Evening star., 1894-01-27
ALPINE DISASTERS
Fatal End of Foolhardy Reaching
After Distinction.
A PARTY OF SCIENTISTS PERISH
Fell Seven Hundred Feetand Frozen
to Death.
BREAKING OF A GIRLS HEART
PARTY OF SCIENTISTS PERISH
BREAKING OF A GIRLS HEART
Special Correspondence of The Evening star.


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
VIENNA, Jan. IA, 1894
The official reports of the great Alpine
disaster on New Year night. which cost the
lives of three scientific men. Dr. Ludwig
Kohn. DR.. Patzau and DR.. Pick. have just
reached here The bodies Of the unhappy
explorers were received b. their relativs
few days ago. and the funeral took place
yesterday. In the case of DR.. Kohn. 1t
was double funeral. his intended, Frau
lein Camilla Schwarz, a well-known COM
poser of charming dance music, having
dropped dead at the sight Of his corpse
The doctors say that II was a genuine
case of broken heart. Camilla was young
and lovely, full of sentiment and Of a very
nervous disposition. DIR. Kohn was her
cousin. When she received the news OF her
lovers untimely end she broke into tears
and for an entire week refused food and
drink, crying almost necessarily. Her
friends tried in vain to prevent her from
viewing the body. She stole to the side
of the coffin and almost instantly upon be-
holding the face Of the dead, through the
plate glass window in the coffin, dropped
down. never to breathe again.
Lofty Peak.
The Grossglockner is the loftiest peak in
the Rhaetian Alps, 13. 100 feet above the
level Of the sea. It. is capped with per-
petual snow. and its glacier region begins
at an elevation Of 5000 feet. One thousand
feet below the ice region is a tavern. the
keeper of which is known to all tourists as
the Glocknerwirth. who furnishes guides
provisions, alpenstocks scaling irons for
the boots, ropes and other pharaphernalia
for Drawing death in the wind-swept wilder
,@f s<a
ever. to his credit. that in the case Of the
Vienna tourists he did his utmost to dis
courage the men from undertaking the
hopeless task of ascending the peak.
The Inn Keepers Story.
His testimony before the coroner's jury.
which was corroborated In every detail
was as follows:
Some three weeks before Christmas I
received a letter from DR.. Kohn announc-
Ing his intention to scale the Glockner in
mid-winter with three or four other tour
ists.. He asked me to advise HIM how many
guides he needed, and IL there were any
great dangers to overcome. / told him
trying to ascend the Glockner at this time
OF the year meant certain death. He ar
rived at my inn the night before New Year
with two other gentlemen. DIR. Pick and
DIR. Patzau. There were several guides in
the house. but- they refused to undertake
the journey. Bah" said DR.. Kohn, If you
are afraid for your precious lives we will
go alone, all we want is a strong fellow to
carry our provisions up to the Stuedl hut
ian uninhabted resting place for tourists
on the road to the peak.)
Seeing that they persisted in their folly
sent for Johann Groder, the best guide in
the Alps. He promised to accompany them
ha hyIf hyrf nf f1,xas
rest of us in advising the gentlemen not to
risk their lives in hopeless undertaking.
1t availed us nothing. They had staked
their honor on it to be the first scaling the
GrOSsglockner in midwinter and so they
went to their icy grave
The Guides Story.
Johann Groder.. the guide took up the
narrative as follows:
I'VE left the inn at o'clock New Year
night. / had seven bottles with tea, wine
and cognac. three pairs Of scaling irons,
bread. meat apples and sweets. The rloon
was shining. but the road hard to traverse
on account of the deep snow. At O'Clock
We rested at way station. DR.. Peak, the
smaliests0f the gentlemen, suffered already
Intensely from the cold, but insisted on go
Ing with the rest. They then sent me
ahead to the Stuedi hut to make a fire
and prepare supper. After eight hours
reached that station, and half an hour later
DIR. Kohn came in, followed after forty
five minutes by the other gentlemen. DR..
Peak was in a sad plight; he had frozen
the toes and ball Of his right foot. When
! tried to remove the shoes of the other
tourists the stockings proved to be frozen
to the leather inside Their feet and legs
felt like ice. and rubbing with snow failed
to do much good. DR.. Peak said can't
go any further. I will rest here and re-
turn soon as possible
That's right / said You will never
be able. anyhow, to reach the summit for
according to my observations, there are
snowdrifts at the Kodnitzkes Ia station
higher up). DIR. Patzau said he also had
enough of the thing, and DIR. kohn like
wise promised to give up the attempt.
made their beds near the fire, and after
again receiving their promise not to go
any further, departed. DR.. Kohn, to bind
the bargain. as he said. gave me the seal
ing irons to take back. We cannot as
cend the peak without them,' he remarked
therefore in returning the scales We gfve
sufficient proof of our intention to adhere
to our promises ...-.....
Asked by the coroner how he accounted
for the fact that DR.. Kohn and associates
subsequently, started for the summit the
guide said:
Il suppose that when, in the morning,
DR.. Kohn found that snow had ceased to
fall he persuaded his friends TO try reach
ing the peak. AS they had neither scaling
irons nor a guide. their ascent was doubly