The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-03
New York SUM-


The. Canadian government has set
apart as a national park the wonder
full region at the summit of the Sell
kinks. It embraces the great glacier
of the Selkirk mountains, which thou
sands of tourists visit every year. and
also scores of other glaciers and many
of the loftiest mountains in the Cana
dian domain.
a new wonder in this superb region
was discovered i'm 1904, and it is near
the centre of the park. 1t is a series
of limestone caves whose windings have
now been explored for 1000 feet.
An extensive cave area exists be-
yond that which has been explored.
What is known today of the cave re-
gion is told in a long paper by Topog-
rapher A. o. Wheeler, just published
in the annual report Of the surveyor
general of Canada.
This cave region is to be opened 10
tourists. 1t is only about six miles
from Glacier, the nearest station on
the Canadian Pacific railroad. ana the
goal of so many tourists that some of
| them in the height of the season have
to live in sleeping cars as they cannot
get hotel rooms.
A good trail has been cut and
road is to be built between Glacier
and the caves. In the caves ladders
have been placed and paths roped in;
plank walks are to be built across the
rough places, and in many other ways
the visit to the caves is to be made
comfortable and convenient
1t is still rough work. for steep
climbing is required to reach the re-
gion, and none but seasoned pedes-
TRANS can explore the caves and make
the round trip from Glacier in a day.
A camp, therefore, has been estab-
lished at the caves in which visitors
may comfortably spend the night.
The caves were discovered by Charles
II. Deutschman in May of 1904 while
he was hunting big game and prospect
ing for minerals. 1t was a year later
before anything was done TO ascertain
the extent and character OF the cav
ems.
Deutschman has done mos of the
exploring. Mr.. Wheeler calls him a
very remarkable man, and what he
says about the work Deutschmaa has
done without assistance shows that ne
is utterly devoid of fear. His exploits
certainly have required more than
courage; they have taken strength of
purpose and will power beyond the or
binary. Some matter of fact people
would call them fOOlhardy.
Time and again he has descended in
to these caves alone. He has pene-
trated depths Of blacklist darkness, IL
lumined only by the dim ray of a tai
low dip. Added to the thick dark
ness in which he often CROPPED his way
was the nerve shaking and uncanny
roar of subterranean torrents.
He has crossed huge cracks and made
precipitous descents in pitch darkness
when a misstep would have meant
death. Wheeler says that now that
ladders are in position and guard ropes
set up it is dofficult to realize how
Deutschman made his pioneer jour
neys in these caverrs.
The best light thus far provided dur
ing the surveys and explorations has
been from acetylene bicycle lamps,
which have proved very serviceaole.
The caverns occur at This place only
because here is a limestone deposit
though this rock is rare I'm the Sell
kinks. As you are walking along IN
the valley of Cougar creek you will
discover that the roaring mountain tor
rent suddenly disappears in the earth
and away below you win lind the place
where it returns to The surface
You will find other streams where
similar phenomena occur. You will
see in the distance a beautiful water
fall. sixty feet high, anc Is you ap-
proach you will be surprised to find
that its waters do not flow away but
sink where they fall into a great hole
and disappear into the subterransan
regions.
These underground waterways are
the exception and not the rule IN the
SellIirks and the main range of the
Rockies. Nothing like them is known
in any other part of the Selkirks and
only two streams of the kind have
been found in the main range of the
Rocky mountains.
Another curious phenomenon is OBJ
served. No matter how warm the day
may be as you wander among these
mountains, you may come to more than
one place where 4 current of cold wind
strikes you.