Washington sentinel., 1900-06-09
NJ t. SENTINEL
Burning CuT.
Neay York Herald.

4
OF the Arctic regions has now been
discovered. 1t is a burning Cliff
900 feet in height and 20 miles
long, the whole Of which is a mass
OF flame and smoke. This amazing
discovery has been made By Prot.
A. J. Stone, OF the American Mu-
scum OF Natural History, who re-
Gently visited points OF the Atches
never visited before. When seen
from afar, Professor Stone at first
supposed that the great cloud OF
smoke issuing from the burning
cliff was a coming storm. He or
dered his party into a storm camp,
where all went to sleep. The fol-
lowing morning the cloud was still
there. Professor Stone then re
solved to investigate, and with
much labor crossed an ice field,
approaching the land as night tell.
Then in the darkness it was seen
that the party were in the imme-
diate neighborhood Of a gigantic
conhagration, whose reflection
could be seen from afar. Thou
sands Of glowing apertures eX.
tended for miles along the coast
They were at varying levels, from
the top Of the high cliff to almost
the bottom. From them the smoke
exuded in puffs and steady
streams. The ice ields around
reflected the fire from these blazing
furnaces OF coal and the hummocks
OF the ice fields glinted wiCh red
and orange fires. Overhead was
a great pail of dense black smoke.
The smell OF burning Ignite and
sulphur became almost unbear-
able. AT intervals huge chunks
OF burning coal rolled down the
side of the cliff, and far out on 10
the ice. These glowing masses
blackened as they fell and broke
into thousands Of pieces, scatter
ing their r, mnants over the ice and
marring its purity with SIN ldge
that had attracted Prof Stones
attention when approaching the
cliff. When the wind shifted from
the land the smoke was dense and
breathing became difficult. AS
dawn came on the party was able
to observe the burning cliff more
distinctly. To its great height,
almost 1900 feet, it was adre.
From crevices, from the bottom
almost to the top, the smoke
poured as If from volcano.
One OF the most remarkable and
beautiful Of these miles Of burning
coast line is the variety of color
that they present. Overhead is
the pail OF dense black smoke;
below the blue CLEAN OF the eter-
nal Arctic ice. On the wall OF
this burning cliff is a variety of
rich, warm tones from cream to a
deep, rich red, all the shades OF
terra Gotta. Between the strata Of
burning coal are layers OF clay.
The constaot burning Of the many
seams OF Ignite in the face OF the
clif has created sufficient heat to
turn the claY into terra Gotta, AS
this has burned it has tumbled
down the face of the cliff in varl
colored streams till it assumes the
appearance OF a wall down which
ribbons Of very warm and rich
color have fallen. During the
thousands OF years this wall has
probably been burning it has been
seriously undermined, and Chis has
produced the great chimneys or
towers ofrock " hich stand isolated
from the mass, but streaked and
stained by the fires that have sur
rounded it. On top OF this burning
cliff the country extends far inland
in level plain devoid Of snow and
ice. This would indicate that the
burning coal strata extended for a
great distance horizontally below
the surface. In places the sur
face is so hot that a man cannot
walk upon it.
For several days Professor
Stones party followed the walls Of
burning Ignite along the coast Of
franklin Bay, and only left them
at the Constable river, also dis
covered by this expedition. From
where the burning wall was first
discovered until its end, at Con-
stable River, is exactly twenty
miles. In this length millions Of
tons of coal are being consumed
every few days, and the heat and
energy generated in them is in
calculable, but in the frozen North,
surrounded by perpetual snow and
ice, these fires ale useless and lost.
Where did this coal which per.
petuallY burns in the Arctics come
trom2 The seams are very narrow
and imperfect. Professor Stone
has an idea that they were formed
by great beds OF seaweed or kelp.
A THIRTEENTH CENTURY MIRA
CLE.-The legend OF S.. Prokopy
relates on the a5th Of June, 1890,
the city of Wilikij Ustjug, govern
ment Of Vologda, southern Russia,
was immInentlY threatened by a
violent storm. The populace ap-
Dealed to the saint, and, by virtue
OF his prayers, the storm changed
its direction, and, passing on one
side ofthe city, spent its fury upon
a desert spot about fifteen miles
away, where It left, with hail, a
mass OF fire marked stones, the fall
otwhich wrought great havoc with
the underground. The incident
made deep impression upon the
minds OF the people. so that the
story is still current and alive after