Douglas Island news., 1909-06-30
Alaskan Glaciers

The first expedition ever sent out by the National Geological Society of Washington, D. C., to study the big glaciers of Alaska will sail from Seat tie on the steamship Portland on June 24, to remain in Alaska pursuing scien' tific investigations until the latter part of September, says the Seattle P. 1.
 The expedition will be headed by two of the most noted scientists in America, Prof. R. s. Tarr, of Cornell university, and Prof Lawrence Martin of the Uni versity of Wisconsin. W. B. Lewis, of Washington, D. C., of the United States geological survey, will accompany the party as topographer, and o. D. von Engeln. another member, is the photo grapher. E. r. Dean, of the University of Wisconsin, will go along as geologl- cal. assistant. There will also be an engineer, probably d Seattle mau. In addition there will be the usual retlnue of camp attaches.
 Profs. Tar, Martin and Lewis and Mrs. Tarr are staying at the Rainier Grand, having arrived in Seattle from the East yesterday Mrs. Tarr will ac company the party only as far as Ju- neau, according to present plans. She may go to Skagway before returning to Seattle.
 In speaking of the purpose of the eX- petition last night, Prof. Tarr said:
 "The big glaciers of Alaska have been undergoing some rather unusual and remarkable transformations in the last few years, and moving around con- siderable, so the National Geological Society appropriated 5000 to fit out an expedition to go to Alaska and study them, and to determine if possible the cause for their changed conditions and positions.
 "Both Prof Martin and myself have been on other expeditions to study the Alaska glaciers in 1904, 1905 and 1906, but this is the first since then, and is the first sent out by the national so- ciety. We shall study the glaciers in the Yakutat bay and Prince William sound regions.
 "In 1905 found the glaciers in those regions just like they should be, but a year later we discovered that one of them had moved all of mile out into the bay. In 1891 and 1892 Prof. 1. c. Russell, of the University of Wisconsin, in attempting to climb Mount St. Elias, crossed Malaspina, the largest glacier in North America, as a base, on sledges. He failed to climb it either time.
 In 1896 Duke d'Abruzzi succeeded in clim ping it, using Malaspina as base, and crossing it with sledges on his up- ward climb. The same could be done in 1905, but a year later we found Nal. aspina one sea of fcrevasses, which made passage by sledges or otherwise impos- sible. This breaking up was the result of the earthquake in 1899, but it's ef- feet was not apparent iu causing the creYasses until 1906 The earthquake lasted the first twenty-three days of Septemb Der, 1899, and it raised the whole coast line in the vicinity forty seven feet above the water level. There were hundreds of iucessant shocks from time to time which shook down so much snow that the glacier did not be- gin to move until years afterward.
 "The Alaskan glaciers are the largest in the world that are so easily available for scientific study, and it was for this reason that the National Geological So ciety made the appropriation and se- lected the Alaskan glaciers as the ob. jects of our investigations"