Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1922-12-27

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety Washington. d. Co
On the Alaskan peninsula, out OF
reach just now but more accessi Die
than was the Yellowstone national
park when it was established, Ameri'
cans possess a wonderful national
monument and potential rival for
Yellowstone about which many OF
them know little. 1t is the Valley OF
Ten Thousand Smokes, q wonderful
area of Steaming assures unlike any
thing else in the world. This marvel
Gus valley may be considered q by
product Of the great eruption OF Kat
mai volcano in 1912, one of the most
StupendouS volcanic explosions in his
tOric times The existence of the val
ley was not even suspected until an
expedition sent out by the National
Geographic society to study other
phases of the devastated area sudden
~ came upon its myriads of fumar0les
sending their faint wisps and roaring
volumes OF steam into the atmos-
phere.
This is one of the greatest wonders
Of the world, if not indeed the very
greatest of all the wonders on the
face of the earth. The valley cannot
be described; only after one has spent
many days within it's confines does one
begin to grasp the proportions.
To one coming for the first time into
hut hn
nest of rinds between himself ana
molten material below. Several times
when members of the exploring party
accidentally put a foot through Il thin
place in the crust, steam came spout
ing out of the hole, forming u new
fumar0le. But it was always one foot
only and the owner did not take long
to get it out.
In many places the valley round
about the vents is covered with Pc
culiar blue mud, thinly coated with a
chestnut brown crust. which some
times supports one and sometimes
gives way suddenly, letting one down
to his shoetops in the soft, scaiding
mud beneath. At such times one is
apt to feel that his feet are taking
hold on hell in very truth, particular
~ IL the place happens to look tick
lish" otherwise.
Vents All Down the Valley.
The area in which the vents occar
Is not a simple valley but includes q
complicated system of branches, the
whole forming tract Of very irreglf-
lar shape. The main line of activity
extends directly transverse to the
axis of the Alaskan peninsula from
Katmai pass northwestward toward
the head Of Naknek lake In this di-
rection vents occur all the way down
the valley as far as the bend to the
north. There is clear evidence that
when the steam jets burst forth this
line of activity also extended straight
across the pass and down through the
upper valley of Mageik creek to OBJ
servation mountain.
Activity occurs in various branches
of the main valley. The total length
of all of these smoking valleys is 81
Eoiles. The area is 20 square miles,
the average width being something
over two miles.
One of the questions most frequent
ly asked by persons interested in the
region Is whether or not there are
geysers. None was observed, and the
conditions are such as to make their
development unlikely for the present.
Geysers belong to declining stage
of volcanic activity, while the present
region is in youthful stage. A gey-
ser consists essentially of a column
of hot water mixed with steam. which
Is periodically projected into the air
by the sudden formation of the steam
from water gradually heating up to
the boiling point
A geyser can exist, therefore. onlv
In rock cool enough to permit the ac-
cumlation of the water. The vents
of this steaming valley are so hot
that they would instantly vaporize
any ordinary quantity of water that
might find its way into them. One
can readily see that If the valley cools
off gradually there may come a time
favorable for the formation of gey-
sers.
To attempt any catalogue of the in
dividual vents or any description of
them would be utterly futile. They
vary all the way from microscopic
jets of gas to mighty columns of
smoke which overtop the mountains.
To explore the valley thoroughly and
become acquainted with the charac-
ters of the various vents would re-