Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-07-18
DAILY STORY
THE CREEP OF A GLACIER.

pl'tNS as 81 SuluS.
One day Professor Huxley of the
Royal Geological society arrived at
Hans native village for a months
stay. After Il week he decided to ven
glacial river further. He had been
there each year for five years, and the
frozen river was his subject. The pro-
lessor was a 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
BFitterman for the first time Not Il
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 as the mouth
of the frozen stream.
His surveys proved beyond doubt
that the mighty tumble of SHOW and
ice and rock stretching for nile be-
fore him moved down into the valley
at the rate of seven inches year. 1t
was a movement so mighty and steady
| that no power on earth could check it.
Seven inches a year." unused the
professor as he looked over the jun
! ble-'seven, and no more, no less. y
mighty mass fifty feet thick goes
| grinding down into the valley, crush
| ing and overriding everything. and
| should a man fail into the crevasse be
! fore me l 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 it would be found"
The statement aroused the guides
curiosity to the greatest degree, and
lie 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
Il statement and claim to be able to
fully corroborate it! Hans was piQued
and vexed. He finally became indig-
nant 1t seemed like Il criticism on his
own knowledge of the mountains.
Can it be so? Can it be So" he kept
asking himself, and he walked away
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 ere
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 q
D, IL
correct in his computations? 1t was a
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, but
Careful. man" exclaimed the pro
feSsor as he caught at n knob Of ice
, and saved himself Upon my soul,
that was a laundering move of yours.
and it might have resulted in flinging
us both into the crevasse."
And after hundreds of years our
7 dead bodies would have appeared at
the ice wall?" asked Hans in thick
voice as he turned his face away.
yes, after hundreds of years. But
3 let me make closer computation. You
seem greatly interested in this matter
Z You must have heard your father and
: others talk of the speed Of a glacier
2 Even you must have seen them showed
( along several feet since you began
: coming up the mountain. It is full
J, three miles to the valley from this
Z point and the glacier travels sever
( inches a year unless there is an ava
Z lanche to temporarily arrest its prog
s ress. Sit down beside me here, and
9 will give you extra figures"
s The guide cast Il look of craft ani
8 murder at the man with pencil ant
& paper and did not sit. \ doctor would
3 have but glanced into his face to dis
& cover signs of lunacy. The grimness
3 the miGhtineSs. the mystery of the
s MatterhOTn, were affecting him for the
3 first time. The thought Of being in
< cased in a coffin of ice for Il century
s did not alright him. On the contrary
< It lured him. For moment he ben
s over. hands on knees. and watched thu
< professor at his figures. Then h
s Strengthened up and looked cunningl!
s around. They had paused on a shell
s OF Ice almost suspended over a ere
3 vase. Let the weather change a few
|: degrees warmer and 1t would fall o
= Its own weight 1t seemed as If
s stamp of the foot would send it dow
& now
s 81 think have my figures absolutel.
correct" said the professor withou
6 raising his eyes. in n mile Their
g are
S Hans sprang into the air and cam
y down as solid as figure of stone, bu
s the shelf held. AS he landed, his fee
g few from under him and he shot owe
& the smooth ice like a flash and disaI
g peared into the yawning crevasse
& One instant he stood within touchin
q Distance OF his follow man In the mex