The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-09-24
OUR ICY OCTOPUS.
Mount Rainier and Its Majestic
Frozen Rivers.
GRlPPED BY GIANT GLACIERS
Their Huge, Wrinkled, Frosty Arms
Reach Down and Out Among the
Most Luxuriant Masses of Wild Flow
ers to Be Found In This Country.

whose g1ttering armOred DOdy rises
three miles into the sky, with twenty
or more huge wrinklcd arms reaching
down among thousands of acres of the
most gorgeous and luxuriant wild flow
ers to squirt from each fingertip riv-
er of ice water into the valley below!
Surely quotation from the "Arabi-
an Nights" or a ghost tale to frighten
children on Halloween.
But no. However iigurative. this is
true statement of an actual fact.
There really exists such an ice armor-
ed octopus in these United States. 1t
is justiiiable description of the most
interesting mountain In Uncle Sans
dominions and perhaps in the world.
Mount Rainier is in the state of
Washington, fifty-six miles southwest
of Tacoma. 1t Is one of that celebrat-
ed range of volcanoes which were sup
posed to be extinct until Lassen peak
broke forth again. Rainier, though
supporting one of the most remarkable
single peak glacial systems in the
world, emits steam from certain crew
ices, evidence of present internal heat.
| In height Rainier Is second in the
| United States only to Mount Whitney.
The altitude of the main summit has
for many years been in doubt. Several
| figures have been announced from time
to time, no two of them in agreement
with each other, but all of these, it is
to be observed, were obtained by more
or less approximate methods. In 1913
the United States geological survey, in
connection with its topographic sur
veys of the Mount Rainier National
park, made new series of measure
ments by triangulation methods ut
close range These give the peak an
elevation of H. 40S feet. This last fig
ure is not likely to be in error by more
than a foot or two and may with some
confidence be regarded as final Great
er exactness OF determination is scarce
ly practicable in the case of Mount
Rainier, as its highest summit con
sists actually of mound of snow, the
height of which naturally varies some
what with the seasons and from year
to year
This crowning snow mound, which
was once supposed to be the highest
point in the United States, still bears
the proud name Of Columbia crest. 1t
Is essentially II huge snowdrift or
snow dune heaped up by the furious
westerly Winds
Six great glaciers originate at the
very summit They are the Nisqually,
the Ingraham, the Emmons, the Win
throp, the Tahoma and the Kautz ga-
ciers. But many of great size and
statelness are born of the SHOWS in
rock pockets or Cirques-ice sculptured
bowls of great dimensions and ever
increasing depth-from which they
merge into the glistening armor of the
huge volcano. The most distinguished
of these are the Cowlitz, the Paradise,
the Frying Pan, the Carbon, the Rus
sell, the North and South Mowlch, the
Puyallup and the Pyramid glaciers
More than twenty glaciers, great ant
small, clothe Rainier-rivers of ice. Will
many OF the characteristics of rivers oI
water roaring at times over precipice'
like waterfalls, ripping and tumblins
down rocky slopes, veritable noisy cas-
cades, rising smoothly up OF hiddel
rocks to foam, brooklike, over It's lowe
. edges.
Each glacier, whether originating a
the bright summis CT In vast springlik
cirques, begins In even, Immaculate
snow. A thousand feet or so below !
= attains sufficient density and weigh
= to acquire movement. Here, looking
= down into crevasse, one sees nothln;
but clean snow, piled In lsyers-slight
l. ly compacted and loosely granua
snow, called neye in the Swiss Alps
,. Gradually us the current sweeps alon
u 1t compacts, under the pressure and th
@ surface MEETINGS, into hard, dense, blu
ice
e In glowing contrast to this marvelou
T. spectacle of ice are the gardens of will
II flowers surrounding the glaciers, push
e ing, wherever the rock and ice will PEI
II NIT. up the giant slopes. These flow
u cry spots are called parks-Spray parl
IS St. Andrews park, Henry's huntir
ground, Paradise. Summerland an
n many others.
n above the forests" writes job
lie Muir. there is zone of the lovelies
Il flowers, fifty miles In circuit and neal
II ly two miles wide, so closely plante
and luxurious that 1t seems as If nj
IN ture, glad to make an open space bt
W tween woods so dense and Ice so deel
were economizing the precious groun
er and trying to see how many Of he
Is darlings she can get together in on
mountain wreath--daisies, anemone
y, columbine. erythroniums, larkspur
IL etc, among which We wade knee dee
at and waist deep, the bright corollas
r. myriads touching petal to petal. Alt
IS gether this is the richest subalpine gu
ne den have ever found. a perfect tlowt
rh elysium,"
III The lower attitudes of the park al
e densely timbered with fir, cedar. hen
lock, maple. alder, cottonwood an
ID. spruce. The forested areas, eXtendiu
i'm To an altitude of about 6,500 feet, graf
to ually decrease In density of growt
after an altitude of 1000 feet is reacl