New-York tribune., 1906-05-13
GRAND CANYON WONDERS
Comparisons Which GiUe Some Idea
of Enormous ProDortioas.

Grand Canyon guides are oftentimes as much
startled as was Mark Twain's conductor who
showed him the statue OF Christopher Columbus
After the American humorist had heard his
guide dilate on the greatness OF the man who
discovered the New World, he calmly asked ~
Columbus dead.
Philadelphia man after his FIRST glimpse OF
the canyon not long ago put this question 70 his
guide:
If our city hall was put down there how
nigh would the top reach above ground?"
What is the height Of your city hallq'' asked
tne guide. The Philadelphian grew red In the
face. he was disgusted with the guides igno-
rance. He stamped his foot and shouted:
Whys man alive. don't you know? That Won
oeTful building! ListenI The hat OF the great
statue OF William Penn on its top is 547 feet
from the street Think OF that, sir"
DO you see that crack in the rocks down
thereT asked the guide. pointing to a distant
crevice which looked no bigger than an open
sewer ditch "WeH, you could drop three Of
your city halls one on top OF another into that
crack and not know where they wentg'
Some New Workers unfamiliar with the big
ness OF Western things cause the guides. equal
amusement. One Of them. who afterward admit
ted ne had never been above 14th street before
ne inherited the fortune he had since been 'blow-
ing In" on travel. asked IL the Grand Canyon
was as long as the Bowery.
In self-defence. therefore, the canyon guides
recently formulated a number os comparisons
between the biggest hole In the world and other
objects with which visitors from the East and
elsewhere are more familiar. The guides spring
these 1acts as soon as they can. Il has the
effect, they say. OF heading OF lot OF idle oues
uons and thus saving tremendous amount of
BREATH Of which the average tourist who tries
TO see the Canyon on foot soon flnds himself
sadly in need
The guides say, for example. that ~ the F5fFel
Tower' which with a height Of 9s4 feet Is the
tallest structure IN the world. wers placed nv
the bottom Of the canyon in its deepest pare ave
more towers just like the first would nave 70
be piled on top Of one another to reach the rim
or the plateau, Eleven Washington uOull-
ments superimDosed would just about equal the
If it were possible TO build four 81 Peters
your StTaSburg cathedralS and four ny1rarni6s
O1 Cneops all OF them would be needed, piled
one on the other, to reach from the cRnvOn's
bottom TO its top. The skyscrapers OF New
York would fairly be lost In the ''Bis Hole The
proposed singer Building which with q tower
reaching TO the height Of 5g4 feet VIII be the
ta4lesC structure OF any kind in the New world
would only reach One-tenth the distance from
the Deo or the Colorado River to the edge OF the
ARIZONA plateau. The depth Of the conyon
about equals sixteen Park Row buildings OF
SeVenIeen ,6 such structures as the one known as
In length the canyon, Il transferred 10 the
Atlantic Coast would extend from New YORK
city to Washington II q tightrope varSo~r1er
tried 70 cross 1t at IFS widest point he TvS1,IS
nave TO walk a distance equal 20 that from The
5atteTy TO the nOrthernmOst limit OF The
canyon be filled In for q buildinez size
G would furnish room enough for fftyT New
70 1oG6 re- cities. Indeed IL would have an area OF
4O'OOy square miles, equal 70 the whole OF SWitz-
erland or the states Of Massachusetts Connectl-
cut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined
Were a canal Of the size OF the projected c1It
at Panama to be dug In the Grand Canvon a.
would appear hardly larger than a baby F4bbOn
20 20 a spectator on the rim II Is estimated that
70 oDteln enough earth TO I'LL the Grand Canyon
1t would be necessary 90 excavate twenty thous
sand PanamS canals.
Yet when Il comes TO the age OF the canyon
tne guides admit they have no way OF Satisfy
ing the questioning tourist. II Is not enough 20
say that the Colorado River Originated I1 46o
early Tertiary period. as the outlet OF a great
course ever since. The nater1aIfstio man ~
business wants figures and dates Fsr0r1 4JA
SeoIo8lsts tne guides can obtain no relief AS
clarence EDWARD DuttOn, one OF the LEADING
geological authorities Of this country has said.
"Ihe question will often be asked How long
mas Deen the time occupied In the excavation ~
the Grand Canyon? Unfortunately t5erS 10 NJ
mystery more inscrutable than the duration ~
geological time On this point geologists have
optdlheu no satisfactory results in any mart Of
the world. Whatever periods NAV have besr
assigned to the antiquity OF past events have
n oeen assigned professionally only and the infer
plateau country Nature has in some resDecta
been more communicative than In other regiOns
anu anu n<as answered many questions far more fully
ana graciously. But here as elsewhere. when-
ever we interrogate her about time other than
relative. her lips are sternly closed and her face
becomes as the face Of the Sphinx
For the reason that the Grand Canyon OF the
'Soioraoo bursts on the view OF the traveller aq
X u the earth before his feet suddenly caveJ IN
4 tor more than mile II is not wonderful that
ne Snoula ask questions that to the learned seem
chlolsh As he approaches its rim by raiIrOa1
ne sees only the Arizona desert appsrentIy
sid
z, mere IS no preparation for lt' saws CharIes
c,1-11naI LSis' MS the author and explorer in de-
80 H3s nEsC sensations on visiting the can
yOn. Ohless You had been told YOU would No
more dream that out yonder amid tbs DI,eS s tho 1
nat earth Is slashed 70 it's very bowels than Won
wSytI WTvsN eNpSSC ~ nnG an Iceberg In Broadway.
win very OF0taafy running jump from the
spot where you get your first glimpse Of the
canyon you could go down 1900 feet without
touching. IL Is sudden as a we'll
But 1t Is no mere cleft. IL Is a terrific tro,,pb
peOpled with hundreds OF peaks taller than any
mountain east OF the Rockies. vet not one Cf
them With Its head so high as your feet and All
ablaze with such color as no Eastern or TI,ro
pean landscape ever knew, even ln the Alpen-
glow. And as you sic upon the brink the div{ne
hour With each degree OF the SUMS course che
great cOuntersunk mountains we have hosr
watching fade away. and new ones as terrific
are carved by the westering shadows. II a Iilxs
dissection OF the whole cOSmOgOny The v1,rr1s
shadows the dazzling lights. the Thunderstorm
ana ,, snoWstGTms the clouds and the rainbOws
shirt ana drlft IN that vast Subterranean arena
below your feet"
To artists who boast OF being able 20 portrav
tne Grand Canyon on canvas the e1lides aTs
haFo hearted enough TO ten the st9rv oF Tho
painter philosophers who blindfolded his bride
canyon. but before he began hfs nIcf1,- ss 's,e rs
wanted 20 study what psychic phenomena fha
sosraeas ss y, Moaid arouse In a human being who
saw ll unexpectedly Tor tho first time Il waa
before the railroad was huilt ana he brought