The crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1877-1878, 1877-10-11
AN AWFUL DEATH.
Hurled TO Death Down the Side of an
Alpine Mountain.

| From the London Daily Telegraph.
An Alpine accident, the most terrible,
perhaps, THAT ever occurred in the neigh
borhood of Zermatt, has caused the de-
struction of five persons, consisting Of
Mr.. W. A. Lewis, and Mr. N. II. Pater-
son, of the Temple, with the brothers
Nicholas, Piercrrc Joseph, and Hans
Lnubel as guides. The I,yskamm, the
scene of the calamity which has thus
cast a gloom over Zermatt, is one of the
many fine peaks which rise in solemn
grandeur around the head of the valley
of Visp. The mountain is fourteen
thousand seven hundred feet high, and
though suppressed in attitude by its
gigantic neighbor, Monte Rosa, and in
picturesque magniicence of form by
the unrivaled Matterhorn, the Lyskamm
is deservedly the favorite with all mem
bers of the Alpine club. Its slope is
neither very dangerous nor very diff
cult to practiced mountaineers, if the
ascent be made under proper. conditions
and the usual precautions are taken
Nevertheless, the Lyskamm is not Il
mountain that any novice ought to at
tempt. The fate that has just befallen
five men of good climbingpowers should
serve as a warning to theinexperienced.
How the accident occurred will never
be ascertained for certain, since none of
the victims survive to tell us; but We
know that Mr.. Lewis and Mr.. Paterson,
with their guides, left the Rifiel hotel
early on the morning of Thursday, Sept.
6, intending to scale the Lyskamm. As
they did not return in the evening it
was supposed that they had, after gain
ing the summit, descended the southern
or Italian side Of the mountain, and had
gone on to Gressona, in the Val de Lys,
a course which would present no unusu-
al difficulty to good cragsmen. With
the hope of learning whether this was
the case, Mr.. j. A. Carfrae, of the Alpine
club, and three guides, set out the next
morning on the route taken by the
missing men. In the evening this
gentleman and his companions returned
with the painful news that the whole of
the adventurcrs they were in search of
had been seen lying dead on the noun
tain side. An expedition, consisting of
twenty persons, was organized to bring
the bodies to Xcrmatt, an undertaking
of considerable difficulty, as the route
would be over high glacier pass. After
an interval of a day. owing to heavy
storm, the remains of the unfortunate
men were finally recovered, and We now
learn that they have been buried, our
countrymcn in the cemetery of the
English church at Zcrmatt, the guides
in their native village of st. Niklaus.
One touching feature in this lamentable
occurrence is that the three guides who
have lost their lives were married, and
leave their widows and orphan children
destitute \ subscription has been
opened for these living victims of the ca
lamity, and we may hope thati will help
to mitigate the distress in which they
have been plunged, But they, as well
as the sorrowing relatives and friends
of Mr.. Lewis and Mr. Paterson, have to
bear II grief which human sympathy
may alleviate but cannot remove. Few
things can be more hCart-rcnding than
events Of this nature. Occurring at the
termination of an expedition undcrtak-
en- with expectations Of the very keen
est enjoyment, and in the midst of
scenery of the utmost beauty and gran
dcur, the contrast between the high
spirits of the men when starting and
their melancholy fate cannot but be
painful and terrible in the extreme. The
cause of the accident appears to have
been the giving way of a snow-cornacc
which ovcrhung precipicc between
three and four thousand feet deep.