Letter from John Muir to J[oseph] C. Powell, 1901 Oct 15.

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1901
• Subjects: Environmentalist; naturalist; travel; conservation; national parks; John Muir; history; correspondence; letters; Arctic; Lone
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/4467; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/muir-correspondence/article/5483/viewcontent/muir11_0885_let.pdf

Martinez, Cal. Oct 15/01Mr J. C. Rowell.Dear SirI cannot, I'm sorry to say, throw any light on the enclosed amusing fragments father than that they seem to have been written by my old friend Dr Wm P. Gibbons.Yours trulyJohn Muir "Fair blooming shrubbery here Holds but short life through the years, The prim Lonicera is sweet Its bloom life is here a rich treat: - But of this lone-ice-era I'm tired & weary And I long other flowers to greet."Then John rose from the glacier - Stretch'd out his full measure, And down 10,000 feet, it did seem He slid on his beam, And with [boulders?] a score; Like mad, they all tore And landed on [Yunka's?] fair stream!And he fast walk'd & ran As Muir always can, Leaving glaciers, & mountains, & trees Together, in masses, to freeze, Making his way Toward the ocean bay Thence South, more than 20 degrees.And on Wednesday night-last He most solemnly cast His arctic thermometer And a[illegible]id barometer In a cold grave On the heartless wave And took to a gynephilometer. (Found in Matthi[illegible] - Vom Krautereien [diacritic]given by Dr. Wm P. GibbonsHaving read this, Gill wiped both eyes dry, & giving his head a graceful bob, he disappeared like an xploded torpedo. The [illegible] A profound silence ensued, & the xpert member seem'd to be absorbed in reverie, & was only roused from it by a sharp crack of gavel, when he heav'd a deep sigh, & said in a low voice "Shades of Hogarth." No one knew the meaning of this until - minutes of - meetg were being gathered up, & the accompanying cartoon was found among the papers. where? How much longer this poetic cyclone wd have lasted no one can tell, had not - Chairman xhausted his stock of common sense by calling - Committee to order & insisting on - members speaking to question, "Shall - Club have an anniversary celebration?" There was an unanimous xpression - approbation, & then came another question "What shall be the programme of this celebration?" Here discordant elements seemed to break out, in ...