Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1894 — TOPICS OF THESE TIMES. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THESE TIMES.

I NEW NATIONAL PARK; A memorial to Congress for a new Na t ion a I Pa rk on the Pacific, near Puget Sound, to surround' and include the celebrated Mount Ranier, aas been presented by Senator Squire, of the State of Washington. The proposed reservation is of •special interest to scientific men md the project has been cordially indorsed by eminent men of dll callings. The territory is rich in nat■iral attractions. The great mountain abounds with ~ curious formations of various kinds, including jight glaciers. Mount Ranier is 14,000 feet high and is superb and inique in its boldness outline and the magnificent grandeur of its attitude. At one point the elevation reaches 11,000 feet within a dissublime sentinel there exists an entire colony of Arctic animals and slants as effectually isolated as if ocated on an island in mid-ocean. The same impenetrable forests that listinguish that entire section of country extend far up the mountain fide. To preserve these forests is in all-important object to the enure Pacific coast. In no other way ?an they be maintained in their jrimival condition. They are of un;old value to the plains below as vater preservers. Ex-Senator Edmunds, in honor of whom one of the glaciers is named, once spoke of the ocality. He said:

I never believed there was anything in America comparable in grandeur to the -cemory. I have-been -through 4hei»wiss naunt’ains, and I am compelled to own hat, incredible as the assertion may appear, there is absolutely no comparison between the finest effects that are ex hi bted- there and what is seen approaching jhis grand isolated mountain. 1 would be villing to go five hundred- miles again to: •ee that-seeno. This continent is yet in gnorance of the existence of what will be me of the grandest show places as well as i sanitarium.

Under the law by which this tract s now reserved, it cannot be entered >y any person, and remains the property of the United States, but he object of the scientific men who irepared the memorial is to have a National Park in which the governnent may prevent the destruction >f timber and the natural features nay remain undisturbed.