Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-09-01
A Fearful Journey in the Alps
"A Glacier Breaks Loose,
Killing 200 People.
The Beautiful Valley of Cha
mounix, d Celebrated Place
in the Alps.

StrOphe, caused by Il Id1uSIuc1 "AGA
the Blonassy glacier broke loose from
the side of Mont Blanc and swept down
in the rayine. Some 200 people were
| killed. and out of fifty-seVen employed
| in the baths only nine were saved, AND
seven of these were seyerly injured
The bodies of those already recovered
are torn and mangled most horribly.
In many cases the heads were torn
| from the bodies, while in others the
arms and legs had been cut off by
, huge masses of ice that had passed
over them. Some bodies were found
| that had been crushed out of all senl-
blance to humanity.
This beautiful spot has been turned
/ into a large charnel-hOuSe ana .. place
of mourning. If one is enjoying GOOD
| health and has a robust constitution
| there can be no greater pleasure than
that Of rambling among the wales and
mountains in Switzerland, but while
you thoroughly enjoy the magnificent
scenery and bracing air you neyerthe-
| less become conscious at times of an
all-overshadowing fear of some unseen
danger. 1t is the fascination of this
danger that leads to acts of rashneSS
which under any other circumstances
would seem absolutely stupid.
| The valley Of ChamouniX, near where
this dreadful calamity happened, IS
one Of the most celebrated spots III
the Alps. Here is the headquarters
for the very best guides to Mount
Blanc The ascent of this monarch OF
European mountains was formerly con-
sidGred a wonderful undertaking. but
now aScentS are made very frequent
| " and in fine weather it is attended
with no very serious difficulty or dan
ger However, nobody should ever at
tempt to ascend in foggy or stormy
weather. A party Of eleven persons
persisted in a storm during the ascent
in 1870, and young English lady and
Il guide We're precipitated into a crt'''ice
near the Grand Mulets the same year
in consequence Of having neglected the
important precautiOn of attaching
themselves together by i rope.
Americans are particularly anxious to
distinguish themselves by very fool
ish kind of bravery in refusing to take
u guide, and there have been many
hairbreath escapes from death n on
| sequence. The principal excursions
from ChamouniX is generally that to
Mer-de Glace. 1t is not at all difficult,
and if you have fine weather it gives
YOU some of the most sublime CXDpTi-
enceS of mountain scenery you can rect
with in all the regions of t'!n APPS.
You cross the meadows i'll the vale of
| ChamouniX, step over the newborn
! fuIiOnS ArVe, and climb the mOuntair
precipices to height of 1000 feet, by Il
| rough, craggy path, sometimes winding
among Il wood of frs, and sometimes
wondering over green grasses. AT
| MOntanyert you find yourself on the eX-
remity of Il plateau SO situated that
on one side you may look down into
| the dead sea, and on the other, by
few steps, into the lovely green vale
/ Of ChamOuniX. Far beneath, Il smil-
ing, yerdent valley, watered by the
Arve, with hamletS, fields and gardens,
the abode Of life, happiness and foW-
erS; far above, savage and inaccessible
cragS Of ice and granite, and a cataract
of frozen pillows, stretching away be
yCnd sight-the throne of desolation
and winter.
| From the bosom of the tIlmbling SEA
Of ice enormous granite needles shoot
into the sky, objects of singular sub
Unity, one of them rising to the height
of $1,000 feet, 1000 above the point
where you are standing This is more
than double the height of Mount Wash
ington. This amazing rock looks like
| the splre of a colossal cathedral with
other pinnacles around it. No snow can
cling to the submits of these jagged
spires; the lightning does not splinter
! them; at their base those eternal drift
ing ranges of snow are formed that
| sweep down into the frozen sea and
| feed the perpetual, unreasonable
masses of the glacier. Meanwhile the
rich verdure, sprinkled with flowers,
plays upon the edges of the enormous
masses of ice, so near that you almost
touch the ice with one hand and pluck
violet with the other. The ascent of
A traveller requires one guide and n
| porter, whose combined services come
to about $50 francs, besides there are
ETC., so that the ascent can seldom be
other expenses for provisions wines,
made under $50 francs for each person.
Having seen the sublime wonders OF
the Mer de Glace we proceeded down
the valley of ChamouniX and arrived
at Argentiere, a miserable little hamlet
| at the foot of the glacier of the same
name. We slept at a very dirty inn in
very dirty room and rolled UP in
dlngy blankets after a very meager
supper with hard. black bread FOR the
main ingredient Fearing that the
breakfast would be as poor as the SUD-
per, we left the tavern in the morning
at half-past 5 in order to reach the
resting place on the summit of the
mountain at an early hour.
During our toll upward and onward
toward our goal the weather had been
exceptionally clear, but suddenly a
cold gust from the eastward enYeloped
everything in a thick, chilling fog that
for time made our ambition fall with
greater rapidity than the mercury.
But we plodded ON with heavy hearts
and overcoats and finally we reached
IL little wooden shanty near the top.
There we met a few equally discons0l-