The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1907-07-31
T6e Creep Of
II Glacier.


place as a guide.
One day Professor Hixley of the
Royal Geological society arrived at
Hans native village for a months
stay. After a week he decided to yen-
ture up the Matterhorn to study the
glasial river further. He lad been
there each year for five years, and the
frozen river was his subject. The pro-
fessor was quiet, thoughtful man,
and his trips had always been made
with only his guide for company. He
so arranged it on this occasion. only
that his guide happened to be Hans
Britterlnan for the first time. Not a
mile from his home great wall of ice
fifty feet high, from which huge blocks
split off at intervals of years, invited
the attention of tourists "a the mouth
OF the frozen stream.
His surveys proved beyond doubt
that the mighty tumble Of snow and
ice and rock stretching for q mile be-
fore him moved down into the valley
at the rate of seven inches year. 1t
was movement so mighty and steady
that no power on earth could check it.
"Seven inches year." unused the
professor as he looked over the jum-
ble-"seyen, and no more, no less. a
mighty mass fifty feet thick goes
grinding down into the valley, crush
ing and overriding everything, and
should man fall into the crevasse be-
fore me am able to compute the time
when his head and frozen body would
appear in sight in the valley. three
miles away. 1t would take hundreds
of years, but 1t would be found"
The statement aroused the guides
curiosity to the greatest degree, and
he found himself doubling it. Neither
his father nor his grandfather had ever
made such statement They had not
even contended that the mass moved.
What assurance on the part of an en-
tire stranger to appear and make such
statement and claim to be able to
fully corroborate 1t! Hans was piqued
and yexed. He finally became lndig-
nant 1t seemed like criticism on his
own knowledge of the mountains.
Can 1t be so? Can it be soF he kept
asking himself, and he walked away q
few steps to contemplate the tumble
and wonder what was going on forty
feet below. His flesh crept as he
thought of falling into the deep Gre
vase to be entombed alive, to freeze
and die, to be carried along with the
irresistible movement for hundreds OF
years and then appear incased In the
icy wall in the valley. 1t would be a
horrible doom, but was the professor
correct in his computations? 1t was q
new train of thought for the young
mana birth of the feeling Of curiosi.
ty. He could not express himself in
words, but he could think He did
think, and had not the professor been
too busy with his own thoughts and
words he would have seen strange
looks pass over the face of his guide
In quick succession-doubt fear, won
der, sudden determination. He would
have lived his life and been sleeping
in the grave for centuries before the
professors body would appear In the
Ice wall in the valley, butt
Careful, mani" exclaimed the pro
fessor as he caught at a knob Of Ice
and saved himself. upon my soul
that was a laundering move Of yours
and 1t might have resulted in finging
us both into the crevasse."
"And after hundreds of years our
dead bodies would have appeared al
the ice wall?" asked Hans in a thick
voice as he turned his face away.
"Yes, after hundreds of years. But
let me make closer computation. You
seem greatly interested in this matter
You must have heard your father and
others talk of the speed of a glacier
Even you must have seen them showed
along several feet since you began
coming up the mountain. 1t is full
three miles to the valley from this
point, and the glacier travels seven
inches a year unless there Is an ava,
lanche to temporarily arrest its prog
ress. Sit down beside me here. and !
will give you extra figures"
The guide cast a look of craft and
murder at the man with pencil and
paper and did not sit. A doctor would
have but glanced into his face to dis
cover signs of lunacy. The grimness
the mightlness, the mystery of the
Matterhorn, were affecting him for the
first time. The thought of being IN
cased in coffin of ice for a century
did not alright him. On the contrary
1t lured him. For moment he benz
over, hands on knees, and watched the
professor at his figures. Then he
Strengthened up and looked cunningly
around. They had paused on shell
of Ice almost suspended over ere
vase. Let the weather change few
degrees warmer and It would fall OF
Its own weight. 1t seemed as IL 9
stamp Of the foot would send 1t dowI
now.
"I think have my figures absolutely
correct" said the professor without
raising his eyes. 'In mile there
are
Hans sprang into the air and came
down as solid as figure of stone, bu
the shelf held. AS he landed, his fee
few from under him and he shot ovel
the smooth Ice like a fash and disap
peared into the yawning crevasse
One instant he stood within touchip.