The Alaska citizen., 1912-12-30


States to the top thereof is dis
lance of less than 100 miles.
The bottom is in California;; Sc
likewise the top. The bottom is
covered with borax: the top is
covered with snow.
Sounds puzzling, doesn't it? But
the explanation is very simple The
bottom is in Death Valley. 276 fee,
below the level OF the ocean. The
top is the peak of Mt Whitney
l4,o0l feet above sea level The dis
lance between the two is 80 miles
Gazing eastward from Mt Whit
ney one can see Death Valley. or
more accurately speaking. the lofty
Panamint range. which forms the
western boundary Looking north
the view extends more than 15o
miles. and within that distance
there are at least 100 peaks over
two miles high 1t is the roof OF
lIlt lllltu toldttS.
Recently the government geolosi
cal survey took the trouble to es
tabish these figures with definite
exactness. incidentally settling an
old dispute as to which was the
highest mountain in the United
States. Whitney or Rainier. The fact.
as thus proved. is that the former
overtops its magnificent rival by
140 feet. approximately. a trifle per
haps. but enough to win by. The
Whitney summit. it may be remark
ed. is quite unlike that of Rainier.
| being a sharp naked peak. swept
bare of snow by the wind ali the
year round. Its apex has been
aluminium tablet.
The figures in question were dc
termined by running line of lev.
els task attended with extraor.
binary difficulties and dangers
1t was necessary to cross
the most dreadful desert known to
man Ga valley strewn with corpses
of earlier wayfarers). and to reach
the summit of the mountain whic not
lone ago was supposed 10 be impossible
to climb. The last 10 miles OIL
their journey carried the surveyors
from the tropic zone to an arcti,
region of eternal SHOWS.
1t was an interesting trip. Lei
us follow it in Observation-Disclosures
ly avoiding the physical hardship5
and perils which the actual jour
ney involved.
| The line of levels determined the
fact that the lowest point in Death
/ Valley. and therefore the very bot
tom of the United States. was 10
Gated, oddly enough, only three
miles east of running spring oil
remarkably pure water called Ben
netts-.the said Well being but Il
| feet higher. or 266 feet above sea
level
There are several springs of more
or less potable water in Death Val
| ley, if one knows where to look
| The trouble with the earlier wayfar
ers was that they did not possess
this knowledge. Hence the scattered
remains of human beings and Of
horses - silent memorials of many
grim tragedy. The bodies of mel
and animals killed by thirst, in
stead of decaying, have been trans
formed into mummies. owing tt
the extreme dryness of the air
number of immigrant trains were
thus destroyed in trying TO cross
the desert in former days. and ii
one instance &C people lost theiI
lives. But within recent year:
most OF Death Valleys victims have
been decently inferred. their graves
being marked by mounds. with !
piece of rock at each end and il
some cases by board with ;
name scrawled on it in lead pen
Gil
The government expedition. which
was headed by r. H. Chapman an'
George r. Davis. had the advantage
of knowing where the wells o
good water We're located. In fact
there is now well-mapped trai
through the valley, which is ST
marked out as to strike springs a
intervals. The traveller, arriving a
we'll. finds there board sigl
with an inscription which tells hin
that the next water is perhaps 2
miles further along. He takes enough
to las him for that distance, ans
thus accomplishes the journey b
stages
Imagine narrow strip of ari'
plain shut in between two might.
walls of mountains. the peaks o
which stretch up two miles int,