Genre:

Short Fiction, Travelogue

Subjects:

Geology, Engineering, Controversy

    Details how four 'busy brain-workers' from the 'modern Athens [i.e. Boston]' and the 'modern Gotham [i.e. New York]' take a holiday by travelling up the Ottawa river in Canada (327). On the boat trip they see the 'grand old mountains' of Carillon 'containing much that is dear to the heart of the geologist', which are 'stated to be the oldest geological formation on the continent'. When one of their fellow passengers declares that in fact the 'great glory of Carillon is its dam' which is the 'largest in the world', there ensues a 'controversy' over what is really the world's biggest dam (another suggestion is one in the 'Sierra Nevada Mountains [...] over a hundred feet high') which is settled in favour of the Carillon Dam by the opinion of the boat's captain. (336)