The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-26

Streams of stones That Flow Down
and Of sand That Flow Inward.
From the New York sun.


From the New York sun.
almost every ore thinks that perforce
river must be of water said a man on
the little car that winds VI Mount Lowe.
in the Sierra Madres, "but Il is by no
means necessary. AS an example, look at
this" and the speaker pointed up the
steep slope of the mountains as the car
passed the curve. Reaching from the track.
which, indeed, had crossed il, was a mass
of stones, some larger, some smaller. than
walnut, that extended upward as far as
the eye could see. The grade was very
steep, and TO all intents and purposes a
river OF stone was impercepubly flowing
DOM
IT'S perfect river of rock" continued
the passenger. Some peculiar a. tmospher-
Ic effect is continually wearing It away
or breaking IL out, so that il crumbles ana
gradually rolls down in a well defined
shape-a Veritable stream gradually max
ing its way into the canyon bottom. Just
such river was discovered by Agassiz in
Patagonia when he landed there from the
Blake though IN this case the so-calle1
river was of great size and the rocks All
large and moving in gwen direct on with
irresistible force.
IN few quarters of the globe similar
rivers can be seen and nowhere are they
more interesting than on he Pacific coast.
The site of the city of San Francisco is the
bed of an interesting sand river that even
to-day is flowing in from the Pacific to-
ward the city. If an excavation is made
in the heart of San Francisco to-day he
meath the pavements Of the streets VIII be
found a vast deposit OF sand, ana this
can be traced from the bay to the sea,
about six miles, forming a well defined
stream. The city has covered up much of
il, but out near the park the strange waves
of the sand river are seen Ia mounds heaps
and dunes carved into curious shapes by
lthe wind, and by watching these during
the prevalence of the almost cons ant
trade wind the passage of this river of
sand can be observed. over the surface
constant flow of sand is ever moving on
to the east The sand river Of San Fran
cisco is formed by the trade wind. Hun
dreds of years ago Il began blowing the
light sand from the seashore near the fla
nous seal rocks, and, unchecked, it travel
ed on in a never ceasing stream until it
reached the bay of San Francisco, five
mites away. This river of sand forms the
sand lots of San Francisco history"
Sand rivers of remarkable size and in
terest can be observed on the Island Of
San Clemente. From the summit of some
of the hills the island on the west slope
appears 20 be covered with glaciers thar
fill the deep canyons, which at one time
bore water down 10 the sea. They are Of
sand and instead of flowing down they
flow upward. Some are evidently 100 feet
in depth and filed from top TO bottom
| with sand that Is ever reaching Up,
threatening the island, or portions of it,
| with devastation Some OF the rivers are
| so inCrusted that they resemble frozen
snow, the surface in places being covered
with small shells in such numbers that
| they can be scOoped up by hundreds The
animals have evidently died and become
buried in the sand, which gradually blows
away, leaving the shells in relief,
That these sand rivers have been here
| for ages is evident from The remains found
| of the ancient inhabitants Of the island.
| In one spot what had apparently been
| battlefield appeared, two score or more
| skeleton being piled together in cOnfu>
sion. Skulls were crushed and broken aud
| leg bones fractured. Some Of the bodies
| lay on their faces; others were doubled
| up. though after q battle they had been
| hurriedly covered with sand. In the river
| bed were found many curious Implements.
mortars of stone and ornaments of the
pearly haiotis. The writer found a shell
| filed with beads near a skull, and by one
| skeleton, buried in sitting position were
| two flutes made from the bones Of a deer,
each inlaid with pearl that had been Sc
| lected for its beauty.
In walking over the surface of one sand
| river the writer suddenly found himself
on the edge of a remarkable pit or depres-
| sion 100 or more feet deep and perhaps 100
| feet across. The sides were of pure gray
| sand, carved by the wind so perfectly that
| the surface was smooth as though pol
! ished. II was a pit or cone followed out
| by the wind, and at the very bottom was
small bare place and a tree showing
how deep the sand deposit was. The pit
was al an angie Of perhaps 60 degrees. and
| by jumping from the edge one would slide
the thirty or forty feet and find it diff
cult to make the return in the sliding sand.
Near here several smaller pits were found,
Illustrating the peculiar power of the
| wind