The Alaska daily empire., 1918-03-06

Church. who had shiyered for gve hours, even with the extra clothes of all three of us. Once across the gullies, which were more than ever a terror to us, now that we were nearly exhausted, we made good speed back to camp, which we reached a little after 10 o'clock.
 Here we found that the river, showing the effects of the warm weather on the snow-fields, was beginning to rise so rapidly that we were afraid of being caught miserably on the wrong side. How we wished we could have returned and explored the wonderful valley we had discovered! But we were not equipped for such an under taking and it was better to get back with what we had than to risk it all for the sake of more. So, hoping that we might be per mitted to returnN and finish the job, I've decided on a move, and before five o'clock the next morn ing we were up and breaking camp The event proved that we had lost nothing, for, although the boat to take us back to Kodiak did not come for ten days, only once in that time did the clouds break away again.
 Looking back at the work after one has time to forget the eX- citement and labor of the daily routine and take ealmer suvcy of the results, the one thing which stands out is the great magnitude of the eruption. Evident from the first reports, this has grown with increasing knowledge. No one, not even those of us who have lived in the desolation of the thing can form any adequate conception of the stupendous catyclasm that occurred.
 The explosion is easily to be ranked among the first dozen known within historic times. Pre-. viously Krakatoa has held first place in the minds of most, but the quantity of material thrown out by Katmai was so much greater as to put it into an altogether different class Indeed, the whole by their effect on human affairs that an eruption like this in ar uninhabited district seems unim- portant in comparison, for example wit af
 loss of life. Yet there may have been in the present case tornadoes of hot gas greater than that which overwhelmed St. Pierre anC
 killed 25,000 people; but the de
 struction by other agencies was SC
 great as to leave little evidence oi
 them if they occurred.
 The magnitude of the eruption
 can perhaps be best realized i one could imagine similar out
 of Krakatoa could be dropped in l to the crater of Katmai.
 i We so inevitably estimate thu
 magnitude of natural phenomena burst centered in New York City | III outn q tdAdoti opbt all Ol dItdttl
 New York would be buried under ten or fifteen feet of ash and sub | jected to unknown horrors from hot gases. The column of steam ant
 ashes would be plainly visible be yond Albany, but the continued ac.
 tivity of the volcano would probably I prevent any one from approaching for several months to view the ruin,
 nearer than Patterson, N. J. Philadelphia would be covered | by a foot of gray ash and would l grope in total darkness for sixty hours. Washington and Buffalo
 would receive quarter of an inch with a shorter period of darkness
 Small quantities of ash would fall over all of the Eastern States as far as the gulf coast.
 The sounds of the explosions
 would be heard as far as Atlanta and St. Louis. The fumes would be noticed as far as Denver, San An tonic, and Jamaica.
 Not even the most vivid imagina- tion could picture the destruction of life and property which would result from such an eruption in thickly populated country. We may be profoundly grateful that we have had youchsafed us such a won derful opportunity to study the pre- nomena of volcanoes without any of the horrors usually attendant on their action