The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-04-06
Glaciers.

list agencies have made it easy tGl
any one who has woeI, or TWO 10
spare and few pounds III his pocket
to visit countries where glacial sona-=
tons still prevail Probably the til7.
impression OF most visitors 10 Il ,H
cior is that it is very like It's picture
There are the snow crowned moHn-
tains There is the ice filed Yale
There are all the varieties OF m0raiMa
Just as the textbooks depict them. tn
first impression however. is 4 yt}&
superficial one. Glaciers are Just ilhe
most things in this world When We
get to know them we find they arc
quite different III some respects n
least from what we expected. A. &c
quaintancc ripens We find out all sorts
of little things which the writers u
textbooks doubtless know perfectly
Well but never thought of mentioning.
things which. perhaps. We're 50 familiar
to them. that to describe them would
have seemed like saying that rain
is wet or that snow is cold. but WhiVil
nevertheless FIJI the novice with the
pleasure of having discovered the III
expected.
One Of the things which first stru@i-
the writer when he first spent !; few
days in the near neighborhCod Of .
glacier was to find what 4 noisy Great
ure it was Somehow one associates
with snow and ice the idea of intense
IL, l,..t III,
up among the snow on the mou-lans
one will find it quiet enough. But
lower down. on the surface OF the
glacier, there is, at least in summer
time, continuous noise The noise is
the voice of many waters. All around
are innumerable little rivulets caused
by the melting of the ice in the heat
OF the summer sun. These trickle and
babble and splash their sinuOuS courses
for longer or shorter distances, but
none go very far before they plunge
headlong down one of the numerous
assures. or crevasseS. Some seem 10
fall into larger torrent far below
Others make their way into some gla-
cial mill where stones are ehurned
round and round just as one may see
in the potholes in the stream al East
Linton.
BY listening intently ono may be
able to hear the churning sound min
Cling with the voice OF the waters.
Miniature avalanches contribute their
quota of noise Now some pinnacle OF
ice topples over and splinters into 4
thousand fragments. Anon a hand
full OF stones come sliding down the
side of a ridge OF ice perhaps TO splash
into the pool. All these various causes
combine to produce . wonderful
amount of noise. Another curious feat
ure of glaciers is that the surface OF
the ice in many instances appears quite
extraordinarily dirty. This does not
seem as it should be. Snow is one
of the symbols of purity. Surely the
ice descending from the pure white
snow on the mountains should be pure
also. Yet when we view the glaciers
from a little distance We are often
surprised at the enormous amount OF
debris gathered on its surface. Be
sides the central mOraiae or hloralnes
often thore are Geveral--composed
of considerable masses of stone, we
find finer particles Of meter embed
dcd in the ice all over the surface.
often in sufficient quantity to give it
u crayish color.
All this solid matter has al oIc time
q, H.. ,,f II io,
and IS being horne along ~ i as a
river bears alon3 tho .stisks and leaves
tina. fall iGto it. But in tic case Of
q glacier We may have expcced u view
the acCumulations OF humid eds of
years ~ ths lover end CT The glacier
there is much of interest liz tho first
place there is very often 4 great care
in Ike ice. and from this the.c issues
the glacier stream. This Gaze Citen
looks as if it ought TO be explored,
AID it may be possible to make cns's
way under the ice for considerable
distance. Eut le; the traveller beware.
EXPEDITIONS Of this kind are far from
SAFE The :Htericr of glacier may
ha studied SAFELY enough i'll the grCr-
toes ana tunnels which arc carved into
The livIEg ice Q: many anOw glaciers,
auch as that OF t~> Rhonc. but :ie ice
II TIE debo,Che OF the stream is in
ii unstable eord!tico. Every COW and
them the cave partially collapses, or
crca: masses Of ice fall upon the roof
ana in moment an unwary tourist
may be trapped or crushed 10 death
Edinburgh Scotsman.
Prince khilko6. formerly Minister