The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1865-09-05

| the only striking feature of which was the
assistance which Mr.. lladow, from want of
experience, frequently required, Mr.. Whym-
per proceeds as follows:
We remained on the summit for one
hour, aud during that timo Hudson and
consulted as we had dOno all the day, rs
to the best aud safest arrangement of the
party. We agreed that it would be best
for CroZ to so first, rs he was the most
| powerful, and lladow second Hudso",
who was equal to a guide in sureuess OF
foot, wished to be third Lord +. Douglas
was placed next and old Taugwalder, the
| strongest of the remainder behind him, |
suggested to Hudson that we should attach
rope to the rocks on our arrival at the
| difficult pit, and hold it as We descended
as an additional protection lie approved
| the idea, but it was not definitely settled
that it should be done. The party was ho.
ing arranged in the above order, while
was making a sketch OF the summit and
they were waiting for me to be tied in my
place, when some one remembered that we
had not left our names iu bottle they
requested me to write them, and moved oil
! while it was being done. A few minutes
afterward | tied myself to young Taugwal.
der and followed, catching them Just as
| they were commencing the descent of the
difficult part described above. The great
est care was being taken. Ouly one man
was moving at a time when he was firmly
| planted the next advanced, and SO on. The
average distance between each was proba-
bly, twenty feet They had not however
attached the additional ropes to rocks, and
nothing was said about it. The suggestion
was made entirely on account of Mr.. Hadow.
and | am not sure it even occurred to me
| again.
was as have explained, detached from
the others, aud following them but after
about quarter of an hour Lord F. Douglas
asked me to tic on to old Taugwalder, as
| he feared, he said, that if there was slip
Taugwaldcr would not be able to hold
him. This was done hardly ten minutes
| before the accident and undoubtedly saved
| Taug walders life.
Us far as know, at the moment of the
accident, no one was actually moving. |
cannot speak with certainly, neither can the
| Taug gwalders, because the two leading men
were par tally hidden from our sight by an
intervening mass of rock. Poor Croz had
laid aside his AK, and in order to give Mr.
lIadow greater security by absolutely talk
ing hold of his legs and putting his feet,
enc by one, into their proper positions
TlOlll tll6 lIONelneiltS VI ltlcu buOuluVIb IL
is my belief that Croz having done as
| have said, was in the act of turning round
to go down step or two himself at this
moment Mr.. lladow slipped, fell on him,
and Knocked him over. heard one star
tied exclamation from Croz, then saw him
and Mr.. Hadow flying downwards; in
another moment Hudson was dragged from
his steps and Lord F. Douglas Immediately
after him. Al this was the work of mo
ment; but Immediately wo heard Croz' $
exclamation, Taugwalder and myself planted
| ourselves as firmly as the IocllS would per.
NIT the rope was tight between us and
the shock came Oh us both as Oh one man
| We held; but the rope broke midway be-
tween Taugwaldcr and Lord +. Douglas.
For two or three seconds we saw our un-
fortunate companions sliding downwards
on their backs, and spreading out their
hands endeavoring to save themselves |;
they then disappeared one by one, aud fell
from precpice to precipce oa to the Mat
terhorn glacier be.ow, distance of nearly
1000 feet in height. From the moment the
rope broke it was impossible to help them
For the space of half an hour we re.
manned on the spot without moving a single
step. The two men, paraly2ed 10y terror,
cried like infants and trembled in such a
manner as to threaten us with the fate of
the others. Immediately we had descended
to a safe place | asked tor the rope that had
broken. and to my urprise-indeed, to my
horrOr-found that it was the weakest of
the three ropes. As the first FIVE men had
been tied while was sketch ny, | had moi
noticed the rope they employed, and now
could only conclude that they had seen fit
to use this in preference to the others. 1t
has been stated that the rope broke in con-
sequence Of its fraying over n rock; this is
not the case, it broke in mid-ar, and the
end does not show any trace of previous
injury.
For more than two hours afterward
thought every moment that the next would
be my last for the Taugwal lers, utterly
unnerved were not only incapable of giving
assistance, but were in such state that
slip might have been expected from one or
the other at any moment. | do the younger
man, moreover, no injustice when ! say that
Immediately after we got to the easy part of
the descent he was able to laugh, smoke
and cat as if nothing had happened. There
Is no occasion TO say more of the descent
| looked frequently, but in vain, for traces
of my unfortunate companions, and we
were in consequence, surprised by the
We arrived at Zermatt at 1880 on Saturday
morning.
Immediately on my arrival, sent to the
President of the Commune and requested
him to send as many men as possible to as.
cend heights whence the spot could be
commanded where | knew the four must
have fallen. A number went and returned
after six hours, reporting they had seen
them but that thew cOull not reach them
that day. They proposed starting on Sun
day evening, so as to reach the bodies at
daybreak on Monday; but unwilling to lose
the slightest chance, Rev. j. Mccormick aud
myself resolved to start on Sunday morn
ing. The guides Of Zermatt being threat
ened with accommodation if they did not
attend the early mass, were unable to ac-
company us. 70 several, at least am sure,
this was severe trial for they assured
me with tears that nothing but that which
| have stated would have prevented them
from going. Rev. j. Robertson and Mr. j.
Phllpotts, of Rugby, however, not only
lent us their guide, Franz Andermatten, but
also accompanied ms themselves. Mr.. Pull
Ter lent us the brothers Lochmatter; +. Pa
yot and j. Tairraz, of Chamounix, also vol
unteered. We started with these at 2 A,
NJ on Sunday, and followed the route we
had taken on Thursday morning, until we
had passed the lIonli, when we went down
to the right of the ridge and mounted to the
seracs of the MatterhOrn glacier. By $3.50
we had got on to the plateau at tho top.
and within sight of the corner in which we
knew my companions must be. AS we saw
one weather-beaten man after another raise
the telescope, turn deadly pale, and
saa 3 safifl "a IN "a MA