The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-09-13 00:00:00

MORE ALPINE ACCIDENTS.

The Swiss and Austrian papers publish a corre-
spondence from Liezen, in Styria, describing a lament-
able accident to a mountain-climber in that vicinity,
which lies to the north-east of Gastein. On the 18th
ult., Dr. Karl Foeltz, of Linz, on the Danube, re-
solved to make the ascent of the Taufig, one of the
highest peaks of the Styrian Alps, and, leaving his knap-
sack with the occupants of a chalet on the mountain,
he set out on his dangerous expedition alone, armed
with nothing beyond his telescope and guidebook.
Efforts were made to dissuade him from attempting
the ascent without a guide, as the Taufig is extraor-
dinarily precipitous, and even practised natives and
guides by profession cannot reach the summit without
the greatest difficulty and danger. Dr. Foeltz, how-
ever, would net listen to any argument, but started
out from the Sonnwendkoeperl on his ascent. For
nearly a week afterwards nothing was heard of him,
but at length, on the 24th ult., four officers act-
ing under the chief of the commune of Weissenbach
made a search for the missing gentleman, and suc-
ceeded in finding his body in a deep cleft or ravine
on the High Taufig. Decomposition had already set
in, so that it was evident the unfortunate traveller
had been but a short time on the mountain before
the accident befell him which resulted in his death.
The fearful injuries to the head, which were such
that death must have been instantaneous, had, as
was also shown by the position where the body was
found, been sustained by a fall down a rocky precipice
of terrible height. The searchers and discoverers bad
to draw up the body from the bottom of the abyss by
means of ropes, after which it was forwarded to Woer-
schach for interment. In the deceased's pocket was
found a letter, with the address of his brother in Vienna,
a circumstance which facilitated the identification
of the bcdy. The decee sed, who was a son of
Herr K. Foeltz, a mem of the Austrian Parlia-
ment, was only 27 }ear. of age, and is described
as a very talented young man whose University
career had given great promise for the future.
From the Bernese Oberland another fatal accident
is reported to have occurred almost on the very spot
where the young German student, Herr Wedding.
recently met with serious, if not fatal injuries. This
time, however, it was a native of the locality whom
misfortune befell. M. Leuenberger, a teacher, of
Berne, after a successful ascent, was coming down
from the Schyniger Platt, on the 25th ult., when he
slipped on the smooth grass and was precipitated into
the depths below. He was at once taken to the
nearest inn, where his injuries were found to be fortu-
nately of a less serious nature than had been antici-
pated, and are not expected to prove fatal..
Some strange fatalities have likewise recently
occurred in the Alps to non-human subjects. In
addition to the destruction of a whole flock of sheep,
147 in number, by lightning, at Lens, in the Canton
Grisons. which has already been mentioned in the
papers, a similar case happened about the same time
at Domleschg, above the Flimserstein, a large number
of sheep and goats having been killed by the electric
fluid there during a severe thunderstorm.