St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-30
TRAGEDIES OF MT. BLANC
The Year 1870 Was the Darkest in the
History Of Man.
A PARTY OF ELEVEN LOST
The Dying Message Peneiied by BALI
morean---A Brides Sudden Dis
appearance.
Boston Transcript.


noon, after nine hours OF as interesting
a ride as | ever took-and l have COW
cred good deal of European ground
since then-that we entered the village
of Chamouni in 1870, and halted at our
hotel. As we did so we noticed that
something unusual had occurred.
Groups of men and women were stand
ing around in the little square in front
of the village church, all earnestly dis
cussing some apparently important
matter. Many of the women were
weeping. and there was shade of sad
ness on all the faces that attracted our
notice. At first we attributed it to the
war that was then raging only a few
leagues away.
We were not long in learning the
truth, however, for we had hardly
descended from the diligence before the
terrible announcement was made that
eleven men had been lost Oh Mont
Blanc. What that meant to the dwellers
In that secluded village we in the great
and busy city of Boston can scarcely
realize. And even upon us, strangers
and sojouTners for day, it left an i'm
preston which the lapse of
years has not yet effaced. An
Intelligent English gentleman, who
had been at ChamOuni some time,
and was conyerSant with the facts, told
us the story. He said that on the preyi-
Dus Monday morning-thiS was WedneS-
day, Sept. three travellers. two of
whom were Americans, had started
with three guides and five pOIters for
the top of the mountain. Their names
were John &. Randell. of Quincy, Mass;
IarnnS u Raonn of RaItimnFp Md
and G.. NJ. Corkendale, Scotch clergy
man.
The three guides were the best and
most reliable in the village, namely:
John Balmat, Joseph Breton and
August COttet-ali well known and
esteemed by the professional mountain
climbers of that time. The party had
reached the Grand Mulets and spent the
night of Monday there, setting the
usual signal to inform the dwell
lers below of their safe ar
rival. On Tuesday morning they
completed the ascent and reached the
summit, spending the usual time there.
On the afternoon of that day they were
seen slowly descending the upper part
of the mountain. They looked like flies
crawling over a white sheet. All at
once, he said, there seemed to be veil
thrown over them and they vanished
from his sight, never to be seen again.
At first not much anxiety was felt in the
valley, as slight snow storms are not
uncommon at that season. But when
night came Oh, and there were no sig
mails at the Grand Mulet, nor any lights
to be seen about the little hut where
they should have spent the second
night, fears began to take shape that
some terrible catastrophe had taken
place.
AS soon as the people had partially
recovered from the shock OccaSiOned by
realization of what had occurred, the
MARIE of the village. who was also the
chief guide, called for volunteers to 90
in search of the missing men. How for
lOrn hope it was may be inferred from
the fact he would accept no married
men, neither any who were over thirty
years of age. II was about 5 o'clock
when these volunteers, thirty in num-
Der, with packs of clothing and proviS-
ions on their backs, coils of rope and
axes over their shoulders and alpen-
stocks in their hands, gathered in front
of the maire's Office to get their final In
struetionS, They were to go up to a
certain point that night, examine the
ground carefully as they went; then
proceed next morning to the summit
and signal back what success, if any,
they had had in their search for the
missing men.
That night there came on, about
O'clock, q tempest of Wind and rain, &C
cOmpanied by thunder and lightning,
such as | have rarely listened to or wit
messed, except in the Swiss Alps. The
next morning, looking from our hotel
windows, we saw that snow had fallen
upon the mountain sides far down
toward the valley, and we instinct
lively felt that the efforts of the
brave volunteers must have been
fruitless, even If they themselves had
not fallen a sacrifice to the fury of
the elements. But about 10 o'clock
that forenoon they were seen emerg-
ing from the woods, and were soon
greeting their friends, yet with sad
dened faces. They reported that they
had reached a considerable height when
the storm suddenly overlook them-a
storm not of wind and rain, as we had
had it, but a fierce tempest of Wintry
sleet and snow. They had spent the
night under the best shelter they could
Finland small choice it waS-and early
the next morning had proceeded on
their upward journey. 1t was not far,
however, that they could go, for the
snow had fallen in snch quantities that
not only were all landmarks and
paths Obliterated, but it was impossible
to make any progress without mo-
mentary danger of being rhuried into
some abyss which could not be avoided,
because hidden under treacherous
covering of snow. They knew, also,
too well, that no human being could
have survived such night ana such
tempest at point above that which
they had reached.
And now, dear reader, you know why
there was weeping and wailing that
afternoon of Sept. among the women
and children, aye, and men, too, of
CharmOuni. Eight of their best and
brayest citizens had been wiped out of
existence as suddenly as if the earth
had opened and swallowed them up.
Some of them left families an some par
enls dependent upon them for support
They were all very poor, for the season
had been lbad for them. The French
and German war had kept away visitors
to large extent, and everybody was
complaining of the hard times; so a sub
scription amounting to upward of LOCO
francs was raised among the strangers
who were there, and distributed by the
MARIE.
1t was several weeks afterward that l
learned the sequel to this terrible affair.
A week or more elapsed before it was
deemed practicable to attempt another
search for the missing men, and then
only with the bare expectation of find
ing and bringing down their lIfeless
bodies. There was no other hope.
Fifty of the most experienced noun
taineers of the village were detailed for
this purpose; and after a long and
tedious march they came upon the stiff
ened corpses of several of the party,
among whom were those of DR.. Beane
and Mr.. COrkendale. They were
in sitting posture, as though
they had sat down to rest,
and so had persisted. In the cold
hands of DR.. Beane was found note
book bearing several dates, the last of
which was that terrible night of Sept.
Z. The record stated that they had been
two days in the midst of a terrible snow
storm; that they had had trouble with
their guides and that the party had
become separated. They were con-
scious that they were lost, for the