The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-08-11

and one witnesses the beautiful effect OF
water in turmoil. Nature has created
nothing u auscending water In grandeur.
1t is particularly so among the noun
tRins. Where water Is lacking, scenery
hes the dull aspect OF a monument. The
river divides attention with the grandeet
mountains and holds it longer. 1t
creates its own beauty and presents 1t
in ever changing form and with the
charm of life. The river side of the coach
has always more than Its complement OF
passengers, and the roar OF the water al
ways kindles grateful response within us.
One rarely quits the river when going
through the mountains When he does
so 1t seems that Nature has withdrawn
something which was contributing con-
siderably to his happiness.
A glacier is not picturesque sight. 1t
contributes nothing pleasing TO the
scenery and seen at a distance 1t is moth
ing more than mass of snow hemmed 10
by mountains. There is beautiful little
valley ID the midst of the mountains just
across the divide. When one enters il he
| can perceive no means OF exit or ingress.
1t has been entered by a serpentine route.
The valley Is called the Glacier. The
mountains are wooded and their dark
shadows envelop the vale, while the sun
light shimmers on the eternal SHOWS
which crown them. The air Is heavy
with balsemic odor, and the air resounds
with the melody OF rushing waters. One
enters the valley with such a rush that he
is not prepared for the sensation that
s4izes him. 1t is something like awe
The shadows seem TO have weight and
isolation seems complete. The mountain
hn VCh For hnp
the shadows, as they tumble from shelf to
shelf, losing themselves for brief inter
walls IN soEe mighty cleft. The roar of
the river outside this eeey vale is the bass
for the higher notes of mountain streams,
and wthal one is conscious OF some SOL
emn Stiffness SO Intense is the feeling of
complete isolation from the world
| felt here as If human compromising
was an intrusion. 1t seemed like INNER
sion in the unknowable, and the mystery
was wrapped III the solemnity of the
exclusion of all past experience. 1t was
solitude with the powers of nature mani
fest, - not IN living action but with the
momentum of expended force. The rapid
stream fed by the glacier did not appear
like thing OF the present. Its roar had
the seeming OF voice of the past whose
tremendous energy time could not sub
due. Its waters had been fettered for
ages in the clasp of the glacier and
seemed TO speak the language of nature
when man WAS not existent to give it in
depreciation.
There is a beautiful chalet in this vale.
The mountain enclosure Is not much
MOI than a large lawn In extent and 1t
is kept in vernal beauty by a fountain
whose supply is inexhaustible. The cllnk
of falling waters must have been such AS
brought feelings of restfulness to Irving
within the ruins of the Alhambra. The
immense glacier Is pressed between two
mountains presenting & triangular sur
face, the apex being below and one mile
and half from the plane. Its greatest
width Is one mile and half 1t has an
extension of 30 miles and is SAID TO be
800 feet deep. It's mass is greater than
all the glaciers Of the Alps. It's surface
Is furrowed with deep and dangerous
crevasses, but these cannot be observed
from :he plane, and unfortunately, time
did not permit closer acquaintance with
this monster creation than inspection
from the valley. Appeals to the railway
officials, earnest and recurring, for bali
days stay at Glacier on our return, met
with no repulse, but We clattered through
the valley In the cleaning, privileged
only to say hail and farewell to the mon
ster as we sped by.
The divide is gradual ascent, pre-
sentlng none OF the difficulties eucount-
cred by other lines in surrounding the
backbone of the continent. The noun
tain lakes divide their waters, feeding
streams which Chamber down the oppo-
site slopes But the inevitable railway
loop VAS not to be avoided. a short dis
lance beyond the Glacier is one of the
finest loops in the world. All that
have seen heretofore were in the shape of
terrace above terrace on one plane. hard
ly picturesque and exciting admiration
only FOR the engineering skill displayed
and the triumph of mans audaclty. But
this loop is of the cork screw order, cross
es and recrosses the river, presenting q
series of bridges IN g!adation and scales
more than one mountain front. 1oC look
down in a vertical line not over the nerve
quietlng medium of slope. The clatter
downward is invigorating though one has
feeling OF relief when the crack the whip
performance is over. The grind of the
| ascent is not 80 pleasant as one fears the
resultant of forces while clinging 10 the
cliff Later, come the high bridges, noun
talns of snow, their lnanimate heaps OF
pressing by their inertia and immoblllty
One grows so weary of the spectacle that
recital lacks pleasure and like Cassie You
remember mass of things but nothing
distinctly"