Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-28

have a northerly and southerly direc-
ton in almost every instance. The
whole country looks as If it had sunk
en- following the action Of the Ice,
making an embayed coast similar to
Norway and Maine. Many Of these
channels are so narrow and long that
they are called canals Their sides
are often precipitous and always pic
turesque.
"The foot of the Mendenhall glacier
was visited 1t is but few miles
!, from Juneau. This stream Of Ice has
retreated from the shore some five
miles. Landing Is made from a boat
upon the glacier delta at the mouth OF
swift river and from the silty color
Of the water. the gravel, boulders and
the scratched sides Of the mountains
wall, the visitor is aware Of his pres
ence on the moraine Of glacier. Fol-
lowing up the river, through dense
forests, the boulders, rocks and every
thing tell you Of the great length of
time that has elapsed since the ice
retreated from the shore.
"As the glacier Is approached the
timber changes in character and size,
so that Immediately in front Of the ice
wall the fores. dwindles to bushes,
and the surface Of the ground is more
newly made, bare, wavy and irregu-
lar. The distant or general view Of
the glacier, resembling the flow Of a
mass Of thick mortar down an inclined
trough, was changed at close range
into a detail of rough ridges, hollows,
rents, crevasses, fissures and cracks
in every direction, and masses Of rock
supported on pillars Of ice so vari-
Gus and immense that the whole is
wonderfully weird. Where a part of
the front has recently broken away the
deep greenish blue color of the ice wall
Is so intense that 1t has no equal any
where. The roar Of the rushing water
formed from the melting ice Is al
most deafening. The width Of this ice
wall is over three miles. The sides OF
the mountains between which the gla-
cier moves are almost perpendicular
rock and are being ground away by
the ice. The Mendenhall glacier is
small as compared with the Muir and
Malespina glacier, but it is three times
the width of the largest in Switzer-
land.
Floating blocks Of ice that fall from
glacier whose foot reaches the sea
are occasionally seen. Ice, always a
trif1e lighter than water, floats show
ing only slight part Of its size above
the surface, The Muir, Taku, Dawes,
Brown, Sawyer and La Conte glaciers
reach the water, hence icebergs are
met with In Icy Straits, stephens
Passage, Frederick Sound and their
vicinity. Those glaciers that do not
melt or die out before reaching the
water, but form icebergs, are known as
live or active glaciers. Those whose
lower ends melt away before reaching
the sea, because Of slower movement,
are called dead glaciers. 1t Is said
that the Dawes glacier drops off ice
bergs the most rapidly Of any in the
world. The Taku Is said to drop an
enormous wall Of ice, about 5000 feet
long and several feet wide, at fire.
quent intervals, which Is broken into
icebergs.
"These float slowly off with the tide
currents and very slowly melt away.
The melting of icebergs in these wa
ters Is slow, as the temperature OF the
water is only slightly above freezing.
Whether icebergs are met wltA, ,in
abundance far away from the place
where they first reach the water de-
pends much upon the occurrence Of
strong winds, favorable to drive them
into the currents Of the deeper wa
ters. When an iceberg Ia drawn into
deep channels 1t il carried to and fro
with considerable speed, due to the
great tidal currents which move In and
out Of these southeast Alaskan waters.
So great is this speed that I have seen
the front of a moving iceberg part
the water as 1t is seen at the bow Of
a steamer. This can be understood
when it Is remembered that nine
tenths Of the iceberg Is below the sur
face. These masses of floating ice,
moving with a swiftness and great
force, are a menace to navigation.
while the Burnside was opposite
the La Conte glacier violent and long
continued wind from off the glacier
carried the icebergs away in mammoth
floating professions, and they appear
ed in all possible fantastic shapes.
Often the lower parts would apparently
touch bottom and the immense chunk
of ice would roll over and that portion
then above the water assume an en-
tirely new shape. After the storm
many were seen stranded along the
shore, and when the low tide, which
ranges about "a feet left the coast
line exposed the real magnitude OF
the icebergs could be realized. The
deep blue or green color of great Ice
masses seen in the clefts Of these ice
bergs Is not found in ice ordinarily
seen. These melting icebergs and gla-
ciers, together with the tidal action
keep the temperature Of the water quite
uniform throughout the year, and thus
contribute to the constancy Of the cli-
mate in this region. 1t also has an in
fuence upon vegetable and animal life
and the occupancy of the country by
man.
1.-The background of scenic southeast
Alaska is not always mountainous, but
often broken wooded hills. They
stretch upward and away like green
rolling waves as far as the eye can see
The valleys are f1anked by hillsides at
close range Where the Taku winds
sweep over these hills they are, but
for the shrubbery. bare Of trees except
in the ravines and lower edges; places
the north winds cannot reach. These
treeless surfaces are most picturesque,
and in summer the rendezvous Of deer
and other game, as wild animals ap-
pear to shuR the solitude of the dense,
dark forest.
49,