The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-04-22

Va dtNAS oAR0 NAS IkANo y lkf1
lies In a basin surrounded BY noun,
tains Higher still and the Nn,fs
Woman lies below you, and all arouns
are the great hills which form th,
most striking features of the Mexic4r
plateau. Much Of the time YOU ara ts
the clouds. and now and then vs,
can see the clouds both above ana ha.
low you. They look like live things
and Q can watch them crawlins -
your feet and chasing eac other from
mountain TO mountain. Now they IA.
velop you in i mist. and then pass IN.
ward and upward until they are lost
in the crater.
AS YOU rise. the snow. which IS wee
at the start. grows harder and dry
and near the top there are pillars 81.
ice which tear your hands as YOU pul.
Yourself from rock 10 rock. The Sl@-.
hurts your eyes II YOU drop a. 81.
stand At last on the edge OF the crater
at one Of the topmost points on tH.
roof Of the North American continent.
In the Crater.
If you are very yentureSome you eay
crawl down a short distance IN TIL.
crater and peep over The walls ars
steep and OF black obSiuian. You gan
see the yellow sulphur far down. an.
the gas rising out Of the c~reXictS ira
the floor. II is difficult To MAKE pie
lures on account Of the steam. ana
is dangerous to play round the rim
Going down PopOcata petl is easy q.
You have the nerve TO take the tobo--
gan slide Of your life. When the snow
is smooth and HARD this is ~ seated
on a straw mat, and guided by ar
Indian who carries All alpine-stoct
and directs your way through .h~
rocks and crevasses. The Indian sis
ct the front Of the mat and uses his
stick as a brake. You sit behind anu
grab the man around the waist. T.
takes only a few minutes 10 reach the
snow line, and you go down as far IN
one minute as you made IN an hour
coming up
In climbing Iztaccihuau you may
ride a great part Of the way. The tim
Der line is at about 1900 feet amt
the region of eternal snow begins d.
little more than a thousand tv"1
higher. You are in perpetual SNOW
at the summit. and as Nou tramp Over
the White Woman YOU find that She -
really a mountain saddle more than
two miles in length. the outlines oi
the female figure being lost.
On Mount Orizaba.
| stopped at Orizaba on nay way
from Mexico to Vera Cruz. The town
lies on the slope Of the highest peak
on our continent south of Alaska.
This is Mount Orizaba. which is sur
passed only by Mount Mckinley.
Orizaba City itself is as high as the
top Of the AIleghenies, but 1t is sur
rounded by coffee plantations, and the
thermometer there was ninety degrees
in the shade, while the hot, humid
air was that Of the tropics. The per
SEPARATION stood on my face as l looked
up at the top of The mountain atove
me and saw its mantle of perl-tu1
snow.
Mount OriZaba is over 1S, 900 feet
nigh and 1t is harder t. ascend than
: PopOcatapeti. The FIRST men who ever
reached the top were some Of our
5 American officers during the Mexican
w and the next man who went ~
: was a Frenchman. He made tn
\ ascent in 1851 and found on the peat
a tattered American flag floating from
a staff in which was cut the dat
, 1848. A few years later this san.
3 Frenchman attempted a second asccnf
e and nearly lost his life while doing 50
. 1he present starting point To-
: Mount OrlZaba is a little village at TIA.
snow line, and | am told that thee
are several dry caves on the way nea,
G the tran. where one can camp durin;
n the trip. h peak Is shaped like
great anthill. and an iron cross nov
S surmounts it. There are no ava
lanches. and one may take 4 rr4t IN,
. rae down just as on Popocata pct.
MexicO's Smoking Mountains.
IN addition to these mountains NJ (
. leo has MANY other volcanoes tn.
S most or them extinct, but some :.abi
70 break out into action. The reGio'
Ii aDout G"adalaj lara has been recent
t trouDled with earthquakes and man
e THINK It only a question Of time VIII,
It mat. one OF the largest cities Of Nc
IS lco. will disappear. The volcano O
is Coiilna, WHICH is more than two mil.
IT IN height, is pe%rpetualiy active. an,
nearby IS q splendid volcanic peak. Il
Nevado, hich is as tall as Fujiyan.
'e ana almost as beautiful. Colima
st frequently hidden by the dense mas.
1. y steam which are always rolling on
IS - - crater at night this steap
lie IS colored with flames Tho cratar
le almost circular and it has a diar,ef.
81 ABOUT o~ne-third Of d milo.
a more thar 100 feet deep.