El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-03-24

the surface of the waves Further
south. along the Aleutian islands. the
sea is much deeper. and ia places II
reaches TO q depth Of almost two miles.
Near the Aleutian islands ara the great
banks. somewhat like those OF New
fOundland, upon which feed tens Of
millions of cod and haiibut. They are
among the best fishing banks OF the
world and are a big asset in our aquat-
ic wealth
Ice Comes in Night
Navigation - open early in June
and il closes about The middle OF OctO-
Der. The ships often break their way
in through floating ice. and they go
out chased by Jack Frost The ice
comes TO Nome almost in a night II
freezes first along the shore. and the
whole sea becomes mushy. The water
looks as though IL was covered with
white caps. the caps being slush- Then
a cold spell viii come. aud the sea VIII
freeze far out from the shore. The
ice may not he thick at first and il
breaks with the tide and floats away.
II the wind blows toward the shore.
= is driven on to the beach and banks
Up When the winter IS established
there IS ice everywhere near the shore.
II sometimes extends from ;sOIne a. far
as Nunivak island and itroars in from
the Arctic ocean through Bering strait
Use Cage for Landing.
When the ice breaks in tine spring
il goes almost Is fast as Il comes IN
the fall. 4 channel may form between
the shore and the solid body OF ice and
there may be a river of water with
banks Of ice on each side Sometimes
the first passengers are landed upon
the ice and the ships are frozen in
Later the ice disappears and the land
ing has TO be done IN great cage that
runs on a trolley from station near
the ship across the water to the shore.
shall FORGET first sight a
the Aleutian islands We had passed
no land for two days when We came
Ia the Island Of Unimak, which is AZ
the end of the Alaska peninsula. and
which forms the beginning Of the great
chain OF islets that reaches from
Alaska almost TO Asia
The islands lie in q great crescent
which look like stepping stones on the
face OF the sea They form the are
of a great circle reaching from the
Unimak lies on our side OF the world,
and Attu. the last of our islands. Is in
the orient. 1900 miles distant and not
very far >from Kamchatka- We have a
coaling station on the Island Of kiska.
which is in the eastern hemisphere.
and there the evening twilight has not
disappeared when the sun is rising in
Maine John Bull often boasts that
the sun never sets On British posses
sions. The same is true of Uncle Sans
and the Philippine archipelago.
Are Volcanic.
The Aieutian islands arc volcanic They
are the heads Of volcanoes which have been
almost drowned in the sea- The island NJ
Cnimsk has two active volcanoes. but the
heads OF both were lost in the clouds when
we sailed by. The hiEhest Of these noun
aims has an altitude OF more than 9009 Zee.
Il is known as Shishaidin- We could q
plainly 'Se sailed through Unimsk pass
The foothills were green. but far up the
sides the grass was lost In the suog OF the
mountains and the peak was hidden IL
clouds
During our passage the sun seemed 10 set
between the ship and the island There
was a great black cloud floating "a the
sky between US and Inimzi-. Out Of the bot
tom Of the cloud came four broad shaft q
light. making translucent veil. as Il were.
between the ship and the island. and los
ing themselves in the sea These shafts were
OF rainbow hues and through them we could
plainly see the smoky outlines OF the island
beyond. The rays Of the sun seemed to
mark the end Of this side OF the world and
Unimak to belong to the other side. Above