The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1915-10-08

nous bulk whose glittering
armored body rises. three
- miles into the sky, with TWEEN
ty or more huge wrinkled
arms reaching down among thousands
Ut acres of the most gorgeous and
luxuriant wild flowers, to squirt, from
each finger tip, river of ice water
into the valley below!
Surely quotation from the Ara
bian Nights Or a ghost tale to
brighten children on Halloween!
But no. however flgurative, this is
q true statement of an actual fact.
There really exists such an ice-arm-
ored octopus in these United States.
It is a justifiable description of the
most interesting mountain in Uncle
Sans dominions, and perhaps in the
world.
Mount Rainier is in the state of
Washington, Sc miles southwest of
Tacoma. 1t is one of that celebrated
range of volcanoes which were sup
posed to be extinct until, within the
year, Lassen peak broke forth again
Rainier. though supporting one of the
most remarkable single-peak glacial
systems in the world, emits steam
from certain crevices, evidence OF oonr
tinued internal heat.
Seen from Tacoma or Seattle, the
vast mountain appears to rise direct
iy from sea level, so insignificant
seem the ridges about it's base. Yet
these ridges themselves are of no
mean height They rise 5000 to 1000
feet above the valleys that cut
through them, and their crests aver
age 5000 feet In altitude. Thus at
the southwest entrance to the Mount
Rainier National park, which congress
created to protect this natural mar
vel from private encsoachment. the
elevation above sea level is 1000 feet,
while Goat mountain, close by, rises
to an altitude of 6.045 feet.
Is a VerItabIe Colossus.
But SO colossal are the proportions
of the great volcano that they dwarf
even mountains of this size and give
them the appearance of mere foot
hills. In height Rainier is second in
the United States only to Mount Whit
ney.
Mount Rainier stands. in round num-
bers, 10000 feet high above its imme-
diate base and covers 100 square
miles of territory. In shape it is not
simple cone tspering to slender
pointed summit like Fujiyama. the
great volcano OF Japan. 1t is rather
broadly truncated mass resembling
an enormous tree stump with spread
ing base and irregularly broken top.
It's life history has been a varied
one. Like all volcanoes, Rainier has
| built up its cone with the materials
| elected by its own eruptions-with
| cinders and steam-shredded particles
and Jumps OF lava and with occasional
flows of liquid lava that have solidi-
fed into layers of hard basaltic rock.
At one time 1t attained an altitude Of
not less than 10000 feet. II one may
| Judge by the steep inclination of the
lava and cinder layers visible IN its
tanks. Then followed a great explo-
sion that destroyed the top part OF
| thC huOuhtoih anu icuhttu lls OtlGnt
by some 1000 feet The volcano was
left beheaded, with capacious hol-
low crater surrounded by Jagged
rim.
Later on this great cavity. which
measured nearly three miles across
from south 10 north, was filed by two
small cinder cones. Successive feeble
eruptions added to their height until
at last they formed together a low
rounded dome-the emmence that
now constitutes the mountains sum.
nit. The higher portions OF the old
crater rim rise to elevations within a
few hundred feet of the summit and
especially when viewed from below
stand out boldly as separate peaks
that mask and seem to overshadow
the central dome
Hard to Establish Altitude.
The altitude OF the main summit
has for many years been in doubt
Several figures have been announced
from tirle to time, no two of them in
agreem emit with each other: but all OF
these. II is to be observed. were oh
tanned by more or less approximate
Methods. In 1913 the United States
geological s'1vey, in connection With