Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1911-06-30
TUC MOUNTAIN nm
I'LL THAT WAS lUUI {
Americas Noblest Glacier Peak.

Americas Noblest Glacier Peak.
The author OF this elegant and
unique volume, Mr.. John II Williams
OF Tacoma, this State, has placed us
under oligatiOns for an advance copy
OF his new, revised and enlarged ed-
ton of a work that is creating such
a sensation in literary circles. At
first thought the title seemed almost
sacrilegious applied to any Of Earth
landmarks. but on a casual examin-
alton OF the artistic and revercntial
manner in which the subject is treat
ed and the stately and overpowering
grandeur of the noblest and most in
terestlng Of mountains, we can find
little to cenSurc, but everything to
admire in this tribute to the handi-
work of Deity
1t is volume of IA octave pages,
printed on splendid paper, in the
best style. profusely illustrated with
fine half-toneS, scenic views, many
of them three-color. with topograph-
ical maps os the surrounding coun-
try. and bound in three styles -fex-
ible leather at 81 30; library cloth
Sl.oo, and ornamental paper covers
at 80 cents-the bound editions sub
ject to a charge of 16 cents for post
age, and the paper edition s cents,
to be remtted with the price to the
author, at Tacoma, 93S Pacific ave-
nue.. 1t is without hesitation we
say that copy of The Noun
tain that Was God" should be in
the hands of every lover of the beau
tiful in the State and every library
in the land
To give some idea of the compre-
hensive nature of the volume, we
quote the following compilation from
some Of its salient features:
Our stately Mountain, in its youth,
was as comely and symmetrical a
cone as ever graced the galaxy of vol
canic peaks, says John II. Williams
in The Mountain that Was God
To-day, while still young rs compared
with the Obelisk crags of the Alps, it
has already taken on the venerable
and deepiy-scarred physiognomy of
a veteran. To some, no doubt, the
smooth youthful contours of an active
volcano seems more beautiful than the
rugged grandeur of the Weisshorn.
But for those who love nature and
the story written upon its face, noun
tains have character as truly as men.
and they show it in their features as
clearly.
Nowhere is this better exemplitied
than in the monarch OF the Cascades.
No longer the huge conical pimple
which Il volcano erected on the earth s
crust. it bears upon it the history of
its own explosion which scattered
its top over the landscape, and of its
losing battle with the sun, which.
employs the heaviest Of all tools, is
steadily destrOyingit 1t has already
lost tenth of its hight and a third
of its bulk. The ice is cutting deeper
and deeper into its sides. As if to COM
pensate for losses in size and shape
Illness, the Mountain presents the
most important phenomena of glacial
action to be seen in the United States
In its dimensions, however, it is
still one of the worlds great peaks.
The area occupied by this creature
of volcano exceeds three hundred
square miles. OF its surface upwards
OF 32, 800 acres, or about fifty-one
square miles. are covered by glaciers
or the fields of perpetual snow which
feed them. It's glacial system is the
most extensive on the continent,
south of Alaska The twelve primary
glaciers vary in length from three to
eight miles and from half mile to
three miles in width. There are
nearly as many "interglaciers," or
smaller ice streams which gather
their snow supply. not from the neve
| fields of the summit. but within the
wedges of the rock which the greater
glaciers have left pointing upward on
the higher slopes.
That the glaciers OF this and every
other mountain in the northern hem
isphere are receeding. ard that they
are now mere pygmies compared with
their former selves, is well known.
What their destructive power must
have been when their volume was
many times greater than now may
be Judged from the moraines built
along their former channels. Some
of these ridges are hundreds of feet
in height. Many of them are covered
with forests that must be centuries
old.
Even now, diminished as they are,
the glaciers are fast transporting the
Mountain towards the sea. Whenev-
er a glacier skirts a cliff, it is cutting
into its side as it cuts its own
bed below. From the Overhanging
rocks, too, debris falls as result of
9. ! - u )