Arizona republican., 1899-01-03

did not succeed in his own repeated at temptS to reach the summit. 4 mum Der of earlier attempts had been made
 to conquer the great mountain but all
 failed. The most conspicuous of these i efforts was that Of the German explCr- i CT, Dr. Paul Gussfeldt, who, in Febru- ary, 1883, with only l boy as his com
 panion, his guide having fallen ill
 reached a height of about 21 1000 feet, where, night coming on and the weath-
 CT being very cold, he had to turn back l to save his life Fitz Gerald's party
 computed the height of the mountain
 at 23,080 feet, which is lower than some earlier estimates.
 There has for years been consider able dispute as to the geological struc- ture of AcOncagua. About three years ago distinguished professor in one Of our universities asked a member of the Suns staff to supply him with the available data bearing on this question. From this information the professor reached the conclusion that Aconcagua
 was undoubtedly of volcanic origin.
 MT. Vines, on the other hand, cabled to
 a London newspaper from South Amer
 ica that the summit of the mountain
 was porphyritic, and he had found no
 trace Of volcanic origin. When. how
 ever, the geological specimens brought back by the expedition were submitted to Prof. BOnney, he decided that red
 limestone was among the sedimentary
 rocks on which the mountain rested
 but AcOncagua was undoubtedly of vol
 canic origin. It's crater had been en-
 tirely worn away, which accounted for
 the fact that no volcanic scoria was
 found on the summit. The evidence led him to believe that beds of lava en-
 4a7. 1os OlFr iT1fn hl .nEsif
 of the peak.
 The mistake is often made of saying that AcOncagua is in Chilli, and some cyclopaedias give this misinfCrmatiOn
 There is no diSput5 about the boun- dary line in that neighborhood. and the whole great mass stands a little east
 Of the line in Argentina. Though the mountain is in plain view from the Pacific coast, all Of the snow and rain that falls on it drains off to the South Atlantic, some TOO miles away. h the Mendoza province of Argentina the Andes run north and south in three parallel ranges. The western range forms the water-parting between the Pacific and Atlantic and the boundary between Argentina and Chilli. The central range, in which Aconcagua contains the highest mountains. East Of the central range is wide, flat plateau known as the Usp3llata valley, standing about 1000 feet above the sea and beyond this is the eastern range.
 When MT. Vines was on the summit of Aconcagua the thermometer regis tered 25 degrees below the freezing point, but the weather was clear and he had fine view. He found that the highest point in the Americas was almost a square platform extend ing about 225 feet on all sides and slop- ing slightly to the north. The west and northwest sides slope away at an angle of 20 degrees and are covered ] with masses of loose stones. To the i south and southwest the sides ars more i and to the southeast there 1 $ an enormous precipice of nearly 10, | 100 fset covered with great Overhanging l masses of snows and ice and forming a i 1ery imposing sight. The view Of the i country around was of the grandest de- l ;criptiOn. He could see the coast of i he Pacific stretching away for 150 1 niles. For many hundreds of square niles in all directions he looked over | he tops of mountains He was unable, ]