The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-02-15
A FREAK OF NATURE.
MoNTANNs PULLING AND CONTRA.
DlcToRY WELL.

Seven miles to the north and little 10
the east Of the Cheyenne agency in Custer
county, Mon, Is a well filed with ice that
excites much curiosity among the ranchers
and cattlemen Of that section. Every COW.
boy who visits the well has much 10 tell
and invariably advances his own explana-
tlon
Many Ingenious theories are given
which tend 20 indicate that mankind OF
oil degrees Of scientific knowledge put
forth an effort TO find the origin Of things
However, they all agree that the ice forms
in the well during the summer and that
Il actually thaws during the winter This
apparent contradiction Of the natural laws
that govern the outside world has carried
the fame OF this well for miles around and
people have travelled great distances 10
witness the formation of iciclCs during the
hot weather Of July.
This well is within few hundred feet
Of the summit Of Little Wolf mountains
on the north slope, at the very beginning
of Greenlcaf creek, which empties into
Rosebud eight miles from whore the Rose
bud joins the Yellowstone river This
portion Of the mountain is covered with a
growth Of tall pines
Fourteen years ago three men prospect
ing for silver, mistaking certain colors in
the rocks, began sinking a shaft At 10
feet it was disngrCeably cold at 20 feet
the cold had increased so rapidly that they
were thoroughly frightened. They could
feel currents Of cold air rushing up from
the crevices in the rock They imagined
they were digging into some mysterious
underground cavern. They had heard just
enough of wonderful adventures OF dig
ging into caves and underground lakes
and being alone in this Wilderness where
the very stiffness permitted the ears TO
hear and the mind to imagine all manner
Of grewsome powers hid beneath the rock
so thoroughly filed them with fear Of i'm
pending danger that they abandoned the
work which has since gained such renown
The SUBMITS Of Little Wolf mountains
are covered with scoria, which has all the
appearance and texture of good grade Of
tiling. 1t is usually red, but varies in col
or through all the shades down to black
These varying colors give the beautiful
tints to the thousands of buttes through
out the bad lands. In comparatively re-
cent geological times vast beds of ignite
coal were formed over the eastern half OF
Montana, extending into western Dakota
The burning Of these beds of coal was the
beginning of the bad land formation. The
fine deposits Of clay above the coal were
burned as brick are burned in a kiln and
formed the scoria. Where the heat was
greater and rock and sand were present IL
melted and mixed with the coal and coal
ash, forming large cinderlike rocks, which
are sometimes mistaken for lava. As the
coal burned out from beneath the clay,
now baked into scoria and melted into Gin
ders, it broke into small divisions and fell
promiscuously down into the pits thus
formed. Volcanic ash is found scattered
over the Little Wolf mountains and the
eastern portion of Montana. 1t must have
drifted with the wind from powerful erup-
tions in the Rocky mountains, as there are
no indications of any volcanic action in
the vicinity Of the ice well. The Little
Wolf mountains are merely a rough range
Of buttes apparently of the same origin as
all the bad land buttes. Their SUBMITS,
towering above all the other buttes, have
given them the name of mountains, but
they are only of slightly over 1000 feet al
titude. If ice were to be put into the well
during the winter, it would keep through
out the summer nearly as well as If stored
away in ordinary icehouses, BY chance ma
ture has formed almost the identical con-
ditions that man has made use of to pre-
serve ice throughout the hot weather The
shaft is the cavity in which TO store the
ice. The volcanic ash, filling into the open
space between the loosely piled rock, serves
the purpose of sawdust in keeping out the
warm drafts of air. The altitude and the
north slope are favorable 60 the preserva-
ton of the ice. Tall, dense forest prevents
the heating Of the surface rock by the di-
rect rays of the sun. The rocks are too
porous for the water TO soak up, so to
speak, from beneath. The facts are that in
many places near the tops of the buttes
on the sides where the rocks have fallen
loosely together, they are perfectly dry for
many feet below the surface being mois-
| tened by the winter snow and rain as it
may fall and run down from above.
During the winter the well is nearly
| filed with snow. Enough water from the
/ early spring rains finds its way through
| between the rocks to mix with the snow
/ and freeze into one solid mass Of ice. The
k ice in the well is formed by the cold Of
the winter season, but does not begin to
| form sometimes till the winter is half
| gone.
In turn, it is melted by the heat of the
summer, but does not begin to melt until
the summer is half over In the early
part Of the summer it is still freezing in
4 the well, and during the first half Of the
winter it is still melting The well acts
as a refrigerator. 1t receives the heat
slowly and then gives it off just as slowly.
| If the earth received and gave off heat
readily, the hottest weather would be IN
June and the coldest in December,--in
fact, the seasons follow nearly month
| behind the sun.
1t is fact that If ON a hot day you walk
rapidly into the cave TO where the ice is ii
feels as though a strong current of cold
air were blowing against your face. The
sensation is so decidedly real that 1t re.
quires careful demonstration to prove ia
the contrary, and even then it almost
seems as though the demonstration has
been a mistake. 1t can be easily tested by
using smoke, or better still, a rather
heavy colored glass. Again, if one should
stand without the entrance to the cave on
a very warm day near enough to feel any
draft that may be stirring, none can be
felt coming froTn the cave. If one should
ptand directly above the ice weA on a hot,
still day, even putting the face down to
the very opening into the well no upward
draft of cool air can be felt but go down
into the well and one would state positive
ly that there was an upward draft Of ex-
tremely cold air Boston Advertiser.
Grips Ravages Doomed.
So much misery snd so many deaths hav
been caused by the Grip, that every on
should know what wonderful remedy 70