Evening star., 1899-10-14
Facts About the Harvard University
Observatory in Peru.
LOFTIESF STATION IN THE WORLD
Situated on the Summit of 6
MIST, an Active Volcano.
A YSTERIOUS SPRING
From the Chicago Record.

FROM The Chicago Record.
| Because Of the pure atmosphere and arid
climate, the absence Of clouds and high ele-
walton, the city OF Arequipa was selected
as the site Of the astronomical and mete-
| geological observatories Of Harvard T-ni-
versity for which funds were provided by
bequest from the late Uriah A Boyden.
| They are under the charge Of Prof. SCION
| l. Bailey, who is assisted by Prof Winslou
| Upton, DR.. De Lisle Stewart, Mr.. w "a
| Clymer and others from the home observa-
| tory at Cambridge. These gentlemen at
the observatory in Arequipa are engaged IN
| making map of the heavens Of the south
ern hemisphere, the elevation and The puri-
| y or the atmosphere enabling them to
| reach many stars that are not visible in
other localities, while METEOROLOGICAL records
| OF great scientific usefulness, made by au-
tomato instruments on the top of the vol
cano Mlsti. are being accumulated
our first meteorolngtCal station was as
tabhshed by Prof. William II. Pickering in
| ISS2, said Prof Bailey yesterday. AT an
eeltepation OF 1860 feet on the mountain
Charchani. but the exposure OF the instru-
nents was not favorable. and in 1898 we
succeeded In establishing new station on
! the summit Of FL Misti. which is g 500 feet
nlSher IMAM the one on Mont Blanc and
| therefore the highest in the world The IN
struments now in use on the summit are
| ory and wet bulb thermometers rain
gauges, a Richard barograph theruo-
sraph, hydroEraph and a meteorograph
constructed by Fergesson Of the Blue Hiu
| Observatory especially for this station and
designed to record temperature. pressure
nunlulty and the direction and velocity Of
| the wind, and to run three months thn,it
fewlnding. When the station was first
established 1t was regularly visited by OBJ
servers once in ten days. Since then about
once a month. On these visits the clocks
OF the self-recording Instruments are re-
wound the record sheets changed and the
readings made. The trip to the summit is
bll ha.
good road and ii can now be accomplished
IN two days. and entirely on muleback The
nlsht Is spent in a hut at the base Of tho
peak, at an altitude Of 1900 feet. where
We nave what is called the Mont Blanc
station, because its altitude and the summit
OF Mont Blanc are almost the same.
A Lofty Volcano.
The volcano NIisu." continued Prof
| Bailey. forms the center. and from its
symmetry, height and nearness the most
| Imposing figure in the great group OF noun
tains that fill more than a third Of the
horizon of Arequipa. 1t stands isolated in
a great stretch Of barren pampa The plaza
or the city has an elevation OF about
1000 feet, but the surrounding plain Is
much higher, and for convenience we esti-
mate that the MIST, as a separate and dis
| tinct mountain. rises from mean eleva-
uon OF 1loD feet. We find that IT'S diam
eter at this altitude is 34.3l2 feet its height
1910 1eet and its volume 2465 600 0D0 0pO
CUBIC feet. Assuming the specific gravity
Of the materials elected from its crater 10
De TWO and hve-tenths times that Of water
me weight OF the mountain is 1g2 600 OaO OpO
tons, but this represents only a small mar
Of the material that has been emitted from
the volcano, for there are vast deposits Of
lava extending in all directions and the
deserts for many miles distant are com
and rock
During the wet season the storms leave
MIST covered with snow down TO 16 GOO feet
and sometimes TO 14.oo0. but il the follow
ing day chances to be clear the fresh snow
VIII disappear before night The. snow al
ways Ia Is longer on the southwest side ~
the mour ain and on the north side IL dis
appears very rapidly which is due 10 the
1act that we are south OF the eatIat tor and
that during the clear months of the vaar
the sun is north OF the zenith. 1t Is :, fact
however. that snow extends TO a much low
er level on the neighborfng ranges of tha
mountains. This is attributed 10 internal
heat. as the MIST is a volcano in a state Of
considerable activity. and exhibitions ~
hot vapor, sulphuric fumes and other pbe-
nomena are apparent to all observers
scenery's Gloomy Grandeur.
The cone Of the mountain is composed Of
rugged masses of rock, the remains Of an
cient lava flows whose angle varies he
tween thirty and thirty-five degrees The few
persons who have been fortunate enough
to reach the summit have been SURPRISED
at the extent and gloomy grandeur of The
scenery. The crest is Enthusiastically a ora
ter formed by the original upheaval. and
the maximum diameter is about - 500 feet
The diameter of a new and comma ra tfKeIv
modern crater is about 800 feet al the
top and 800 feet at the bottom which IS
nearly level and composed Of yellow lava
ana sulphur The Vapors playing upon this
produce the appearance Of boiling sulDbur
ana in former times people reported flames
which, If it were an established fact vvo1,lg
be OF great interest.
THE first ascents were undoubtedlv mazda
before the arrival OF the SpanIards and
are beyond the reach OF history and even
tradition Within the crater are remains
of walls and firewood which must bava
been left there by human hands. and the
oiu writer's report that pagan sacrfcial
rIles We're celebrated there, or perhaps Il
may have been the custom among the In
dians to bury their chiefs at this great al
utude. The first expedition. in 1877 found
Eesuges or a stone structure marking the
form OF two or three rooms which s,iT
existed two centuries later and are a mat
ter OF great interest. The expedi,ion "a
said to have ascended the volcano by &C.
clesiastical and royal authority t1 invesff-
gate the cause of a dense column Of er,olTa
seen arising from the summit and al other
times during the same period similar nhe-
nomenon appeared, but nothing definite or
authoritative exists on this subject and
Tor two centuries at least El Misti has
oeen semi-quiescent, emitting only vapors
In varying quantities.
An UnexpIored Crater.
Many persons have visited the crater
during the last two centuries but no one'
has descended into the crater. With proper
appliances this would be by no means i'm
possible but for the sulphuro,s - ,or.
which abound there and which would prob
ably be fatal TO life. For awhile there was
great enthusiasm for ascending the AfIstt
but this interest was terminated in 1s7s
by the sad fate Of two English tourists
Messrs. Rider and Rothwell-whO ascend.
ed, and in attempting to make the circuit
OF the crater lost their way, became ex-
hausted by hunger, thirst and fatigue and
persisted among the cliffs the north side
path.
AT an altitude Of 1890 feet there Is n
wretched little hut known as the ''-arnho
del Alto de los Huesos where we found an
old woman. with a grandchild of six or
seven years, who furnished the poorest Kind
or accommodations During the arsr even
ing we spent upon the mountains in An
gust 1893, she regaled US with stories OF
her experience of twenty-five years in thar
dreary spot and said that many people,