The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-23

n1eaEs of shelter on the snowy and
windy ridge, and one who had not COM
mand of all his faculties could by no
possibility descend from it. Some years
ago a guide, seized with sickness ait
the hut on the Italian side, nearly 1000
feet below the summit, was left aeone
I by his comrades while they went down
after help. When the reScuers arrived
the man was dead. A subsequent writer
declared that the sick man had been
condemned to Death by the mere act Of
leaving him there. But, in any case,
he could hardly have been taken down
alive, although ne was below all the
most difficult places.
Carefully treading once more the
snOw-tOpped ridge, we began the de-
scent. Its worst feature Immediately
became manifest; the eyes could no
longer avoid the vacuity That gaped be-
Meath us. Tangwalder, in virtue of hfs1
great experience, now assumed the last
place. where he could lend the most eff
fective aid if d sip occurred; I remained
in the middle and Craven led. Con-
slant vigilance was the price of life
theoretically, and 1 believe practically
as well. the rope by which one is fast
ened to his guides is an assurance OF
comparative safety for all three; YET
there were many points where I could
not help wondering whether if I should
slip Tangwalder, man of iron though he
was, would not come tumbEng after me,
and where l was morally certain Hiat
If one of the others fell 1 should go
along with him into the depths Fortl1-
nately, there was no test case; I did nor
make a misstep or a slip at any critical
point. In the most dangerous places
only one person moved ait a time The
leading guide went on until ne was so
placed that he could get a good grip on
the rocks, or a safe hold with. his ice
axe. Then 1 followed and took his place.
while he pushed on to another holding,
and then the last man Joined me, and
it became my turn to move again.
Fishing With the Toes For Inyisi-
bic Lodges.
1t was with a peculiar sensation that
one approached the verge of a preci-
pice and, turning on his face, began to
let himself down backward feeling
with his toes for lodges that he could
see, and that might not exceed a frac-
ton of an inch in width, but to which
he must intrust as much of his weight
as his fingers, clutching similar prOjec-
lions above, were unable to support,
while, with one leg dangling, he reach
ed down for another precarious foot.
hold. And whenever he glanced be-
tween his body and the rock to see
thrilling glimpse of precipice below pre- !
cipice and crag under crag, whose play
thing he would become if his head dir
lied, his eyes swan, or his muscles re-
fused instantly to perform their whole
duty. Such are some of the joys of the
Matternornl 1 do not say it hooking
ly; am giving a record of psychologist
al impressions, and these things, like
any mastering of human weakness, are
"a JOY in recollection. Burke proved
that terror is a source of the sublime,
and sublimity is certainly a source of
joy.
The work of descent was not as ex-
hausting to the physical forces as that
OF ascent, but it was even a heavier
tax on the nerves, and it required an
equal expenditure of time. We had
been about seven hours in climbing
from the cabane to the summit. a dis
lance but little exceeding a mile in an
air line, and we were as long in getting
back to the cabane again. The guides.
of course, could have made the round
trip much quicker, perhaps in half the
time, but not being trained in such
work, 1 required frequent stops to re-
cover my breath, as well as to Strug-
gle with the nausea which did not leave (
me when we got to the top, but accom- Z
panied me down to the SchwartzSeeS
hotel, where it finally yielded to a
SOOU might y SleEp WOuIu nOL, now
ever, convey the impression that the
guides, if unaccompanied would be i'm
any degree careless. although thew
might travels more rapidly. There aref
no more careful men in the world. Theyi
consider the consequences Of every step
before they take it, for they know bet
ter than anybody else that their lives
depend upon their caution.
Going Down Backward on All Fours.
On the ice slope, covered with snow
just below the shoulder, we went down
backward on all fCurs, thus distribute
ing our weight as widely as possible, in
order to prevent the loose snow. now
softening by the sun, from starting in
an avalanche, which would have carr
ried us to inevitable obstruction. When
we reached the glacier above the ca
bane, which had witnessed the begins