Show A NATURAL ICEBOX And Other Oddities of the Earth and Water Hidden deep among the hills in northeastern north-eastern Iowa there exists one of the wonder won-der works of nature The ice cave at Decorah in Winneshiek county Ia while it presents no particular feature of beauty is one ol the two or three ice caves in the world Nature has aealt bountifully with the little town of Decorah I nestles in I one of the most beautiful and picturesque valleys of the state of IowaThe Land of the Beautiful View To the north of the town a half mile extends for a mile east and west what Is called the Palisade This is a precipitous formation worn by the action of water ages and ages ago The cliff is 250 feet high and at its base winds in and out among the trees the beautiful Iowa river A steep ascent of nearly two hundred feet and the visitor comes to the mouth of the ice cave I must be visited in the summer however as it is at that time that its most remarkable feature is tms disclosed in all its glory Take the very hottest day in July or August and after having clambered up the cliff to the mouth of the cave one is in excellent ex-cellent condition to appreciate this natural icebox There is a ledge extending out perhaps forty feet from the entrance and as soon as this is reached one can already feel the icy draft caused by the aircurrents passing in and out of the cave The people of Decorah have placed a large frame at the entrance to the cave in order to prevent pre-vent it being closed by the rocks which are continually falling from the cliff above Entering the cave the air grows colder and colder There are two compartments to the cave The first extends in and downward nearly seventylive fee when a sharper slope of fifteen feet is reiched and If the thermometer registers 100 degrees de-grees in the shade outside you may be sure to find here a natural toboggan slide This is the first indication of ice end some visitors vis-itors are allowed to take the lead at this point owing to the astonishing surprise awaiting them A step or two on this in i cline and the visitor is precipitated clear to I the bottom the slope being glazed with a coating of ice about three inches thick The slide brings updown ratherto the ice cave proper This is a cavern 40 feet In length rang inrr from 8 to 10 feet wide and so hich in places that the top can not be seen I is formed by a rift in the rocff and while I there is an opening above somewhere it eludes all search and so far as is known has never been found Beneath above and at all sides it is one mass of pure ice two three and in some places eight inches thick The ice is a transparent a pane of glass and In the rock beneath the ice the remains of snails fish and eels may be seen I you chip off the ice and break off a piece of the rock It will remain damp and cool for an hour after having left the cavo A few minutes is as long as one dare remain re-main in this natural refrigerator owing to the high temperature of the blood at this time of the year The hotter and dryer the atmosphere the thicker the Ice will be in the cave and on the other hand when it is cold enough to nip your earl while walking half a block > inside the cave it is warm and damp and tile drip drip of the water as it costinualli falls from the rocks above reminds one of spring or tho dropping of rain after an April shower from the eaves of a summer cottage The cave is renowned in the legends of the Chickasaw ant Winneshiek Indians Loss than sixty years ago old Decorah chief of all the Winneshieks used It for preserving dressed game such as deer and antelope Decorah is a town of 4UCO inhabitants Dubuque in-habitants about 125 miles northwest of Some Monster Dams It is to be hoped that the gigantic dams which are being erected in the west for irrigating ir-rigating purposes are being constructed soidly enough to insure the safety of the people living in the valleys below them Persons who have never seen an irrigation dam have but a slight conception of their immensity The following are the dimensions dimen-sions of four of the largest that have been completed within the last year 1he Walnut Grove dam near Prescott Ariz 110 feet high inclosing 750 acres with 1 capacity of 4000000COO gallons 2The Merced dam Central California 1 mile mie long CO feet high 650 acres capacity 5500000000 gallons 3Sweewater River dam near San Diego CalO feet high 725 acres capacity 6000000000 gallons 4The Bear Valley dam in San Bernardino i Bernar-dino county Cal is CO feet high Inclosing 2250 acres ana will hold 10000000000 gallons gal-lons of waterSt Louis Republic Lantl Transformed by Ants A traveler in Central Australia has discovered dis-covered that the surface of the country has been greatly changed by what may appear at first thought a ridiculous agencythe white ants On plain and in thickets their I nests are so numerous that it is difficult to drive among them The clay with which the nests are built is when cemented with resinous matter as hard as brick and when the nests fall to pieces they form clay flats almost impervious to water and not easily cut up by traffic The work of these creatures can be studied in all stages first in the thickets where they are commencing com-mencing work then in the more open country where they have crowded out the timber next on the plains where half the hills will be found deserted and lastly on I the clay Hats where they have almost entirely en-tirely disappeared and the scrub has began I to grow again The nests are further re I markable for the large proportion of iron I they contain A Promising Product The manufacture of a new disinfectant and deodorant called Sauridod has been commenced at Maryhill Eng It is a residual resi-dual product of an uncommon kind of blackstone shale which is composed of I animal and vegetable lemains is remarkably remark-ably light and yields a large proportion of I a heavy volatile oil The oil is extract d by distillation and the residual product is reduced to grains of different sizes Jrains diferent varying vary-ing from a five powder to the size of 1 pea The powder is claimed to have an instantaneous instan-taneous effect upon obnoxious matter while also being tasteless and colorless and harmless to all animal life In the granulated granu-lated form the substance acts powerfully for filtering and sweetening water Tho oi mixed with other substances is used asa as-a manure which combines the qualities of a fertilizer and a powerful insecticide The Deepest Mine The St Andre de Poirer mine of Franco is the deepest in the world It is now worked 4000 feet below the surface |