New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-07

qulSheu. 1ney rest at Jne Oase Oh IL teS die P'O
of its history for all time TO come; they
were its first vctors and its first victims; and
they remain its victors. Their epitaph-it is not
the scraps of stale Scripture carved this marble.
nor any motto or wise maxim or curious phrase OF
poet or prophet but is to be read in drifts OF snow
and ridge of rock and along the path they followed
To their death is TO be heard in the moan OF the
STERN against its lonely summit. aud the dull roar
Of the avalanche that shudders into the giaciers be-
low. If you must moraze over the matter You
had better mOfalize with Pascal, and affirm with
him the prominence OF man, conscious of his de-
feat. over the unconscious natural forces which
crush HIM.
There is a whole drama in the history Of those
few hours the steady ascent the grim silence OF
the monarch who saw his domain for the first time
invaded the scene of exultaton at the summit
the swift and appalling revenge that overlook the
violators of a solitude which dated from the crea-
ton. Yet the MatteThorn ia monarch who does
not know that he reigns; who Is cruel without
meaning to be who obeys laws he did not make
ana to whom there came not a throb OF delight
IN response 90 the cry of agony from his victims.
They at least knew they were his victims. and he
did not know he was n victor. And so they change
places And their fellowmen have followed in their
footsteps they have explored every recess OF every
preelplcci have climbed every one OF the four
faces have bound the strong man with chains and
delivered him over to be the sport and p@stiRe OF
every traveller who has a steady brain and good
pair of legs. The Materhorn has ceased to be
tAoucAt the most difficult peak IN Swlizer-
land or even in TINS tis-.siat of Switzerland
be has had TO give way 10 the Dome Banche ana
the Wcisshorn. between which the palm Of difficulty
is nov disputed. Last year there were no less than
twcntv-seven accents of the hatterhon; yet CHAINS
and humiliation have not quite broken the old
cIaut's spirit He still claims a sacrifice from time
10 time; 1t was an American whom he 6oyoured
Inst voar Even women prove his mas
ters: the ascent has been repeatedly made by
some of the strongest Of the weaker sexj two OF
them spent four nights on the mountain tina year.
unable either 10 so up or down. He Yields. but he
is not TO be trifed with; The SHOW which he shakes
of rou-blv and which will hardly lie on the steep
sides of the great peak. is his firm friend
and ally; when a few flakes have whitened
his TOP. the bol1est guide Will not al-
proach him. This year there have been OuI
eight ascents with many attempts winch came 10
naucht OF the other famons mountains winch
form part of this great range there Is not one when
held ont so long as Inc Matterhorn; nor Is tnere
one which sooner or later has not avenged itself up
on IT'S ntruders.
4 VICTIM OF TIE RIFFgIHoRN
I'm tie Matterhorn tragedy; his fate was almost
sadjcr than the others they fell together after a
great exploit in the moment of triumph; he alone,
with no ,plendJr OF unprecedented conquest TO add
lu.tre to his DEATH Except to his friends hrs name
il. hardly known when saw 1t to-day could re-
/ call nothing about Inn, neither his name nor the
circumstances of his face. One Of his friends and
,niup-l NAV be excused If like 10 connect myself
with rim in that slender way-ls here and told me
what there is 10 tell.
Wilson. then was son Of that Sir Rowland VIII
sou who took Delhi. he was n man OF great re-
/ novn in his time at Cambridge, scholar who came
/ out high IN houors an athlete of rare powers ana
no pr,tcnce; liked By lis
! at Etuu. winch would naturally have fallen 20 hl'
] was Withheld by the Tories, who bore sway tutlr'
50 thar he vas free 10 take the not less bolorahle
post which Dr. Temple offered hlm at huEoSi
| and tdus became a Rugby master ana WoIht',
| IN that school IN the mes Ut Auoiu
had land down. In 1865. and the years nlmedlaleIy
/ b, fore that wear. q mountaineering fever hal
seized on the best young fellows OF the day; uson
had put off joining in tins crusade III lnaI YER
/ time He was man of great ana tXtidoTdlhdi!
e+von n ,ii5 g. trained IN most kinds Of pIE sea-
,,rvess that he knew mos Of the So-caued exp ots
in the Alps TO be within reacu or lesser men 'll
/ r,ruself and took no delight IN any WORK th3t Wa
not really difficult and dangerous Not long peioIe
/ he had been nearly lost in a glacier ONrItaAri
/ first bV fog and then by night Ou me lotu VI
INV he vent M the R1e,Lorn with party. The
RItf-horn is not great peak, pnt u Pecu'ty DttV
| and smooth and a novice finds II awkward 10 dea
/ ,yirb The Darrv went MP and came down sateN
but on their waV back 10 The botel wilson w'-
missed. 1hcy went o. uey L Al NOR
! harm: but when evening closed IA anu nc uI' 10.
return his friends started IN search or iilH, lHeN
found his body mex, morning not mahEIeu nor e uls
| frured. bat dead. The Skull Vas r, -
t,r.J On the utmost top of the L tfe-
horn. whittier they climbed ID s'arch 90
some hint that might show how ne came oy III
death law his copy Of 1Eschylu> and that was an
| Tho only thing clear was that on MS return ll"u
the fr-t ascent, he had slipped away from JUS CON
panv I'D order 10 accomplish the cuuiD Oy IIinseiI
| mu n more dIihcu majter-thaJ ne hau ioHe ~
ana had fallen I'm returning after dark He 700
was Of the stulf of which English history IS mad'
up; ana ne. too, Will be remembered u W. D.
CLOSE OF THE SEASON AMONG The ALPS
rt-g,. .xD rRr-E PRorHErs-AN ENGLIsHMAN
NOTIONS OF THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. III
p1prF1 IL A FoG-METEOROLOGICAL oBsERNA
r,o~s Under Diff CULTIEs-AN ALPINE SNOW
STORM
rvaoN TIE REGULAR CoEREsPoNDENT OF THE rlI8CNi~
zrRNArr. Sept. O." You ought to be IN Zerinat
hv, tine middle OF September, at least sad every
bodv in Geneva. hotel keepers excepted VINO "er
of opjnon it would be better not to so there al 81
INIT abide IN the city of Calvin and houSSeau' COZ
s,,n,,nr its milk and honey. Ii appeared on llalii
It the fear of snow Law at the root OF this pruder
counsel. "You may have SHOW on III" hiHel al"
tine after the 18th" declared one EXPERIENCED az
wiser himself an Englishman OF the Alpine CIu
and lust back from Zcrmatt. Ii 1t does not Sho
Il is sure to rain and whether 1t rains or not II WI
he co,d.D The Engshman is certainly On expo
m the matter of rain. but he does not Know "n'
cold means except from the shivering emil "LlC
nervades his damp island from November 10 M'Ioi
and as for snow did not see why Shoulu g"
vhotber il showed on the Rliiel Nhle was nou''
49, ;lIo,e hclow. Besides have been, thou4
49, ha-. in the Oberland in earlier years, as late
49, ,ridcIe of October and suffered neither to
cold nor snow; while as for rain, which Is u
rlayue of Switzerland, we had had none az all Gu