The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-08
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
REMARKABLE DISCOVERY ON THE
AMERICAN ARCTIC COAST LINE.
Twenty Miles of n Great CIf1 Scanned
with Coal Smoking and BIaz-
ing-Ice All Around.
ST. o Republic.

ST. Louis Republic.
The most extraordinary feature OF the
arctic regions has now been discovered. II
is a burning cliff 1000 feet in heigh and
twenty miles long, the whole of which is a
mass OF flames and smoke.
This amazing discovery has been made by
Prof. a. j. Stone. of the American Museum
of Natural History. Professor Stone Wis
tied points of the arctic never before ex-
plored. This may be the reason why the
gigantic burning cliff which he discovered
has never been referred 10 in the reports
of previous arctic explorers.
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 ordered his party into
& storm camp, where all went to sleep. The
following morning the cloud was still there.
Professor Stone then resolved to investi-
gate, and with much labor crossed an ice
field, approaching the land as night fell.
Then in the darkness it was seen that the
party were in the immediate neighborhocd
OF a gigantic conflagration, whose reflec-
ton could be seen from afar. The party
camped about a mile out from the shore.
Thousands of glowing apertures extended
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 extended in puffs and in steady
streams. The ice fields around reflected the
fire from these blazing furnaces of coal
and the hummocks of the ice field glinted
with red and orange fires. Overhead was
a great pail of dense black smoke. The
smell of burning Ignite and sulphur be-
came almost unbearable.
At intervals huge chunks of burning coal
rolled down the side Of the cliff, and far
out onto the ice. These glowing masses
blackened as they fell and broke into
thousands OF pieces, scattering their rem
nants over the ice and marring its purity
with a smudge that had attracted Profess
sor 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
anre. From c~reviceS, from the bottom al
most to the top, the smoke poured as if
from a volcano. Smoke oOzed from the soil
III puffs and with great regularity, as from
q chimney, from great black crevices which
were burning strata Of coal.
LIKE DAKOTA'S BAD LANDS.
These strata zig-zagged their way across
the irregular face of the cliff and were sell
dom more than four or five inches wide,
but in some instances a foot thick. The
burning material. while largely composed
or Ignite, is probably made up of several
combustible chemical substances. Owing,
however, TO the impossibility Of climbing
the cliff, Professor Stone was unable to
ascertain the exact composition of the
burning material. The cliffs are high and
steep and cut into pinnacleS and chimneys.
THESE Cn1mneXS. not being intprSacfod with
the strata, have not burned.
and stand out against the glowing back
ground They are extremely picturesque
and convey the same effect as do the Bad
Lands of Dakota, except that the latter
are not smoke covered and have been
created by water erosion, while those in
the ArcticS have been eaten away by fire
One OF the most remarkable and beautiful
features of these miles of burning coast
line Is the variety Of color that they pre-
sent. Overhead is the pail of dense black
smoke; below the blue CLEAN of the eternal
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 constant burning of the
many seams of Ignite in the face of the
Cliff has created sufficient heat to turn the
clay into terra Gotta As this has burned
II has tumbled down the face of the cliff
in vari-colored streams until il assumes the
appearance of a wall down which ribbons
OF every warm and rich color nave fallen.
During the thousands of years this wall
seriously undermined, and this has pro-
duced the great chimney or towers of
rock which stand isolated from the mass,
but streaked and stained by the fires that
have surrounded ii.
On top of this burning cliff the country
extends far inland In a level plain, devoid
OF snow and ice. This would indicate that
the burning coal strata extended for a
great distance horizontally below the sur
face. In places the surface is so hot that
a mar Hannnf uralk 1fnn II Tho crnnIo
and heat eXude through the porous soil.
1t might be asked how the fires could burn
so Tar below the surface and behind the
face of the cliff The hot ar from the
buring ignite rises, ii is supposed,
through the earth and creates a vacuum,
which is filed by a rush through the crew
ices left by the burneo-out coal. The burn
ing seams extend for an unknown distance
beneath the surface.
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 discov-
cred by this expedition. From where the
burning wall was first discovered until its
end, at Constable river, is exactly twenty
miles. In this length millions of tons of
coal are being consumed almost every day,
and the heat and energy generated In them
is incalculable. but in the frozen North,
surrounded by perpetual snow and ice,
these fires are useless and lost.
HOW TIKI COAL is FORMED.
Where did this coal which perpetually
DuFIS III ne ARCHES come from {. Inc seams
are very narrow and imperfect. Professor
Stone has an idea that they were formed
by great beds of seaweed or kelp. The
Mackenzie river. which flows through this
country. is one of the greatest on the con-
tinent- 1t is from one 10 two miles broad
and very deep. Its tributaries are all great
treams-theA thabasca, the Lizard and the
Peace. IL drains an immense lake system,
I'm which many OF the lakes are very large,
notably the Great Bear and Great Slave,
each Of which is $50 miles wide. Its small
feeders extend to as far as Winnipeg. al
most on the northern borders of the United
States.
In the far past millions of tons of drift
wood went down these streams and into
the great sea that washes North Americas
most northerly coast. and were cast back
upon its shores. This is probably where the
coal that is burning on the shore of Frank
lin bay came from. Or was Ii left on the
shores in the days OF the mammoth, thou
sands of years ago, when the vegetation of
the Arctics was as luxuriant as that of the
equator o. to-day?
In a letter Professor Stone says: II
have just returned from an exploration