Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-01-30
THE GRAND CANYON
SOME OF The WONDERS OF THIS
VAST WILD FREAK or NATURE.

conductor who bowed him the statue
or christopher Columbus. After the
american humorist had heard his guide
nii'''e on the greatness OF the man who
discovered the new world NJ es,r,,~
asked II Columbus was dead
A Philadelphia man after his a-s,
shinpse OF the canyon put this question
TO his guide:
III our city hail was put down there.
now high would the top reach above
grOundy"
what Is the height OF your CITY
hallg' asked the guide. The PhiladeI-
pnian grew red in the face. He was
ulsgusted with the guides ignorance
ne stamped his foot and shouted:
W ny, man alive, don't you knov7
mat wonderful building. Llsteni The
nat OF the great statue OF William
ieun on its top is 54T feet from the
street Think OF that. sir.~
DO you sec that crack in the rocks
down thereT asked the guide. pointing
10 distant creyice which looked M
bigger than an open sewer ditch
We'll you could drop three or your
city halls one on top OF another into
That crack and not know where they
went"
Some New Workers. unfamiliar with
the bigness OF western things cause
the guides equal amusement. one Of
them. who afterward admitted he bod
never been above Fourteenth street
before he inherited the fortune he had
since been blowing in on travel
asked If the Grand canyon was as
long rs the Bowesy.
In self defense. therefore. the canyon
guides formulated n number OF com
PARSONS between the biggest hole i'm
the world and other objects with
which visitors from the east and else
where are more familiar. The guides
spring these facts as soon as they
can II has the effect. they say. of
heading OF lot OF idle questions and
thus saving a tremendous amount of
breath. OF which the average tourist
who tries 20 see the canyon on foot
soon finds himself sadly in need.
The guides say. Tor example. that If
the Eiffel tower. which, with height
or 9Si feet. is the tallest structure I'm
the world. We're placed at the bottom
OF the canyon In its deepest part FIVE
more towers just like the first wouId
have TO lie piled on top OF one another
10 reach the rim of the plateau. Elev-
en- Washington monuments superim-
posed would just about equal the depth
OF the gorge
III II We're possible TO build four st.
Peters. four Strassburg cathetirals and
four pyramids OF Cheops. all OF them
would be needed. piled one on the 9th
er TO reach from the canyons bottom
TO its top. The skyscrapers of New
York would fairly be lost In the big
hole" The Singer building. with its
tower reaching 10 the height of 5g4
feet. would reach one-tenth the distance
from the bed of the Colorado river 10
the edge OF the Arizona plateau. The
depth OF the canyon about EQUALS six
teen Park Row buildings or seventeen
such structures rs the one known as GO
Wall street.
In length the canyon. IL transferred
20 the Atlantic coast. would extend
from New York. city to Washington.
II n tight rope performer tried TO cross
II ut its widest point he would have 20
walk distance equal 10 that from the
Battery 10 the northernmost limit OF
the Bronx. or about fifteen miles. Could
the canyon -be filled In for n building
site ii would furnish room enough FOR
fifty New York cities. Indeed. il
would have an area OF 1900 square
miles, equal 10 the whole Of Switzer-
land or the states Of Massachusetts.
Connecticut. Delaware and Rhode Is
land combined
Were a canal OF the size of the Pan
ANA canal To he dug in the Grand
canyon Il would appear hardly larger
than baby ribbon 10 spectator on
the rim. X is estimated that to OBJ
tain enough earth to fiji the Grand
canyon il would be necessary to exca-
vate 10000 Panama canals.
Yet when il comes TO the age of the
canyon the guides admit they have no
way Of satisfying the questioning tour
list. 1t is no. enough 10 say that the
Colorado river originated In the early
tertiary -iod as the outlet Of 4 great
eocene lake and that il has persisted
in its course ever since. The material
istic man Of business wants figures and
dates. From the geoloeists the guides
can obtain no relief As Clarence Ed
ward Dutton. one of the leading geo
logical authorities Of this country. has
said:
The question viii often be asked.
ITsaNr- ...s Il. Il
in the eXcavat 81 Of the grand canyon?
Unfortunate, there is no mystery
more nscrVtalic than TIE duration OF
geological time On th;s point geolo- |
gists have oht0 ned no satisfactory re-
suits in any pay. Of the world. What |
ever periods may have been assigned |
to the antiquity Of past events have f,
been assigned prov Sionally only, and |
the differences are almost purely hypo- |
thetical. In the plateau country nature
has in some respects been more com
than IN other regions and !
has answered many questions far more |
fully and greciously. But here. as else |
where, whenever we interrogate her /
about time other than relative her lips |
are Sternly closed and her face be-
comes as the face of the sphinx"
For the reason that the Grand Canyon |
Of the Colorado bursts on the view OF |
the traveller as if the earth before his
feet suddenly caved in for more than |
n mile il IS not wonderful that he /
should ask questions that to the learn.
ed seem childish. AS he approaches its
rip by railroad he sees only the Arizo.
ma desert apparently stretching away
nm AVArxv SfIO 1roor,-