEWING THE TERRACES.
| Tt requires several hours to leisurely
visit all these springs. The high altitude
over 7.000feet above sealevel--will not
admit of rapid inspection. Provided
| with Il walking stick. IL pair of smoked
or blue glasses, and Il guide, we start
in for tour of real inspection. We fol-
| low a broad board walk straight tow
ards that strange odd hill, or cliff, or
| row of terraces of many names. We
slowly climb the trail that winds over
the white chalk-like slope and reach the
| top of the first shelf which shows the
| whole line of colors from the blacklist
| of black to the most dazzling of white.
| These terraces are the products of the
| overflow of hot springs; new springs are
| ever opening and old ones closing. The
| terraces vary in extent from five acres
| to fra ctions of an acre. They range in
height from few feet to forty and even
| sixty feet. This mound of carbonate of
| lime embraces 10 acres, with thirteen
| distinct terraces. and i'm 1t is IA group of
| fifty hot mineral springs, whose mex
haustible fountains have for ages boiled
and bubbled and toiled to upbuild this
grand system of terraces which rise one
above another almost as regular as a
| flight of stairs to a height of 500 feet,
| ending on mountain side perhaps two
| miles back.
| The peculiar processes going on here
result in coored waters. startling in
their brilliancy. Red. pink, black. ca
nary, green, saffron. blue. chocolate and
| intermediate graduations are found in
complete harmony. The various colors
| mean various temperatures. Where
| the water exceeds $50 degrees Fahren-
heit. this growth is white; in cooler
water the growth assumes one of the
above mentioned colors, the green. red.
orange and yellow predominating. In
| some places the intense whiteneSS of
| the mass of terraces is absolutely daZ-
zling. In another place it resembles
huge walls of congealed pitch, while at
another locality the most delicate COM
| binationS of colorS are shown. Here
| one hardly knows whether to admire
| the delicacy of the formation, which
| cannot be eXcelled by the finest lace, or
| the brilliant and harmonious coloring
| and chromatic effects existing con-
| Stantly on this enchanted ground. The
hot water vegetation growing along the
! rills as thdy cool ON their way from
| some of the boiling springs to the lower
| levels is of nearly every color of the
| rainbow.
SEEN FROM THE HOTEL.
All these effects can he seen from the
Mammoth hotel, which is only a few
| hundred yards distant. This spot
should be visited early in the forenoon
or early in the afternoon as the heat
| is intense in the middle of the day and
| the reflection from the water and white
| formation is very painful, though in
| sunshine the coorng of the springs is
| far more brilliant. We will make mem
| ton only of two or three of the promi-
nent features. Minerva Terrace is a
mass of lime stone forty-three feet in
height, covering an area of nearly an
| acre with a hot spring on it's summit
some twenty feet in diameter The
temperature at the edge is 154 degrees
! Fahrenheit Articles of glass. iron or
| any hard substance placed where the
| water can flow over them are soon coat
! ed with a crystal white deposit. "Jupi-
| ter Terrace" Is the largest OF the for
| nation. covering an area of five acres,
| and the hot spring overilowing it is
nearly 100 feet in diameter. In close
| proximity is Pulpit Terrace" very ap-
| propriately named. From here Il path
| leads to "Cupids Cave" and also to
Marrow Gauge Terrace" which is a
| fissure ridge. say 800 feet long, filled
with miniature geysers and springs
! which present the most brilliant color
| ings. This ridge is shaped like a letter
| \. At the apex the hot water bubbles
| out from little holes. The crust formed
| here by the lime is so brittle that even
| carefully walking along its sides will
| often cause it to give way and give
| the tourist II scare. ON the
next terrace above are Orange
Geyser." Devils Kitchen" and
Bath Lake." at every step here
| the path is surrounded by smoking
| springs. We peer down into the black
| ness of the DEVILS Kitchen, or the more
| interesting Cupid's Cave and tramp
| over the "ElephaHt's Back" where the
| steam and boiling waters ooZe out from
| his back bone. Here is where the i'm
| piOuS visitor remarks, IF this is not the
Devils Sink Hole ii is HelTs Half
Acre" Many of the names are taken
| from the devil or hell, and very appro-
| priately. We step mighty carefully
| among the myriad streamlets that
| trickle from the pools and go on. forget
| ting fatigue. hunger and everything else
| save the fact that we are i'm wonder
| land.
A DAZZLING SPECTACLE.
From point called Admiration Point
| and very justly named. the sightseer
has a view of the springs and pools just
| before him, that fairly takes his breath
| this is one of the most beautiful sights
| on earth, you breathe the air of over
| 1000 feet elevation and look at scenes
| of such gorgeous coloring and startling
| in effect that they cause you to stand
| speechless. No artists brush or poets
pen can adequately depict this extraor-
dinary scenery Returning from these
scenes. we pass Liberty Can" which
| stands near the travelled road. separate
and alone. This is an extinct hot
| spring. or Geyser Cone. fifty-two feet
| high and twenty feet in diameter at
| its base, formed of overlapping layers
| Of lime deposit for ages. built up by
| the overflow of hot water through the
| orifice at its top. This resembles a
huge icicle.
The Devils Thumb is a cone of
similar structure, but smaller. located
about 200 feet from Liberty Cap. Both
show signs of age and decay. The
weather is said to affect them as 1t
does the Obelisk in Central park. New
York.
Near Mammoth Hot Springs hotel
and scattered over the formation and
plateau are caves, springs. steam-vents
handsome deposits and curiosities
without number to attract and detain
the visitor. Just in front of the hotel
are two of these caves and vent-hOles