The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-04
STATELY WALLS IN VIEW.
THE WONDERFUL MIRAGE WIT
MESSED WHILE CROSSING THE
MALAsPINA GLACIER.
%
EVERY DETAIL PLAINLY VISIBLE
Towering Domes and Temples. But
No Signs of Life in the Cloud
Metropolis.


ed its presence to six members Of the
party which accompanied Prince Luigi
up Mount St Elias. In the early morn
ing Of July 13 the little party, while re-
turning from the ocean with supplies.
suddenly saw the city mirrored in the
clear atmosphere The vision was SO
clear that c. ". Thornton, well-known
to Seattle business men and a leading
Y NJ. c. A. athlete, who first noticed II,
wrote in his notebook:
1T required no effort Of the magma
ton to liken It to city. It was so dis
tinct and plain that it required. instead.
! strong faith TO believe that it was not
in reality a city
While the silent city of which Miner
Bruce wrote was seen from Muir gla-
cier, that seen by Mr. Thornton and his
comrades was noted from Malaspina. a
glacier over 100 miles distant. 1t re-
manned perfect image for thirty min
utes and then slowly faded away, while
in its place appeared a rocky ridge
Following is the story told in the
words of Mr.. Thornton: Six Of US
separated from the main party July
to go back to the beach for provisions.
We were about forty miles from the
ocean and allowed three days for the
trip 10 the stores Our party was COM
posed of Benno Alexander. a poet: Elm
Osborg, William Tichman, of Provi-
dence hospital, Seattle; Francis Flor
I'M, an interpreter; William Steele,
sailor, and myself After leaving the
main party near Russell camp We made
the trip 70 the beach. stopping at Camp
Independence on the way down. On
our way back, while crossing the Ma
laspina glacier, about ten miles from
Camp Ingraham, which is in Ingra-
ham pass. we saw a strange sight
1T was 3:45 o'clock in the morning
and We were resting from hard climb
since about 10 o'clock the night before.
We had chosen this time TO make the
climb because it gave US hard snow. In
the daytime the hot sun would melt the
snow as If you poured boiling water
on 1t. The atmosphere was perfectly
clear. There was not a cloud in sight
and not a breath OF air stirring. II
was Impossible TO calculate distances.
PANORAMA WITNESSED.
1T was some time before sunrise.
and I was looking around at the
mountains and the grandeur of the sky,
with its limitless sea OF light blue
Mount st. Elias. Mount Newcomo.
Mount Augusta and Mount Cook, all
over 10000 feet high. the heads capped
with snow, stood out clear and well
! defined in their great height like
/ mighty sentinels TO bar the path OF
the most courageous adYenturer. The
Steward, the Marvin or the Newton.
the Pynacale and many others thai
eyes. It was panorama SO great,
so grand, so wonderful in its marvel
Gus group of grand coloring, that the
languages OF all ages, Of all people,
could not furnish figures of speech
equal to an adequate description.
When we looked to the north we
were thunderstruck TO behold a mag
I nif1cent city, apparently resting on &
] ridge, which Is an extension from the
massive west side of Mount st. Elias.
It was in truth a silent city. Every
detail of street and buildings was
plainly visible. but not a sign of life
was TO be seen.
II called the attention OF my friends
to the sight and found that they saw
everything exactly as I saw it. II II
was imagination on my part. then
there were FIVE imaginations that fell
in the same channel as L This, how
ever, is hardly possible.
AT the right hand side as they faced
US were what looked Ike two Chinese
( temples. Next 70 them. and occupy
/ Ing the center Of the picture, was q
/ large building with massive columns
and a huge dome. Everything about
1 the building was massive. 1t lowered
| above all other structures in the city,
making them appear dwrafed- Across
/ the entire front. at equal distances 0Ge
! from another, were these great col
unns. extending from the ground to
} the roof. It was impossible TO distin-
! guish either doors or windows. The
/ dome appeared above the Roof. which
/ had a gradual slant The dome was
| first rounded out and then came to
point at its upper extremity.
AT the left Of the temple. or what
1 ever it was. was a group Of buildings
/ having the appearance of business
! blocks. They were square. having
rows of windows denoting about four
/ stories They had fat roofs. Each OF
( these buildings was set flush with the
street, and they made q harmonious
picture with short. even spaces be-
+ tween them.
Next came what appeared to be a
/ church. with a tall. slender Spire, and
! at the extreme left I think there were
I three buildings that locked like facto-
/ ries Only a portion of these build
J /
! the city extended in that direction
much farther than we could see.
COMPLETED CITY.
This completed the picture that was
/ placed before our eyes. It lasted from
! 3:45 o'clock in the morning until 40
I It began to disappear at 4:15 and fad
ed away gradually. requiring only five
! minutes to disappear entirely. From
] the time we first noticed II until II
I commenced 10 fade ii was perfectly
Z steady and the image perfect, as pre-
/ viously described
7 have previously stated that the
( silent city appeared TO rest upon q
1 ridge I should state that this portion
/ of the ridge did not appear until tbs
/ city had entirely faded away The
/ ridge was at le8sts thirty miles dis
I tant, but the city appeared much
/ nearer. sc it would seem that the pic
ture was in the air between Us and
the ridge and that the ridge really
furnished a background
From a scientific STANDPOINT IL may
/ be worthy Of notice that on the same
/ day that We saw this picture there
was one of the severest- storms on the
1 ocean ever known in that region II
lasted during that day and the next
We did net know anything about TINS,
/ however, until we compared notes with
! Capt Greenleaf, of the yacht Aggle, on
| cur return from the mountain
| This city appeared TO US more like
| q city of the old country than any
| thing else. We were inclined TO COM
! pare il with Russian cities, AM since
reading Miner Bruce's description Of
Willoughby's Silent City, which he
claims to have identified as Bristol,
England, and 10 have photographed
after three attempts Oh three different
trips to Muir glacier.I have been read
] ing m On the s11hiact Of r.ica-es en-