Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-09-05
Peak CIImbing-NarrOw Escape.

Henry NJ. Morris narrowly eseap,
ed violent death on Pixies Peak
ten DAYS ago. The circumstance
are told by the Denver (Col-) Netcs;
Mr.. Morris started to descend to
where his horse was hitched, near
the timber line. Suddenly huge
black cloud, which, a few minutes
before, had been tumbllng about the
westward, settled down around the
peak, and the snow commenced to
fall, and the wind, strong at first,
became a tempest. Morris blinded
by the snow, which beat against him
in clouds, nearly taking his breath,
took the wrong trail, the one lead
ing to the brink OF the crater, .
chasm second only to that of 1OSe-
mite. Reaching pile of bOulders,
where the trail seemed to be lost, he
commenced to Chamber over them,
when he slipped and rolled and droL-
ned twenty-five feet, striking on a
shelving rock, three feet wide and
eight feet long. His head was
5ashed III two places, his body COY
cred with bruises, and the blood
poured freely from his wounds. Il,
was stunned by the fall, but recov-
ng his consciousness, and fearing /
move, he punched himself again t
the rock at his back, and awaited
the abatement of the storm. When
ne wind lowered, and the snow
ceased falling, and the sun shone
again, Morris saw at glance the
awfalness of his situation. Abeve
him, and on both sides of him, the
rocks seemed almost perpendicular.
Below him, Just over the shelf upon
which he lay, was chasm of 1000
feet deep, the sight of which appall-
ed his senses.
AR . Orris, however, is man Of
calm Judgment, and, as soon as he
recovered from the first shock, he
decided to make the best of the situ-
alton, come what would. He divided
his luncheon into nine different parts
calculating to eat one part every
day, and so prolong life at least nine
lays. he saw no one on the noun
tain that afternoon. That night a
terrific hail-storm occurred. The
wind chilled him to the marrow, and
his suffering was intense. After the
storm the hailstones were four inches
deep against his back. Taking
from his pocket a bottle, from which
the whisky had been spilled in the
fall, he filled it with hail, and thus
secured a small quantity of water.
On Friday, about noon, he saw two
men climbing trail, and called to
them with all his strength, but after
listening a moment, they passed on
and disappeared behind ledge of
rocks. Those were the only persons
he saw that day. That night the
clouds poured out a torrent of rain.
The rocks at his back afforded him
no shelter, and he was wet to the
skin, and very cold beside. He fear
ed that he might become delirious
and jump off into that awful gorge.
So all through Friday night he rub
bed his legs and swung his arm
about his head. He knew that to
fall asleep was death.
Saturday morning about eight
O'Clock three men appeared on a
point of rocks a short distance from
where Morris was sitting. One of
the men was Dick Templeton, a
famous Pixies Peak guide, and the
others were Spencer Harris and
Reubin Healey, residents of Mani
tOu, and well acquainted with noun
tain trails. Dick Templeton, lead
er of the searching party, had left
Manitou in the conviction that Nor
ris would be found, if found at all,
somewhere about the brink of the
crater, as it is called. When Nor
ris saw him he called them. They
heard him and answered. But his
voice, instead of coming straight to
them, split into thousand echoes,
and they were at loss to locate
him. Finally, after fruitless search
with the eyes, Templton hallooed to
Morris to waive his handkerchief,
and to keep it in motion, and in this
way his exact whereabouts was de-
tected. Morris asked if they had
rope, and being answered that they
had not, he despairingly threw up
his hands, and in a low voice, which
but family conveyed to them in
echoes, said: "You can't save me
without rope" But they rescued
him, nevertheless, and without
rope, though only by the hardest
work. The men with Templeton
in the lead, worked their way down
to withln-a few feet of Morris, and,
by the aid of his long linen coat,
which he twisted and fastened under
his arms, they succeeded in lifting
and dragging him up over the preci-
pice. They helped him along to the
trail, tied him to the back of horse,
and started down the mountain
Four times on their way down they |
fitted him off to let him sleep awhile.
When brought to the Manitou Hotel,
dive and as well as could be ex-
1ected, there was great commotion
lmong the people, for nobody dream
ID that he could survive.