The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-05-31


of all the famous qucbradas of the
Andes there is not one that would
count . per cent on the Grand Canyon
| of The Colorado. For all their 10000
| foot peaks. their bluc-whitc glaciers.
| imminent above the bald plateau. and
| green little bolsones t'pockct vallcyso
1 Of Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador:
! Tor all their tremendous active vol
: canoes. like Sausay and CotopaXi: for
/ all an earthquake activity beside which
/ the shake" at Charleston was mere
/ papcr-doli play; for all tho stccpcsi
/ gradients in tho world Cand Peru is
/ the only place III the world where
! river falls 1900 feet in 100 milc.)--
| III all that marvellous 3,OU0-mile pro
,cssion Of giautism there is not one
/ canyon which amy sane person would
/ for an instant compare with that I'll
! tanic cash that TN" Colorado has chis-
! clcd through a comparatively il3t up
| land. Nor is there anything remotely
! approaching il in all tho New World.
4 So much I can say IT first hand. AS
J for the Ola World. the explorer who
/ shall ind Il gorge there one half as
great VIII win undying fame.
The uuebrada Of the Apu R,nac is a
j marvel OF the Andes, with its verti-
/ ginous depths and its suspension bridge
!
\ the Arkansas. in Colorado. is :, noble
i little slit in tn" mountains. The Fran
I couia and whit" Mountain notchcs In
| New hampshire are beautiful. The
| Yosemite and the Yellowstone canyons
| surpass the world. each in its way.
! Eut If all of these were hung up on
tho opposite wall OF the Grand Canyon
! from you. the chances are fifty To ono
4 that you could not tell tothcr from
| which nor amy OF them from the hun-
/ dlcds OF other canyons which rib that
vast Ncrtebrat. gorge. If the falls OF
4 Niagara were Installed in the Grand
1 Canyon between Your visits and YOU
| knew il by the ncwspapcrs-nex time
I YOU stood on that dizzy rimrock YOU
! would probably need good field glasses
/ ana much patience before YOU could
I locate that cataract which in it's place
; 4ooks pretty big. II Mount Washington
were plmcllcd up bodily by the roots
not from where YOU see II. but from
| sea Cleveland carefully set down in
III" Grand Canyon. YOU probably would
| not notice it most morning. unless it's
dull colors distinguished - in that
fnnumerable congress Of larger ami
painted giants.
All this which is literally true. is a
mere triic Of what might be said IN
! trying To iX Al standard Of comparison
for the Grand Canyon. Hat ! fancy
there is 40 standard adjustable 10 III.
human mind. You may compare all
you will-cloqucmtly ANA from wide cx-
pcriyncc. ami at last all similcs fail
! The Grand Canyon is just the Grand
/ Canyon, and that is all YOU can say
/ | never have seen any one who was
/ prepared for il. never have seen any
one who could grasp II i'll = week ;
! hard exploration; nor any one. except
some rare ihilistin". who could even
! think he had graspcd il. | have seen
people rave over it: better people
! struck dumb with ii. even stronl, men
who cried o"cr it: but have never
/ Yet seen tho man or woman that eX-
! pectcd il.
| 1, adds seriously To tho sciGntinc
wonder and the universal impressive
F, ness OF this unparalleled chasn that
/ ii is not in some stupcndous mountain
| range. but III vast, arid. lotty floor
4 of nearly 10000 square milcs--as il
! were. crack in the upper story OF
the continent. There is no preparation
for II. Unless YOU had been told, you
| would no more dream that out ydrdcr
amid the pines the flat earth is slashcd
IL it's very bowels than YOU. would
| expect 10 find AN iceberg in Broadway.
| With Il very ordinary running jump
! from the spot where YOU get Your FIRST
glimpse Of the canyon you could go
| down 1000 feet without touching. 1t
! is sudden as we'll.
/ But il is no mere cleft. It Is a tor
rife trough 5000 to 1000 feet deep
1 ten To twenty miles wide, hundreds OF
| miles long, rcop!ed with hundreds OF
peaks taller than any mountain cas-,
| OF the Rockies, Yet not one OF them
| with It's head so high AS your feet
! and all ablazc with such color as no
eastern or European Landscape ever
knew, even IN the Alpcn- glow. And
as YOU sit upon the brink the divine
scene shutters give YOU Il new canyon
every hour. With each degree Of the
| SUMS course the great countersun!;
mountains We have been watching fade
away. and nov ones. as terrific are
carved by the wcstcrng shadows. IL
! Is like dissection Of the whole eos
mogony. And the purple shadows, tho
dazzling lights. the manifestations aud
snowstorms. the clouds ana tho rain
| bows that shift and drift III that vast
subterrancan arena below your feet,
| And amid those enchanted towers and
castles which the vhstncs8 Of the scale
leads YOU To call rocks" but which
as the Rockies from Denver. and big
! ger than Mount WASHINGTON from
, Fabyan's or the Glen.
The Grand Canyon country Is not
only the hugest, but the most varied
and Instructive example on earth Of
! one of tho chief factors Of earth build.
, nC-erosion. 1t is the mesa country--
! the Land of Tables. Nowhere else on
! the footstool is there such an cXainple
OF deep SuawinS water or water high
| carving. The sandstone mcSas of the
Southwest. the terracing Of canyon
| walls. the cast relation. battIcmcniin:.
and elm making. the cutting down OF
, 4 whole landscape except its precautions
| islands OF flat-topped rock the thin
lava tabiecloths on tables 100 feet
F.. hiSh-ticse are Il few of the things
/ which make the Southwest wonderful
alike to the scientist and the mere
| sightsecr
That the canyon Is not too hard"
| IS perhaps sufficiently indicated by the
| fact that i have taken ladies and chill
dren and men in their seventies when
/ the easiest way to get there was by u
aevcnty-inilc stage ride. and that at