Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-09-05

/ The muleteer, at the time the accident oc-
Cured, was on the off side, which at this spot
was next the inner wall Of rock, so that he could
not, 10 such catastrophe OF moment, be of
any, rse, attached great blame to him for not
being between the mule and the edge of the
pteclpice, In which case be would have grasped
the poor lady as she fell. IL must be borne in
mind, however, that With the curves that here
are frequent, his position as to the dangerous
side OF the road changes; that is to say, in the
next curve he would have been In the pfoper
place. the precipice side Of tbe path. Those
drivers, howe 20 my thinking,do not attach
saficient ims,rtAnce 70 thes necessity OF the
head OF the animal being held; ia fact, as You
well know, they prefer TO take hold of the ami
malls tail, and be helped along themsel yes by
that means. ~ % bio - ~ S7'ts' iOa JlJ19 I
Whatsisarfal pass that Gen,mi is! After
getting gtothe hotel &C Leuk, I turned to Muir.
rays Hand book, and here Is what is said OF it:
"iiasg "The traveller finds himself on the
brink OF a precipice from which a plumb line
mightbe thrown into the valley below nearly
l6 600 ieet, almost without touching the rock.
SO vertical are its sides. Itis principally upop,
the faces Of q buttressp of this vast wall, that
one Of the most extraordinary Of all the Alpine
roads, constructed In 1885, by party OF Ty.
rolese, has been carried. LIS zigzags have
been very ingeniously contrived, for ID many
places the rocks overhang the path, and an up.
per terrace projects further OUT than the one
limmediatelys it. II varies IN width from
three TO i've feet, 10 bordered at the sides by Z
dry wall or railing, and is practicable FOR
mules There % no ddnger IN Il; and the ter.
rors have vanished Of late before improve a ents
aud baIus,raGes at the side. Il il NOT pleasant
Ito ride down; but on most Of the passes there
are places quite as'alarming to weak nerves, |"
''Thefeis no danger in it," SAYS the guide.
book, italics, mind, and also, sit 10 not pleas
ant TO ridedown.m pa Indeed! How will the writer
reconcile Che assertion with the terrible fact Of
this accident1 Have the s'terrors vanished be-
fore balustradee7pt The fac. is that there are no
"bAlustrades" or "dry walls" on tho path, and
the only thing in the way of protection, that I
saw on the pass, was here and there bit of rail-
Hog, dozen feet long, at points particularly
frighunl; but the railing was not Of sufliciens
strength to resist fall upon 1t Of beast OF man.
The compiler Of the book may argue that tho
lady could be thrown, over a "dry wallJ Or
"bslustrade" Of ordinary height; but how could
/ q body In its descent from one road roll over
the "dry wall" or "balustrade" of another. II
there was one1 Surely, the author could never
have been over the pass; and he may have gol
his information from the keepers OF hotels a
either side Of the Gemmi. .t,, A.,
This. fearful accident was followed By q, vic.
llent rain and hail storm, which aided In making
the scene on the mountain side most memors
BILE totbe leg persons on ". The rain and, hail
soon wasped the blood from the path, and ths
Alps OF switzerland are now free from gore
and await a new victim Of imEudence Of ons
Geneva, Augusta ,ieaas eEEpaH ~ y
Tn fhe ahova srnaian ,boIv l;iifa. f.i..soi