Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-03-24


boulders. and large-sized gravels.
~ with two companions. left juneau
about the middle OF last May, IN n dory.
with about three months provisions.
Nothing OK unusual interest occurred or
was seen until we reached Taylor bay,
which f. the last Of many bays that we
nassed before we reached the Pacific
ocean. Our destination was Lituya bay.
vyhich IS an the Pacific Ocean. and about
80 miles above Juneau. IL had been
known for some years that there were
ruby-sands on the beach that were very
rich in gold. and. as sand Is known to
be pulverlzed rock, - was inferred that
there must be rock OF extraordinary
richness ia the neighborhood. As far as
finding this rock was concerned. the ex-
petition proved 10 be as great a FOOLS
errsnd as / ever undertook. Taylor bay
Is about the size and shape OF Elliott bay,
and. TO give an idea Of a resemblance
between the two. you would have 70
imagine Elliott bay with no Seattle on
It's shores. nor a white human being
within a hundred miles Of II in any d.
rection. and between where we are now
and West Seattle n wall Of ice. several
hundred feet in height, and reaching
back to Mount Rainer. This would give
Won some idea OF the Brady glacier.
The Brady Is n dead glacier a live
glacier Is chastity enough 10 look at, but
a dead one is much more so; and Nature.
II seems. out OF compassion, or for some
other reason. has spread black We 9
a pail. over It's otherwise corpse-like face.
What this black vel consisted Of after
ward learned under very peculiar circum-
stances.
1--WE prospected the ruby sands. which
were plentiful In its neighborhood, and
found gold, but not sufficient to make 1t
profitable. We then went out on the
ocean. and after several days reached
Lituya bay. A day or two after we land
ed l started for a bare mountain six or
seven miles distant. The first two or
three miles Of this trip were among small
lakes. that seemed 10 cover about two
thirds OF the country. After the lakes
were passed l assembled a thiokly-wooded
bench several hundred feet in height. on
my way / noticed small creek OF muddy
water running down. Anxious TO find out
what kind Of bed rock was in the bottom
OF the creek, | struck in my prospecting
pick. and TO my surprise I found that II
was not rock at all. but ice. L then
cleared the moss and stones or the sides
Of the bank and uncovered mass Of the
purest ice that / ever saw. It was JUST
| deep for the bottom 10 be seen.
Il then went on TO the foot Of the noun
| tain, but about a quarter Of a mile from
| the base Of the mountain l came TO a
/ precipice about 90 feet I'm height. Below
was a muddy lake with trees lying in
| every imaginable shape. some with their
roots up and several hanging from the
/ top Of the prccipice by their roots, with
/ their tops down. l soon discovered that
/ the preclpice was all Ice. and extended
/ for several miles along the base OF the
mountain. ] spent altogether about three
weeks prospecting along a range Of foot
/ hills that lie about half way between the
main range and the ocean, These foot
/ hills are two or three thousand feet high
I and between them and tho main range is
a glacier several miles in width. / tho
| roughly examined the rock that those
| foothills were made Of but found nothing
| Of any value in the way OF mineral.
| examined the creeks. but could not find
| the slightest indication Of gold. l then
/ examined the rocks on the Fairweather
! glacier. where specimens can be seen OF
| all that the mountains contain. but found
/ nothing and after l examined a long, red
/ ridge about seven miles away on the
/ glacier I declared that II the problem OF
where the ruby sand came from was left
/ 10 me It would remain unsolyed forever
81 gave Il up, and went 20 work
washing the sands on the beach. After
/ about two months ] determined to pay
| Mt. Fairweather n visit. which involves
| a journey Of fifteen miles or more across
/ q glacier. After I had got about half
I way across the rocks and stones dis
/ appeared, and the glacier looked like a
| great frozen lake. The Same black veil
/ covered a considerable part OF IL that !
| had seen on the Brady glacier and on
/ the dead part Of the Perouse glacier; but
{ 1 noticed that II was not black as Il
/ appeared Of distance, and that IL con-
| sisted principally Of ruby sand exactly
! like what 1 had seen on the beach. With
some difficulty l gathered up about a
! quart Of IL and washed 1t In the gold
PAN and there 7 found about twenty
colors exactly Ike those found on the
beach.
THE problem was now solved. I had
found where the ruby sand came from
I and how 30 he'd found its way TO the
ocean beach. / was so far back on the
/ glacier that ! could look behind the foot
/ hills and could see that the level Of the
/ glacier behind them was not far from
| their tops, and it was certain that not
very long before the glacier eX-
| tended over the foothills and down TO the
! ocean. This would constitute an inclined
/ plane about forty miles long and eight
/ miles wide. or about goo square miles OF
/ IN inclined plane Of ice, and all the ruby
sand and gold that IL contained would
/ find its way TO a moraine along the beach
where the glacier was melted away by
/ the sea water. This gold certainly never
came from quartz veins. as it was found
/ In meteoric dust, and Heaven is the ony
place that I can think Of that it could
| come from. or the ethereal blue vault
above rs, or wherever meteorlc dust comes
/ from"