The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-04-05
ID HARNESS The
GREAT aAIERS
Gigantic Scheme Is Planned
in Washington.
POWER EQUALING NIAGARA
Tacoma and Other Towns Will
be in II.

q
waters OF the glaciers that slip careless
down the sides OF Mount Rainier. Taco
ma -'the, nourishing breast" as it va.
called in the agorigiRes' vivid language
and as westerners are coming 70 desig
nate il, TO carry the power generated 5y
melting SHOWS along wires Of aluminium
10 the -ich levels in which the young
cities OF Seattle. Tacoma, and Everct-
are growing up TO greatness; and thece
10 apply II 10 all the various uses of n
oustry and transportation-thi is tn
unique enterprise Of engineering skill
which is about 10 make possible the utili
cation Of the immence forces stored a
the ice-5oUnd summit Of one OF the no
oIest and widest mountain heights in thu
United States TO the permanent adva 4
tage OF great ana rich area upon which
men are now settling like swarns Of To-
Gusts; where rapidly growing towns are
leeming with new enterprises and aspirs-
lions The power that will upbuild the
future Industries OF the cities along Puget
Sound-citiss like Tacoma. Seattle. Ever
EFT. Olympia and WhatcOm-is destined
very largely 10 be drawn from the IN
numbered acres o. ice about the noun
tain top-a store Of power unexhausted
and uneZhsustible.
The mountainous district thus to be
drawn upon for power IS respiendert
alike f. its beauties and in its opportl1ri-
ties Of benifcence- From the streets CT
Tacoma, forty-five miles away, Mount
Rainier makes an impressive break on
the horizon line. the foothills that inter
vene serving to moderate the abruptn~s :
OF the glorious central peak. and giving
II such base as such cone deserves
wide green foundation beneath a syn
metrical peak OF volcanic rock and snow
A huge mountain il is II the mere dirt
and rock composing it. property disposed.
could be taken up and dropped into the
Atlantic Ocean. q complete causeway
would be formed twenty feet wide at thu
top, with a slope that would stand firm:y.
On which an automObilist might ride dry
wheeled from New York 10 Southampton
Mount Rainer IS still living volcano:
one OF the three craJres in its summit a.
all times belches forth hot steam and af-
fords grateful warmth TO the few people
who have dared pass a night there at IN
altitude OF more than Il 800 feet Sixteen
slipping glaciers glorify its summit. de-
level, and dripping with their perpetual
fow Of melting water The Puyallup
river. scene OF this new and novel en-
cheering feat. for which the Stone &
Webster electrical manag cement. Of Bos-
ton, stand sponsor. is an example of ne
eutpourings OF these fields OF ice. draw
ing, with its tributary. the Mowich. upon
i've great glaciers-the Puyallup. the Car
bon. the North Mowich the South Mo
witch. and the North Tacoma. The area
comprehended by these glaciers exceeds
the area Of the city OF Seattle: thirty
square miles Of ice. varying in thickness
from 100 to I.50o feet. The streams com
posing the Puyallup flow from the north
east side Of the mountain toward Puget
Sound, along a slope that for the first
few miles is very prseipitous and full of
falls Above the point Of their exit from
the glacier extends the frozen wilderness
deep snow piled heavily about the crown
OF the mountain and through its constant
pressure renewing the ever-mOving. ever
wasting. ever-breaking ice-pack below
These glaciers. like all others in every
part OF the world. are unresting. beating
ceaselessly down the slopes at the rate Of
cordiRs 10 the weather and the season.
The ice is so beautifully clear that OBJ
tects may be discerned through blocks
twenty feet in thickness. Frequently he
Zee cracks with tremendous detonations;
and once in great while one OF the most
spectacular things in nature happens over
the Wallis all. a sheer Precipice Of SOC
feet on the northwest slope Of The noun
tain. Above this precipice hangs the Car
bon glacier. $50 feet thick pushing inch
by inch along the verge Until now and
then a projecting mass OF thousands upon
thousands Of tons OF ice breaks OF Cor
q plunge OF 2 mile st-aiEh downwar-3.
Not many men have seen this spoctacle.
for the trails are ragged: hut those wh3
have seen Il viii tell you NJ ii by lifting
their hands - awe.
The snow. which through pressure Be-
comes compact ice. accumulates with
wonderful rapidly during al the winter.
which In Washington 8 littIe more than
q long continued d. season. The fan
OF water on the western slopes OF Rainier
IS excessive. averaging 10 inches. mole
than three times the average rainfall OF
New York and Boston. ard most OF il
comes down in form OF snow. The rairy-
season begins IN November. lasting unin
May or June. and dusing these months
tn warm. QUIET drizzle Of the Sound
cities falls for the most rart frozen upon
st,e- hoarv slopes Of Noun, Rainier s. q
depths of snow you VIII hardly eneo an .
ter elsewhere IN the United states IN
the foothills % the mountain it lies twet-
~ feet or the levels II winter and
depth oc thirty feet has been measured (
tine and sgain OF The clt stretches NJ /
Paradise valley These vast deros'ts OF
snow s-e held untl late spring. when T,
they disappear rapidly. the -ush - thei-
waters supplemented with rain The WI 4
ter melted from the new snow IS clear %
crystal: that from The glacial ice = char I.
scterizsi by 4 hne white sIt caused Icy .
the grinding OF the glaciers over rocl. I
but neither s good 70 the taste ror .
heslthfuI. though = al acquires health
fulness through aeration in he coul 50 T
OF plungiag over waterfalls and rapids On .
its way Z the seas
The fox o. The rivers issuing from the /
fce-helds. however. is as steady ana rcsf-
able as the ocean tides They have IL
deed. especially n Summertime. q toe ~
their own. tide which nakeS practicable 4
the cheering enterprise witch s I
now being undertaken. During tie dry
season in July. August and September
o daily rise q water. melted ~ the heat 4
OF the sun. begins NJ about = o clock 81 4
the morning. subs.6ing towards O'Clock 4
IN the afternoon During this period eac1
mountain stream cresps slowly 10 a r.ax-
irnum height which exceeds the minimum 1
by perhaps two OF three inches where