22 
FORMER MANCHESTER TEACHER 
SCALES MT. HECLA. 
Waterman S. C. Russell, head of the 
scientife department of the Technical 
High school of Springfield and a mem- 
bet of the Arctic club of America, and 
his wife returned to Springfield Monday 
night from an eventful trip of 10 weeks 
to Iceland, where they ascended Mt. 
Hecla, one of the three greatest vol= 
canoes of the world. ‘The intrepid 
travelers had the honor of unfurling the 
only American flag that was ever thrown 
to the breeze on a volcano in the Arctic 
regions. 
Mr. Russell is well known in Man- 
chester, being at one time principal of 
the High school. 
The summer in Iceland is of brief dur- 
ation, lasting only through June and July, 
but with the aid of the midday as well as 
the midnight sun, Mr. Russell accom- 
plished much scientific research besides 
investigating the big volcano. In an in- 
terview published in Wednesday’s Globe 
he said: 
** We reached Reykjavikon July 12 at 
midnight, and found the sun shining. 
This was after an interesting horseback 
ride of 400 miles on Iceland ponies. 
**T went there expressly for geological 
purposes, and principally to make the 
ascent of Mt. Hecla. The ascent of 
the famous volcano was made July 20 by 
Mrs. Russell and myself, and we had 
the pleasure of unfurling the only Amer- 
ican flag that was ever unfurled on a 
volcano in the Arctic regions. 
‘* Mt. Hecla, according to the meas- 
urements, is 5050 feet above sea level. 
It contains two cones, and the principal 
crater is inthe higher cone. ‘The last 
3000 feet of altitude of the mountain is 
almost entirely covered with snow, and 
the crater is filled with snow around its 
rim. ‘The center is empty and remark- 
ably dry. The volcano, though not ac- 
tive, is not dead, and signs point to an 
eruption of tremendous proportions in 
the near future. 
** Hecla should be classed with Vesu- 
vius and Etna for frequency and violence 
of its eruptions, but the loss of life being 
so much less there than in those densely 
populated countries, its fame is not so 
widespread. It is one of the three 
greatest volcanoes in the history of the 
world. There is no volcano which 
shows such evidences of a great outpour- 
ing of lava. In 1848 it was in constant 
eruption for severalmonths, and its ashes 
obscured the sun and were blown to the 
Shetland islands and to Norway. 
‘*T he mountain sent out streams of 
lava to the south which Mrs. Russell 
and myself traversed for 10 miles. The 
mountain is literally a great dome in the 
center of a cultivated field, and the evi- 
dences that it had wrought fearful de- 
struction among the farmers years ago 
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A GRAND AUTUMN OUTING. 
IN THE HEART OF VACATION LAND. Sy y er 
SCENERY AND CLIMATE 
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VISIT THE GREAT WONDER PLACES y 
Where every mile brings something interesting 
and beautiful into view, and enjoy many de- 
lightful experiences. 
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Don’t Miss the Trip to the Summit of Mount 
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were to be seen on every hand. Like 
the dwellers near Vesuvius, those people 
are unmindful of the past, as their farms 
are situated close to the edge of the lava 
fields. 
“* We found our rainproof duck suits, 
which resemble khaki, entirely satisfac- 
tory for shedding water as we rode all 
day on horseback through a driving’ 
storm without getting wet and with com- 
parative comfort. We visited Geysers 
and the Reykennes peninsula. ‘The lat- 
ter is covered with boiling springs and 
solfatara. Solfatara is a district where 
the dense volumes of solfa percolate 
through the ground. There are hun- 
dreds of thousands of tons of solfa on 
the slopes of hills or so-called extinct 
craters. 
““ We spent the remainder of our time 
studying the people, their customs and 
manners, and while doing this we lived 
among the former. 
““On Aug. 8 we continued our 
journey to Denmark, where we spent 
the rest of our time in the Danish mus- 
eum of northern antiquities. I have 
been a student of Arctic conditions since 
MAINE 
A RAILROAD 
I was a boy and I went to Denmark to 
carefully examine the material collected. 
I found that the Danish museum 
contained a much better collection of the 
North American Indian and Eskimo than 
we have here in this country. It also 
has a much better collection of the Sib- 
erlan tribes.”’ 
Mr. Russell said that the specimens 
found in Iceland were not such as would 
attract the attention of a lay visitor to a 
science museum, yet to a geologist Ice- 
land was one of the best fields for the 
study of the formative principles at first 
hand. His collection will be placed in 
the science museum of Springfield and 
includes specimens and very old and new 
lava and some excellent crystals. 
Iceland, Mr. Russell stated, contains 
no granite, metamorphic or crystalized 
stone nor sandstone. He_ took his 
camera with him and obtained many 
good pictures. 
Lamson & Hubbard straw hats at 
Bell’s. ** 
Ladies Belt* Buckles at -E. -A.” Leth- 
bridge’ s. adv 
